The new Michael Jackson biopic is an almost sure-fire hit, on track to make $60 million when it opens next weekend.
The movie’s star, Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, and his proud sons Prince and Bigi triumphantly appeared at the first two premieres in Berlin, Germany, and Gary, Indiana — helming the biggest project of their lives so far.
However, a huge part of Michael Jackson’s legacy, his only daughter, Paris, has been conspicuous by her absence. Easily the most outspoken of her siblings, her silence has been deafening.
“In what should be a great time for this family, a time when everyone really gets a chance to not only rally around [ailing family matriarch] Katherine and the memory of Michael, but to celebrate Jaafar, there is still division,” a family source told The Post. “There is still infighting.”
Prince, 29, has a huge role behind the scenes in the biopic, titled “Michael,” as an executive producer, whereas Paris, 28, has stated she had “zero per cent involvement” in the film beyond reading an early draft.
She claimed she felt the movie was designed to appeal to “a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy,” rather than evaluating his often complex legacy, so she “butted out and left it alone.”
But long-time Jackson sources say the divisions — compounded by Paris taking legal action against the Jackson estate executors, who are also financial backers of the movie — go back much further.
On one side, three of the Jackson 5 family band which launched Michael’s career: Jermaine, 71, Jackie, 74, and Marlon, 69, who all returned to Gary, their hometown, this week joined by their children and a packed crowd for the premiere. (Brother Tito, who was also a member of the group, died in 2024.)
“This is where it all started for my family,” Jaafar said. “Without this, I wouldn’t be here.”
On the other side stand Randy and Janet Jackson, Michael’s closest siblings in age. Randy, 64, didn’t join The Jacksons until 1975 when Jermaine left, and there has been tension between them ever since.
According to insiders, Janet and Randy are firmly aligned — and their influence has only deepened the divide.
“Paris is being ridiculously stubborn and it’s all become so personal to her,” the source said. “And she’s listening to people like Janet and Randy — and that’s where a lot of this reluctance to be a part of this is coming from.”
Long considered the outlier in the family, Randy’s strained relations are partly rooted in one of the most personal betrayals in Jackson family history — when Jermaine married Alejandra Oaziaza, the mother of two of Randy’s children, Steven and Genevieve, in 1995.
The fallout from the union between Jermaine and Alejandra shattered the brothers’ relationship and created a lingering resentment that insiders say still shapes some of the family dynamic today.
“Is Randy the dark horse? Absolutely,” one insider said. “There’s a lot of history there that never got resolved.”
Making things more complicated, Jaafar is one of the two boys, alongside Jermajesty, Oaziaza and Jermaine had together. Winning the lead role in the biopic instantly makes him the most famous member of the younger Jackson generation.
“There are people in this family who feel like the legacy is being funneled in one direction,” the insider said.
Meanwhile, after a screening of “Michael,” Janet — herself one of the best-selling solo artists of the 90s — confronted Jermaine, as The Post previously reported.
“She had something negative to say about almost every scene,” a source present at the movie said.
“You are going to miss this wave,” Jermaine is said to have replied to his sister, adding: “You are so jealous — just get on the wave.”
Insiders say Janet believes there’s a measure of disrespect toward Michael’s siblings — whose roles in the film don’t have speaking parts. She is also said to have turned down any participation in the film, despite being offered a role.
Randy and Janet also challenged the legitimacy of Michael’s 2002 will, which led to the set-up of the estate as it is today, which is now worth around $2 billion — and potentially set to increase further with “Michael.”
Michael — who tragically died of an accidental drug overdose in 2009 — deliberately left all of his siblings out of his will, leaving everything to his children, to be overseen by his lawyers. He also appointed his beloved mother, Katherine, now 95, to be legal guardian of his children.
Despite her advanced age, Katherine remains the emotional center of the family — and, in many ways, the only thing holding it together.
“Katherine obviously doesn’t have the sway she used to enjoy, but every now and again she’ll give her children and her grandchildren that certain look and they follow along,” a source said.
She has seen the film, and her reaction was deeply personal.
“At one point she said, ‘My Michael.’ She misses him more than anyone but she had her moment with Jaafar where she’s thanked him for ‘giving us Michael again,’ ” the source said.
And while there has been strife among the original Jackson siblings, Randy’s son Steven (who goes by Randy Jr.) was at the premieres, alongside many of the cousins who make up the next generation.
“There’s never been a doubt that the Jackson cousins have been closer than the Jackson siblings,” a source said. “And Paris loves Jaafar. Jaafar loves her.
“The elder Jackson siblings have always been dysfunctional and never on the same page,” the source added. “But their kids, the 35 or so cousins, have always had each other’s back.”
Insiders say Jaafar isn’t taking Paris’ absence personally, and Prince and Bigi are trying to rise above it.
“Despite what Prince and Bigi feel about her actions, they love her,” a source said. “They are trying to avoid getting too involved.”
However, others warn of Katherine’s advanced years and wonder how things will end up in the future if Paris continues on her crusade against her own estate, and certain members of the family feel they are not being heard.
“Getting all [the family] on same page is just impossible. There is a big fear among some in the family that the siblings will drift further apart whenever Katherine does pass away. Right now, there is a level of civility because of her.
“If Katherine totally understood what was happening it would break her heart. This is supposed to be about Michael and about the Jacksons finally reclaiming that glory they haven’t experienced since long before he died.
“But in this family,” the source concluded, “it’s never been that simple.”