Michael Jackson’s nephew isn’t happy about Harry Styles being called the new King of Pop

Danny Jones

He is very much the pop star of the moment – but MJ’s nephew is having none of it

Harry Styles is undoubtedly one of the biggest pop stars on the planet right now – some might even say the biggest – so much so in fact, that Rolling Stone magazine recently dubbed him “the new King of Pop”.

However, Taj Jackson, the nephew of what many consider to be the one and only ‘king of pop’, Michael Jackson, begs to differ and says “there is no new King of Pop”.

Retweeting the recent Rolling Stone cover on which Styles featured earlier this week, the son of MJ’s older brother Tito (a singer himself) insisted that the outlet doesn’t own the title, adding that they “didn’t earn it, [his] uncle did”.

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. https://t.co/td6SSSVkfX

— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) August 22, 2022

While many celebrated the strap-line, some were quick to back the Jackson family members, and others cited that perhaps people shouldn’t be so quick to defend the music legend given his long-running alleged controversies involving children. It was only back in 2019 when the documentary Leaving Neverland shed further light on the series of allegations.

Nevertheless, Taj, 49, goes on to claim that MJ’s commonly-used title has been “retired” following his “decades of dedication and sacrifice” – which is technically true, since the moniker itself is trademarked by the artist’s estate, Triumph International.

He concludes his response by clarifying that he means “no disrespect” to the 28-year-old, adding that he’s “mega-talented” and should be given “his own unique title”. How about the ‘prince of pop’? We’re just spitballing.

There is certainly levels to fandom and while there might not be many that can live up to the likes of The Beatles, Elvis and MJ, Harry Styles’ popularity is significant. After all, you can study a university course on the lad. Yes, really.