MICHAEL JACKSON & SONY RELATIONSHIP FOR DUMMIES, Part 4 ~ LET'S CALL SPADE A SPADE

Media has always assassinated Michael's character but after he extracted himself from Sony, the stories leaped into a new a direction. Media bared with details his very private financial affairs that only a few were privy to, such as his business partner, Sony. Media reported that Michael was on the precipice of losing his share of Sony/ATV Catalog. Such reports were aimed to discourage investors from loaning to Michael, which hinders his ability to restructure outstanding loans, including a $188 million loan from Sony, secured by Sony/ATV Catalog. Michael can't pay back, Sony seizes the collateral.

“The witch-hunt began. And it seemed like one negative story after the other was coming out about Michael. I felt his pain. I know what it is like to walk down to street and feel like the whole world is turned against you. I know what it is like to feel helpless and unable to defend yourself because the roar of the lynch mob is so loud that you are convinced that your voice can never be heard.” -MADONNA

In below video, he is asked by Rita Cosby "what is your financial situation?” Michael answers "I am in an incredible financial situation. I just wrote someone a check for $500 million. But the good news doesn't sell. When it is negative, that's when it is blasted."

Michael needed a bigger platform to dispel the stories, portraying him financially unviable.

Hence, the $6 million shopping spree at a posh antique store in Bashir Program.

“Michael Jackson has sufficient financial power to be able to protect himself so well that you can not get thru his house whether you are a member of FBI or anybody unless you have an appointment” –MARTIN BASHIR

So to penetrate into Michael's fort, Bashir employed a Trojan Horse tactic.

“Bashir wanted to do a documentary on Michael Jackson. He wanted it to be scandalous but he knew that getting close to Michael Jackson may not be easy. After all, so many people around the world want to get near him. They want opportunities they believe he carries with him. This has been an ongoing issue with Michael Jackson his whole life. People are always buzzing around him trying to get a hook into his business, trying to just grab something that will give them fame and fortune. It’s an ongoing problem.

Michael Jackson has said many times “I am very lonely because of it” He has written that in his autobiography “Everybody wants a piece of me” Martin Bashir was no exception, just like the Arvizos were no exception. So Martin Bashir decided the best way to get to Michael Jackson is a form of flattery" -TOM MESEREAU

“He is incredibly charming but such a slippery character. It was entrepreneurial journalism he was about- just like the tabloids - and there is often an element of bullshit about it. He always talked a good game, always had a mate who knew someone" said

a former colleague of Martin Bashir.

“She [Princess Diana] never would have said all the things she said if it hadn't been for the way he [Martin Bashir] tricked her. He lulled her into a comfort zone by being this wonderful magnanimous man.” said Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson

“Bashir called Uri Geller and he was gushing with flattery. He said he admired what Michael had done for children around the world. He specifically referred to Michael’s visits to sick children in hospitals. He said “I so admire this. We need to promote it better. We need to do a documentary that will show the world what kind of a person Michael is.

Bashir told Uri Geller that Michael Jackson has always wanted an International Children’s Day. And he told Uri Geller that he wanted to bring Michael Jackson to meet Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and he was hoping by doing so, that Michael would visit Africa and help children with AIDS.

Geller arranged a meeting between Michael Jackson and Martin Bashir in London. And Bashir gave the same routine that I just described: “You are misunderstood. What you’ve done is so phenomenal. The world needs to know. I’m the one best positioned to do this project so the world really will understand who you are and what you’ve accomplished.

Bashir showed Michael a somewhat crumbled up letter, from Princess Diana commending him for the way he had conducted her interview. Everything was sugar and spice and everything nice. Unfortunately, it was false. It was deception par excellence. The meeting was arranged. Michael met with Mr. Bashir. He agreed to do the documentary because he believed what I just told you.” –TOM MESEREAU

The authenticity of the putative Princess Diana letter is highly questionable. Why would she commend Bashir when he ambushed her in the interview? And who would crumble

a letter of praise from Princess Diana?

Bashir utilized 2 falsified NatWest bank Statements, showing £4,000 payment from News International, publisher of

tabloid News of the World, to a former employee of Earl Spencer, Lady Di’s brother. The scam’s purpose was to deceive the Earl into thinking that his family’s privacy had been compromised in the ongoing war of disintegrated Diana-Charles relationship. Earl Spencer thought that it was better for his sister to put her side of the story into the public domain. BBC admitted to the existence of the falsified documents but stated that they were made “for graphic purposes”.

Since Bashir resorted to falsified bank statements to obtain the Diana interview,

who is to say that the purported letter from Princess Diana is authentic?

The close proximity in time between Bashir’s approach to Michael and the disintegration of Michael Jackson & Sony relationship seem to allude media and public at large.

May 2002 With an unprecedented 8-month-no-holds-barred access, Bashir glared his poisonous camera onto Michael. Journalistic integrity wasn’t even the last thing on Bashir’s mind, he was sent with an agenda much nefarious than meets the eye. The objective was nothing less than the total destruction of Michael Jackson.

Martin Bashir didn't act maliciously on his own just to make a name for himself. If self-promotion was his agenda, he would have already attained it by scoring an exclusive interview with Michael Jackson. A praiseful letter of reference from Michael, would have opened doors for Bashir. He would have established himself as a journalists that upscale celebrities trust and prefer to bare their inner-most lives. Now what celebrity with a right mind would trust Bashir with an interview?

Bashir put all of his eggs into this one basket, bottom of which, he KNEW, will fall out because he was well aware that Michael's own camera also captured the interview.

Any falsehood would be exposed with irrefutable evidence.

So what was the real motive to tarnish the Michael Jackson image?

“Project designed to humiliate, degrade and deceive” -TOM MESEREAU

The smear campaing was plotted to discourage potential financial investors from loaning and record buying public from buying. Merely sabotaging Invincible wouldn’t suffice. Sony needed to ensure that Michael is in no position to restructure his loans.

Many seem to overlook the value of Sony/ATV Catalog which doesn't just hold the Northern Songs (Catalog that holds Beatles songs). Since its first acquisition by Michael in 1985 and its merger with Sony in 1995, Sony/ATV added other Music Publishing Catalogs such as Leiber & Stoller, Famous Music Publishing, Rough Cut Music Catalog, Tree Publishing, etc. Sony/ATV's rival, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is the largest Music Publisher in the world with offices in 41 countries whereas Sony/ATV has offices in 23 countries. Sony aspires dominance in Music Publishing Industry.

"We have a great deal of autonomy and tremendous support from Sony, who are big believers in music publishing and copyright. They have a real long-term view on growing this business and building into the premier music publisher. Sony/ATV converted itself from a sleepy, little profitable place to an extremely profitable, wide-awake place, always circling and looking for new opportunities."

-MARTIN BANDIER, chairman & CEO of Sony/ATV

"We are very happy with the tremendous growth and financial performance at Sony/ATV. We are not sellers. We love this business and are completely focused on growing it." -ROB WIESENTHAL, executive VP/CFO of Sony

Sony wants NOT ONLY Michael’s %50 stake in Sony/ATV BUT ALSO his MiJac Catalog. Posthumously, Michael Jackson songs struck gold. Sony wants ownership so it can monetize without sharing profits or operational control with MJ Estate. Sony is the financial backer of Michael's loan until September 2011. Till then, John Branca will merge MiJac with Michael's %50 stake in Sony/ATV before eventually selling them to Sony. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when.

“If Michael were in prison, how would he defend his ownership in the catalogue? How would he defend all these frivolous lawsuits? Sony had so much to gain if there was a conviction and Sneddon would have gained celebrity status. These people didn’t have to actually sit down to conspire together. They might have helped each other on an unplanned level—because they had a common interest.” –TOM MESEREAU

Q. by SNEDDON: Did you do a current affairs piece on Princess Diana?

A. by BASHIR: I did, yeah.

Q. by SNEDDON: And how long was that production.

A. by BASHIR: I think the total duration was around an hour and 50 minutes

Shield Law allows journalists to keep confidential facts pertaining the methods they used in compiling a story. During 2005 Trial, Bashir refused to answer virtually every question asked by Tom Mesereau, invoking the Shield Law. “How many hours of footage did you omit from the documentary?” “Did you get Michael Jackson to sign two documents without a lawyer present?” were questions he declined to answer. Even when Judge Melville instructed Bashir that certain questions weren’t covered by Shield Law and that he had to answer, Bashir declined to answer. Melville stated that he would rule on Bashir’s contempt of court later but no action was taken against Bashir.

Bashir's interview with Princess Diana was almost 2 hours, his “interview” with Michael Jackson lasted 8 months -that’s 4 months short of a full year! I am a simpleton and If you follow ME for 8 months, I am bound to slip up something that could be misconstrued. Conspirators aimed at Michael's most obvious "eccentricity", most misunderstood aspect of his life: his association to young boys.

Another distinguishing characteristic of “Living with Michael Jackson” was the innuendo-laced narrative throughout the program. No such narrative was part of Bashir’s Princess Diana interview.

“Much of what Michael said about his view of the world, his view of the need for peace and love, his desire to see more creativity in the world and his great belief in children as a cause was left out and in its place what you will see is commentary by Bashir designed to create a scandal” -TOM MESEREAU

When Bashir was promoted as the co-anchor of one of ABC News’ most important current affairs shows, NightLine, Fox reporter Roger Friedman mocked the decision:

“Congratulations David Westin (The head of ABC News). You have replaced serious, competent, respected Ted Koppel with the oily, obsequious Martin Bashir. My question is, was Jerry Springer not available? His method of getting headline-making answers is as dishonest as it could possibly get. Bashir baits Jackson, praising his strangest qualities during breaks in filming. Jackson is flattered and pleased but when filming resumes, Bashir then attacks the singer for the traits he, only seconds earlier, complimented”
-ROGER FRIEDMAN

Michael was an easy mark, conspirators really didn’t need to go out of their way to set up an elaborate plot. They only needed to plant the seed of doubt into people’s minds to activate the causal chain of events that eventually led to the 2005 Trial. Throw mud, even if doesn’t stick, it will leave mark. With 1993 settlement which executed Michael in public court and Tom Sneddon, an overzealous prosecutor with a personal vendetta against Michael Jackson, the domino set-up would be activated with this one move.

Michael’s innocent-hearted association with children was well known in his circle. People like Walter Yetnikoff and Frank Dileo couldn’t quite understand why a star with Michael’s stature would chose to hang out with children, especially boys.

“Backstage I saw a cute young boy, not older than 13. I asked him what he was doing on the tour. He said ‘I am Michael’s friend’. It was strange, but then again, everything about Michael was strange.” –WALTER YETNIKOFF

The boy was Jimmy Safechuck. Michael brought him along to one leg of the Bad Tour. Michael even had to cancel 2 shows because he had gotten cold from Jimmy. When Michael gave Jimmy’s parents a Rolls-Royce, Frank Dileo intervened. He suggested that Michael break of his friendship with Jimmy. Michael was hurt then angry. “No way, Frank, forget it” he said. “It looks bad, you and all these kids” Frank insisted. “Mind your own business and maybe then it won’t look so bad” Michael responded.

An article dated January 10, 2000 reported “Neither is Dileo thrilled with Jackson's penchant for befriending children. 'It was very strange behavior and I turned a dead eye'
he says ruefully. ‘In retrospect, maybe that was wrong’"

Why did we seldom see Michael with young girls? Michael was desperately trying to recreate and relive his childhood. By the time, he could afford to do all the things he couldn't do as a child, Michael was a grown-up. He lived his childhood vicariously through boys. That's why they dressed up like Michael. He bought them toys, watched cartoons with them, take them around the world, treated them with kindness, these are things MICHAEL wanted as a child. But because he had a "strick disciplinarian " as a father and because he was worked every waking hours, his childhood passed by. And because he grew up in front of cameras and on stage, Michael lacked some social skills. He was extremely bashful. And because people often approach him only to betray him, he preferred the company of children who see Michael as he is. Many don't take the time to understand him. Because he is impeccable in his artistry, we expected the same perfection from the man. Michael the man wrestled with his issues. He is just a human. His legion of fans love him just the way he is, we wouldn't change a thing about him.

Following incription by Michael found in a book confiscated for 2005 trial tells it all:
"Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys’ faces.
This is the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will always dream of"

BASHIR: What inspired you to create a home like this?

MICHAEL: It was so easy because it was me being myself. Creating things that I love...and what I love, kids happen to love or the child that lives inside an adult happens to love. I am just putting behind the gates everything I never got ot do when I was a kid.

I feel totally at home with them [children]. Because they don't judge you. I haven't been betrayed or deceived by children. Adults have let me down.