Domingo says Jackson family supports film, Paris denies involvement

At the amfAR benefit gala in Venice on Sunday, actor Colman Domingo said he had received guidance from Paris Jackson and her brother Prince as he prepared to play the Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson in the forthcoming biopic Michael, comments that Paris Jackson quickly contradicted on social media. The exchange, conducted amid a star-studded evening that also saw performances by Paris Jackson and Ava Max and raised more than 3.4 million euros for HIV/AIDS research, highlighted ongoing tensions around the production and its portrayal of the late singer Michael Jackson.

Domingo, who is set to portray Joe Jackson in the Antoine Fuqua-directed project, told attendees he had been aided by Michael Jackson's children and described them as supportive of the film. "They're very much in support of our film," he said at the gala, adding that Paris had been "very helpful" and that Prince was "a man of the film." Domingo has said he was drawn to the project by the cultural significance of the Jackson family and that his aim in portraying real-life figures is to "find their humanity" and the complex aspects of their lives.

Within hours of those remarks, Paris Jackson posted messages to...