Michael Jackson impersonator OmeMJ meets fans in Christchurch. Image: OmeMJ<\/p>\n
All of this sits awkwardly alongside his chequered legacy. Michael Jackson paved the way for black artists in modern popular music, single-handedly reshaped the music video, and still holds the record for highest-selling album of all time. Michael Jackson also faced multiple allegations of child sex abuse since the early 90s<\/a>. Some of these were heard during the 2005 criminal trial in which he was acquitted, the subject of new Netflix documentary The Verdict<\/a>, while others emerged posthumously in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the Jackson estate has vehemently denied all claims of sexual abuse, the lingering allegations leave us, like so many things in 2026, wrestling with a bunch of different conundrums and perspectives at once. How is it, in a post MeToo world, that someone accused of committing sexual abuse against children can be back at the centre of culture? Does Gen Z actually revere Michael Jackson, or is he just meme fodder? And who is this mysterious Michael Jackson impersonator moonwalking his way through the streets of Christchurch?\u00a0<\/p>\n My first port of call for answers was to go straight to the man himself, aka New Zealand\u2019s only Michael Jackson impersonator, aka OmeMJ<\/a>, aka Joel. \u201cI\u2019m a Gen Z Michael Jackson lookalike, which isn\u2019t something you hear very often,\u201d he chuckles. When out of character, Joel is completely unrecognisable as his hehe-ing counterpart, best known for viral TikToks about \u201cRee-hehe\u2019s Pieces<\/a>\u201d and \u201cLa-hehe\u2019s<\/a>\u201d (Labubu\u2019s). \u201cI\u2019m very quiet, reserved and shy,\u201d he tells me in a bustling Christchurch chocolate cafe. \u201cI hide behind Michael to do all of that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Joel has been a Micheal Jackson fan since he was a kid in the mid-2000s \u2013 \u201cI was infatuated, I loved how he looked, I loved the moves, I was just obsessed\u201d \u2013 but it was witnessing touring Michael Jackson impersonators that changed everything. When he was in his early teens, he saw Kenny Wizz and and Dantanio Goodman perform live: \u201cLittle me just thought \u2018wow, that looks so much like Michael\u2019.\u201d In 2015, he was devastated when famed American lookalike Michael Kiss had to end his Christchurch show after just 20 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy Dad had a bit of a Karen moment and complained, and then we got a call from the guy himself saying he could come and do a meet and greet,\u201d Joel recalls. \u201cHe came to our house and brought a little basket of gifts, and I was just like \u2018I have to find a way to do this\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n From then on, Joel spent years in his bedroom secretly honing his dance and voice impersonation skills, as well as his makeup, including crafting the perfect nose. \u201cObviously the makeup was not good at the start \u2013 no foundation, the cheapest wig possible, and a little bit of contour,\u201d he says. As his confidence built, he started appearing as Jackson on instant video chat sites like Omegle and OmeTV. \u201cPeople loved it, which really helped me,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople would always say \u2018oh my god, it\u2019s OmeMJ\u2019 and I was like\u2026 \u2018I like that name\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s only in the last year that OmeMJ has taken off on TikTok and Instagram. \u201cI wanted to make the kind of content that people would want to see Michael Jackson doing, like him crashing out or him doing reviews. So that\u2019s what I did, and it just went massive.\u201d He\u2019s known for tackling internet trends like tasting viral fruit ice-creams<\/a>, recording ASMR videos<\/a>, and doing \u201867\u2019 as Michael Jackson<\/a>, often telling viewers to \u201cget out\u201d to end the video. \u201cI did that first in a blooper video, and now it has become my trademark.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n After one Halloween appearance on The Strip last year, Joel seized the release of the Michael biopic to host his first \u201cofficial meet and greet\u201d \u2013 something he says started out as a joke. \u201cI made a post saying \u2018I\u2019m gonna be at this movie theatre, come for a meet and greet with me, or come watch the movie\u2019, thinking about 10 people would show up.\u201d It received over two million views and over 10,000 shares. When he showed up to Hoyts EntX, the 300-seat cinema had sold out with hehe-ing fans. Some had even brought their own Reehehe\u2019s Pieces<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, the Christchurch in-person appearances have only grown in scale and intensity. \u201cIt can be scary,\u201d says Joel. \u201cPeople cry, they hug me, they are drunk, they are following me filming on their phone, they touch me and won\u2019t let me go.\u201d When he needs to seek refuge in the city, the good people at the similarly internet famous Timezone<\/a> have taken him into their back room. Other times, people will make comments about \u201cthe kids and the controversial stuff\u201d in public. \u201cI just say as Michael \u2013 \u2018hey yeah that\u2019s not very nice\u2019,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to stay in character.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n This moment leads me to address the biggest elephant in the chocolate cafe: what does Joel think of the years of child abuse allegations against Jackson? \u201cI\u2019ve stood by him through all the allegations,\u201d he says, steadfast. \u201cPeople are mean. I don\u2019t believe any of it, it is a money grab.\u201d I asked if he had watched Leaving Neverland, the two-part HBO documentary in which two men detailed years of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of Jackson, which was removed from all streaming platforms in 2024 following a lengthy legal battle with the Jackson estate<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn mute I did.\u201d he says. \u201cI just wanted to see the new pictures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Read any comments section on any news clip relating to the allegations and you will see thousands of fans similarly standing by Jackson in 2026. And with the Michael film swerving the child abuse chapter entirely thanks to a $10 million reshoot<\/a>, it raises more questions about the role of the biopic in shaping his legacy. After meeting Joel and watching Michael and Leaving Neverland back-to-back \u2013 the most whiplash double feature of all time \u2013 I rang Nabeel Zuberi, associate professor in media and communication at the University of Auckland.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it shows the way that biopics and documentaries have become much more promotional in nature. They\u2019re often funded by the estates or the record companies, and in this instance are just about extending the post-death life of Michael Jackson,\u201d says Zuberi, who teaches a popular music on screen course. \u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed in the last few years is more students thinking a biopic is a documentary, even though it\u2019s got actors in it. I\u2019ve observed that the lines are becoming more blurred between these forms and genres.\u201d<\/p>\n Zuberi wasn\u2019t aware of the viral rise of OmeMJ in Christchurch, but he\u2019s not surprised to hear that Michael Jackson has taken off with Gen Z and Gen Alpha. \u201cHe was kind of memeable, even back when we didn\u2019t use the word memes,\u201d he says. \u201cHis moonwalk and his gestures and dance moves were being replayed constantly on Motown \u2013 it was like he was designed to be turned into a GIF, long before they even existed.\u201d He adds that Jackson\u2019s polymorphous identity as a \u201cweird child, man, alien\u201d may also appeal to younger generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond the Michael biopic and Jackson\u2019s endless memeability, there\u2019s also the broader trend of younger generations increasingly turning to popular culture from before they were born<\/a>. \u201cNostalgia is always going to be there as part of popular culture \u2013 I yearned for 1960s pop music when I was growing up in the 1970s,\u201d says Zuberi. He references Simon Reynolds\u2019 Retromania, a book which posits that popular culture is increasingly turning its gaze backwards as we hurtle into the unknown. \u201cIt\u2019s about music, but it\u2019s also about a general slowing down of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n And while Zuberi still has Michael Jackson\u2019s Off the Wall in his vinyl collection, he hasn\u2019t played it in years. \u201cI just don\u2019t want to contribute anything towards the valorization of this particular artist, whether they\u2019re dead or alive,\u201d he says. \u201cI am hoping the pushing of Michael Jackson back into the public sphere dies down quickly, but at least it gives us another opportunity to look at the mechanics of how pop culture is working \u2013 although I wait with hesitation as to who the next artist is that they\u2019ll try and push this machine onto.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Back in Christchurch, Joel certainly has no plans to retire OmeMJ. His next big city meet up is slated for June 27<\/a> in honour of Michael Jackson\u2019s death, complete with signed posters and merch. He just launched his own Cameo account<\/a>, and gets messages every week about doing surprise appearances at weddings and birthday parties. \u201cI think people are just excited that there\u2019s a Michael figure in the country,\u201d he says. \u201cIn Hollywood you\u2019d have lookalikes everywhere, but you never see a lookalike just walking around Riccarton Mall.\u201d<\/p>\n And so does he think the local Michael Jackson-aissance is going anywhere, anytime soon?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he says. \u201cHe\u2019s just too powerful.\u201d<\/p>\nJoel as OmeMJ. Images: OmeMJ TikTok<\/p>\n
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Nabeel Zuberi says the biopic has become much more promotional in nature. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n