Good for you, Colman Domingo.
Vanity Fair has never been on the right side of history when it comes to Michael Jackson. If that wasn’t obvious when they commissioned Maureen Orth, a woman who’d previously written claims of Jackson hiring a voodoo priest to put a death curse on Steven Spielberg (I’ll let you determine if you think that’s true) and regularly spending a large amount of money to cleanse in a bath of sheep’s blood in a Swiss basement to put curses on his enemies (Again, I’ll let you determine if you think that’s true), they made their stance clear once more in a recent interview segment conducted with Domingo. The segment, entitled “Fair Game,” saw VF’s Global Editor Director, Mark Guiducci, talking to the actor about his recent career successes, and, of course, the billion-dollar biopic, Michael, was one of them.
In it, Domingo plays family patriarch Joe Jackson, but rather than focusing on his brilliant performance, Guiducci instead kept the bulk of his questioning to what the film “glossed over.” He also made a definitive statement about separating the art from the artist, completely ignoring Jackson being exonerated in a court of law regarding these allegations during his lifetime. Not even “alleged,” just separating the art from the artists.
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The question was tone deaf for a number of reasons, the first being the very little interest Guiducci seemed to have in Domingo’s actual performance. Secondly, at no point did Guiducci stop to think about any individual research and experiences Domingo might have had that shapes his opinion. Domingo is now very close to Jaafar Jackson, who took on the daunting task of playing his uncle, and did so beautifully. Guiducci doesn’t know what conversations those two had, he doesn’t know what stories Jaafar or other people involved in the production shared with Domingo about Michael. Prince Jackson, Michael’s first born, was frequently on set. He doesn’t know if Prince shared stories about his father to Domingo.
Lastly, Jaafar took on a huge responsibility with playing *thee* Michael Jackson for his debut acting role. Graham King sought him out in the beginning of all this. Jaafar went through a grueling multi-year audition process. Then…he had to deliver his ver a grueling multi-year filming process. Jaafar spent months/years studying his uncle beyond his personal experiences. He danced until feet bled, he put himself through a tough, physically and mentally challenging shoot…all for his uncle Michael, and Domingo was one of the people at the forefront watching that live. Jaafar’s personal dedication goes beyond love, and anybody watching that, especially in real time, is going to realize that it would take an amazing human being for a family member to have that kind of dedication to them this long after their passing. You don’t do all of that for a bad uncle or a bad person that was a criminal.
Even funnier, when Domingo brings up the FBI’s role in Jackson’s investigations and how they cleared Jackson himself, Guiducci has a very bothered expression on his face, which is telling. Shouldn’t something like that do the opposite? Shouldn’t you be glad to hear the FBI found no evidence of children being SA’d and harmed during the course of their investigations. If you’re Mark Guiducci, you should be thrilled to hear something like that, not bothered.
Sorry Vanity Fair. Times have changed, and you and your fellow media outlets no longer get to control the narrative surrounding Michael Jackson.
Featured Photo: Lionsgate
