Joseph Fiennes Admits Michael Jackson ‘Urban Myths’ Episode Was ‘A Bad Mistake’
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Six years ago, an episode of Urban Myths was pulled from the series after Joseph Fiennes’ portrayal of Michael Jackson was deemed inappropriate and disrespectful by the late musician’s fans and family. Now, he finally sees where they were coming from. In a recent interview with The Guardian, the actor admitted that everyone involved made the wrong call.
“I think people are absolutely right to be upset,” Fiennes said. “And it was a wrong decision. Absolutely. And I’m one part of that — there are producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, all involved in these decisions. But obviously if I’m upfront, I have become the voice for other people. I would love them to be around the table as well to talk about it. But you know, it came at a time where there was a movement and a shift and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad call. A bad mistake.”
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Urban Myths toys with facts and inaccuracies to parody supposed historical events. This episode in particular was titled “Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon” and attempted to deliver a fictional reimagining of the urban legend about Jackson’s post-9/11 road trip from New York to Los Angeles with Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor. The episode was never aired, but the trailer made for good sleep paralysis demon content on its own.
Fiennes has also stepped up to say that he’s the one who pulled the plug on the episode. “And, just to say,” he added, “I asked the broadcaster to pull it. And there were some pretty hefty discussions, but ultimately people made the right choice.”
It doesn’t seem like there was really much of a choice when a petition to boycott the episode drew more than 20,000 signatures, among them the King of Pop’s own daughter Paris Jackson. “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,” she said at the time. “It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother [Elizabeth Taylor] as well.”
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