--- title: Michael Jackson's Family Addresses Sky Urban Myths Controversy description: The family of Michael Jackson is speaking out after a trailer for a comedy series episode showed Michael Jackson portrayed by a white man. canonical: https://time.com/4633055/michael-jackson-paris-jackson-joseph-fiennes/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-12T19:49:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:08.527Z og:title: Trailer Showing Michael Jackson Played by White Actor Upsets Singer's Family og:description: "It honestly makes me want to vomit" og:url: https://time.com/4633055/michael-jackson-paris-jackson-joseph-fiennes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trailer Showing Michael Jackson Played by White Actor Upsets Singer's Family twitter:description: "It honestly makes me want to vomit" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Michael Jackson’s Daughter Is ‘Incredibly Offended’ by Joseph Fiennes’ Portrayal of Her Dad  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 12, 2017 7:49 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 12, 2017 7:49 PM UTC The [controversial choice to cast Joseph Fiennes, a white actor, to portray Michael Jackson](http://time.com/4195480/joseph-fiennes-michael-jackson/) in an episode of a British comedy series called _Urban Myths_ caused no shortage of criticism when it was announced in early 2016; now, nearly a year later, the [trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%5Fcontinue=25&v=le7214gXqB0) for the project has dropped and Jackson’s family has taken to social media to criticize the decision. The show is based on [a _Vanity Fair_ story](http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/05/liz-taylor-michael-jackson-and-marlon-brando-star-in-escape-from-new-york) that cites a former Jackson employee and alleges that the superstar, along with his friends Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando, tried to get back to Los Angeles by car following the 9/11 attacks. [Jackson’s daughter, Paris Jackson](http://time.com/4606751/macaulay-culkin-paris-jackson-pedicure/), took to her Twitter to voice her displeasure with the portrayal of her father and also her godmother, Taylor. > [](https://twitter.com/ParisJackson/status/819310838708256769) > [](https://twitter.com/ParisJackson/status/819312995310260224) Jackson’s nephew, Taj Jackson, was also upset with the portrayal of the legendary singer. > [](https://twitter.com/tajjackson3/status/819287758006951936) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4633055/michael-jackson-paris-jackson-joseph-fiennes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4633055/michael-jackson-paris-jackson-joseph-fiennes/"},"headline":"Michael Jackson’s Daughter Is ‘Incredibly Offended’ by Joseph Fiennes’ Portrayal of Her Dad","datePublished":"2017-01-12T19:49:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:08.527Z","description":"\"It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting.\"","url":"https://time.com/4633055/michael-jackson-paris-jackson-joseph-fiennes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","michael jackson","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4633055/michael-jackson-paris-jackson-joseph-fiennes/","name":"Michael Jackson’s Daughter Is ‘Incredibly Offended’ by Joseph Fiennes’ Portrayal of Her Dad"}}]}] ```