Jermaine Jackson has called for people to stop calling his late brother Michael by “crazy names”.

In an interview on French television, Jermaine said the media needed to realise that his brother was “a human being” and “a father”.

"So to paint him to be this person that he's not it bothers me, it bothers my family, it bothers all of us,” Jermaine said.

The singer's often eccentric behaviour led media outlets to give him a number of pseudonyms, including “wacko”.

But Jermaine, who broke down in tears during the interview, said his brother's charity work meant he should be given more respect.

"Leave him alone, stop the crazy names that they call him, what more do you have to do to make people realise he's a human being,” he said.

"His daughter said it all: 'My daddy.' He was a human being, he was a person, he was a father, he was an uncle, he was a brother, he was a son, and they need to leave him alone."

Meanwhile, Jermaine also claimed during the interview that he had never seen his brother display “any different, absurd behaviour” which would lead him to suspect the star was taking drugs.

"So to say these things, I don't know, I've never seen these things, so I would say 'no',” he added.

Focus has shifted onto Michael's alleged addiction to prescription painkillers since his death last month.

(by Jason Gregory)