Spike Lee has defended the new Michael Jackson biopic, titled Michael, against criticism for its omission of the allegations of child s*xual abuse against the late singer.

The film, titled Michael, stars the hitmaker’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson as the King Of Pop, and charts his life from being in the Jackson 5 in the Sixties to his early solo career.

And despite breaking box office records, the movie has sparked backlash over the producers’ decision to leave out the abuse allegations, which began in 1993 and plagued Michael later in his career and even after his death in 2009.

However, director Spike has defended the film, which he said he’d already seen twice and “loves” insisting that the abuse accusations weren’t included as it only documents Michael’s life up until 1988, which was before the first allegation was made.

“First of all, if you’re a movie critic, and you’re complaining about all this other stuff, but the movie ends in ‘88,” the Oscar winner told CNN. “And the stuff you’re talking about, accusations, happened [later].”

“So, you’re critiquing the film on something that you want in, but it doesn’t work in the timeline of the film,” he criticised.

While he suggested that the fact the movie did so well at the box office further justified the omission, adding, “But people showed up. Worldwide, people showed their love.”

Spike was a long-time friend and collaborator of Michael, directing the 1996 music video for They Don’t Care About Us and two documentaries about the late star, Bad 25 (2012) and Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (2016).

Reflecting on his relationship with the Billie Jean star and fellow late singer Prince, he said, “I miss Mike. I miss Prince. I mean, these are my brothers. I worked with both of them. Both beautiful, beautiful people.”