MJ Film ‘Boycott’

While the posthumous Michael Jackson tour rehearsal documentary “This Is It” was poised to break box office records for its worldwide two-week theatre run, a Web site purported to be the work of grieving friends and fans of the superstar launched a boycott of the film.

The site features a stylized red silhouette of a dancing Michael Jackson on top of what could be interpreted as either a splash of spray paint or dripping blood, over the words “This Is NOT It.”

Under the banner is a subhead reading: “The industry wanted Michael Jackson live. We wanted Michael Jackson alive. Now we want the truth!”

The site links to a video of scrolling text and still images of Jackson, accompanied by a morose audio track, generally making charges that MJ had been drugged and forced to perform by AEG and unspecified others. The charges closely mirror those made in the weeks after Jackson’s June 25 death by his father, Joe Jackson, and concert promoter Leonard Rowe.

A WHOIS search of the Web site’s domain shows the site is registered to Media Temple Inc., a Web site-hosting service in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. The owner of the site is not revealed.

In the wake of the ill-fated Jackson “This Is It” 50-show concert residency at London’s O2, competing family members and associates have made varying claims about Michael Jackson’s physical condition and concert agreements.

In addition to Joe Jackson’s and Rowe’s claims, concert promoter AllGood Entertainment and exec Patrick Allocco have filed suit in New York federal court seeking a share of profits from MJ’s estate and Sony, which controls the late star’s catalog and won the rights to release the “This Is It” film.