Spike Lee Slams Critics Questioning The Way ‘Michael’ Ended

Photo Credit: Spike Lee by Gage Skidmore / CC by 2.0

Spike Lee defends Lionsgate’s Michael biopic from critics who questioned why the film stopped short of addressing child sex abuse allegations.

Director Spike Lee defended Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic from critics who found it odd that the film ended just a few years before the first of the pop legend’s many allegations of child sexual abuse. Michael ends in 1988—five years before the first accusation went public in 1993.

According to Lee, it’s pointless to complain about since that part of Jackson’s life “doesn’t work in the timeline of the film.”

“First of all, you’re a movie critic, and you’re complaining about the stuff—all this other stuff—but the movie ends at ‘88,” Lee told CNN. “The stuff you’re talking about, accusations, happen [later]. So you’re critiquing the film on something that you want in, but it doesn’t work in the timeline of the film. But people showed up. Worldwide, people showed their love.”

Spike Lee worked with Michael Jackson on numerous occasions, and the two were longtime friends. Lee directed Jackson’s 1996 music video, “They Don’t Care About Us,” as well as two documentaries about Jackson’s life and career, “Bad 25” in 2012, and “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall” in 2016.

Indeed, some critics have noted the so-called elephant in the room, that Michael does not address Jackson’s infamous scandals—but this decision was largely out of the filmmakers’ control. Originally, the film’s third act was supposed to include Jackson navigating through the fallout of his first sexual abuse allegation.

But the Jackson estate revealed that a clause in the settlement with one of Jackson’s original accusers barred the depiction or mention of him in any film or TV projects. As a result, the crew had to completely rework and reshoot much of the movie’s third act, which now focuses more on Jackson’s relationship with his controlling father.

Michael debuted on April 24 and has generated $423 million globally in its first two weekends in theaters. It is now the most successful biopic of any genre, music or otherwise.