Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Joseph Fiennes would be playing Michael Jackson in an upcoming series – and now the singer's daughter Paris has weighed in on the controversy. When asked by a fan on Twitter what she thought about the portrayal of her late father, Paris replied: "I'm so incredibly offended by it."
The 18-year-old continued: "I'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit. It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother Liz as well.
"Where is the respect? They worked through blood, sweat and tears for ages to create such profound and remarkable legacies. Shameful portrayal."
Paris' comments were echoed by other fans of the king of pop, including her cousin Taj Jackson. Taj, the son of Michael's brother Tito, wrote on Twitter: "Unfortunately this is what my family has to deal with. No words could express the blatant disrespect."
Joseph Fiennes is set to play Michael in Urban Myths: A Brand New Collection of Comedies – a satirical comedy series that tells various "true-ish" tales from the last century including Michael's fabled journey out of New York immediately after the 9/11 attacks.
The trailer for the new series was released on Tuesday, giving fans the first glimpse of Salisbury-born Joseph playing the pop icon.
His appearance has certainly caused a stir, with some fans accusing the show of "whitewashing". But Joseph himself defended the casting decision last year, saying that Michael's skin colour "probably [became] closer to my colour than his original colour," adding: "I'm a white, middle-class guy from London… I am as shocked as you may be."
Meanwhile production company Sky Arts previously said in a statement: "It is part of a series of comedies about unlikely stories from arts and cultural history. Sky Arts gives producers the creative freedom to cast roles as they wish, within the diversity framework which we have set."
