January 2, 2025

Michael Jackson Is Pulled From Some Radio Setlists Amid ‘Leaving Neverland’ Uproar

A Canadian media company, Cogeco, that told The Canadian Press it had banned Jackson’s music on its 23 stations in Quebec — including three major Montreal stations — cited the public response to “Leaving Neverland” as the reason.

Neither NZME nor MediaWorks responded to questions about how long the ban would last, what date it began, or whether the networks planned to pull the songs of other musicians accused of wrongdoing, such as R. Kelly, who has been accused of, and denies, decades of serial misconduct.

Mr. Wratt, the MediaWorks spokesman, said Jackson’s music would still be available on streaming services and in record stores for anyone who wanted to hear it.

“The difference with radio, of course, is that if we play it you don’t have a choice,” he said.

This is not the first time radio stations and streaming services have wrestled with whether to remove the music of artists accused of misconduct: Spotify last May instituted a policy of ceasing to promote or recommend R. Kelly’s music because of the accusations against him, though it rescinded the policy a month later after uproar from some in the music industry.

Jackson’s estate in February canceled the Chicago run of a new jukebox musical about the singer three weeks after the Sundance premiere of “Leaving Neverland,” and two weeks before its HBO broadcast. The producers of the musical, “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” cited scheduling difficulties caused by a labor dispute as the reason.

The estate is seeking $100 million in damages from HBO over the “Leaving Neverland” documentary, which Howard Weitzman, the estate’s lawyer, branded “a disgrace.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/world/asia/michael-jackson-radio-stations.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Speak Your Mind