Ma Yili stars Luo Zijun in the series. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese actress Ma Yili recently apologized online for a comment about the late pop star Michael Jackson in the TV series The First Half of My Life.

In the third episode of the series, Ma who plays housewife Luo Zijun mocks a character's Westernized lifestyle.

She says: "Why doesn't he lighten his skin like Michael Jackson?"

The scene sparked anger among Jackson's fans in China.

Ma, followed by 41 million fans on the Chinese Twitter-like Sina Weibo, issued an apology on the micro blog.

The crew released the similar apology online and promised to revise the scene featuring the lines.

Latest statistics show the series has accumulated more than 1 billion clicks on major video-streaming sites.