'You didn't earn it': Michael Jackson's nephew Taj FURIOUS after Harry Styles called 'new King Of Pop'
LONDON, UNITED KINGDON: Michael Jackson's nephew Taj Jackson, 49, slammed Rolling Stone UK for calling Harry Styles the 'new King of Pop' on their cover. On August 22, 2022, the magazine unveiled the cover for the October/November issue of its UK edition, which featured the 'As It Was' singer wearing only a pair of pink sequined boxers and a white fur coat while holding a lit birthday cake. The outlet printed a subhead under the 28-year-old's name, "How the new King of Pop set the music world flame." Given how the title "King of Pop" has been commonly associated with Michael Jackson, the late hitmaker's nephew Taj Jackson took issue with it and wasn't afraid to confront the publication to defend his uncle.
Michael Jackson's estate has trademarked the phrase "King Of Pop" which was used extensively for the late pop icon both during his life and since his death. Taj took the matter to Twitter and wrote in response to Rolling Stone UK's tweet about the cover, "There is no new King of Pop." Taj, whose father is Michael's brother Tito Jackson, said, "You don't own the title @RollingStone, and you didn't earn it, my uncle did. Decades of dedication and sacrifice." Saying that the "title has been retired" since Michael's death in 2009, Taj issued a clarification in the same tweet, "No disrespect to @Harry_Styles," adding, "He's mega talented." Taj urged the magazine to give Harry "his own unique title" instead of making it seem like he was succeeding the 'Thriller' artist. The internet also agreed with Taj with one pointing out that someone "can't be King of Pop with 2 albums."
READ MORE
2022 VMAs: Fans manifest Blackpink's win as they become the FIRST female K-pop performers
There is no new King of Pop. You don’t own the title @RollingStone, and you didn’t earn it, my uncle did. Decades of dedication and sacrifice. The title has been retired. No disrespect to @Harry_Styles, he’s mega talented. Give him his own unique title. https://t.co/td6SSSVkfX
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) August 22, 2022
Michael's estate is so protective of the phrase "King Of Pop" that it once sued a small gourmet popcorn company for calling its website KingOfPop.com. Anyone who now attempts to open the URL KingOfPop.com will be redirected to the official website for Michael Jackson.
While Styles has not publicly addressed Taj's comment, he did note in his cover story with Rolling Stone that he rarely uses social media. In fact, he described Twitter as "a s--tstorm of people trying to be awful to people", saying that the online comments about his personal life "doesn't make me feel good."
"It's obviously a difficult feeling to feel like being close to me means you're at the ransom of a corner of Twitter or something," Styles said, adding, "I just wanted to sing. I didn't want to get into it if I was going to hurt people like that."
Michael Jackson died at the age of 50 in 2009 due to a cardiac arrest he suffered after having propofol as a sleep aid. His legacy has come under renewed scrutiny in recent years because of the long-running allegations that he was a child molester. Taj furiously defended his uncle and told Billboard, "He himself was molested as a child, but he maintained that over the course of more than 200 sleepovers at Michael's home he never detected a hint of any inappropriate sexual behavior from the pop star. Michael was probably the best person that I will ever meet. He had a healing factor to him and the biggest heart and soul."
Taj said, "When you were around him, nothing else mattered in the world. All your troubles and all of your pain were gone. Even when my mom passed away, it felt like I was going to be okay because of him."
Taj's mother Dee Dee, who divorced Tito in 1988, was found dead in a swimming pool in 1994 in what was initially thought to be an accident. Businessman Donald Bohana, who was dating her at the time of her death, was subsequently convicted of her murder but has ardently maintained his innocence.