Site last updated: Sunday, April 5, 2026

Log In

Reset Password
MENU
Butler County's great daily newspaper

People

Jaafar Jackson, left, will portray his uncle Michael Jackson, right, in an upcoming biopic. Associated Press

Michael Jackson will be played by his nephew Jaafar Jackson in a biopic directed by “Training Day” filmmaker Antoine Fuqua.

“Proud to announce @jaafarjackson as Michael — the motion picture event that explores the journey of the man who became the King of Pop,” Fuqua announced on Instagram. “Coming soon.”

Jackson is the 26-year-old son of Jackson 5 bassist and singer Jermaine Jackson, one of the King of Pop’s older brothers. Jaafar Jackson confirmed Fuqua’s post on Instagram, adding, “I’m humbled and honored to bring my uncle Michael’s story to life,” and promising fans, “I’ll see you soon.”

Michael Jackson was one of the most celebrated and controversial artists of all time when he died in 2009 at 50 years old from acute intoxication of propofol. An autopsy revealed he was otherwise healthy.

Known for more than four decades as a dazzling performer responsible for hit tunes including “Beat It,” “Rock With You” and “Thriller,” Michael Jackson won countless awards and was honored by presidents. His legacy is also dogged by controversy involving allegations of child sex abuse made in the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which his estate called “another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.”

It’s unclear how Fuqua will approach those controversies in “Michael,” which has rights to the singer’s music catalogue, according to Deadline.

Like his uncle, the film’s star reportedly began performing at a young age. Deadline reports Jaafar Jackson began singing and dancing at 12 years old. He appeared on “Oprah Behind the Scenes” in 2011, according to IMDb, which also credits him with a 2015 appearance on reality TV show “The Jacksons: Next Generation.”

Jermaine Jackson’s unverified Twitter account congratulated the 68-year-old performer’s son for his “first footprint in the music industry” when Jackson released his first single, “Got Me Singing,” in June 2019. That same Twitter feed blasted “Leaving Neverland” as “uninterested in facts” a few months earlier.

“Let this man rest,” he told a British talk show in 2019.

———

Marilyn Manson

In a new lawsuit, an anonymous woman has accused rocker Brian Warner, better known by the stage name Marilyn Manson, of grooming her and sexually assaulting her multiple times in the 1990s when she was underage.

The woman, identified as “Jane Doe,” submitted the suit in Nassau County Supreme Court on Long Island, with Warner and his former labels Interscope and Nothing Records listed as defendants, according to Rolling Stone. In the suit, the plaintiff accuses Warner of sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Doe says she met Warner after a concert in Dallas in 1995, when she was 16 years old, below the age of consent in Texas. She alleges Warner invited her and a younger girl onto his tour bus, asked them for their ages and school grades, and made a note of their home addresses and phone numbers.

The lawsuit lists details of the alleged assault. “One of the band members watched Defendant Warner sexually assault Plaintiff. Plaintiff was in pain, scared, upset, humiliated, and confused. After he was done, Defendant Warner laughed at her. … Then Defendant Warner demanded Plaintiff to ‘get the (expletive) off of my bus’ and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family.”

Afterward, Warner allegedly contacted the plaintiff to ask for explicit photos of her and her friends. Then, he allegedly persuaded the plaintiff, still 16 at the time, to meet him in New Orleans — where the age of consent is 17 — and allegedly groomed her by complimenting her artwork.

“Defendant Warner then became more aggressive and again sexually assaulted Plaintiff,” the suit reads.

After Doe turned 18, Warner allegedly continued to “groom, harass, and sexually abuse” her, according to the lawsuit. “While she was still a child, Defendant Warner had purposefully and intentionally laid the groundwork necessary to intimidate and control her,” the complaint adds.

Now the alleged victim is seeking damages to be determined at trial, as well as an “order enjoining Defendants from future unlawful business practices including, but not limited to, exposing minors and vulnerable adults to sexual abuse and exploitation.”

More than a dozen women have made accusations against Warner — including his ex-fiancé, actress Evan Rachel Wood. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years,” Wood wrote on Instagram in February 2021. “I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”

When Rolling Stone covered the many accusations of abuse against Warner in an investigation published in November 2021, an attorney for Warner said the musician “vehemently denies any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse of anyone.”

———

Marc Anthony, left, stands with Nadia Ferreira
Nadia Ferreira, left, and Marc Anthony

The New York-born singer-actor Marc Anthony, 54, wed model Nadia Ferreira, 23, at a Miami ceremony Saturday night.

The ceremony took place at the Pérez Art Museum, with actress Salma Hayek, “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi among those in attendance.

Retired soccer star David Beckham, who went to the wedding with his wife, former Spice Girls singer Victoria Beckham, served as Anthony’s co-best man with Carlos Slim.

Anthony was previously married to former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres from 2000 to 2004, Bronx-born singer Jennifer Lopez from 2004 to 2014, and supermodel Shannon De Lima from 2014 to 2017.

It’s unclear if Lopez or their two kids, 14-year-old twins Emme and Max, attended Saturday’s ceremony. Anthony’s sons with Torres — 21-year-old Cristian Muniz and 19-year-old Ryan Muniz — were reportedly there.

Neither Anthony nor Ferreira, who won Miss Paraguay in 2021, have posted online about the wedding, but Ferreira re-shared an Instagram photo by Victoria Beckham on Sunday.

“We love you,” she captioned an image of David Beckham, Anthony and Ferreira, who was dressed in white.

The couple got engaged in May, two months after Anthony confirmed their relationship with a pair of Instagram posts.

The marriage is the first for Ferreira, a fashion model who has appeared in “Harper’s Bazaar,” “Cosmopolitan” and “Hola!”

———

From combined wire reports.

More in People

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS