The Michael Jackson Musical: 'MJ'

[NatureCriminal7896]

Sucks your Twitter account got banned. I keep feeling tempted to join Twitter but I'm afraid to now.

Don't do it. Twitter has way too much drama on it. it's been helpful. but still have way too much going on. if you have mental health problems don't join it.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Oh boy not Sykes too.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

You know I had hope for Sykes. now I don't know anymore. I really hope this is just fake news and he totally believes he is innocent.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I don't understand why they getting people who believes he is guilty. we can only hope and pray at this point. let's see what happens next year. boy I hope it will be good. ugh. that's all I hope for. boy this is crazy. smh.

 

[Mikky Dee]

^ Plenty to worry about in his interview.

I don't share his expectation that fans will be happy to see MJ portrayed as a possible 'monster, but we'll never know.' We Do know that he was no such thing.

I think it's easy to read too much into his words there. I don't think he's referring to Michael being a monster or a child molester at all. I think the "demons" he's referring to are the physical pain that Michael dealt with due to his various medical conditions and the psychological pain from being physically and emotionally abused as a child.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

I keep feeling tempted to join Twitter but I'm afraid to now.

Nooo, please join us on Twitter! The community is strong over there. We’ll have your back.

Just choose your words wisely, so they can’t be interpreted as something that’s not in line with Twitter’s community standards, and you should be fine.

I’m @ScreenOrigami on Twitter, follow me, I’ll follow back.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

I think it's easy to read too much into his words there. I don't think he's referring to Michael being a monster or a child molester at all. I think the "demons" he's referring to are the physical pain that Michael dealt with due to his various medical conditions and the psychological pain from being physically and emotionally abused as a child.

I agree, and he already told a few select fans via private message that he’s 100% convinced of MJ’s innocence. But no one forced him to use words like “monsters”, “demons” etc. in this interview. The general public just scans that interview, they don’t read it the way we do, considering all interpretations. They see negative words in connection with MJ, and subconsciously they register to reaffirm their beliefs. At the very least, I think we can agree that he didn’t handle the situation in a smart way.

 

[myosotis]

I agree, and he already told a few select fans via private message that he’s 100% convinced of MJ’s innocence. But no one forced him to use words like “monsters”, “demons” etc. in this interview. The general public just scans that interview, they don’t read it the way we do, considering all interpretations. They see negative words in connection with MJ, and subconsciously they register to reaffirm their beliefs. At the very least, I think we can agree that he didn’t handle the situation in a smart way.

Agreed.

I'm struggling to understand what we need to 'forgive' Michael for....

Who do we give grace and forgiveness to versus who do we choose to condemn?

 

[terrell]

With the METOO movement and the highly sensitive society we live in, many in here are delusional if they expect to see Michael Jackson portrayed as some innocent angel. The media would crucify these people if they came on television or did interviews completely dismissing child sex abuse allegations. These people involved have to walk a very fine line. It's sad but this is the world we live in now guys. I had my Twitter account of 8 years permanently suspended last month due to people reporting me for supporting pedophilia. Only because I was defending Michael Jackson. It's really come to this. Freedom of speech is dead, and if somebody gets hurt from your comments.... beware.

So Im not surprised at all this narrative is being taken from all the people involved in the musical. In the end I highly doubt they will portray him as some monster. I imagine it will be more like leaving the audience to form their own opinion. They won't ignore the controversy (MJ was a controversial person as we all know, he refused to fit in to the box society demanded), however they will focus mostly on his incredible talents.

You have to have said something else beside defending MJ to get suspended. PLENTY of people are on twitter, instagram, facebook, defending MJ including me and I deal with facts and I even say I will Defend MJ as long as I can because all facts proves his innocence (I even expose the few trolls and they run and hide). This guy can defend MJ if he wants. The ONLY ones who may attack him is tabloid sites. Really, I think most people are over this LN lies.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

You have to have said something else beside defending MJ to get suspended..

This. Twitter is supporting free speech way beyond what’s legal to say here in Germany. As long as you don’t personally attack or threaten someone, you’re fine. Worst thing that can happen is that you get temporarily suspended until they have looked into the reported tweet.

 

[terrell]

I think it's easy to read too much into his words there. I don't think he's referring to Michael being a monster or a child molester at all. I think the "demons" he's referring to are the physical pain that Michael dealt with due to his various medical conditions and the psychological pain from being physically and emotionally abused as a child.

I agree. for that matter, we all have "demons" and "issues" of some kinds. Someone on twitter talked about MJ had issues and I was quick to point out to that Twitter, "you have issues" as well. Was MJ perfect, No neither are you or me and he was no child abuser either. by the end of the discussion, the twitter was saying 'you are right Terrell. see people like to past judgement others without looking at themselves until you put it back in their face on the words they use. People tend to do this to all of us. How many of us know someone who sits and talk about people and point fingers yet he/she has family problems, personal issues, did a lot of us you know even stuff you know that he/she do not know you know about them, etc.

 

[terrell]

And when it comes to saying MJ being cancelled,that is often coming from people who ALREADY did not like MJ for whatever reason (and that is very few people who think MJ should be cancel. Do you know there is a commercial playing the Jackson 5 hit ABC ON TV? I get tired of people acting because of what two or three negative people say abut MJ they want to ack like everyone doing it. NOT true.

 

[Nite Line]

I think it's easy to read too much into his words there. I don't think he's referring to Michael being a monster or a child molester at all. I think the "demons" he's referring to are the physical pain that Michael dealt with due to his various medical conditions and the psychological pain from being physically and emotionally abused as a child.

I agree. Saying that MJ had his demons doesn't mean that he means that MJ was a paedophile, and nor is it insulting to MJ in any way in my opinion. Michael did have his demons, if you consider the fact he had various health issues and the fact that he wasn't particularly happy with the way he looked. Michael had his demons, as do we all.

And when it comes to saying MJ being cancelled,that is often coming from people who ALREADY did not like MJ for whatever reason (and that is very few people who think MJ should be cancel. Do you know there is a commercial playing the Jackson 5 hit ABC ON TV? I get tired of people acting because of what two or three negative people say abut MJ they want to ack like everyone doing it. NOT true.

This. Leaving Neverland was a further "proof" for people that already believed that MJ was a child molester. Them cancelling MJ didn't and doesn't matter because they never listened to him in the first place. And I believe that with the exception of River Gibbs and few other idiots, Leaving Neverland didn't change the opinion of people who believed in Michael's innocence.

 

[Electro]

Twitter is supporting free speech way beyond what’s legal to say here in Germany.

Like?

 

[ScreenOrigami]

Like?

On Twitter (US company) you can basically say anything citing your 1st amendment, while certain topics are off-limits in Germany. It’s legal in the US for example to post all that Nazi crap that’s (for good reasons) illegal here.

I was just trying to say that it’s not likely to get banned from Twitter over a few opinions.

 

[somewhereinthedark]

And when it comes to saying MJ being cancelled,that is often coming from people who ALREADY did not like MJ for whatever reason (and that is very few people who think MJ should be cancel. Do you know there is a commercial playing the Jackson 5 hit ABC ON TV? I get tired of people acting because of what two or three negative people say abut MJ they want to ack like everyone doing it. NOT true.

I agree. Michael is NOT canceled. My daughter was at Disney World in October and she said she heard Michael at least 10-15 times while she was there. She said his music was everywhere. It’s the media claiming that Michael is canceled because this is what they WANT to be true. In the REAL WORLD, Michael is not muted!

 

[Paris78]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good Morning <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MJFam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MJFam</a><br>so i emailed Alicia from the estate about Skyes interview... and this is what she told me... <a href="https://t.co/kG6iYIJYKF">pic.twitter.com/kG6iYIJYKF</a></p>&mdash; Yuli Erdreich (@YulifanofMJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/YulifanofMJ/status/1208608775168503809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">22. Dezember 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[myosotis]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="de"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good Morning <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MJFam?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MJFam</a><br>so i emailed Alicia from the estate about Skyes interview... and this is what she told me... <a href="https://t.co/kG6iYIJYKF">pic.twitter.com/kG6iYIJYKF</a></p>&#8212; Yuli Erdreich (@YulifanofMJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/YulifanofMJ/status/1208608775168503809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">22. Dezember 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

??? Smart for Ephraim to say in his interview that 'We definitely know something was not quite right'??

We definitely know something wasn&#8217;t quite right. None of us can really put our finger on exactly what was happening, because he was also very private in a lot of ways. But with all his demons, he still inspired me to be the person I am, especially as a performer, and how he treated people and what he gave to the world and to people in need. Those are the aspects of him I still believe are worth celebrating.

We live in a country that can be one of the most hypocritical places of all time, and we find ways to try to celebrate this place we call the land of the free that was built on the backs of slaves. Somehow we try to celebrate people like Christopher Columbus and George Washington who did these monstrous things and still try to find the best of ourselves, even simultaneous with the ugliness that we are as people and as part of the human condition. That&#8217;s my hope, my purpose, in doing this show. I want to find ways to make us all be able to connect to our darkness as well as well to our light.

The Estate is living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that EVERY press report of this musical won't mention LN. Finaldi and Co must be partying when they read comments about MJ like the above.

The Estate cannot 'have their cake and eat it'. I don't recall the PR for 'MJ Immortal' or MJ One' mentioning 'MJ's demons'. Of course things have changed since LN and it would be foolish to deny it. Interviews that 'sit on the fence' about the allegations give comfort to the trolls and haters and alienate the fans. I'm hoping that 'MJ the Musical' doesn't turn out like Tom Hooper's 'Cats', a great idea on paper but ruined by the execution, despite the resources thrown at it.

 

[ChrisC]

Man, the Estate love to talk down to the fans when it comes to this Broadway project.

Honestly, the work the fans have done this past year, and the shit they have put up with, to be sent messages like that. Beggars belief.

They can desperately try to salvage this mess all they like, it's a no from me.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I think even though we all worry about this musical I think some of us still need to go. we don't know what can this musical be. tickets go on sell next year on the 1st and previews don't start in july. I say we all need to calm down and just wait because only god knows what this musical can be. I really hope that it will be good. I feel fans need to go because what if this musical good and if it doesn't get good sales we all will screw our ownselves over because we was too worry how the musical was gonna be like. at this point we can only and pray that it will be good. here to next year 2020.

 

[SoCav]

Man, the Estate love to talk down to the fans when it comes to this Broadway project.

Honestly, the work the fans have done this past year, and the shit they have put up with, to be sent messages like that. Beggars belief.

They can desperately try to salvage this mess all they like, it's a no from me.

I agree, it is truly pathetic. I don't know of any other artist's management that communicates with the fanbase in such a condescending and spiteful way.

This message once again makes clear what we've all known for years now: they care about the $$$, not about MJ and his reputation.

 

[ozemouze]

Interviews that 'sit on the fence' about the allegations give comfort to the trolls and haters and alienate the fans.

It's not the only problem. Claiming ambiguity when there is none is also distorting facts (very trendy nowadays). It's not a healthy atmosphere either that keeps people silent when someone is mistreated. And it's not exactly freedom of speech if people have to censor theimselves to conform some obscure norm set by an unidentifiable, small but loud mob-like part of society.

I think the latter is the reason why Dave Chappelle's words stirred thing up so much, not even the actual content but the fact that he refused to be wishy-washy about it.

 

[captainhulk]

I never like it when anyone says "I wasn't there." Of course you weren't there, I wasn't there, none of us were there! You take information and make an educated guess. It is what you do when anyone tells you gossip, a rumor, or a story. You listen and make a gues based on information. Since this is a story on a mans life I would hope you would do research, some at least. All these people have publicists and they will help them with the best way to answer these questions since he knew they will come up and he is new at this game.
But I detest whenever anyone say I wasn't there.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

Whatever happened to the good old presumption of innocence anyway? Just because I wasn&#8217;t there doesn&#8217;t mean I can throw that out the window.

 

[seanvezina8980]

I honestly cannot waite to see this in action.. fingers crossed the do MJ JUSTICE ON BROADWAY

 

[travis3000]

You guys truly do love biting off your noses to spite your face. I 100% get where Alicia is coming from. But I have a background and degree in marketing/PR. I don't think most of MJ's fan base truly gets the severity of those allegations. I read that Rolling Stone interview and it was done very well. The way he navigated through those tough questions. Rolling Stone tried multiple times to derail the broadway narrative and switch it back to Leaving Neverland. But this guy wasn't having it. His answers were professional, confident, and he walked the line in such a way that the average reader will come away with the assumption that this broadway might be worth going to see. From a PR standpoint this interview was awesome (if you're a MJ fan).

For some reason the fan base wants every person involved in a MJ project to go around on television blasting alleged sexual abuse victims as liars, attacking them, only saying MJ was some innocent god like angel who would never do anything. That narrative doesn't resonate with the public right now. Do you guys have any clue the extremely sensitive environment we live in? Yes we know MJ was innocent as fans, but when going up against the big machine that so badly wants MJ destroyed....you have to pick your battles very carefully. The METOO movement has an explicit agenda and this broadway is going against that media narrative. So far I think the people involved have walked a fine line, enough to keep the attention on the musical itself. Yes it isn't as peachy and rosy as us fans want, but that will never happen right now.

You win any war by strategically picking your battle strategy and navigating through the issues of each day individually, never losing sight of the big picture but sometimes having to alter your line of attack. The estate is doing just this, you guys will see in the end.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

you guys will see in the end.

Well, I hope history will prove you right. All I can say for myself is that I was enthusiastic about this musical from the day Sykes was announced for MJ&#8217;s role, and that my plans to go to NYC are now completely on hold after that interview.

MJ and Tom Mesereau didn&#8217;t put up the fight they did in 2005, only for MJ&#8217;s own camp to now act &#8220;mousey&#8221;, to use Sykes&#8217; vocabulary.

 

[ozemouze]

You guys truly do love biting off your noses to spite your face. I 100% get where Alicia is coming from. But I have a background and degree in marketing/PR. I don't think most of MJ's fan base truly gets the severity of those allegations. I read that Rolling Stone interview and it was done very well. The way he navigated through those tough questions. Rolling Stone tried multiple times to derail the broadway narrative and switch it back to Leaving Neverland. But this guy wasn't having it. His answers were professional, confident, and he walked the line in such a way that the average reader will come away with the assumption that this broadway might be worth going to see. From a PR standpoint this interview was awesome (if you're a MJ fan).

For some reason the fan base wants every person involved in a MJ project to go around on television blasting alleged sexual abuse victims as liars, attacking them, only saying MJ was some innocent god like angel who would never do anything. That narrative doesn't resonate with the public right now. Do you guys have any clue the extremely sensitive environment we live in? Yes we know MJ was innocent as fans, but when going up against the big machine that so badly wants MJ destroyed....you have to pick your battles very carefully. The METOO movement has an explicit agenda and this broadway is going against that media narrative. So far I think the people involved have walked a fine line, enough to keep the attention on the musical itself. Yes it isn't as peachy and rosy as us fans want, but that will never happen right now.

You win any war by strategically picking your battle strategy and navigating through the issues of each day individually, never losing sight of the big picture but sometimes having to alter your line of attack. The estate is doing just this, you guys will see in the end.

Thank you for your input from PR standpoint, it made me think, but why the need for exaggeration? Clearly no one wants to portray MJ as some kind of angel, especially considering what's needed the most is to humanise him at last. I'm also quite sure that the fans understand the severity of the allegations quite well (otherwise this whole situation wouldn't be so devastating).

The fact that we're living in an "extremely sensitive environment" doesn't make it right that people are self-censoring themselves (and it won't be ever challenged if everybody obeys these obscure rules BTW). But you're right it's a circumstance that has to be taken into account, so here comes an honest question (PR-wise as well): is this the right time for this musical then?

As for Alicia's answers: I don't find them as professional at all. 1) If it's all about diplomatics (which is fine), why don't include the fans into that circle too? It's not the first time she was condescending and lecturing towards them, while she should be polite and understanding even when fans (the Estate's clients basically) are wrong. 2) We wouldn't even have this letter if a fan didn't contact her, shouldn't there be an official statement available for everyone in cases like this?

And I don't think saying "I wasn't there/we would never know" type of things is smart either (it's a faulty notion to begin with, which makes everyone a criminal, just not accused yet basically). A smart thing would be what e.g. Madonna said about the importance of presumption of innocence. It isn't peachy and rosy either, doesn't require knowing the details of the MJ cases, but true without being vague.

Having said that, I hope you'll be right and I would be gladly proven wrong - but I won't be surprised if not.

 

[terrell]

I never like it when anyone says "I wasn't there." Of course you weren't there, I wasn't there, none of us were there! You take information and make an educated guess. It is what you do when anyone tells you gossip, a rumor, or a story. You listen and make a gues based on information. Since this is a story on a mans life I would hope you would do research, some at least. All these people have publicists and they will help them with the best way to answer these questions since he knew they will come up and he is new at this game.
But I detest whenever anyone say I wasn't there.

I agree. For anyone to say "I wasn't there" to people who do not believe these liars is either stupid or ignorant. If someone believes these lies by these accusers, people can say to that person " were you there" because he/she thinks something happen. This is just like I do not believe in no tooth fairy; if you do believe in a tooth fairy, then show me that fairy with wings who flies in windows with a magic wand who goes around getting teeth from under kids pillow; and then I can ask "Was you there to see this fairy"; however that person can NOT ask me "was you there" because I DO NOT BELIEVE IT EXIST.

 

[myosotis]

You guys truly do love biting off your noses to spite your face. I 100% get where Alicia is coming from. But I have a background and degree in marketing/PR. I don't think most of MJ's fan base truly gets the severity of those allegations. I read that Rolling Stone interview and it was done very well. The way he navigated through those tough questions. Rolling Stone tried multiple times to derail the broadway narrative and switch it back to Leaving Neverland. But this guy wasn't having it. His answers were professional, confident, and he walked the line in such a way that the average reader will come away with the assumption that this broadway might be worth going to see. From a PR standpoint this interview was awesome (if you're a MJ fan).

For some reason the fan base wants every person involved in a MJ project to go around on television blasting alleged sexual abuse victims as liars, attacking them, only saying MJ was some innocent god like angel who would never do anything. That narrative doesn't resonate with the public right now. Do you guys have any clue the extremely sensitive environment we live in? Yes we know MJ was innocent as fans, but when going up against the big machine that so badly wants MJ destroyed....you have to pick your battles very carefully. The METOO movement has an explicit agenda and this broadway is going against that media narrative. So far I think the people involved have walked a fine line, enough to keep the attention on the musical itself. Yes it isn't as peachy and rosy as us fans want, but that will never happen right now.

You win any war by strategically picking your battle strategy and navigating through the issues of each day individually, never losing sight of the big picture but sometimes having to alter your line of attack. The estate is doing just this, you guys will see in the end.

I don't ever think that 'telling people what they want to hear' is the answer to anything. In personal relationships, tiptoeing around someone when they are lying to you is the basis for their 'coercive control'. PR is about 'managing relationships', but I don't think it does any good for PR to pretend that lies are, or might be the truth. In the end, this leads to a loss of respect and trust in whoever is doing the PR/ management.

We will need to agree to disagree.