Marlon Jackson is partnering with production company BLK Prime on an eight-episode docuseries aimed at restoring his father Joe Jackson's legacy, a direct answer to portrayals the family considers unfair and incomplete.
The series, titled "The Manager, The Mythology, The Legend," will attempt to reframe the public image of the man who built the Jackson Five from a working-class Indiana family into a global sensation. Page Six reported that Marlon Jackson, the sixth child of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, issued a statement calling the project a chance to offer "a distinctive and accurate portrayal of the man behind our family."
Joe Jackson died of pancreatic cancer in 2018 at age 89. In the years since, his public image has been shaped largely by two high-profile entertainment projects: the biopic "Michael," starring Colman Domingo, and the Broadway musical "MJ." Both depicted Joe as an overbearing figure. The family believes those portrayals went further, casting him as a villain rather than the architect of one of the most successful musical dynasties in American history.
An insider familiar with the docuseries put it bluntly: "There's another side of him that hasn't been told. He hasn't been portrayed in a good light." The same source said Joe "was demonized" in the biopic and the Broadway show.
That insider also made a case for Joe Jackson's professional record on its own terms:
"There's no manager greater than Mr. Jackson. He created the Jackson Five, Janet and Michael."
Starting in the 1960s and running through the following decade, Joe Jackson molded his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael into the Jackson Five. He also launched Janet Jackson's acting career and guided her early years in music, a run that eventually produced one of the best-selling female artists in recording history.
By the 1980s, though, public attention had shifted. Allegations of strict and abusive parenting overtook the story of what Joe Jackson had built. For decades, that became the dominant frame, the disciplinarian father, not the man who took a family from poverty in Indiana to the top of the music industry.
Janet Jackson addressed her father's legacy publicly at the Essence Music Festival shortly after his death in 2018. She told the audience she had spoken with her brother about Joe's strength and what the family had accomplished under his direction.
"We're a black family that came from Indiana and, we broke all kinds of records from all around the globe. That's truth."
Janet also described a conversation about whether to continue performing in the wake of her father's passing. She said she believed Joe would have told her to finish what she started, and that he would be with her "every step of the way in your heart." She has since dedicated portions of her live shows to celebrating the lives of Joe, Michael, and Tito, all of whom have passed away.
Marlon Jackson echoed that sentiment in his own statement about the docuseries:
"Our father's life is replete with triumphs and challenges, and we firmly believe that this series will offer a distinctive and accurate portrayal of the man behind our family."
He added that the family is "thrilled to share [my] father's indelible legacy with fans worldwide, granting them an intimate glimpse into the remarkable individual we knew and loved."
BLK Prime, the production company behind the series, will produce all eight episodes. Steven Manning, described as a longtime friend of the Jackson family, will serve as executive producer. Lauren Pearson, BLK Prime's Vice President of Operations, framed Joe Jackson as "a visionary trailblazer who laid the groundwork for one of the most triumphant family dynasties" in music.
Pearson said it was "with immense honor" that BLK Prime would collaborate with Marlon Jackson to bring the story to television screens worldwide. No premiere date or distribution platform has been announced.
The docuseries arrives at a moment when the Jackson family clearly feels the entertainment industry has told Joe's story without them, and gotten it wrong. Whether audiences are willing to revisit that story through the family's own lens remains an open question. But the Jacksons are not asking permission. They are putting their version on the record, eight episodes at a time.
In a culture that loves tearing down the people who built things, it is worth hearing from the family that lived it before accepting Hollywood's verdict as the final word.
