In John Mulaney’s latest comedy special, a children’s program called “John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch,” a young boy named Alex says he’s the son of Marlon Jackson of the Jackson 5. Could this be true? A long-lost Jackson child we didn’t know about, nephew to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson?
TheWrap decided to investigate.
In the special — which is intended to be watched by both children AND adults, mind you — Alex is asked to draw his grandparents, and he produces a startlingly realistic picture of Joe and Katherine Jackson.
This gets Mulaney’s attention. “Was your dad like, a very popular singer when he was a kid and then an even bigger singer when he was an adult, or just the first part?” he asks.
“I’ll be candid,” Alex replies. “My dad is Marlon Jackson of the Jackson Five.”
Now, we know this is comedy special which, by nature, contains jokes. But we had to know for sure.
Our first clue is that Alex’s last name is not Jackson — it’s Bello. He’s a Broadway child-actor who recently appeared alongside Annette Bening in last spring’s revival of “All My Sons” as well as “The Rose Tattoo” with Marisa Tomei this fall — and he’s been cast in a Broadway revival of “Caroline, or Change” this spring.
Our second clue was that Marlon Jackson’s three known children, Valencia, Brittany and Marlon Jr., were born between 1976 and 1981. So, at this point, it seemed very unlikely that Alex, who does not appear to be anywhere near his 40s, could be Marlon Jackson’s son — or his grandson for that matter.
But just in case we’re missing something here, Netflix indulged us with the answer: “Alex Bello is not related to Marlon Jackson, just a joke for the show,” a rep confirmed.