CNN —Though the project was never released, Joseph Fiennes being cast to play Michael Jackson in 2017 created a whitewashing controversy. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Fiennes addressed the backlash to his casting. Fiennes had initially defended the decision in a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. It doesn’t negate who he was.”In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson rejected the idea of having a white actor portray him onscreen. Winfrey had asked him about reports that he wanted Pepsi to cast a white actor to play him as a child in a commercial.

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Persons: Joseph Fiennes, Michael Jackson, Jackson, Marlon Brando, Brian Cox, Elizabeth Taylor, Stockard Channing, Fiennes, “, ” Fiennes, ”, ” “, “ It’s Michael, –, Oprah Winfrey, Winfrey, ” Jackson Organizations: CNN, Guardian, Hollywood, Pepsi