Cotton On pulls Michael Jackson shirts from shelves amid documentary controversy

Michael Jackson T-shirts were being sold on the New Zealand Cotton On website and in their stores nationwide for half price. Photo / Cotton On

New Zealand Cotton On stores have pulled Michael Jackson T-shirts off the shelves amid the controversial documentary about the King of Pop.

This comes after New Zealand radio stations under NZME. and MediaWorks announced that The King of Pop's music would no longer be played on air.

Michael Jackson T-shirts were being sold for half price on the New Zealand Cotton On website and in their stores nationwide.

However, when searching on the website it seems the Michael Jackson shirts are no longer on sale, with a search saying "Sorry! We couldn't find a match for 'Michael Jackson'."

Also, a St Luke's retail assistant confirmed to the Herald that the store was no longer selling the Michael Jackson apparel.

A St Lukes store spokesperson told 1 NEWS, that the T-shirts with the words Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal, featuring a picture of the singer dancing in the iconic video for the song have been in stock across Cotton On stores in New Zealand since last year.

Two other shirts featured an image of Jackson from his album Bad and the other showed a silhouette of him doing the moonwalk.

New Zealand Cotton On stores has pulled Michael Jackson t-shirts off the shelves amid the controversial documentary about the King of Pop. Photo / Cotton On

On Saturday, when the Jackon shirts were still in stock, 1 NEWS spoke to a St Lukes retail assistant who said the shirt was "hugely popular".

"Customers across the spectrum have come in asking about them, literally elderly and young people coming in and asking for them," a retail assistant told 1 NEWS

But a friend of a customer who bought a Jacko T-shirt from a Cotton On store told 1 NEWS she thought it was inappropriate they were being sold after the controversial documentary came out.

In the two-part series documentary Leaving Neverland, two men have accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them when they were children.

A spokesperson for Cotton On has confirmed that Michael Jackson products are no longer available in stores globally.