Haunted by the Ghost of Michael Jackson

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2019

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, “The Daily” is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened since the stories first ran. Today, we talk to our critic about his reckoning with abuse allegations against Michael Jackson and his efforts to abstain from the pop star’s music. Ten months later, he shares why he still has a Shazam feed full of Jackson’s hits — and reflects on what the ubiquity Jackson’s music in public reveals about our society. Guest: Wesley Morris, a critic at large for The Times and a host of the podcast “Still Processing.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. This episode contains descriptions of abuse. Background coverage:Read Wesley Morris’s piece about confronting his own fandom in the face of the allegations made against Michael Jackson in “Leaving Neverland,” an HBO documentary.We look at Jackson’s history of sexual abuse accusations, and answer some questions about why child abuse victims often take years to come forward.A musical about the pop star’s life is set to open in New York next summer. Because of Jackson’s fierce fan base, the show’s producers are confident tickets will sell.Listen to the hosts of “Still Processing” discuss how to respond to a problematic artist whose influence has so thoroughly permeated modern culture.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Michael. This week, we're revisiting our favorite episodes of the year,
0:05.0	listening back, and then hearing what's happened in the time since they first ran.
0:10.2	Today, confronting the real Michael Jackson. It's Monday, December 30th.
0:18.4	From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is the day.
0:21.7	Today, for decades, despite a swirl of allegations around him, Michael Jackson earned the world's
0:34.4	admiration, bewilderment, and pity. Times culture critic Wesley Morris, on the moment that ended for him.
0:43.2	It's Friday, March 8th.
0:52.5	Wesley, this is the second time in two weeks that we had you want to talk about culture.
0:58.0	I know. Aren't you sick of me already? Not at all. Okay.
1:01.3	What do we need to talk about this week? It's probably leaving Neverland. This Michael Jackson documentary.
1:07.8	Not a trailer or even a single clip of this new documentary has been released ahead of its debut today,
1:15.4	but that has not slowed the buzz behind it. I became aware of this movie as it was making
1:20.8	its way toward Sundance in January. It's probably right now the most talked about film at Sundance.
1:26.0	One of the hottest tickets at Sundance is also one of the most controversial.
1:31.2	I also knew on the other hand that there were these camps of people who were going to try to stop
1:36.1	the movie from being screened. Because it's about Michael Jackson and it's about some terrible
1:41.9	things that Michael Jackson is being accused of having done. This morning police in Utah are
1:45.6	preparing for possible protests at the Sundance Film Festival. And there is a strong camp of Michael
1:52.6	Jackson fans and supporters that do not want lies in their eyes spread about him.
1:58.1	Hi, police presence in Park City this morning. Following reports of death threats against the director of the doc,
2:03.8	the film about the beloved icon so contentious, police are on high alert and gracing for protests.
2:10.3	The Jackson estate has denounced the documentary as defamatory.
	...

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