PHUCK Michael Jackson!!

For years he has alienated his black fans and now that his popularity is fading he runs back to black folks crying racism from a company that gave him his own record lable that did jack shyt, remember the group Brownstone and 3T.... I didn't think so. They also gave him a $200 [Dr. Evil]MILLION[/Dr. Evil] semi personal loan. Look O.J. Simp.. err I mean Michael. You killed your own career by not touring the States anymore by not talking to the public that made you the freak you are today and by pushing this "mysterious" image of yours fans of all colors loved you because you MADE good music and was a hell of a performer but you stopped doing that and now people have moved on.

What pisses me the most is that many black people will stand behind his "issue" only because he threw the magic "R" card on the table. To hell with that, I'm not falling for it. Yes I believe racism exsist in the industry but NOT FOR YOU. You are one of the biggest selling acts of ALL TIME blacks were not they only one's buying your music and to top that off you was married to Lise Marie Presley you know her dad right... Elvis as in "The King"? and you lived to tell about it. I know if it was some homeboy from Nashville he'd have some Good Ol' Boys wanting a word with him. So don't racism me Mr. Ms. or whatever your talent broke down all those barriers for you. You just went crazy.

Seems to be his sister did pretty darn well in the music industry as well. I think charges that MJ is making actually hurt the black community for 2 reasons. [1] People are getting really tired of hearing "race" as the main cause for every minorities problem. [2] If I were a white music industry owner and I have my choice between promoting a white singer and a black singer or equal talent, I would probably choose the white singer - and not because I am racist - but because I know I won't have to deal with being called a racist if his album doesn't do well.

You're kidding. Did he use this? Maybe he's a lurker. Where's my check for being a new writer?

Anyone confirm that he used this after my post? I will laugh my butt off.

I think this has a lot to do with his decline. American music fans are used to being able to go and see their favorite acts, whether it's in a cramped club or a stadium. But Jackson's ego would never allow him to perform for such an audience. MJ only tours in developing and third-world countries. Leaving the lax child sex laws I mentioned earlier aside, the reason he tours in these places is because those people treat him literally like a god. When he looks out into that audience, he is looking at a standing room only crowd who each paid several months salary to come see him, and who are so overcome with his greatness they are weeping at the sight of him. We've all seen this on TV. When he leaves, they return to their grey little lives.

If MJ would ever toured the states, it would have been a different story. Sure, he would have drawn record crowds, but those folks would have simply charged their tix to ticketmaster, just like any other show. They would have given him a hell of a reception, but what's that waaaaaay back in the back, in the uppermost deck of the stadium? *gasp*! It's an empty seat! Sacrelige! Plus, after the show, everyone would just go home, thinking about how this show was better or worse than whoever they saw last month, and already looking forward to the next big atttraction. I don't think MJ's ego could stand playing to a crowd that would think him simply as an entertainer.

Sorry to get your hopes up, Letterman didn't use this, to the best of my knowledge.

I was just implying that your joke was good enough to come from Letterman's mouth.

- Matt

MJ quote of the week. When he was asked of his financial situation, here was his reply:

"[I am in] An incredible financial situation. I just wrote somebody a check for $500 million. But good news doesn't sell."

Michael Jackson is so out of touch with reality that he can't even lie well.

If he donated HALF A BILLION DOLLARS to anyone it would make the front page of every newspaper. I mean, that's what he is implying through his quote when he mentions "good news." He could mean that he made a $500 million investment, and that his ability to make such a large investment is "good news." Whatever, either way it's pathetic.

Now that this debacle is getting intense media attention, has anyone heard ANY positive talk regarding Michael? A radio station in my area totally trashed him for well over an hour this week. This could be the nail in the coffin. He's Mariah '02 in terms of public relations disasters, but well beyond. There's all new MJ jokes already. Even George Michael and Prince had more public sympathy with their gripes.

I suppose he could gather a bit of support using the race card. However, after the child molestation case, and now this, he's pretty much extended his inability to sell records for several more years.

Anyone who has any sort of business sense knows that going public and badmouthing your bosses generally backfires (p.s. didn't MJ say "I love you" to Tommy in nearly every one of his speeches?). The public should only be used as a last resort, in desparation. For Michael, this is probably it. He's just trying to save his fortune at this point. He states that the public loves him, yet remember when he added cheers to his MTV performance in fear that the audience wouldn't react positively? He's got deep, deep issues.

Can't imagine the huge court fees MJ will rack up losing his case. Sony's got deep pockets and will suck him dry.

These comments come from someone who actually purchased Invincible it's first day out.

- Matt

Is MJ In The Poorhouse?
by John Connolly

Michael Jackson, the forty-something self-proclaimed,
"King of Pop" is on the verge of personal financial
ruin. Despite the hype surrounding
his 30th Anniversary shows at Madison Square Garden,
Jackson's take before taxes could not have amounted to
much more than $6 million.

For most of the people on the planet, that's quite a
bit of money. But, when you're on the hook for $200
million and your annual nut is about $13 million
before you get out of your silk sheeted bed, it's
little more than a drop in the bucket. Add to that,
the dizzying cast of lawyers, managers and gurus like
John McClain who despite being on DreamWorks payroll,
demands and gets a healthy percentage of whatever
Jackson's current manager is taking-and there's little
left to pay off Jackson's debt.

Four years ago, Penthouse magazine published a story
asserting that Jackson had a bad case of the shorts,
i.e. Michael Jackson was in desperate need of cash.
One former executive had declared, "Michael is
broke". The story outlined how he had borrowed from
almost every asset he had, including Neverland ranch,
his catalog of songs, his half of the Beatles catalog
and just about every source available. At the time,
Jackson who has always attracted and used to his
benefit, a strange cast of investors, associates,
managers, and hanger-ons, had brought in a
Saudi Arabian Prince to manage his faltering career.

Jackson's ostensible savior, "The Prince", was none
other that Prince Alwaleed bin Talal a member of the
Saudi royal family. Alwaleed pumped $20 million or so
into Jackson. They were going to create "family"
entertainment parks around the world. After a year or
so of trying to curb Jackson's excessive spending,
Alwaleed threw in the towel and went back to the
Middle East to lick his wounds.

Alwalweed, never one to miss out on an opportunity for
publicity, recently presented New York City Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani with a donation of $10 million for
victims of the murderous attack on the World Trade
Center. Later that same day, Alwaleed made statements
to the effect that if the United States had taken a
different approach to the Israeli/Palestinian problem,
the WTC might still be standing. Giuliani
promptly sent back the check and told Alwaleed to put
his money where the sun don't shine. Way to go Rudy.

Alwaleed owns radio stations in the Middle East, and
considers himself a radio programmer, he often selects
the music for his stations. When the
Prince put the money into Jackson, he appointed Tarak
BenAmmar to manage Jackson's business affairs. Ben
Ammar told the reporter back then, "there is no
problem with overdrafts; there is no problem with
checks; there is no problem with any of the banks". At
the time of that statement, Jackson's company MJJ
records had bounced payroll checks and been refused
any further overdraft privileges. Additionally Jackson
was mortgaged to the hilt. Earlier this year, MJJ
which had been receiving money from Sony Music was
told to close shop-the company folded in June.

In 1995, Jackson sold half of his very financially
lucrative Beatles catalog to Sony Music, which was
also his record company. Sony paid approximately $90
million to Jackson, but $50 million of that went to
pay a loan from EMI Corp. which in exchange for the
loan to Jackson was collecting the fees for the
Beatles catalog. Prior to the sale, Jackson
had paid twenty million dollars to settle a sexual
abuse charge (pedophilia) made by a minor and his
parents in California. Jackson had spent an additional
three to five million on lawyers and investigators for
the case.

In that same story, it was revealed that Jackson had
borrowed heavily from Nations bank, Sony Music and
Sony Signature and others. Additionally, Jackson had
been advanced $25 million by Sony for Jackson's
History album which was to be released that year. Sony
had plowed in another $30 million marketing the album
for a grand total of $55 million. Most if not all of
that money was recoupable by Sony before
Jackson received a penny in royalties. The album sold
in the single digit millions, which for most artists
would have been a hit, but when you owe the boss man
$55 million for just one album, a few million units
sold is not going to cut it.

The Penthouse story was ignored by the mainstream
press, particularly the music industry side. Whether
it was because Jackson's P.R. people let it be known
that the King of Pop would not look favorably upon
such press, or reporters like much of the public,
could not believe that the man who gave the world
Thriller and Bad was on his way to the bankruptcy
court, the story did not get legs. Sadly, people
forget that such stars as M.C. Hammer who a decade ago
made $40 million in one year and then a few years
later was sitting in a Federal bankruptcy court.

Jackson's financial problems are no secret to the boys
at the top of the heap in the music industry. One
industry executive was quoted three years ago as
saying, "We always thought that sooner or later
Jackson would get himself in financial trouble and
then we would buy the other half (Beatles catalog)
from him." In appears that for Jackson, later has
become sooner. An insider said of Jackson's
"Invincible" album, "Michael
spent somewhere between $30 and 40 million making the
album. Add to that the cost of the videos, which
Michael insists people call 'short films', and you're
now in for more than $40 million before marketing
costs". The insider went on to say that even with
Jackson's uber-royalty rate of almost $3.00 a unit, he
will have to sell almost 17 million units just
to pay back Sony what he owes for this album.
Jackson's debt a huge portion of which is guaranteed
by and to Sony Music, is astronomical and coming due.

On September seventh, the very morning of Jackson's
30th Anniversary show at MSG, a very, very highly
placed source at Sony Music, leaked a story to one of
that persons' favorite reporters, Paula Froelich of
the New York Post. Froelich works for the Post's lead
gossip columnist Richard Johnson. Froelich's page two
story, alleged that Jackson was in serious financial
trouble. The headline read "MSG concerts crucial to
$trapped Jackson". The story then went on to lead the
reader to the conclusion that nothing short of
Jackson's hitting the national Power ball lottery
could save him from financial ruin.

Froelich wrote, "According to the source, (supposedly
a former employee) Jackson took out a loan for
approximately $200 million from an unspecified bank
three years ago, a loan that was guaranteed by Sony.
..." After quoting another source who speculates that
there is almost no way Jackson can come up with the
$200 million, which must be paid in one lump sum,
Froelich gets to the heart of the matter. If Jackson
doesn't make enough from the concerts and "Invincible"
to pay the loan, Sony gets the other half of the
Beatles catalog and Michael goes home and
gets his shine box.

Jackson's spokesperson Howard Rubenstein denied that
Jackson was in financial trouble and told the press,
"Michael Jackson will not dignify these assertions."
It appears that the Post story was planted to let the
public and particularly Jackson's fans, down easy. It
is not often that an icon, even a tarnished one like
Jackson, goes down the financial
toilet. In 1999, Elton John who has lived an opulent
life style himself, came close to filing for
bankruptcy protection. Luckily he dodged that bullet.
If the $8-10 million that he received annually from
his share of the Sony/ATV Beatles catalog disappears,
will Jackson still be Invincible? That question will
assuredly be answered in the next few months.