# The King of Pop Finally Cracks **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 7, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780 "2002-07-07T15:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/1 "2002-07-07T15:22:20Z")
So, not only is Michael Jackson taking legal action against Sony Music for “underpromoting” his latest album, he [held a press conference](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=1&u=/nm/20020707/en_nm/people_jackson_dc_6) with – get ready – Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran to decry the music industry’s treatment of black artists. During this event, Jackson stated that Sony head Tommy Mottola (who, you’ll remember, was married to Mariah Carey) was a “racist,” was “devilish” and had referred to another, unidentified Sony artist with the “n-word.” “When you fight for me, you’re fighting for all black people, dead and alive,” Jackson said. Jackson is regularly seen in the company of such famous black people as Lisa Marie Presley, MacCauley Culkin, Lisa Minelli, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando. It couldn’t be the increasingly irrelevant (and in some cases just plain bad) music on the albums. Or the increasingly expensive music videos of greater and greater length. It couldn’t be the freakish personality cult, or the ego, or the treatment for the vitiligo. No, it’s because you’re black, and Sony therefore won’t spend promotional money on you. Get bent, Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/2 "2002-07-07T15:29:27Z")
Michaels Jackson’s black? ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/3 "2002-07-07T15:35:58Z")
Cochran: “If the glove fits, you must acquit!” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/4 "2002-07-07T16:07:08Z")
Say, Mr. Jackson, you stop molesting young boys and paying their money-grubbing fathers $20,000,000 to look the other way and then I MIGHT listen to what you have to say. Did it occur to you that your new album might just suck? You signed a contract, abide by it. Oh, and tell Prince the same thing. If Sony didn’t do what they promised, THEN sue them for THAT. Otherwise, go back to your freak farm and stay there. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/5 "2002-07-07T16:39:08Z")
> [@](#): > > It couldn’t be the freakish personality cult, or the ego, or the treatment for the vitiligo. He doesn’t have vitiligo. Vitiligo doesn’t make your nose smaller and smaller until all you have left is a nostrils. Viligo doesn’t fuck up your chin. It doesn’t make your eyes abnormally huge. It doesn’t give you cheekbones when you had none before. Nor does it give you long straight hair that makes all the girls jealous. If he seriously has vitiligo, he has more than enough money to get some makeup to darken his skin (folks do it all the time). But no, he had to go the EXTREME route. Vitiligo my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/6 "2002-07-07T16:42:13Z")
“Finally” cracks? The guy was already more cracked than a Pompei sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/7 "2002-07-07T16:44:38Z")
What a nut case. Can anyone pinpoint precisely when he lost touch with reality? ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/8 "2002-07-07T16:49:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\*What a nut case. Can anyone pinpoint precisely when he lost touch with reality? \*\* The purchase of the Elephant Man’s bones? ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/9 "2002-07-07T16:49:53Z")
Michael Jackson is black? b. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/10 "2002-07-07T17:21:33Z")
I wasn’t aware Jackson was ever convicted of sexual misconduct. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/11 "2002-07-07T17:25:03Z")
C’mon, credit where credit’s due. Can you name any other black man that made the full switch to a white woman? ---
**Author:** ![kore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@kore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kore)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/12 "2002-07-07T17:28:45Z")
I am _so_ glad I’m not the only one who found him as the spokesperson for black artists a little… strange. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/13 "2002-07-07T17:55:08Z")
According to the story linked in the OP his album cost $30 million to make. 😕 CNN reports that $25 million was spent promoting it. I wonder if that’s part of the $30 mil or on top of it. Either way, he’s history now. It’s really a shame. Maybe Janet can smack some sense into him. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/14 "2002-07-07T18:06:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > \*\* > > He doesn’t have vitiligo. Vitiligo doesn’t make your nose smaller and smaller until all you have left is a nostrils. Viligo doesn’t fuck up your chin. It doesn’t make your eyes abnormally huge. It doesn’t give you cheekbones when you had none before. Nor does it give you long straight hair that makes all the girls jealous. > > If he seriously has vitiligo, he has more than enough money to get some makeup to darken his skin (folks do it all the time). But no, he had to go the EXTREME route. Vitiligo my ass. \*\* plastic surgury created the nose, chin etc. None of which, of course, prevents him from having Vitiligo. and, no, he wasn’t convicted of any sexually related offense. It’s been my layperson’s opinion for quite some time that he’s seriously mentally ill. Also in MHO, those who surround him have selected the route that insures both his mental instability and their continued ability to live off his wealth. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/15 "2002-07-07T18:09:24Z")
> [@](#): > > ]plastic surgury created the nose, chin etc. None of which, of course, prevents him from having Vitiligo. True, but his bleached skin in conjunction with the type of plastic surgery he received makes me very suspicious of the vitiligo claim. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/16 "2002-07-07T18:19:00Z")
I agree with **wring** , I think he is mentally ill, and probably has been for awhile. Sometimes I even feel a bit sorry for him…but most the time he just creeps me out ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/17 "2002-07-07T18:31:58Z")
He’s always been quite scary to me. Now he’s even more so. And here’s why. Think about it - an incredibly rich, profoundly mentally ill person who via his illness and his “handlers” has no touch with reality whatsoever, and has undergone repeated plastic surgeries that have crossed the border into self-mutilation. And now is playing the race card - with Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran. I mean, really, what next? ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/18 "2002-07-07T18:36:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I mean, really, what next? Great, Anthracite. You hadda ask. Do you forget that the creator of the universe, in infinite wisdom, will now be forced to ANSWER that question? Sheesh. Batten down the hatches, folks, and prepare for some fuel injected, supercharged wierd. (hehe!) b. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/19 "2002-07-07T18:44:32Z")
It is high time to do something about discrimination against African-Americans in the NBA as well. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780/20 "2002-07-07T18:47:30Z")
I heard that Sony spent 25 million promoting his last album. Is that true? If true, that number seems awfully high. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-of-pop-finally-cracks/117780.md?page=2)