Michael star Nia Long is battling the production company behind the blockbuster film about the King of Pop, a new report alleges.
Long, 55, who plays Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, in the film, is “quietly fighting” Lionsgate over a pay discrepancy, according to three sources spoken to by Puck News.
Despite a clause in her contract, which ensured that she would be paid on equal terms to her co-stars, known as a “fair nations” agreement, Long learned that she had been underpaid. Both Colman Domingo—who plays her husband, Joe Jackson—and Miles Teller reportedly made more than the actress.
The actress subtly alluded to the dispute during an appearance on the Today show to promote the film. When asked if she would return to shoot a long-rumored potential sequel, Long quipped, “If the price is right!”
What was an ambiguous joke now appears to be a direct shot at the film’s production team.
Representatives for Long and Lionsgate did not respond to the Daily Beast’s requests for comment.
Anyone who has seen Michael will quickly point out that Long appears in the film far less than Domingo does, but much of the actress’s screen time was cut due to eleventh-hour changes in the film’s third act.
In the original script of the film, read by Puck News, Long was featured heavily in the film’s third act, including “a key scene at the end of the film.” Michael, which has been accused of “whitewashing” the pop star’s life, was forced into costly and time-intensive reworkings largely focused on its third act.
The film originally included a depiction of Jordan Chandler, who first accused Jackson, 50, of child molestation in 1993, but a clause in his family’s settlement with Jackson forbade any depictions of him in any retellings of Jackson’s life.
Its biggest star, two-time Oscar nominee Domingo, stumbled through his response to the accusations.
“The film does stop in 1988, several years before the first child molestation allegations were made,” Today host Craig Melvin told the actors, “What would you say to folks who see this, and they’re like, ‘You know, they whitewashed that part?’”
“The film takes place from the 60s to 1988, so it does not go into...the first allegation is in, what, 2005? So basically, we center it on the makings of Michael. It’s an intimate portrait of who Michael is,” Coleman started before Long jumped in.
“Through his eyes. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” she added, touching his arm. Domingo added, “I’m saying, through his eyes, truly.”
“This is about the making of Michael, how he was raised, and how he was trying to find his voice as an artist and be a solo artist…” Domingo continued, trailing off. “That’s what I have to say about that.”
Despite the accusations and behind-the-scenes turmoil, Michael has exploded at the box office. In just one week since it premiered, the film has earned more than $123 million domestically and $277 million worldwide, making it among the highest-grossing biopics ever.
