Since writing the Oprah post yesterday, I’ve watched the first episode of Leaving Neverland. Episode one does a good job describing the progression of the relationship through a child’s lens, how they were seduced and the psychological tactics Michael Jackson used to alienate them from their parents. It’s devastating. I mentioned that I was just looking for a time that my husband and I could watch this together. That’s mostly true. Part of me knew I’d never listen to his music again after seeing it and, as ashamed I am to admit it, I grappled with letting that go. It seems I am not the only one who will mute Jackson’s music, radio stations in New Zealand and Canada are already turning him off.
Radio stations in New Zealand and Canada have dropped Michael Jackson from their playlists, following new accusations of abuse by the late pop star in the documentary “Leaving Neverland.”
While some fans have taken to the singer’s defense on social media, others have expressed support for his alleged victims, and have discussed feeling uncomfortable about listening to Jackson’s music in the wake of the allegations.
In New Zealand, multiple major radio stations have pulled Jackson’s music from their airwaves, including commercial broadcaster MediaWorks.
“Michael Jackson isn’t currently on any MediaWorks Radio stations’ playlists,” Leon Wratt, the company’s director for radio, said in a statement. “This is a reflection of our audiences and their preferences — it is our job to ensure our radio stations are playing the music people want to hear.”
Rival broadcaster NZME also will not be playing the late pop star’s music. “NZME station playlists change from week to week and right now Michael Jackson does not feature on them,” NZME entertainment director Dean Buchanan told the New Zealand Herald, which is owned by NZME
A spokesman for Radio NZ, a publicly-funded broadcaster, said it would only play Jackson if it was “part of a news story or to provide color around a commentary piece.”
In Canada, three major Montreal-based radio stations have also stopped playing Jackson’s music, according to Canadian news outlet CBC. Other stations in Canada are reported to be monitoring the situation.
I may not agree with it but I understand why these stations are keeping the door open to play his stuff in the future. A world without The Jackson 5 or his solo stuff seems inconceivable. Watching the first episode, when they talked about the Thriller video, I was appalled that my first thought was, “wait, what am I going to play at Halloween?” I admit I love Jackson’s music. One of my all-time favorite songs is Miles Davis’ rendition of Human Nature. And I understand the argument about separating the artist from their art but I can’t, especially in this case when I know his estate benefits heavily by the public perpetuating that view. They, of course, vehemently deny the allegations and sued HBO for $100 million for defamation. None of that convinces me they didn’t know. I’ll leave Jackson’s kids out of it but not the rest of the family. They knew something was suspicious and they did nothing because of the money it brought in. I’m convinced they canceled the Chicago run of the Jackson music musical, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, because they knew exactly what the documentary was going to say. They may have claimed “scheduling difficulties” but I think they wanted to wait out this uproar over the documentary. They still intend to take it to Broadway in 2020.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
Don’t beat yourself up for having complicated feelings about his music. He was a genius whose influence changed music forever, and whose songs mean something deep to people. He was also a monster. That’s a lot to reconcile.
This! I grew up in a household where my mother always believed the accusations so from my childhood on I pretty much accepted that dude was a monster. However, he was also a genius and I loved his music.
It wasn’t until the last few years that I even began to have qualms playing and listening to his music. It is so easy to compartmentalize when we want to. Now, I just enjoy his music less especially because I have trouble reconciling his lyrics with his behaviour.
Sunny i am 100 percent with u. I believed it as did my mum but it wasn’t like ok we are never gonna play him at home. It took time and now i just can’t.
His insane fans were on the streets protesting…
Same. My mom canceled him decades ago. I was never really a huge fan of his music, so I never had that internal conflict, though.
I will say what really bothers me about all of this is that it isn’t NEWS. We’ve known this for DECADES. Same with all the other predators who have been getting away with it for years. We know what’s going on, yet people still watch their movies or buy their music, until there’s some big ah ha! moment. Then there’s a huge movement to cancel them. The researcher in me wants to know more about this cultural evolution of social consciousness.
Sunny, same for me. I’ve somehow managed to compartmentalize MJ and the Jackson 5 – truly the soundtrack to my childhood and college years. I also managed to separate Bad and earlier, from later stuff. I made myself rewatch his Super Bowl halftime show yesterday. It’s creepy as hell now. And I knew. We all knew it was true. I’m not proud of myself for it, but just can’t put my head in the sand any longer.
He’s an alleged monster. He’s dead and can’t even defend himself. This is all so gross. If these allegations are true, they should have been dealt with years ago, not like this in a way where there’s no one to counter them. I won’t be boycotting.
When Michael was alive, he could offer no explanation for why he would sleep in the same bed with unrelated young boys for weeks at a time, just that he “loved” them, which raises hella red flags to anyone with common sense. He couldn’t explain why one of the boys who accused Michael of sexual assault knew how to draw a picture of Michael’s genitals, distinct markings included. He used his celebrity to skate on the charges, but I think it’s pretty clear Michael was more than an “alleged” monster.
No, Shane. Just no. That’s completely unacceptable thinking at this point.
This is the problem with making idols out of people like MJ (or Trump for the right-wingers). If it had been any other person, everyone would have seen the red flags, and there were lots of red flags, but since he’s an idol, he couldn’t have done all those things. Yes, he could have. MJ was extremely talented, but also very entitled due to his success, and I think most likely abused as a child.
I don’t know what to do about his music. If we banned every song from a decadent popular musician, we wouldn’t have much left. If people choose to listen, then they can make it their own and not think about him. I discovered that when I decided not to Google the meaning of lyrics; just make the song out to be what I want it to be and ignore the rest.
“If these allegations are true, they should have been dealt with years ago”
The victims being young children means that justice will never play out on the schedule you demand. He damaged the mental health of his victims. It was so terrible with what he did and the mixed messages he gave with it, that it takes time for the brain to process.
I’ve read the average is 20 years after the crime for male abuse survivors to come forward. There’s a reason for that.
Shane, watch the documentary. These men interviewed discuss how MJ got trust from the parents, separated the boys from their families and ultimately, fractured the families. These are just two boys (now men) who have had to deal with the psychological trauma of MJ’s sexual abuse and manipulation. I believe that there were many more boys in his stable. MJ was a monster.
so, Shane, you’ll still listen to the music of a child rapist because his crimes weren’t handled when they SHOULD have been?
that’s some Nadia Comaneci level mental gymnastics there.
Commenting Bunny, you said it well. and sunny, right there with you. I always felt weird listening to his music after the first round of accusations; when he wasn’t prosecuted, I (along with others) assumed “eh, I guess he didn’t do it?” and yet I still felt a little icky when his songs came on the radio and I sang along. NOW, I just can’t. a radio station was playing Black or White on the way to work the day after the first part of Leaving Neverland aired, and I was GOBSMACKED…it was like a deliberate “F YOU” to his victims. I changed the station immediately.
Shane, you don’t get to put a timeline on how victims of sexual abuse and rape cope with their pain in their lifetime. It’s a lifelong journey to healing and coping with what that monster did to them. Some will never get peace. Never get justice. They still deserve to deal with it in their own timeline. Most child sexual rape victims take a very long time to process and find the words for what happened to them, if they even ever get to process it.
I’m so utterly depressed reading the reactions on Twitter to this documentary, and not just by his super fans. MY god why would anyone want to come out with the truth about their sexual abuse in light of that kind disbelief and victim shaming? Makes me sad
I wanna know why is mj off limits but r kelly is ok? Are mj’s fans that delusional? Or is this an issue of male victims?
@Milla – come on, seriously? The wattage and gifts of those two men are completely different. Michael Jackson was a worldwide, decades-long phenomenon. R. Kelly sang on that animated NBA movie soundtrack. It’s going to be a lot more difficult to get Jackson out of our brain playlists.
Betsy
I get that part about songs. But people still say mj is innocent. That is the crazy part. Smooth criminal was my fave cheer up song. Give into me was one of the sexiest songs. But just admit it to yourself, he was a monster.
The whole celebrity obsession has never been stronger than with him.
Yes someone can be amazing at something and also a bad person.
Also the whole not listening to his music because it benefits his estate doesn’t sit quite right with me. By his ‘estate’ surely we are talking about his children? They were just kids and didn’t have a part to play in this. I would feel differently if he were alive and benefiting personally.
For me it’s more… I don’t WANT to listen to it. I may change my mind, but for right now, I can’t stand it. And it also benefits his family members that I think enabled him and turned a blind eye (not talking about his kids in this case).
His estate is currently worth 2 billions, surely, 3 people can manage to survive with this and it doesn’t need to grow through more sales and copyright revenues. Most importantly, the estate finances a whole lot of people other than the kids (who are adults now or soon to be); many of those on the estate payroll were MJ enablers that actively tried to shut down allegations throughout the years and turned a blind eye whenever Jackson was having kids sleepover. They don’t deserve more cash.
The only good thing that the estate money could be used for is to pay back victims. If that means MJ’s kids would have to work to be able to pay for their stuff, so be it; we don’t have to give them money. When we accept an estate, we accept the good and the potential bad that comes with it.
I guess we will have to talk about other child molesters (dead or alive) too. I was told yesterday by my boyfriend, when discussing Jackson, that I will habe to put David Bowie on my boycott list now, too????? We will have to talk about monstrous geniuses like Charles Dickens, Pablo Picasso, James Brown und Roman Polanski …
Have you looked into the Bowie story? Your boyfriend either doesn’t know what he’s talking about or is being purposely disingenuous.
Bowie once slept with a young woman (late teens) who was very much into the experience and has only good things to say.
Bowie did not groom multiple children over multiple years, sleep with them behind multiple locked doors, pay their parents off with houses and diamond bracelets, etc etc etc.
Look it up. MJ is a monster. Was, whatever. Monster.
@Some chick: there is a new biography coming out. Not just one young girl (as if the number mattered ?!) You go look it up.
Anyway, my point was, that a lot of hour heroes might not be what we wanted to see in them…includeimg my beloved Bowie.
There is indeed a huge difference between the groupies that were following bands in the 60s and someone grooming families to win their trust and rape little kids. That difference is consent, the groupies were consenting, when they didn’t, then it’s rape.
@Arpeggi: One must not compare the crime of child molestation with having sex with underage groupies in the 60ies (being as friendly and consenting as sex with underage groupies can be) And BTW: I like Bowie.
I am just pointing out that, unfortunately, looking closer and reading into biographies of a lot of geniuses of our time, they might have not have been “nice people”.
The spectrum of “Monster genius” is much wider then just child molesters. What about misogynist? Picasso once said about women: “For me there are only two kinds of women: goddesses and doormats.”
My point is: After, as an example, reading Picassos biography, I started to look at his art in a very different way….wouldn’t you?
Yes, there are so many famous artists, writers, musicians etc etc out there who were totally cruel monsters. Should we burn all their books, tear down their artwork and crush their CDs?
We have all known for years what MJ had been up to. Unfortunately his genius puts him above the law, that is why he was not convicted the first time and the second bigger show case trial.
MJ’s music involved a lot of great collaboration, no reason to put it all down the pan.
I feel for his victims, especially the ones who spoke out earlier and were not believed. I didn’t stop listening to his music even when l knew he was guilty, so why should l now. So many people knew what was going on who could have put a stop to it.
Bowie was the one to whom I was alluding below when I said my favorite artist was accused of rape and was known to have slept with teenage girls. Now the rape was never prosecuted, and we’ll never know what happened. And one of the 15-year-olds said it was the best experience of her life. The groupie culture was light years away from what MJ did. Was it still predatory, even if the “prey” offered themselves up willingly? Well, that’s a whole other debate. Sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. It would take a lot to get me to stop playing Bowie. But if I found out he did the things MJ did, I think I would have to. And it would mean I lost my favorite movie, too.
I’ve “canceled” (ugh) Tom Cruise, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Kevin Spacey, Bryan Singer…and sticking to my principles where those men are concerned means nothing if I give Michael’s work a pass just because I love it. As sad as it is, the last time I heard a Michael song was the last time ever for me. I just can’t reconcile jamming to his music while knowing he used his clout to sexually abuse children.
@Shrute, I admire and respect your decision. I’ve asked those who are cancelling R. Kelly and now MJ, what about Roman Polanski who pleaded guilty to statutory rape etc. At least you’re not like a smorgasbord picking and choosing which ones to cancel.
Don’t forget about R. Kelly, Chris Brown & Johnny Depp.
They are definitely canceled, as well as Polanski and Allen sympathizers, and anybody else I know to have preyed on others. I don’t endorse by deed or dollar the abuse of anyone.
I’ve canceled so many people in recent years I think when everything is finally out in the open I’ll just be left with Keanu Reeves.
Seriously though, MJ is done for me. Was never really a fan but definitely appreciated his talent. And yeah I am ashamed to admit that I always assumed he was a pedophile but did still listen to and sing along if a song of his came on the radio.. After watching part 1 though I have no doubt what he was and I will be switching stations and seriously judging anyone who still thinks it’s fine to like him.
lol but so true. ugh. Keanu Reeves. And you know what? I would be happy to just stick with him.
My cancelled list is pretty much the same. I recently had an argument with a friend (before the documentary came out) where my friend who is a rabid Michael Jackson fan told me that it was easy for me to stop listening to MJ because I was such a huge Prince fan (having seen him in concert so many times, the first time at 17) I told my friend that if it came out that Prince was a child molester he would be DEAD to me. The crazy thing is that it was less than 2 months ago that I was trying to explain to my 10 yo that Michael Jackson was not a good guy.. at least going forward she won’t be the only kid whose mom won’t let her dance to Thriller for her hip hop class performance.
And was I the only person who heard Man in the Mirror playing on the Lego Batman movie and freaked out that they would actually use a pedophile’s music in a kid’s movie?
back in the day me and people would argue who was better MJ and Prince. I’m still a Prince fan so it was Your Royal Badness for Me. It’s really apples and oranges. As talented as MJ was, teaming with legendary Quincy Jones was a win. Meanwhile Prince produced, arranged and wrote his own music. Went to the Diamonds and Pearls concert and later that night his after set. The after set lasted until 5 am in the morning.
It won’t last. Give it a few years and people will forget and move on.
Polanski, Allen and sadly many others still have careers. The public has a short memory, so I’m sure they will be playing his music again.,
Yep when Halloween comes around , we’ll hear Thriller.
I have no problem with that. His die-hard fans/cult just boggles my mind. The mental gymnastics that they must do to justify his behaviour/actions is baffling, they attack anyone who voices out support for M. Jackson’s victims and then lie about everything (like his estate is bankrupt, people are just out for his money, etc etc.)
People have an emotional attachment to his music and I think some don’t want to give up listening to his music and they don’t want to feel guilty about listening. What frustrates me is the whole “the man is dead let him Rest In Peace” argument like that makes what he did less egregious and we should not talk about it.
Then there are the celebrities who can’t explain his behavior so they try to deflect with saying it’s racial and people are not cancelling white people who are accused of similar crimes. I guarantee that the celebrities that are out there defending him couldn’t be bothered to watch the documentary.
They’re playing the songs MORE here in rural MO. I’ve heard TONS of Michael Jackson on the radio — different stations — for the past couple of days. Missouri sure likes to stick it to victims and hold up a rich man whenever possible.
Sparkly, I’m in rural MO too! Northwest MO. Seems everyone has doubled down on issues like this-Michael Jackson, Trump, Steve King (IA) 😩😩😩 it’s awful
I’m so sorry. Leave it to all to the extreme right wing to have a “rub it it’s your face” attitude. Maybe the defensiveness is because abuse allegations escalated w MJ’s “white phase”? 😳
Imagine had he been a non-famous man with his original face. (Although his fame and cult of personality was just what allowed him access to so many kids over the years).
I’m in California and wondered if they were playing him more now or if I hadn’t been paying attention before. They seem to be playing three or more songs an hour. I’m going to have to switch back to my classic rock station that I had originally switched off from because they were playing too much Rush. I hate Rush.
I noticed that here in SW Ohio, the IHeart radio stations here are playing more of his music over the last few days.
I never was a fan. Just not the music my older brother introduced me to when growing up. Mercury was my first musical love. And when I grew up I never got into Jackson. His whole”I just became a white person sudenly” routine was and is appauling to me. Plus his attention towards children was a well known fact way back in the day.
Yes, I grew up in the 80’s and was ALWAYS weirded out by michael jackson. Even as I child I knew that it was weird for an adult man to want to hang out with kids all the time. I remember thinking, about billie jean, that it was funny that HE would sing a song about being accused of fathering a child, because he didn’t seem believable as a guy like that. Or like, bad? He was supposed to be like a tough guy gang member, really? I just never understood his popularity. When I think 80s, I think madonna.
As far as the music though, I do like the Jackson 5, I would think that would be exempt because he was still just a kid when most of those hits came out. I.e., it was before he started abusing, so maybe that’s ok?
@Manda I worked in the music industry. His popularity was appealing to all races, all ages not to many artists were like that and still aren’t. He was known as an r&b artist but when Beat It was released with Eddie Van Halen (rock guitar god) solo, I notice people into rock music purchasing his music. This was during a time when most people weren’t eclectic with their music taste IMO, MTV changed that. When Motown 25 aired, sales of “Thriller” went through the roof. We used to discuss MJ being with little boys. Remember him, Brooke Shields and Emmanuel Lewis at the Grammys? Personally I was a Prince fan.
I was always weirded out by him. Never a fan of his music. He always gave me the creeps and I always believed his victims who came forward.
I watched it last night and especially the first part is very disturbing.I was never a fan.I am a classic rock/hard rock person so I only bought the one album because Eddie Van Halen put down that great solo on Beat It.See I can’t even remember the name of the album.I never understood his appeal at all.And I also always thought he was a pedophile and a very disturbed person.
It is so disturbing to me how money makes so many people blind to horrors. I have no use for his family, and always sensed something wrong with MJ and kids. Being a victim of child sexual abuse, my radar was screaming.
Cancel away I guess, it won’t change the outcome. The world is filled with pedophiles whose victims do not get a voice as the abuser is not famous. Who will speak for them?
Wade Robson and James Safechuck are speaking for them. Watch the documentary. Replace Michael Jackson’s name at any point and insert “the pedophile”. Those two men spoke for thousands that have been abused with no voice. Thank you Dan Reed for the eye opening doc that is telling people, this is HOA it happens and this is the destruction it does.
If people can’t “cancel” a known serial pedophile, they’ve got serious problems. I don’t care if he was your childhood idol, HE RAPED CHILDREN.
I think that reflects our society,it’s easier for people to cancel artists who are racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic or xenophobic but when it’s misogyny or sexual assault it’s more complicated for people.
Agree. Apparently being accused of sexual assault/ child abuse is not a deal breaker for most people. I remember when Kanye was saying all this stupid sh@t and showing he was ride or die for the Orange Mussolini. People lost their sh@t were all “he’s cancelled” Rapper TI was upset with Kanye too but now he’s ranting about people wanting to take down (his wording) another black legend and I’m like “okay I get it. Being an accused child molester is not a deal breaker for you”
I also think part of this is not just that it’s a child, but a MALE child. Society would be more up in arms if he did this to a little girl that age.
THIS. It seems i. today’s society everyone is very angry, very pro-justice and pro-victims, until a few popular songs come into question.
Someone expressed it oerfectly in comments few days ago:
this man raped and abused children in such a devious way that his victims will NEVER be free of him.
on one side is the horror this man caused, the unbelievable normalizatio of predatory behaviour in celebrity culture-on the other side his 10 hits that some have a nostalgic connection to.
is that nostalgic connection enough ti temporarily forget the suffering of his victims? To put that aside, so you can without guilt enjoy your childhood bops?
I think not, I couldn’t do it, no matter how talented he was.
But most of our society can and with a little relativization, won’t feel any qualms about it.
So did Trump, allegedly, yet we elected him to be the face of our country. Maybe it’s more apropos than we thought. Sigh.
I’m confused by the outrage. These things have been known about Michael for so, so long. I haven’t watched the video so I don’t know if it’s just more convincing or detailed than ever? I feel like this isn’t new so I’m confused why all the sudden more people are calling for him to be canceled. Don’t get me wrong: he should be canceled. But that should’ve happened decisively in the 90s.
I’m feeling the same way as you. MJ’s popularity and the accusation drama was before my time, and my parents weren’t fans of his, so my view of him was primarily shaped by Michael Bashir’s interviews in the early 2000s. If you can hear someone speak the way he did about sleeping in the same bed as a little boy, and rationalise that information, that’s just straight up mental gymnastics.
When he died, I remember being at my high-school part-time job and a middle-aged coworker was DEVASTATED – I said something along the lines of oh, he’s a weirdo pedophile though, right? And she was SHOCKED that I held that view of him. But the information has always been out there, the facts have always been out there.
So if this is devastating news to you, are you complicit? Gut feel is yes.
I agree completely!
Thank you! I scrolled until I found these comments. I’ve pretty much always known about the allegations against him, ever since I was a teensy, tiny child, around six or seven at the latest. So I’ve just never gotten into his music, as I’ve never been able to separate his music from his crimes.
My best friend got really into his work as a teenager and I remember being the one to tell her about the rumors. She had recent history with sexual assault and even taking that into account she didn’t get why I couldn’t just get over it and listen to Thriller. I explained that it was for the same reason I didn’t watch Woody Allen or Roman Polanski movies – it’s all the same thing, support for a predator’s work is support for a predator themselves.
I’m in my early thirties now and as the years have gone by I’ve had to add more and more names of people and companies to avoid, but however annoying it may get at times it’s still better than hating myself.
Yeah, that Bashir interview & all the lawsuits against Michael at the time decided it for me, too.
Yeah, after the interviews MJ gave around the time of the lawsuits, I don’t know how any rational person who knew ANYTHING about child sex abuse could believe he wasn’t a pedophile. His public behavior had been questionable for years, and when the lawsuits and the Bashir interview happened, it was like, “Yeah, that all tracks.” The way he spoke about his relationships with kids was so, so inappropriate — no adult should be using children for personal fulfillment that way, even if no sexual touching happened. And, let’s get real, there’s no way there wasn’t some kind of sexual abuse happening. The FBI found children’s fingerprints on his pr0n collection, for god’s sake.
Other than the two men and their mothers describing the relationships from 1986-on and why they defended him, the rest was already known (news clips, MJ statements and interviews).
Anyone who lived through the 1990s and 2003 had to be aware of the well-publicized allegations.
Absolutely agree, these allegatios have always been there, why are people’s principles only kicking in so late?
His family worked hard to discredit the kid’s family’s who came forth. Let’s not forget both fathers of these 2 victims committed suicide!!
That really gets me. Everything is horrific and just imagine both of these men losing their fathers to suicide. MJ took everything from them.
Exactly, MattyLove. None of this is new. The time to cancel him was years ago.
I canceled him when the first allegations came out. I wasn’t a huge fan of his music, I understood it was groundbreaking, etc, it just wasn’t my thing, so it was easy to see him in a different light than someone who was a huge fan.
The whole family was canceled as I learned more about them, even Janet.
This is a great question. I’m in my 40s, so I was a young teen during the Thriller phenomenon–and he was UBIQUITOUS. It was widely accepted that he was basically an asexual manchild… sort of a magical alien benign weirdo. By the time BAD came out, I was heading to college, not watching TV, and listening to other music; Michael Jackson was no longer on my radar. At the time of his first trial (1993), there was barely an internet and pop culture was so much easier to tune out than it is now. I wasn’t a fan of MJ, and I didn’t read PEOPLE magazines or tabloids or like, watched ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, so I had little occasion to think about him, and when I did, it never went beyond pitying him for the wreck he’d become. “Poor Michael–what have you done to yourself?!” I never seriously delved into the accusations and–critically–never thought about him an adult man who might be a victimizer rather than a victim of his abusive and exploitative family and his own limitless wealth and unchecked excesses. Now I know better, and I’m sick about how *we* let him get away with this for so long.
@inchokate— Thank you! I’ve been trying to work through my own feelings and guilt about not knowing or not having paid attention. You’ve perfectly described my experience with the MJ phenomenon. I was utterly transfixed by him as a child: his music, his look, all of it. But I never got into his music after the Thriller era. I don’t recall hearing anything about the accusations in 1993, but news in those days was still easy to hide from a sheltered tween. By 2003 I was entirely over him as a cultural phenomenon and into my own post-college self-absorbed drama, I don’t remember a thing about the second trial and wouldn’t have been watching TV documentaries. Everyone forgets how very different our news sources were then, even as recently as 2003. Conversations after his death were the first time I became aware of his dark side, and then it was sort of like “Ew, how horrible, well now he’s dead so I guess we’ll never really know.” (And yes I realize now how silencing that thought is, as if the perpetrator is the only repository of THE TRUTH.) Anyway, my point is really an answer to Matty’s question, in that a narrow slice of a certain generation really was able to engage in childhood fandom but miss the later reports. Do I feel conflicted about that? Hell yes I do. Is it obvious in hindsight? Hell yes it is. Will I ever be able to listen to his music again? I doubt it. And I’m grateful to these survivors and this documentarian for telling a powerful, chilling story that was mostly new to me.
He kind of was cancelled back then …. hence the reason he died as a drugged out semi-recluse. And rightfully so.
It won’t last. And I still listen to his music. I love it.
You’re not alone. People still watch Woody Allen & Roman Polanski movies. R. Kelly songs got more play after the documentary about him came out.
Well the good news is that God cancelled Michael Jackson ten years ago. So only his greedy family can profit off you listening to his music and he can’t hurt anymore kids. So go ahead.
I choked on my drink reading that first sentence. Amazing.
That’s a perfect answer!
You know who else was musical genius? Ike Turner, and his musical talent didn’t stop most people from cancelling him because he was also a rage monster. Talent should not excuse everything, especially not raping children
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 OMG PERFECT, Skye!
ThatBlackGirl, I hope no one you know ever gets (sexually) assaulted, and has everyone just saying “they don’t care…move on”. Because that’s what YOU’RE saying to (his) victims.
Cancelling his music has been harder for me than disengaging with other artists because of its prevalence. None of my friends are throwing Polanski movie marathons, but MJ is a favorite of my boyfriend’s family and it doesn’t sit right with me to tell them not to play it.
(If I’m picking my battles with the future in-laws, I’ll keep my mouth closed until football season when I break out my Kaepernick gear.)
There’s also the issue of private consumption. Does listening to music on CDs while I clean my house not align with my values? It doesn’t benefit his estate, but it shows I value his art. It’s a complicated discussion and I’m not sure what I think.
This is how I feel. And I always believed the allegations going way back. Good for the victims, and go Kaepernick!
Personally, I just can’t listen to the music, knowing what I know/believe. I threw out all of his cds, just as I threw out all my WA, Polanski, Cruise et al’s films. I just can’t watch them anymore KNOWING what we DO know about them. So why have them around to collect dust. I will NEVER watch them again, on disc or on tv.
Admittedly, I believed the accusations from 2003, and since then, honestly couldn’t stomach his music or voice. I’ve rarely admitted this because intellectually I realize he’s talented. However I cringe to hear the progressive names of his albums from “off the wall”, then “thriller”, “bad”, and “dangerous”? With songs like “keep it in the closet” ? Plus his creepy plastic surgery to look like Peter Pan? Talk about hiding sickness in plain sight? He may have had pathology, but his sickness is on the level of woody Allen; perhaps pill addiction fueled MJ’s abuse? However, culture is now on my level, as these two men’s work is equally intolerable, has been for a looooong time!
@good grrrrrl. I had a progression w his art. Grew up in OC 80s, when commercial music was considered “uncool”. For some reason the DJs/listeners ruled what got play, not promoters. “Off the Wall” had genuine great dance hits, but after that…the artist AND his music just got too weird for our culture. So I never “got into” the commercialism of “thriller” or whatever, and it was cringeY to even hear those hits because “the man” was no longer that same “off the wall” artist. I’m analyzing it now, but in retrospect, our culture was kind of leary of MJ post OTW. When I started reading about Neverland and “the kids”, it just seemed even more of a NO, especially when his costuming for Bucharest etc was hyper sexualized. Sorry, but their creep factor was THERE. In 2003 or so, I read the Rolling Stone expose @ MJ putting alcohol in a boy’s soda pop can when they’d fly private etc, also the whole theme of a remote neverland combined w sleepovers…I do come from street smart stock, so using basic common sense?? I can say, when I had my own kids in 2005- honestly – I was SO AWARE of grooming & literally never hired a “one on one babysitter”. I had a mom’s coop until kiddo went to pre-school and worked from home until kiddo was 3. I lived in fear of predators re my kids, and as a gen x’r I mostly got this “head’s up” from Rolling Stone magazine!!!
THIS. I was born in the late 80s, so when I was coming of age, the accusations were already out there, and in 2003 I wasn’t surprised about the ongoing allegations and I believed the victims, and I assumed everyone else did too. Then I remember when he died, I was working in a restaurant when they said it on the news and the bar tender was saying “oh, I NEVER believed the bad stuff about him” and he and one of the guys at the bar started talking about how those kids were coached liars and I was like… Oh. And then the positive press about him was so overwhelming – on TV, magazines, even on Lainey Gossip – I kind of doubted myself? To his eternal credit, Mike Redmond of The Superficial (RIP) NEVER stopped calling him a pedophile. He hammed on that throughout that positive news barrage and he was one of very few people going against the current and he deserves a lot of credit for that.
@Mika. I NOW realize the attorneys AND PR for the Jackson estate worked overtime, to protect assets. Back then, I thought LaToya was imbalanced and crazy, I was too young to analyze for myself! I just looked up an interview w her in the late 90s and —LaToya said “no one is speaking up for the little boys who are getting hurt, I have to be that person”. so Mike Redmond, LaToya and some journos at the Rolling Stone had the courage to speak out. There was no #metoo, in the 80s or 90s, and often the victims were re-victimized through the courts and or disbelief. The Jackson family matriarch allegedly knew as well. It’s not easy to go against the machine!
I cannot watch Bill Cosby in anything anymore. I don’t know how it’s going to shake out with Michael’s music. I’m just talking emotionally here, not on principle. After I watched the documentary and the Oprah interview, I watched his music videos that Wade Robson was in, just because I wanted to see Wade, and I felt visceral disgust seeing Michael. I think I might possibly be able to listen to his music as long as I didn’t have to look at him. It won’t be the same though. I’ll never be able to listen to it without thinking about what he did, the same way I can’t hear Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2” played at a sports event without thinking of his crimes. I’ll never buy one of Michael’s albums or download one of his songs again. And I like the Weezer cover of Billie Jean.
As far as listening to the Jackson 5, I feel like that’s a little bit more complicated, because while it’s still Michael, that’s when he was younger and not an abuser. But that’s when he was a victim of abuse. By his father. Who was profiting off of him. And it was still Michael. And now watching Baby Groot dance is tainted.
Sometimes I start thinking that Michael was just so sick and twisted by what was done to him that he really didn’t see what he was doing to those kids as harmful or as abuse. Maybe he really saw it as a loving thing. But then I think back to the documentary and to the way he groomed them and manipulated them and the way he used them to testify for him after he’d ignored them for years because they’d gotten too old. He was a user. Even if he saw it as a consensual relationship, which is horrible and wrong, he would still have been a manipulator and a user. Even if the boys had been of age, he would have been a bad guy. And they were just children, and he preyed on their innocence. They were so young that one of them was afraid Michael might turn into the werewolf from the Thriller video. No, it’s indefensible.
I’ve got both episodes and the Oprah interview recorded and I too am waiting for a time that my husband and I can both sit down and watch it. I’m kind of dreading it too because I was a 7th grader when Thriller came out and man, I loved MJ. I have thought he was a creep/weirdo for awhile now, but this takes it to a new level. It’s definitely going to change my tune about his music, pardon the pun.
Omg my childhood is a nightmare…. Bill Cosby, now MJ. sigh.
It all hit me today. Those tiny boys must have been so scared when the playtime became rape. At that point, MJ’s plastic surgery and pill addiction…It’s really beyond an heartbreak. Anguish!
This is how I feel. I felt like I lost a family member canceling Cosby. I had always been excited to show the Cosby Show to my kids–something that meant a lot to me as a young black kid in the 80s. MJ was my idol. I’ve always known he was weird and figured the stories were true, but am struggling with the idea of never listening to his music again. I am sure I’ll reach that point, but this is the hardest one yet for me.
*sigh* I think that’s a tough one because his music has such a profound cultural impact for most people. Even I have a couple on my iPod. I’m fine with it being removed from stations now because there’s no avoiding the truth and his estate has benefited long enough from the pay offs, but I’m not going to “cancel” people who still want to listen to the music they already have. The unfortunate reality is that great art does not require a moral origin. While we certainly have a moral duty not to allow monsters to capitalize on that to promote abuse, it’s up to the individual how they reconcile that reality through their own consideration of the issue.
I think that is a very sensible and reasonable response, Veronica. As Robson and Safechuck both alluded, Michael was complicated. He was a genius and capable of great things, and he was also a monster. If we require morality from the creators of all our art, we will lose a lot. And it’s up to each of us how we weigh the issue. I think we can cancel Michael without canceling each other. I’m still not sure how I’m going to feel about his music down the line. My very favorite musician was once accused of rape (not prosecuted) and was known to have slept with teenage girls, and I still listen to him.
Good. I have not voluntarily listened to him since I first learned what an abusive deviant he was 18 years ago. When I hear his stuff at stores or parties I cringe and hum a different song. I have cut out anyone and everything if it defends abusive trash. There is so much more art and music out there to listen to in this world, and it is SO easy to find something better than Michael Jackson’s creepy baby voice. Yuck. It makes my skin crawl. All I can think of is the faces of those little kids. R Kelly, Gary Glitter, any of that trash is gone. Not doing it.
You and I are birds of a feather, then.
I even went so far as to avoid the work of anyone who co-signed that letter of support for Roman Polanski several years back. Cutting out Emma Thompson hurt, but she later went on public record stating that she regretted signing it, so I got that one back, at least.
It can be a real bitch, yes, but my conscience has always been more important to me than taking ten extra minutes to choose a movie that wouldn’t benefit abusive jerks.
I have ‘t ever said it out loud, because not everyone is a reader, and not everyone has common sense, but i’ve agreed w what your saying! And YES he was abused as a kid, but that was the 70s- EVERYONE i know was hit/beat, but not EVERYONE chose to become a predator drug addict!
I think whether you’re able to separate the artist from the art is very much a personal thing, and on a case by case basis. For example, I was a Johnny Depp fan for many years. Hearing Amber Heard’s allegations against him horrified me and hurt me — so many of his movies were some of my all-time favorite films. But I had to drop him cold-turkey, without question, because in my heart I absolutely believed her and believed, sadly, that he was capable of everything she claimed. It hurt me too much to watch someone I once loved so much, who I believed to be a decent guy, turn out to be such a violent loser.
I’m more removed from Michael Jackson — I never had any personal investment in him to begin with. So I sort of still feel like I can appreciate his music for what it is, as having monumental impact on society during his popularity, while still condemning his personal life. I think these sorts of moral issues are more for active fans of someone than for casual observers of certain artists.
That musical sounds like it won’t go anywhere. It’s directed/choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon—a very white, very refined British ballet choreographer (who directed an American in Paris).
How did anyone think that would be a good idea?
Have you watched many of his ballets? Refined is… did you mean restrained? All ballets should be refined before being performed regardless of type. Also… wouldn’t exactly call them restrained, more that he uses it as a motif to push against.
Yep, I’ve watched a lot of his work. It’s beautiful and it’s also very polite. Sophisticated. Clever.
And really really different from the way MJ moved.
Chris went to White Lodge—his frame of reference is so completely, mind-bogglingly different.
I’ve not been able to listen to MJ for quite awhile now. When his music comes on the radio, I always change the station. I’m not going to take part in the Jacksons making money off what he did.
@KNMC…Or pay the enablers, the Jackson estate. Yeah MJ is dead, but his family KNEW, they said NOTHING only for the $$$. LaToya spoke out and they used the Jackson estate PR machine to destroy her reputation. In the late 80s, I just assumed she was nuts, but she was the ONLY sane one, the “truth teller” who spoke out.
About a year ago, I came across a TIL Reddit thread that made me feel ashamed for having believed that MJ was a child predator.
The discussion was about how the authorities relentlessly investigated him for over 10 years but had come up with no proof of guilt. The consensus on the thread was that MJ was essentially an innocent child in a man’s body who just wanted to show off his cool toys to other kids. That yes, he was a bit odd but that was because of his abusive, unorthodox upbringing. Having been denied a childhood the first time around, as an adult, he was this gentle, vulnerable soul trying to experience childhood vicariously—while being ridiculously generous. And how sad it was that he died under a cloud of suspicion.
I didn’t delve too deeply into the thread. But I read enough to wonder if I would’ve believed the accusations so readily had I not myself been groomed and abused. I even started listening to his music again! With the tide turning again, I’m so confused. His victims must’ve felt like they were being gaslighted. My heart goes out to them. I can only imagine the toll all of this has had on them, when their lives were never easy in the first place.
Yes what you describe here is EXACTLY the narrative that was being peddled in defense of MJ when the first allegations came out and yes, it WAS confusing to many people. They did a good job crafting a believable narrative as an alternative to the disgusting truth.
I do believe that his victims were gaslit because that’s what we do when a powerful man is accused.
@Lithe You may have been gaslit as well. What “man child” plays with “cool toys”, with a child, in a locked bedroom for a week? The -fact- that a child could draw the particular markings on a grown mans -underside- genitalia? (markings specific to the skin disorder) The facts will make anyone who once “believed” feel a shock of cult extrication. Any belief in the gas lighting surely is now in sharp and horrific focus.
The profit from the music played goes to his three kids, right? He can’t personally make money anymore so I’m not sure why his kids should be punished for what he did. I haven’t actively listened to his songs lately. I guess I’ll see what happens next time I hear one. But if we do this, let’s cancel a few more like Elvis who dated teens as an adult.
His kids aren’t going to starve, though.
The kids are adults or soon to be: they are now old enough to not have to depend on daddy’s estate to live, that money could have bought them the best education and the best therapists so that they’d be able to live one their own despite the weird and sad childhood they’ve had. The estate is currently worth 2 billions, there’s no need to make it richer. It also pays a whole lot of other people that have turned a blind eye on MJ’s sick ways and actively tried to shut down allegations and belittle the kids that came forward while he was alive. All these people don’t deserve more money
I expect the fact that Wade and Robson perjured themselves in 2005 to be an issue that’s seriously addresssed. The state paid a lot of money prosecuting that case, and there testimony was instrumental in Jackson’s aquittal.
If we’re all over Smollett who protests his innocence, the same needs to come to bear here when they are outright saying they lied on the stand because it could have supported Arvizo’s claim.
I certainly hope not. I mean, I hear what you’re saying, but they were conditioned to tell that lie since they were children. They would have needed deprogramming on a cult-member level to go against it. I hope they don’t face charges for perjury, and if they do, I hope they are dismissed.
I understand where you’re coming from to a point because, yes, perjury is a crime, but it’s a slippery slope when the idea of blame starts getting thrown around because *victims* weren’t ready to come forward – and that’s even before you start thinking about the media circus surrounding that trial.
Wade Robson must have been terrified – having him testify at all was just another way for Jackson to assert his power over Robson by making him an accessory to his own abuse years after it all took place, by making him a part of Jackson’s abuse of another boy when they both knew that the allegations were true.
That’s addressed in the documentary. They didn’t want to admit it. They thought this man was their friend. He had done so much for them and their families. I cannot understand why people do not understand why it takes victims of childhood abuse years to come forward astounds me. This is not at all comparable to Jussie Smollett. Their stories are similar to each other’s and the stories of the other victims. Wade admits he perjured himself.
And they didn’t even see it as abuse at the time, either
Okay FF, lots of initials on here today, hmmm. Troll much? However, there’s no moral equivalent w Smolette vs Robson/Wade. The latter were intimidated as children by a monstrous pedohphile, and it takes years to heal Nice try tho
No grown man should EVER have children sleep in the same bed as him. I watched the Martin Bashir documentary when it first came out & was disgusted by his behaviour at that time & could see how disturbed he was, as did millions of others. Could never support him after that. The parents bought into his celebrity & personality, thinking he was harmless (a child in a grown man’s body) and naively left their sons with him. I felt so sick watching the first part of Leaving Neverland, don’t think i can stomach the second part.
I have watched the first two hours of the documentary (over two days). I believe Wade and James. I believe their mothers and their families. So far, it’s horrifying. I will say that I find it interesting that as a society, we were able to overcome the actual god-like presence of Priests (after a good amount of time) enough to see that some are predators, yet somehow accepting Michel’s behavior is harder….?
I guess I’m lucky I never even LIKED his music, let alone loved it. No problem for me letting it gooooooo!
“Off the Wall” era was big in the PR barrio culture. MJ of those days seemed like a cool young man, handsome, great dancer. Afterwards, the dude morphed after that into something commercial and just un-relatable. THEN the accusations and he was “cancelled” late 90s in my world.
I loved Michael during my childhood and his music was a part of my life. My favorite song of his all time was Man in the Mirror.
I have not been a fan of his for some time now because of his behaviors toward children.
I believe Wade and Jimmy and Jason. Sorry if I’ve left some people out but I believe them.
Stay strong and know that you are loved even if just by this random Celebitch right here. 🖖🏽
Let me preface that I’m older than dirt and my musical taste is older than that. But this is the best news I’ve had in a long while. For years I’ve been told how talented Jackson is whenever I’ve pointed out that it was pretty clear he was a pedophile. I’m always horrible in verbal confrontations and even with that skewed logic, I would just let the conversation go. Having watched him as a young child, when I did like his music, grow into a clearly mentally ill adult I was disgusted. It seemed to me, everyone knew he was highly disturbed, but he made everyone so much money, they were willing to just turn the other way. Then we found out he was a pedophile. And still, everyone was willing to turn the other way.
After living with Trumpies for the last 3 years, just because you’re willing to turn the other way, doesn’t mean you don’t know. It just means your willing to support evil.
Sorry, I’ve stayed quiet for so long, it feels good to let it out. And no, I don’t like his later music. I just don’t. For those of you who do, I am sorry. I would feel horrible if Paul McCartney was found out to be a pedophile, so I do feel empathy. But what if it was your child? We must treat all children in our village as our own so we don’t have a leader who steals them from their parents and locks them in cages and says, no, they don’t do that.
P.S. If you want to hear a true black hero, listen to Sam Cooke. There’s an excellent documentary on him on Netflix. His voice is amazing.
Wishing healing to all the victims.
My mother had several Cooke records in her collection, and I really liked his voice. Her collection was most of my childhood records.
Just recently I purchased a CD of Sam’s music, as he was also supposedly a key inspiration for Steve Perry. Steve recently released a new song that I frankly thought was just so-so. I decided to buy music from the original (Sam). He does have a wonderful voice.
Love Sam Cooke but I must say, I was always uncomfortable with his song “She was only Sixteen”… I know he made some big changes and began to sing in support of the civil rights movement later (apparently Bob Dylan had a big effect on him)…
If any investigation needs to be open it’s Sam Cooke’s. That was a brilliant documentary.
I don’t know if MJ did it or not. I was not there and I didn’t know him. What I do know is that MJ was acquitted of this in 2005 and that after an extensive FBI investigation where they found nothing to substantiate the claim. I also know that he slept in the same bed as kids and that is really messed up. Wade spoke adamantly in interviews and in court that MJ was innocent. Then years after MJ died, he says that MJ did molest him and filed a lawsuit for millions. I watched the documentary and some things rang true to me but some things did not. What if MJ was innocent? What if he really was a great person? But what if the allegations are true and he was a pedophile? I don’t know. MJ is dead.
He was rich as hell, he could afford the best lawyers, he and his lawyers smeared his victim’s families are greedy from the start. A juror from his trial said they thought he molested boys. Wade thought Michael was his friend and he was responsible for his career. He also may have not been ready to tell what happened to him then. Do you know how hard these cases are to try? Do you know how many victims don’t want to testify about their own abuse at another’s trial? Thank Christ Michael Jackson is dead.
Children don’t have the vocabulary, and it’s easy to target their care-givers as greedy and/or dysfunctional. Non-celeb kids had no power compared w the Jackson estate.
There were more than 2 accusers.
He’s not innocent. There are more victims–and James Safechuck is absolutely in turmoil. He exudes pain and confusion. It blows my MIND that anyone would see him as innocent or even be conflicted about it. His tactics were VERY similar to R. Kelly’s. He’s hurting..he’s lonely..he needs you. It’s disgusting. I’m also glad he’s dead. One less monster in the world.
I only watched the Oprah special; that was enough. Don’t need or want to see the actual 2-part show, it’s too awful. No question in my mind the accusations are true. Those men/boys are clearly ruined, and they weren’t the only ones. I think Michael Jackson may have believed he really did love those kids, considering to what degree he was not a healthy normal man—that may have been the only kind of “love” he was capable of. Still he knew others would think it was wrong, which is why he swore his little lovers to secrecy, even as he exchanged rings and took vows with them, not to mention all the heinous pedophilia. But he did it anyway. Consequently he messed up these poor kids and their families, grooming everyone with his powerful celebrity, charisma and fame, taking all of them down. It’s a TRAGEDY of our times. We can try to understand it but there’s no defense, and no excusing it.
We all loved Michael Jackson as an artist, and I believe something terrible happened to him. But that will NEVER excuse what he did to others. For God’s sake, if a child comes to you and tells you some one is hurting them BELIEVE them. No normal adult would do the things he did and no decent parent would ignore or endanger their child.
Thank you. Joe Jackson was a monster and from what I’ve been told it was much worse than beatings”Alledgedly”. But instead of turning into a predator, he could have gotten help. I believe those kids and I’m so sorry for what they went through. Until we start not only protecting kids but getting them help in real time this won’t stop.
I was abused mentally as I child by my mother. I forgave her decades ago. I was also sexually abused as a young child. Because of this, I never had children because I though I would abuse them. I won’t even own a dog because I fear what I might do. Never admitted this until now. I don’t regret my decision either
It’s gross when you think that he has songs with children’s choirs in the background. Every time I see his photo with children I want to vomit.
It makes me mad that people haven’t stopped playing music & movies from LIVING people like Chris Brown, 6ix9ine, Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey, Jerry Lee Lewis,
And also what about Elvis? Priscilla was 14 years old when they met. Yet, he’s the King! *barf*
And people laugh haha at Drake posing with Chris Brown. They make me sick. And Rihanna has to keep dealing with having her name connected to them because they keep making statements about her. I remember what CB did to her. But somehow Drake thinks it’s okay to try to collaborate with her abuser while also saying she’s the one who got away? Fuck all these assholes.
I wonder if the MJ Cirque du Soleil is going to be shelved? I saw it a while back and it was honestly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen but now I can’t see it going on for too much longer.
Cirque can use the genius for another project. They could do Cirque Du Kitty Littere and it would be “one of the most amazing things I have ever seen”. I’m not giving the enabling Jackson estate attention nor money.
What the documentary illustrated for me was of course the tragedy of what happened to these men, but also the systems that protect abusers and those with money. I also am beginning to see the extremely fine line between ‘stage parents’ and adults in the entertainment industry that control the lives of young child stars, and human trafficking. It’s so wrong on so many levels. Taking a 7 year old out of school to travel internationally and work instead of going to school and having a normal childhood is bad enough/that’s already borderline emotional abuse and negligence to me. But then allowing rich powerful people private and personal access to them, what the actual f?! I can’t understand a parent who could do this unless they are mentally ill or have drug problems. These are unfit parents. The whole thing is awful. I personally can’t listen to his music again or hear it the same way. And I’m a 90s kid all the way who did not want this to be true.
What is happening with ONE in Las Vegas because of all of this?
How can someone WANT to listen to his music? Knowing the royalties he made off of his music was used to groom and bribe the families of these children. I don’t care that he was a genius. It doesn’t give him a pass for his behaviour.
I grew up with his music, practiced the choreography, had a red zipper jacket like on the cover of his Thriller album, and bought his trading cards. It’s a piece of my childhood and was connected to fond memories but he is canceled. Supporting him in any way is a slap in the face for all those he hurt and who continue to live through it while people continue to praise him.
p.s. The Thriller video is more appropriate than ever, because he was a true monster.
I feel really bad for his victims, but also for his fans. It must be devastating. Michael Jackson defined peoples’ lives. It is so infuriating to know that the people who create the things you love were, at the same time, so f*cking awful. You want to shake them and ask why they couldn’t just be good people.
When you’re a fan of someone or something, there’s an element of trust there. You trust the artist or the creator in so many ways. And in being the way he was and doing the things he did, Michael Jackson betrayed the trust of the children he abused, and a generation of people who supported him. What he did was beyond unforgivable. There’s no coming back from that.
We’re at an impasse in society here, I feel. How we learn to move from this is going to define how we respond to situations like this one in the future. A part of me is glad because I highly doubt we’ll ever blindly trust any public figure the way we used to, just because of their money, or their position, or their purported “genius.” But there’s also a huge amount of grief here from people who used to be fans of MJ. Maybe we can take that and learn to do better by the children in our lives going forward.
This is a great post. Thank you for being so empathetic.
I feel lucky. I am older and was never an MJ fan. I only liked a few of his songs. I will still like them. I rarely hear them as I do not own any of his music.
It’s like the Bill Cosby thing. I have always been a fan of his old LPs. I always loved watching I Spy on TV. Loved the interplay between Cosby and Robert Culp. I will continue to enjoy the comedy and the TV show.
Same with Chuck Berry. CB was not the nicest guy. But I love the music.
So I take the good part. Others may feel otherwise.
It’s shocking to me how everybody’s reacting like this is smth new. I heard rumors for so long, I can’t even remember when I found out for the first time. Could never like his music because of this – it all sounded very credible, never understood why so many didn’t buy it. So, like, just glad I’m no longer the only one in any group “crazy enough” to believe the allegations.
Never gave a rat’s ass about Michael Jackson or his music. So canceling him and his music was never a problem for me.
For those people that are saying its a lie and MJ is being wrongly accused. How many celebrities have been accused of child molestation in the last 30 years? He’s the only one that comes to mind. The same goes for R Kelly. People don’t just get accused of pedophilia or kidnapping and brainwashing young women. To say the accusers just want money is insane. During Oprah’s interview After Neverland she said “we are all gonna get”. What was she referring to? We’ll, it wasn’t money that’s for sure. It was death threats, vitriol and hate. That’s more often the reward for telling the truth about a beloved celebrity.
For the people saying these victims aren’t credible because there were settlements…
Yes, settlements by the parents, the ones who sold out these kids to a monster for a taste of Fame and fortune in the first place.
The kids became victims yet again when the parents sold them out for the settlement instead of prosecution
I don’t believe a word of that documentary. People will do anything for money and fame. They have no respect for the dead or a person’s life work. This generation just can’t believe there are still good people in this world. Ones that would do this kind of thing obliviously have a problem themselves. The radio stations that don’t play Micheal Jackson’s music will never have me listen to their station again and I will discourage others from listening too. I hope they go out of business, and the ones that did this to Micheal I hope they have the same thing happen to them.
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What scares me the most about the deniers is what if a child comes to them and discloses abuse? What if someone in their world was an abuser? They would do nothing. Fortunately, in my country at least, such inaction is now punishable by law.
The best thing about this whole business is that Michael Jackson is dead, and because he died – by his own hand, essentially – relatively young (and was in a very poor state of health for some time before), countless boys escaped being raped by him. For that we can be grateful.