Jackson Family Blasts Michael Jackson-Inspired Comedy Starring Joseph Fiennes as the King of Pop: 'It's Offensive'

Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon, a TV movie to air on Sky Arts in the UK, is based on an urban legend in which the King of Pop, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando embark on a road trip after they are unable to catch a flight out of New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Now, Michael's nephew, TJ Jackson, is firing back.

"It's offensive to me and my family for my uncle Michael to be portrayed in a comedy taking place around 9/11," TJ tells Entertainment Tonight in a statement. "Like everyone else, he was distraught, saddened and trying to process what had just happened. Following the events of 9/11, my uncle, Michael, stayed with a family friend in New Jersey for a week before flying back. The rest of our family immediately took buses back to Los Angeles as planes were grounded. There was no road trip with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando."

He adds: "I have no comment on the casting of the project."

British actor Joseph Fiennes, 45, has been tapped to play the late singer.

"I'm a white, middle-class guy from London," Fiennes exclusive told ET. "I'm as shocked as you may be."

Fiennes called Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon "endearing" and "a light comedy," explaining: "It's kind of off the wall, but the writing is a delight, and the kind of interaction between the three of them is funny, and also full of pathos. ... It's people who are so iconic, but also can be detached. You know, you can get detached from society. So it's examining that kind of wonderful and mad detachment."

TJ Jackson, 37, is raising Michael's three children as their co-guardian. Last September, he opened up to ET about why it's so important for him to "do well" by his late uncle.

"He was such an important person for me when I lost my mother as a 16-year-old that I'm just trying to repay him," he explained.