EP 027 The King They Had to Kill: Michael Jackson, Music Industry Power, and Hidden Conspiracies

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Beneath the headlines.

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Behind the timelines, there is a
story no one wants you to find.

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Welcome to some unapproved thinking where
forgotten truths, buried patterns, and

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invisible systems rise to the surface.

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You weren't crazy, you were just early.

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Let's begin.

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They called him the king of pop,
but kings who forget their place

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have a way of losing their crowns.

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I remember the first time I really
understood how the music industry

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worked, not the sanitized version
they sell to aspiring artists,

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but the real machinery underneath.

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It was during my corporate days
sitting in a conference room where

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we were discussing how to manage
a client who'd started asking too

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many questions about their contract.

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The language was clinical and
of course professional, but

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let's be honest, what they were
really talking about was control.

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Michael Jackson didn't just own
the music, he owned the masters.

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He didn't just entertain the
masses, he started warning them.

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And when the most valuable
artist in history became the most

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dangerous, the industry had a
problem that money couldn't solve.

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In 1985, Jackson bought the Beatles
catalog for $47.5 million, making him

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one of the most powerful men in music.

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By 2009, he was dead in a mansion
surrounded by handlers with a personal

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physician who became the perfect fall guy.

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Tonight we ask what happens when
the artist becomes more powerful

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than the industry that created him.

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This is some unapproved thinking.

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Now back to the show.

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We live in an age where artists are
brands where creativity is content,

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and where the most successful musicians
often become the most controlled.

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The music industry has perfected
the art of creating stars who shine

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brightly, but own nothing who generate
billions, but remain dependent on

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the very system that made them.

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But Michael Jackson represented
something different.

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He wasn't just successful,
he was autonomous.

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He didn't just perform.

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He owned.

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He didn't just entertain, he educated.

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And in an industry built on control,
autonomy becomes the ultimate threat.

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The official story of Michael Jackson's
death is medical misadventure, a troubled

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star, prescription drugs and a negligent
doctor clean, simple case closed.

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When you examine the timeline,
the business interests, and the

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systematic character assassination
that preceded his death, uncomfortable

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questions begin to emerge.

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Questions that by some get dismissed
as mere conspiracy theories before

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they can be properly investigated.

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Understanding what happened to Michael
Jackson isn't just about one artist.

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It's about recognizing what
happens when creative independence

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threatens corporate control.

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When ownership becomes more valuable
than the owner, and when the puppet

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tries to cut its own strings.

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Let me walk you through the
transformation of Michael Jackson from

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industry asset to industry threat.

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The turning point wasn't his
music, his performances, or

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even his personal struggles.

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It was November, 1985.

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When Jackson outbid Paul McCartney and
acquired a TV Music Publishing for $47.5

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million in one single transaction, he
gained control of over 4,000 songs,

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including the entire Beatles catalog.

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This was the most valuable
music library in history.

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This wasn't just a business deal,
it was a complete shift in power.

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Jackson now owned the songs that had
shaped popular culture for decades.

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Every time a Beatles song played
on the radio in a commercial or in

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a movie, Michael Jackson got paid.

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He had become the landlord of rock and
roll instead of being just another tenant.

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The industry's response to this
was immediate and systematic.

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The same media engine that had celebrated
Jackson as the King of Pop began a

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systematic character assassination
campaign that would last for decades.

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Shifting him from the eccentric
genius to the weird recluse,

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moving him from the innovative
artist to the troubled celebrity.

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This once powerful businessman
became the unstable star,

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according to their narrative.

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But Jackson's real crime wasn't
buying the Beatles catalog.

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It was what he started saying publicly
after he owned it in interviews and

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public statements, he began warning about
industry manipulation, media control, and

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the systematic exploitation of artists.

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He spoke about history books
being lies about the media being

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manipulated and about powerful
interests controlling the narrative.

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The minute I started telling
the truth, they called me crazy.

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Jackson said in one interview, that
wasn't just entertainment industry drama.

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That was a man who had gained enough
power to see how the system really

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worked and who was now starting to
talk about it openly and publicly.

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I've seen this pattern before
in different industries.

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When someone moves from being controlled
to being in control, they start seeing

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the machinery that was hidden from them,
and sometimes they start talking about it.

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That's when they become a problem.

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The pattern of Jackson's final
years reveals the systematic

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nature of his elimination.

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The 2005 trial, which ended in complete
acquittal, destroyed his reputation

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regardless of the legal outcome, the
financial pressure that forced him

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into the, this is it, concert series.

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The isolation that made him
dependent on handlers and medical

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professionals that he could not trust.

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One of those medical professionals
was Dr. Conrad Murray, who effectively

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became the perfect fall guy.

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He was a doctor with financial problems,
a history of poor judgment, and no

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powerful connections to protect him.

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When Jackson died, Murray took the blame
while the real beneficiaries of Jackson's

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death completely remained invisible.

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Within a very short period of time, after
Jackson's death, some say within hours,

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Sony music began preparing to acquire
his share of the Sony a TV catalog.

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The same company that had been his
business partner became the primary

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beneficiary of his elimination.

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They gained full control of the Beatles
catalog and Jackson's own master

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recordings for a fraction of what they
would've cost if Jackson had lived.

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The speed of the business transactions
after Jackson's death reveals the level

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of preparation, catalog, acquisitions,
remaster releases, and licensing

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deals that should have taken months to
negotiate were completed within weeks.

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The infrastructure for profiting from
Jackson's death appears to have been

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already in place before he even died.

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Here's the most disturbing aspect.

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Jackson had predicted his own elimination
in the months before his death.

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He told friends and family members
that they were trying to kill him.

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He spoke about powerful
interests that wanted him gone.

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He understood that his ownership
of the catalog made him a target.

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When the most valuable artist in
history starts warning about industry

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manipulation and predicting his own
assassination and then dies under

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suspicious circumstances that immediately
benefit the same industry he was exposing.

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You're not looking at coincidence.

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You're looking at outright elimination.

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Okay, here's the thing.

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The pattern of eliminating artists
who become too powerful or too

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independent has deep historical roots
in the music industry and beyond.

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Sam Cook provides us with a pretty
direct parallel to Jackson's situation.

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In the early 1960s, cook wasn't
just a successful artist.

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He, like Michael was building
an independent music empire.

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He founded his own record label
publishing company and management firm.

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He was creating a model for black artists
to express their musical creativity, own

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their work, and control their careers.

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Cook was also becoming politically
active, supporting the Civil

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Rights movement and using his
platform to address social issues.

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He was scheduled to meet with civil
rights leaders and was planning

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to use his business empire to
support the movement financially.

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Then on December 11th, 1964, cook was
shot and killed at a Los Angeles motel

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under circumstances that never made sense.

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The official story involved a
prostitute, a motel manager, and a case

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of mistaken identity, but the evidence
suggested something more systematic.

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The elimination of an artist who had
become too vocal, too independent,

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and too politically dangerous.

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This same pattern extends
beyond individual artists to

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inherent industry practices.

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The payola scandals of the 1950s revealed
how record companies controlled radio

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play and manipulated public taste.

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But the real scandal
was not in the bribes.

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It was the pervasive exclusion of
independent artists and labels that

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couldn't afford to pay to play.

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The British invasion of the 1960s
wasn't just about musical innovation,

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it was about corporate consolidation.

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American record companies used the
imported British acts to break the

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power of independent American artists
and the labels that supported them.

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The same companies that had struggled
to control diverse American music

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scenes found it easier to import
support and control the British acts.

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The pattern has been traced
through decades of music history.

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Even the disco era's sudden collapse in
the late 1970s followed a similar script.

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When disco became associated with
independent black and gay artists who were

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building their own networks and venues.

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The industry orchestrated a backlash that
destroyed the entire genre overnight.

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Yep.

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That's right.

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The whole disco sucks
movement wasn't organic.

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It was engineered to regain control.

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Then there was hip hop's evolution from
independent street culture to corporate

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commodity that revealed the same dynamic.

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The most real, authentic and independent
voices were comprehensively marginalized.

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While far more corporate friendly artists
were promoted and pushed to the masses.

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The culture that had emerged
from community empowerment

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became a tool for community.

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Suppression control and exploitation.

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Now, this pattern is not just
limited to music in other industries,

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individuals who gain too much
independence, too much control or

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threaten established power structures.

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Face structured elimination.

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Howard Hughes in aviation and film, Nikola
Tesla, and in technology independent

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journalists who expose powerful interests
all have fallen prey to the same pattern.

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While the methods used may vary, the
overall outcome will remain consistent.

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The entertainment industry has particular
advantages which easily enables these

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types of elimination operations.

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The lifestyle provides cover
for drug related deaths.

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The pressure creates plausible
explanations for mental health crises.

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The isolation makes artists vulnerable
to handlers, medical professionals

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and nefarious actors who often do
not have the artist's best interests

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at heart for one reason or another.

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These historical patterns suggest
that Michael Jackson's death wasn't

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an anomaly, but rather just the latest
example of a structured approach to

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eliminating artists who become too
powerful, too independent, or too

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willing to expose industry manipulation.

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So let me show you the recurring
mechanisms of artist elimination

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and how they can be applied to
Michael Jackson's situation.

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The pattern always seems to begin
with the artist gaining real

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power, not just fame or money, but
real ownership and independence.

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Jackson's acquisition of the Beatles
catalog represented the kind of power

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that threatens industry control structures
because when artists own their masters

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and control their catalogs, they cannot
be so easily manipulated or replaced.

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Then the structural character
assassination tends to

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follow predictable stages.

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First, the eccentric genius is
framed as the weird recluse.

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The personal struggles are
turned into public spectacles.

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And last but not least, very legitimate
business disputes are turned into evidence

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of instability or even criminality.

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The goal of all this is to destroy
their credibility before the elimination

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of the threat is carried out.

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Financial pressure creates
vulnerability and dependence.

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Even wealthy artists can be made
financially desperate through legal costs,

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business disputes, and comprehensive
exclusion from their revenue streams.

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Jackson's forced participation
in the, this is it.

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Concerts wasn't just an artistic
choice, it was financial necessity

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created by all the systematic pressures.

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Now, as I mentioned before, isolation
makes artists vulnerable to nefarious

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actors, handlers, and medical
professionals who may serve interests

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other than the artist's health and safety.

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Jackson's final years were marked
by increasing isolation from family

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and longtime associates, replaced
by handlers with questionable

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loyalties and financial motivations.

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The medical angle provides perfect cover
for eventual elimination, prescription

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drug dependency mental health issues,
and the pressures of celebrity lifestyle

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create plausible explanations for deaths
that might otherwise raise suspicions.

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Dr. Conrad Murray became the perfect
fall guy visible enough to take blame,

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powerless enough to be sacrificed.

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Ultimately, the near immediate business
benefits reveal the potentially true

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motives behind any artist's elimination.

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Jackson's death allowed Sony to acquire
full control of the Sony A TV catalog

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eliminated a powerful negotiating
partner and created opportunities for

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posthumous exploitation that wouldn't
have been possible while he was alive.

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Then.

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The speed of posthumous business
transactions tend to indicate

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preparation and coordination, catalog
acquisitions, remaster releases, and

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licensing deals that should have taken
months were completed within weeks.

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The infrastructure for profiting
from Jackson's death appears to have

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been already in place when he passed.

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00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:34,290
Sadly, the legal proceedings served
to legitimize the elimination while

236
00:13:34,290 --> 00:13:36,449
also protecting the real perpetrators.

237
00:13:36,780 --> 00:13:40,380
Murray's conviction provided closure
and accountability, especially to the

238
00:13:40,380 --> 00:13:44,640
public, while still ensuring that deeper
questions about motives and coordination

239
00:13:44,819 --> 00:13:46,380
were never really investigated.

240
00:13:46,650 --> 00:13:49,650
The fall guy takes the blame while
the beneficiaries remain shifting

241
00:13:49,710 --> 00:13:51,270
about quietly in the shadows.

242
00:13:51,689 --> 00:13:54,840
The posthumous narrative management
ensures that the artist's warnings about

243
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,780
industry manipulation are forgotten
by the public while their commercial

244
00:13:57,780 --> 00:13:59,425
value is maximized to the fullest.

245
00:14:00,105 --> 00:14:03,615
Jackson's statements about media control
and industry corruption disappeared

246
00:14:03,615 --> 00:14:06,645
from public discussion while his music
became more profitable than ever.

247
00:14:07,005 --> 00:14:10,425
The pattern extends to how other
similar cases are handled when other

248
00:14:10,425 --> 00:14:12,195
artists face similar circumstances.

249
00:14:12,615 --> 00:14:17,025
Financial pressure, isolation,
medical dependency, suspicious deaths.

250
00:14:17,595 --> 00:14:21,255
The same explanations are offered and
the same business interest benefit.

251
00:14:21,675 --> 00:14:22,365
The template?

252
00:14:22,815 --> 00:14:27,585
Yeah, it gets recycled and
reused because it works the most

253
00:14:27,585 --> 00:14:29,115
concerning aspect to all this.

254
00:14:29,925 --> 00:14:32,324
Is how the pattern seems
to have been normalized.

255
00:14:32,685 --> 00:14:36,854
Artists deaths from prescription
drugs, medical misadventure and handler

256
00:14:36,854 --> 00:14:41,745
negligence are treated as inevitable
consequences of celebrity lifestyle rather

257
00:14:41,745 --> 00:14:46,035
than potential elimination operations
serving larger business interests.

258
00:14:46,334 --> 00:14:48,974
The Michael Jackson case seems
to represent the fine tuning

259
00:14:48,974 --> 00:14:50,385
and perfection of this model.

260
00:14:50,805 --> 00:14:55,724
Systematic character assassination,
financial pressure, isolation,

261
00:14:56,175 --> 00:14:56,954
medical vulnerability.

262
00:14:57,825 --> 00:15:03,675
Convenient elimination, immediate
business benefits, scapegoat, prosecution,

263
00:15:04,065 --> 00:15:05,805
and finally, narrative management.

264
00:15:06,555 --> 00:15:10,755
Every element serves to protect the
real perpetrators while maximizing the

265
00:15:10,755 --> 00:15:14,790
commercial benefits of the artist's life
of hard work at the time of their death.

266
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,860
Now, not everyone in the music industry
participated in or accepted this level

267
00:15:19,860 --> 00:15:22,079
of elimination of independent artists.

268
00:15:22,439 --> 00:15:26,130
Throughout the industry's history,
individuals have chosen integrity over

269
00:15:26,130 --> 00:15:28,470
profit and truth over convenience.

270
00:15:28,830 --> 00:15:32,670
Some industry insiders have recognized
the pattern of artist elimination

271
00:15:32,910 --> 00:15:36,990
and have tried to warn or protect our
beloved and even vulnerable artists,

272
00:15:37,290 --> 00:15:41,610
managers, producers, and executives
who understood how the system worked,

273
00:15:41,820 --> 00:15:46,830
sometimes risked their own careers to
expose or resist elimination operations.

274
00:15:47,250 --> 00:15:50,460
Independent journalists have
investigated the suspicious circumstances

275
00:15:50,460 --> 00:15:53,820
surrounding any given artist's
death, despite facing professional

276
00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:56,160
retaliation and even legal threats.

277
00:15:56,550 --> 00:16:00,750
Afterwards, their work often revealed
evidence of coordination and motive

278
00:16:00,810 --> 00:16:04,770
that official investigations have
ignored or perhaps even suppressed

279
00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:06,570
family members and close associates.

280
00:16:06,570 --> 00:16:09,180
Of the eliminated artists have
maintained that the official

281
00:16:09,180 --> 00:16:13,200
explanations don't match the evidence
they observed despite facing character

282
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,970
assassination and legal pressure.

283
00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,390
Some have even continued speaking
out about what they experience

284
00:16:18,450 --> 00:16:19,890
and witnessed firsthand.

285
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,460
Some legal advocates have challenged
the official narratives and pushed

286
00:16:23,460 --> 00:16:25,290
for far more thorough investigations.

287
00:16:26,055 --> 00:16:29,564
They have interned faced systematic
resistance from institutions

288
00:16:29,564 --> 00:16:33,555
that prefer simple explanations
to complex investigations that

289
00:16:33,555 --> 00:16:35,235
might expose industry practices.

290
00:16:35,655 --> 00:16:39,375
Some artists have recognized the dangers
of gaining too much independence and

291
00:16:39,375 --> 00:16:41,175
have taken steps to protect themselves.

292
00:16:41,444 --> 00:16:45,645
They've maintained family connections,
avoided isolation, and been careful

293
00:16:45,645 --> 00:16:49,069
about medical professionals and
handlers with questionable loyalties.

294
00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:53,805
Some have even gone so far as stepping
out of the spotlight of mainstream media.

295
00:16:54,165 --> 00:16:57,225
As always, there are alternative
media platforms that have provided

296
00:16:57,225 --> 00:17:00,525
a safe space for information and
analysis that their mainstream

297
00:17:00,525 --> 00:17:02,535
outlet counterparts seem to avoid.

298
00:17:02,955 --> 00:17:06,375
These alternative platforms have
hosted investigations, interviews,

299
00:17:06,675 --> 00:17:10,305
and evidence that challenges official
narratives about artist deaths.

300
00:17:10,694 --> 00:17:13,935
International observers have noted the
patterns and American entertainment

301
00:17:13,935 --> 00:17:17,835
industry deaths and have documented
similar operations in other countries.

302
00:17:18,194 --> 00:17:21,165
Their outside perspective helps
reveal patterns that might be

303
00:17:21,165 --> 00:17:22,680
invisible to those within the system.

304
00:17:23,339 --> 00:17:26,069
Academic researchers have studied
the business dynamics of the music

305
00:17:26,069 --> 00:17:28,980
industry and have documented how
financial interests can create

306
00:17:28,980 --> 00:17:32,340
motives for eliminating artists who
become too powerful or independent.

307
00:17:32,700 --> 00:17:36,030
But I think that the most important
resistance comes from the people who

308
00:17:36,030 --> 00:17:39,600
refuse to accept convenient explanations
for suspicious deaths when the

309
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:44,460
evidence suggests more complex motives
and coordination they, or should I

310
00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:48,120
say, we understand that protecting
artists requires acknowledging the

311
00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:51,060
threats they face from the industry
that profits from their work.

312
00:17:51,375 --> 00:17:54,435
These outliers demonstrate that the
elimination of independent artists

313
00:17:54,435 --> 00:17:55,965
isn't inevitable or necessary.

314
00:17:56,265 --> 00:18:00,255
Every person who speaks out about
suspicious circumstances, every

315
00:18:00,255 --> 00:18:04,575
investigation that reveals hidden
motives, every effort to protect

316
00:18:04,575 --> 00:18:07,965
vulnerable artists helps maintain
accountability in an industry that

317
00:18:07,965 --> 00:18:10,245
often operates beyond public oversight.

318
00:18:10,695 --> 00:18:14,535
Understanding this pattern of artist
elimination should change how you evaluate

319
00:18:14,535 --> 00:18:18,615
celebrity deaths, industry practices,
and the relationship between creative

320
00:18:18,615 --> 00:18:20,265
independence and personal safety.

321
00:18:20,595 --> 00:18:25,125
When successful artists die under
suspicious circumstances, especially

322
00:18:25,125 --> 00:18:28,665
those who had gained significant
ownership or independence, you

323
00:18:28,665 --> 00:18:30,765
start asking different questions.

324
00:18:31,365 --> 00:18:33,285
Who benefits from their death?

325
00:18:33,645 --> 00:18:36,585
What business interests are served?

326
00:18:36,915 --> 00:18:39,315
What threats to industry
control are eliminated?

327
00:18:39,675 --> 00:18:42,855
The phrase, troubled artist
should become a red flag when

328
00:18:42,855 --> 00:18:46,695
it's used to explain deaths that
serve obvious business interests.

329
00:18:47,399 --> 00:18:50,730
Real artistic struggles don't
typically align so conveniently with

330
00:18:50,730 --> 00:18:54,240
corporate profit motives or eliminate
specific threats to industry control.

331
00:18:54,570 --> 00:18:57,570
Medical explanations for artist
deaths take on new significance

332
00:18:57,570 --> 00:19:00,810
when you understand how medical
professionals can be used as tools

333
00:19:00,810 --> 00:19:04,980
for elimination, prescription drug
dependency, negligent care, and

334
00:19:04,980 --> 00:19:08,925
convenient medical emergencies can serve
interests other than patient health.

335
00:19:09,465 --> 00:19:12,810
The real importance of artistic
independence begins to become clear when

336
00:19:12,810 --> 00:19:14,524
you understand the risks it creates.

337
00:19:15,375 --> 00:19:19,034
Artists who own their masters
control their catalogs.

338
00:19:19,305 --> 00:19:22,605
These same artists can then maintain
autonomy from the industry and

339
00:19:22,605 --> 00:19:26,024
its handlers, thus leading them
to face dangers that dependent

340
00:19:26,024 --> 00:19:29,445
artists don't experience because
they just go along to get along.

341
00:19:29,745 --> 00:19:33,284
Industry consolidation becomes
recognizable as a strategy for

342
00:19:33,284 --> 00:19:35,264
preventing artist independence.

343
00:19:35,835 --> 00:19:39,555
It's not just all about business
efficiency, when fewer companies

344
00:19:39,825 --> 00:19:40,970
control more of the industry.

345
00:19:41,895 --> 00:19:47,955
It becomes easier to coordinate responses
to threats and thus squelch, defame, or

346
00:19:47,955 --> 00:19:51,555
completely eliminate artists who become
too powerful in their independence.

347
00:19:51,915 --> 00:19:56,055
Here, the value of real friends,
family connections, and trusted

348
00:19:56,055 --> 00:19:59,835
associates increases when you
understand how isolation can make

349
00:19:59,835 --> 00:20:01,965
artists vulnerable to elimination.

350
00:20:02,340 --> 00:20:05,190
Maintaining relationships with
people who have the artist's true

351
00:20:05,190 --> 00:20:08,700
interest at heart really becomes
a valuable survival strategy.

352
00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:13,770
Once again, pattern recognition becomes
more important than each individual

353
00:20:13,770 --> 00:20:19,230
case analysis, because when similar
circumstances, motives, and outcomes

354
00:20:19,230 --> 00:20:21,270
appear across multiple artists' deaths.

355
00:20:21,570 --> 00:20:24,840
Recognizing the pattern helps
you understand what's happening,

356
00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:28,620
even when specific evidence is
limited within a given case.

357
00:20:29,024 --> 00:20:32,355
Most importantly, you realize that
the entertainment industry is not

358
00:20:32,355 --> 00:20:37,274
just simply about entertainment at
its core, it is about control, not

359
00:20:37,274 --> 00:20:40,635
always the control of the populace, as
we have discussed in other episodes.

360
00:20:40,995 --> 00:20:45,764
But instead, the structural elimination
of independent artists serves to maintain

361
00:20:45,764 --> 00:20:49,605
the industry's power structures, not
to mention preventing the emergence

362
00:20:49,605 --> 00:20:54,825
of alternative models that could, when
proven successful, threaten the overall

363
00:20:54,825 --> 00:20:57,014
music industry's corporate control.

364
00:20:57,345 --> 00:20:57,675
Look.

365
00:20:58,410 --> 00:21:01,110
The goal is not to become paranoid
every time a celebrity dies.

366
00:21:01,665 --> 00:21:05,565
No, I want you to understand that
creative independence can be dangerous

367
00:21:05,805 --> 00:21:09,795
when it threatens powerful interests and
that the industry has both the motive

368
00:21:09,795 --> 00:21:14,115
and the means to eliminate threats to
its power base as well as its control.

369
00:21:14,325 --> 00:21:18,045
They called him the king of pop, but the
very moment he actually started acting

370
00:21:18,045 --> 00:21:21,825
like a king by owning his kingdom,
questioning his subjects, and warning

371
00:21:21,830 --> 00:21:23,295
about the power behind the throne.

372
00:21:23,715 --> 00:21:26,145
That is when the kingdom
decided it needed a new ruler.

373
00:21:26,710 --> 00:21:30,790
Michael Jackson's crime wasn't his
music, his performances, or even his

374
00:21:30,790 --> 00:21:35,230
personal struggles, his crime was gaining
enough power to see how the system

375
00:21:35,230 --> 00:21:39,160
really worked, and then starting to
talk about it publicly When he bought

376
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:43,690
the Beatles catalog, he didn't just
acquire songs, he acquired Leverage

377
00:21:43,810 --> 00:21:47,405
and leverage in the wrong hands becomes
a threat that must be dealt with.

378
00:21:47,980 --> 00:21:50,140
The pattern is as ancient as time itself.

379
00:21:50,670 --> 00:21:52,830
The application now is far more modern.

380
00:21:53,130 --> 00:21:55,620
The same techniques used to
eliminate political threats.

381
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,700
Business rivals and inconvenient
witnesses are deployed against amazing

382
00:21:59,700 --> 00:22:03,570
artists that we come to know and
love simply because they became too

383
00:22:03,570 --> 00:22:08,520
independent, too powerful, or too
willing to expose industry manipulation.

384
00:22:08,850 --> 00:22:12,570
The minute I started telling
the truth, they called me crazy.

385
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:13,500
Jackson said.

386
00:22:14,145 --> 00:22:16,605
The crazy part wasn't what he was saying.

387
00:22:16,725 --> 00:22:18,585
It was that he was saying it at all.

388
00:22:18,795 --> 00:22:23,145
In an industry built on control, truth
telling becomes the ultimate rebellion.

389
00:22:23,445 --> 00:22:24,735
They didn't just kill the king of pop.

390
00:22:25,305 --> 00:22:25,575
Nope.

391
00:22:25,815 --> 00:22:28,935
They killed the idea that artists
could own their work, that they

392
00:22:28,935 --> 00:22:32,055
could control their careers,
or even speak truth to power.

393
00:22:32,295 --> 00:22:35,955
They replaced independence with
dependency, ownership with rental

394
00:22:35,955 --> 00:22:37,665
agreements and truth telling.

395
00:22:37,665 --> 00:22:42,885
With brand management, the official story
is, well, a bit of a medical misadventure.

396
00:22:43,245 --> 00:22:47,325
The real story is a business necessity
when the most valuable artist in

397
00:22:47,325 --> 00:22:49,034
history becomes the most dangerous.

398
00:22:49,365 --> 00:22:53,534
The industry has a problem that
money alone cannot solve, so they

399
00:22:53,534 --> 00:22:56,685
solved it the way many powerful
interests have always solved.

400
00:22:56,685 --> 00:22:57,945
Inconvenient problems.

401
00:22:58,274 --> 00:22:59,835
Yeah, they eliminated it.

402
00:23:00,195 --> 00:23:04,605
The official story is rarely the
whole story and the story of what

403
00:23:04,605 --> 00:23:08,085
really happened to Michael Jackson is
written in the business transactions

404
00:23:08,085 --> 00:23:11,835
that followed his death, not the
medical reports that proceeded it.

405
00:23:12,344 --> 00:23:15,314
They got their catalog back,
they got their control back.

406
00:23:15,465 --> 00:23:19,215
They even got their king back,
albeit dead profitable, and

407
00:23:19,215 --> 00:23:20,895
of course, permanently silent.

408
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:22,410
Tracy out

409
00:23:22,710 --> 00:23:24,750
if this story didn't sit right with you.

410
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:25,560
Good.

411
00:23:26,070 --> 00:23:27,510
You are not here to be comforted.

412
00:23:27,930 --> 00:23:30,450
You are here to see what others overlook.

413
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,390
Thanks for exploring
some unapproved thinking.

414
00:23:33,870 --> 00:23:37,290
Learn more@someunapprovedthinking.com.

415
00:23:37,830 --> 00:23:39,630
New episodes, drop weekly.

416
00:23:40,020 --> 00:23:45,810
Subscribe, share, and keep questioning
because the pattern's still playing out.

417
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,240
And next time we're going deeper.