Harry Styles has inadvertently angered die-hard Michael Jackson fans when a magazine dubbed him the “New King of Pop.”

Jackson fans, and even his nephew Taj Jackson, have voiced their displeasure at Styles’s title.

“Harry Styles: How the New King of Pop Set the Music World on Fire,” even ran the headline on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The “Watermelon Sugar” singer posed shirtless on the cover, wearing a white fur coat and holding a birthday cake with lit candles.

Thousands of Jackson fans have continued to speak out on Twitter to defend the “title.”

“There is no new King of Pop. You don’t own the title @RollingStone, and you don’t deserve it, my uncle does,” Michael Jackson’s nephew Taj wrote on Twitter, reposting a photo of the album cover. “Decades of dedication and sacrifice. The title has been retired. No disrespect to @Harry_Styles, he is incredibly talented. Let him have his own unique title.”

Community actress Yvette Nicole Brown weighed in on the debate in Taj’s comments. “Words can’t describe how much I love @tajjackson3! Let them know, ya!” she wrote in retweeting MJ’s nephew. She also responded to a fan who suggested the “King of Pop” title had not been retired. “The title HAS been retired. They would never try to call someone else ‘King of Rock & Roll’. Miss me with this mess.” Brown wrote, referring to Elvis Presley.

Twitter @iamveronica777 received thousands of plaudits for her take on the situation. “This title belongs to the black man who worked his ass off since the age of 5, who was a veteran by the age of 15, broke racial barriers and revolutionized the music industry. Michael Jackson is THEE King of Pop of EVERY generation,” they wrote.

Many commenters raised the issue of race and suggested industry insiders were trying to replace a Black man with a white man.

“A WHITE MAN? THE KING OF POP? they love disrespecting black artists that had to work a million times harder for their achievements,” wrote @ultralovedeluxe.

“They would never do this to Elvis and crown someone the new King of Rock & Roll, especially a black artist. But they do it to Michael Jackson all of the time with mediocre white artist, while pulling s*** like calling him ‘the self-proclaimed King of Pop,’” @AmalieB94 wrote.

Ohio-based journalist Alexis Oatman asked “Did Rolling Stone really call Harry Styles the ‘new’ King of Pop?” and used a short Jimmy Neutron meme to express her fury. Sports broadcaster Chris Williamson retweeted the Rolling Stone cover and wrote: “I don’t see Michael Jackson here so why is new King of Pop mentioned here?

“A prerequisite to even coming close to being coined the ‘new king of pop’ is being black. cuz the current king of pop is black, meaning that’s who you’re ‘competing’ with. if you don’t have to shatter racial boundaries, you cannot compete,” wrote hip hop artist Chika.

Writer Tenille Clarke commented on how despite being dead for years, Jackson is still inciting such passion from his fans and debate online: “Now THAT is a legacy.” Clarke also pointed out that Rolling Stone also called Justin Timberlake the “new King of Pop” on a cover story back in 2003.

Rapper Chuck Inglish admitted that while he’s a Styles fan, it was an “aggressive as hell move” to name him the “King of Pop.” “Dont do that.. Yall gon set my dog up for failure,” he said.

Journalist Marc Griffin called the new title for Styles “extremely telling” and “equally embarrassing.”