Joseph Fiennes, a British actor best known for his leading role in Shakespeare in Love, has been cast as Michael Jackson in a new half-hour TV comedy about an unconfirmed road trip the singer reportedly took with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
A rep for production company Sky Arts confirmed the news on Wednesday, adding that the project is titled Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon but many people are freaking out about Fiennes’ casting because, he’s white.
“A White Actor will play MJ. Because we aren’t whitewashed enough in Hollywood, apparently,” read a tweet posted on BET’s Twitter page Wednesday.
Legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson who died in 2009 at the age of 50 suffered from the skin condition vitiligo and starting in the late ’80s, he began to look paler and paler. Investigators found 30 tubes of skin whitening cream at his home after his death.
The casting news comes amid recent criticism aimed at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over the lack of diversity among the nominees of this year’s Oscars.
Screenwriter Neil Forsyth tweeted Wednesday the project has been filmed and is set to be released in the U.K. “soon.”
