Michael Jackson's fans and estate are protective of his image, forcing Discovery Channel to cancel the plan to air an upcoming special that re-enacts the late singer's autopsy. John Branca and John McClain who act as Michael's executors have written a letter to the channel's CEO David Zaslav, and they are backed up by more than 9,000 online petitions from fans.
In their letter, the executors said, "Your decision to even schedule this program is in shockingly bad taste, insensitive to Michael's family and appears motivated solely by your blind desire to exploit Michael's death, while cynically attempting to dupe the public into believing this show will have serious medical value."
"We were especially outraged when a sickening print advertisement for the program appeared making light of Michael's death by depicting a corpse sprawled on a steel gurney covered by a sheet with a hand sticking out wearing Michael's signature glove." In their letter, the executors said, "Your decision to even schedule this program is in shockingly bad taste, insensitive to Michael's family and appears motivated solely by your blind desire to exploit Michael's death, while cynically attempting to dupe the public into believing this show will have serious medical value."
The program which is deemed "exploitative" is set to air on January 13 in the U.K. Discovery is yet to comment on the protest as of press time.