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Social media has become an infamous spot for people to troll anyone without facing the consequences. Unfortunately, this hate culture is nothing something new for celebrities. They have been facing criticism and nasty rumours about themselves for a while. While some choose to ignore it, some decide to do something about it. Michael Jackson was one such star who wanted to take control of the narrative that was being circulated in the media.
In the 80s, there were multiple rumours about MJ that talked about his ethnicity, race, and even s*xuality. Some outlets even claimed that the pop icon slept in oxygen tanks to look youthful. The media channels had nicknamed him ‘Wacko Jacko,’ referring to his eccentric personality. None of it fit right with the singer, and he made sure to change it all. Scroll on to learn more.
As per the new podcast called Think Twice: Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson did extensive research on all negative rumours and comments that could harm his career. Dan Beck, an executive at Epic Records, who worked with MJ, said, “He wanted to know … I would take stacks of surveys, and some things that you or I would not be able to take as a human being — he took it all in. At that time, some of the non-musical issues were surfacing, some of the tabloid stuff — you know, plastic surgery, all that stuff. And we were very, very concerned about these things getting in the way of Michael’s music.”
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Jay Smooth, co-host of the podcast, revealed that Michael Jackson’s pop album, Dangerous, was not performing well, and it urged the singer to change “the weirdo narrative” permanently. He did that by performing at high-profile events and galas. He managed to get several awards, and he apparently negotiated with the producers for a few. He became the halftime headliner at the 1993 Super Bowl, which was an iconic moment for all pop singers. Jay Smooth said, “Michael and his team wanted to wash all that away and replace it with the idea that he was not just a generational talent but a historic artist in a lineage with the greats.”
The singer came on the stage at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and remained static in post for almost two minutes in 1993. But on television, people could hear the crowd applauding and cheering madly. As per the hosts, it was Michael telling everyone that he could make everyone love him without doing a thing. But, there was a catch. “If you look at the shots on television, there’s some shots of the crowd, and people are just kind of walking around like, ‘OK, when’s this happening? What’s going on here?’” said Jim Steeg, an NFL executive, present on the show that day.
While Jay Smooth said, “It really makes you wonder how much of what we think we know is based on this type of artifice — and what other historical truths get lost in the star-making process,” co-host Leon Neyfakh added that Michael Jackson was, “a master class in the art of self-mythologizing.”
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