Inside the Michael Jackson legacy industrial complex

NPR | By Brittany Luse,

Corey Antonio Rose, Neena Pathak

Published May 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM CDT

American singer Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009) with his brothers Jackie, Tito, Marlon, Jermaine and Randy and their father Joseph, circa 1971.

The Jackson family and estate have joined forces to give us another biopic of Michael Jackson's life. Michael doesn't tell us anything new about the King of Pop, but it has had the biggest opening weekend of a music biopic ever.

From Whitney Houston to Freddie Mercury, why do these posthumous biopics always seem to fall flat, and what do decades of Jackson family drama say about how we reckon with the complicated figures in pop culture and our own lives?

Brittany talks with Aisha Harris, critic and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, to find out.

Film & TV

Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host and cultural critic. She is currently the host of It's Been a Minute from NPR. Previously, Luse hosted For Colored Nerds, The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker and Teen Vogue. [Copyright 2024 NPR]

Corey Antonio Rose

Neena Pathak