Michael actress Nia Long in major dispute after ‘being paid less than co-stars’

As the Michael Jackson biopic continues flying high at the box office, there is reportedly legal drama behind the scenes over salaries.

Nia Long, who rose to prominence in Boyz n the Hood (1991) and as Beullah ‘Lisa’ Wilkes in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, plays Jackson’s mother, Katherine, in the film, while Colman Domingo plays his father, Joseph.

Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, makes his film debut as the man himself, with the blockbuster following the late singer’s time in the Jackson 5 in the 1960s to his Bad tour in the late 80s.

Despite criticism for how the film fails to address the child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson – it’s said that $15million (£11m) was spent on reshoots and references to the accusations were removed – it has broken records, scoring the biggest opening weekend for a musical biopic in history.

Nevertheless, the controversy seemingly continues, with Long, 55, reportedly struggling to secure her fair cut.

As shared by @DiscussingFilm on X, a recent Puck News report revealed that Long is embroiled in a dispute with Lionsgate after a clause in her contract promising she wouldn’t be paid less than her supporting co-stars wasn’t honoured.

It adds that, while Long has less screentime than two-time Oscar nominee Domingo, 56, in the final version, she reportedly had a bigger role in the original script.

Other supporting cast members include Top Gun: Maverick star Miles Teller as Jackson’s manager and attorney, John Branca, while fellow cast members in the biopic – which was directed by Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua and produced by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Graham King – include Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Laura Harrier and Juliano Krue Valdi of The Loud House.

Per the report, the tension arose from the expensive reshoots, as an overhaul of the film’s third act led to some of Long’s scenes also ending up on the cutting room floor.

Long is now reportedly ‘threatening to take the studio to mediation over the discrepancy’ in a bid to resolve the dispute and why the agreement wasn’t upheld, hoping to come to a mutual arrangement before things turn more serious.

Allegedly, ahead of its release, Michael faced numerous hurdles in production, all of which contributed to changes in Long’s role.

Originally, it’s said that the story was meant to end on a much darker note, focusing on the molestation allegations Jackson faced.

However, the makers had no choice but to make edits when attorneys uncovered a clause in a past settlement with Jordan Chandler, one of Jackson’s accusers, prohibiting any mention or depiction of him in the biopic.

Consequently, a different ending had to be filmed, which now sets up a second half or somewhat of a sequel to explore Jackson’s latter years and albums.

Audiences have been left wondering whether a second instalment would address the allegations of the so-called King of Pop being a ‘serial child predator’. If the decision is made to do so, though, lawyers would have to find a way that doesn’t violate past agreements.

The possibility of a sequel also places pressure on Lionsgate to rectify their working relationship with Long, should they want her to reprise her part as Jackson’s mother.

In the weeks since its release, Michael has taken cinema by storm. In grossing $278m (£205m) worldwide, it became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2026.

Still, critics have made their disdain for the project known, particularly those who have long followed the accusations of Jackson, who died in 2009, being a prolific child abuser. He always denied the allegations until his death.

Jackson was found not guilty of molesting a boy at a high-profile trial in 2005; however, the accusations resurfaced in 2019 following the explosive documentary Leaving Neverland, which featured graphic interviews with two men who said he routinely abused them as boys.

The documentary’s director, Dan Reed, told The Times in 2024 that he had seen a version of the script for the biopic, which he described as a ‘complete whitewash’, and that it had rewritten and dismissed the allegations.

Following its premiere, Reed has voiced his shock over the forgiveness people have shown to Jackson, given the nature of the accusations made.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he branded Jackson ‘a very nasty man’ who ‘hurt a lot of children’.

‘And he may have been a great entertainer, but those two things don’t cancel each other out,’ he added. ‘The fact is that paedophiles exist, and he was one of them, and he made those choices. Many other people who’ve been abused as a child did not choose to abuse others.’

Stars Long and Domingo were quizzed on their involvement in the film during an appearance on Today, with Domingo saying ‘the film takes place from the 60s to 1988’, which is why it ‘does not go into the first allegations’.

Having been asked how he ‘reconciles [his] performance’ in the film with the fact that ‘we live in an environment now where we take survivors of sexual abuse very seriously’, Domingo added: ‘So basically we centre it on the makings of Michael, so it’s an intimate portrait of who Michael is.’

‘Through his eyes,’ Long added.

‘So that’s what it is. That’s what this film is,’ Domingo continued. ‘And there’s a possibility of a part two that may deal with some other things that happened afterwards.

‘This is about the making of Michael, how he was raised and then how he was trying to find his voice as an artist and be a solo artist. And then, the movie. That’s what I have to say about that.’

Michael is now showing in cinemas.

Reps for Nia Long and Lionsgate have been contacted for comment.

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