Michael Jackson’s nephew is raging about Harry Styles being called the “new King of Pop”.
Taj Jackson hit out after the former One Direction singer, 28, was given the label in his cover shoot for the September issue of Rolling Stone UK magazine.
The 49-year-old vented on Twitter: “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.”
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The Estate Of Michael Jackson has trademarked the “King Of Pop” which was used extensively about Jackson both during his life and since his death.
It is so protective of the name it once sued a small gourmet popcorn company for calling its website KingOfPop.com.
Anyone who now attempts to open the web address KingOfPop.com will be redirected to the official website for Michael Jackson.
Jackson died at the age of 50 in 2009 from a cardiac arrest he suffered after having propofol administered as a sleep aid.
He was acquitted in 2005 of child molestation, but the allegations have dogged his name, most recently in the 2019 documentary series “Leaving Neverland”.
Taj, whose father is Michael’s brother Tito Jackson, furiously defended his uncle in the wake of the film, slamming the accusers profiled on the series for “gloating” about Michael onscreen.
He told Billboard he was molested as a child, but maintained that in the course of more than 200 sleepovers at Michael’s home he never detected anything untoward.
Taj has declared he has “zero doubts about my uncle’s innocence”, adding: “Michael was probably the best person that I will ever meet. He had a healing factor to him and the biggest heart and soul.
“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, dating her at the time of her death, was subsequently convicted of her murder but has maintained his innocence.