The Simpsons episode that aired 35 years ago but was banned due to controversial guest

An episode of The Simpsons was withdrawn decades after its initial release due to a guest star who had appeared.

The show has been running since 1989, going for a whopping 37 seasons, made up of hundreds of episodes over the years, and during that time a lot of traditions and long-running jokes have sprung up on the show.

One is that it's been running so long it appears to have even predicted the future, for example the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.

But in addition to its eery ability to predict the future, The Simpsons has also become known for the vast array of celebrity guest stars who have appeared on the show over the years, often playing a fictionalised version of themselves.

These have included Hollywood A-listers, musicians such as Metallica, Aerosmith, and Ringo Starr and George Harrison on separate occasions.

It was a huge guest star but it proved to be controversial (Fox)

However, sometimes a guest star can become embroiled in controversy, and that is just what happened with the episode where Michael Jackson appeared on the show.

The episode in question was from season 3, in which Homer is sent to a psychiatric ward after he wore a pink shirt to work.

There he shares a room with a patient called Leon Kompowsky, who is under the delusional belief that he is the pop star Michael Jackson, the joke being of course that he is in fact voiced by Jackson himself, and also that Homer has no idea who Michael Jackson is.

Michael Jackson (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

It was only much later that it was confirmed that the voice actor for Leon, who was credited as John Jay Smith, was actually the King of Pop himself, who died in 2009.

The Billie Jean singer was reportedly a big fan of the show and had called creator Matt Groening to see if he could play a part, which manifested itself in the popular episode.

In 2019 however the episode was pulled from the official roster 27 years after it was first aired.

The decision came in the wake of the documentary Leaving Neverland, made about Jackson, which was released that year.

In the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland two men make some disturbing allegations against the pop star, claiming that they were sexually abused by Jackson at the height of his fame, when they were just seven and 10 years old.

The episode has been banned for over two decades (Fox)

You will now struggle to find anywhere to watch the old episode as a result of the allegations of child sexual abuse which were made against Jackson following his death in 2009.

Jackson's estate has continued to deny the allegations that were made against him in the years since.

However, bosses at The Simpsons took the decision to remove it from the show's official roster of episodes in the wake of the documentary, with many arguing that the singer's reputation had been tarnished.

Further updates on the allegations are set to come next year, as the two alleged victims are set to appear in court, while a biopic on the legendary performer is also due to arrive in 2026.