UK Comedy ‘Urban Myths’ Pulls Michael Jackson Joseph Fiennes Episode After Family Criticism
“Urban Myths” episode featuring Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson has been pulled.
Once the image of Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson surfaced, it stirred up a lot of controversy. The UK comedy show titled “Urban Myths” featured many stars portraying famous and infamous public figures but Fiennes role in particular led to many being offended. Now Michael Jackson’s family has spoken out about the portrayal and this has led to Sky Arts pulling the episode from their lineup.
“We have taken the decision not to broadcast Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon, a half hour episode from the Sky Arts Urban Myths series, in light of the concerns expressed by Michael Jackson’s immediate family,” Sky said. “We set out to take a light-hearted look at reportedly true events and never intended to cause any offense.”
The episode centered around a road trip taken by Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marlon Brando shortly after the 9/11 attacks. It was not the content as much as the portrayal that people took offense to. In a tweet to Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris, she shared her thoughts on the portrayal saying it made her want to “vomit.”
“It honestly makes me want to vomit,” said his daughter Paris.”
@TheMJCast i'm so incredibly offended by it, as i'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit.
— Paris-Michael K. J. (@ParisJackson) January 11, 2017
Sky Arts spoke for Joseph Fiennes on the decision to pull the episode as well. Fiennes is said to be in full support of having the episode not aired.
“Joseph Fiennes fully supports our decision.”
Despite Joseph Fiennes supporting the decision to pull the episode, his thoughts were a bit more cavalier in the past. When interviewed by The Guardian about the role he thought it was “very funny” but wanted to wait and see “what the audience [would] make of it.” As it turns out, audiences were not as accepting as he thought.
“I felt this was a wonderful challenge, I read the script and it’s very funny. It’s a satire, it’s just a 20-minute satire. It’s a sketch about a story that could have been a legend or could have been true. So we’ll see what the audience make of it.”
Tell us your thoughts on this in the comments below.
This was first reported by Billboard
