Michael Jackson defends Mariah, booes Thalia's hubby!

[Nano]

What's happening Marky, I'm hearing gossip news first in the media... I was accostumed to read them first on this forum!
Anyway, I read somewhere that Michael Jackson appeared in some place talking about the music biz in very bad terms. The "man" seemed really pissed with the way of producers and put Mariah Carey's being fired as an example. Also said that Sony bigwig Tommy Mottola, ex-husband to Mariah and current of little Thalia (a Latin star that now pushed out his first record in English, · l· Ricky & Shakira) was a "racist" and "mysogynous" pig, or something like that.
Actually I didn't pay so much attention because I was sure to get the real deal right here, my friend!
OK, I know there was no sex involved, but think about it... Jacko being mean with some person!

[markydefad]

Nano,

Jacko has attacked Sony Records Honcho Tommy Mottola as "Devilish" several times recently in public.

Sony says Jacko owes them money. They spent $55 million in production and marketing of "Invincible" and it only sold 2 million copies; "People" says 6 million worldwide.

So Jacko is charging "racism" and thievery.
In other words, he's hurtin' for money and doesn't want to or can't pay Sony what he contractually owes them.

Supposedly, even black muckraking activists like Rev. Al Sharpton backed off supporting Jacko, once he started attacking Mottola. (Remember those rumored Mafia ties).

"People" has a picture of Jacko standing outside the Sony offices in NYC holding a sign with "the Good "(pic of Jacko), "the Bad" (Mottola with devil horns, pitchfork and tail drawn in) and "the Ugly" ( undoctored pic of Mottola) on it.

That's the gist of it. Shades of Prince's tirades against Warners. Notice the vast amounts of CD's Prince has sold since he was released by the evil, career-stifling Warners. The jig is up; they can't face the truth; the audiences have moved on--they no longer rule the charts. Instead of accepting that fact and playing to their strengths, they get all childish and throw public tantrums. America should really feel sorry for Jacko. (NOT) :roll:

That's my take.

_________________
Make My Feet Wanna Dance!

Markydefad

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: markydefad on 2002-07-13 14:43 ]</font>

[markydefad]

Nano,

I just read an article on Jackoff & Sony in the Village Voice which had a few interesting tidbits.

Jacko wants out of his Sony contract and Sony WOULD let him go--BUT wants his rights to the Beatles catalog. Jacko owes Sony something like $200 million and they want their money. Jacko paid $47.5 million for the Beatles catalog (251 songs) in 1985 and it's believed to be worth between $400 million and $1 billion today.

Jacko's lawyers want only to give Sony 2 Greatest Hits packages and then depart from the label without handing over the coveted Beatles catalog.

Jacko's quotes about Tommy Mottola:
"Mottola, the president of the record division--he is mean, he's a racist, and he's very, very, very devilish. So I need your support, not just for me. When you fight for me--you fight for all black people--dead and alive". This quote is from a rally on July 6 at Al Sharpton's House Of Justice where Jackson appeared dressed in black--with two black gloves!!!--and spoke before an audience of mostly middle-aged or older blacks about the "conspiracy" against black artists by record companies.

While many think there are injustices against artists by record companies that need rectifying, Jacko is perceived as a loose cannon with his attacks.

She's got her panties in a bunch, all right. This should be most interesting and amusing.

[Nano]

Mmmm... good info, Marky. Seems we're at the border of witnessing Jacko's bankruptcy...
"A very devilish man": LOL, these guys remember who's bad just when they are the victims. "Against all blacks"? Where was Michael during Suge Knight's reign in L.A. rap scene?
Of course Jacko was already a veteran in the biz by the time "Thriller" was released, but I can't help to remember a classic scene from first-signed music artists. At the beginning, there are parties, lavish videos and the lot. Then, one day, somebody in the band want to know how many royalties are left... and discover they payed for all those luxuries from their own account! (small letter in the contract) Also that the "first money" was on account of future sales, so they probably owe money to the label...
Don't worry, I'm not going to do a rant against the industry (I still buy CDs, by the way). But Jacko's situation is a good example of how bad can a career be going when the marketing executives do their numbers... That is, that they lend a free hand to spend on their stars hoping the returns will multiplicate... Then, some Kurt Cobain decides to turn the page and WHUP!
You mention Prince (from which I'm a longtime fan, but you're right), and another name comes to mind: George Michael, who also had problems with Sony because reportedly they couldn't meet his "artistic vision". I remember a Vibe interview with Prince (the first since he had rebaptized himself with the sign, remember?) around 1994, in which Mr. Nelson ranted about the masters issue and backed George Michael several times (first time in years he mentioned another artist not produced by him). He used GM as an example of his vision of how corrupted Warner Music was (this after his being named vice-president of the company) and offered: "let George Michael do his ballet music if he wants to".
Now we know what's happened: George was liberated, went to EMI and a couple of years later released (at last!) his oeuvre: the dull "Older", showing he had no more jacks in his hand (no pun intended). The most memorable thing of GM since then was his faux-pas in a public restroom, and the funny video clip he managed to make to resurface from ridicule. Good for him doing that, but the music... :sad:
Of course you know all this. Maybe you don't think the same, but this is what forums stand for, huh? Just thought it's a good issue. Bernie! I want another beer, please.

[nonkel808]

For me, Michael Jackson died some 10 years!

His music nowadays sucks, it has no soul whatsoever! He looks and acts like a freak. He married the ugliest women on earth and evenhad two test-tube babies with her! (and you all now the rest of his freaky life)
The guy even had a jumbo sized statue of himself made once.

And that Tommy Motola guy! He's not a damn thing better! He dumps his chichuaua called Mariah for another even more underdeveloped brainless women! And now he tries to steal those Beatles rights from Jacko who stole them from Macka a long time ago.

freaks rule the world...

Lets have a vote about Micheal JAckson.
Do you think theres a conspiracy against him because of RACISM? > VOTE A
Or do you think he just messsed up his carreer and now has to pay the concequences? > VOTE B

[keefelc]

I saw this article in this morning's SF Chronicle which got the article from the LA Times:

"Porn link marred Jackson's 9/11 project"
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles -- When Michael Jackson said last week that Sony Music Inc. had held back his career, he specifically mentioned a Sept. 11 charity single that was never released. In fact, Jackson's handlers asked Sony to shelve the project after they learned that its executive producer had produced and directed dozens of gay pornographic videos.

The single featured a choir of superstars assembled by producer F. Marc Schaffel. It was to be sold through McDonald's Corp.

But when the singer's handlers discovered that Schaffel was in the gay pornography business, they quietly asked Sony Music to bury the single, fearing damage to the reputation of the the self-described King of Pop, whose legacy already was tarnished by allegations of sexual molestation in 1993.

The record suffered yet another setback when McDonald's backed out of a multimillion-dollar proposal to sell it at its franchises, fearing fallout from customers who would be unhappy with the chain's association with Jackson.

None of this, however, was mentioned by Jackson when he blamed Sony Music for blocking the release of the charity single, which is called "What More Can I Give" and features two dozen artists, including Ricky Martin, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan and Reba McEntire.

Jackson's representatives have declined to comment except to say that when they and the singer learned of Schaffel's background, they immediately broke ties with him. Sony also declined to comment.

[Nano]

Mmmm... it seems The Empire (Sony) Strikes Back!!!

[Jeff H]

Entertainment Weekly's online newsletter is reporting the Michael Jackson-porn director connection in today's edition. I've been curious about which titles this guy has directed, but all EW says is that they were straight, gay and bi softcore titles like you'd see on the Spice Channel.

(EW also notes that a porn director named Gregory Dark has directed videos for Britney and Mandy Moore, and no one said a thing about that. But then they've never been accused of pedophilia either.)

I was actually tipped off to this "new" scandal involving Jackson and the porn director several months ago by a guy named Paul Baressi. For those of you who don't know the name, he's the guy who revealed he'd had an affair with John Travolta years ago after Travlota hit on him in the shower at their gym. Apparently Johnny is into the macho daddy type, and Baressi (sometimes spelled "Barresi") certainly fits the bill: he's an aggressive guy now in his 50s (I would guess), muscular and hairy-chested. How do I know that? Well, hunky Mr. Baressi did some porn himself in his youth (Men of the Midway, Falconhead 2, L.A. Tool and Die), then spent some time as a "personal trainer" and wannabe actor (he was in the movie "Perfect" with Travolta) and has now ended up as... a porn director!

And a very opinionated one at that. Occasionally something will set him off, and he'll call his contacts in the gay media (of which I'm one) and just rant. That's how I found out months ago about the Jackson scandal. But given Baressi's penchant for spouting off, I didn't know if I should take him seriously or not.

Damn--I could have had an exclusive like Marky's early 411 on Winona!

[Nano]

Hey Jeff, what if that porn actor who said he was Tom Cruiser's boyfriend had something to do in Jacko's director porn stuff? (I'm just making this up.) That would be a connection to make the cover of the Enquirer!
All these guys must know each other somewhere, don't you think? Maybe checking some kind of Internet Porn Movie Database...

[Funky Dude]

nonkel808 wrote:
For me, Michael Jackson died some 10 years!

His music nowadays sucks, it has no soul whatsoever! He looks and acts like a freak.

Yeah, I also reckon Michael has lost his spark as well. My interests in his music dropped off after his "Thriller" album as it became more pop-dance oriented.

Today his appearence really sucks to me. He looks like a girl with his skin turned white and his hair being curly, his plastic surgery nose job looks terrible, and I absolutely HATE that annoying 19th century style red-gold bell-boy or movie ticket collector outfit, it looks really uncool. I reckon he looked a lot better in the 70's when he was black, had a really cool afro hair-do, had his original nose and had really cool funky flares and jacket, unlike that bell-boy outfit he wears today.

But it's not just his looks that have gone downhill, in the 90's his music is just gone too pop-oriented and not that interesting to listen to. His music career has also been on the quiet side lately too (at least I think so), the last time I heard anything from him was "Blood On The Dance Floor" which was a hit, from memory it was just an average 90's dance song and I don't care much to listen to it. But I love buying the 70's Jackson 5 records they are great because they are a lot funkier and have soul.

It's really sad that he wasn't happy with his original appearence, he looked a hell of a lot better in the 70's and 80's compared to what he looks like today.

Then again I've sort of heard that he had a lot of family problems which probably motivated him in this way.

[Outsider]

I think that one reason Michael Jackson has lost fans is that he's too much of a freak these days. He can't get people to pay attention to his music anymore.

When I see pictures of him from the "Off The Wall" era and pictures of him today, I find it hard to believe it's the same person.

[Boodikka]

It gets weirder: One of Jackoff's claims is that he had Pariah Carey's support against Tommy MobAyatollah. Then Tommy's wife, RiThalinia, claims that Pariah has contacted her supporting Tommy! How strange....
Look at the cast of characters:
Michael Jackoff - Pedophile Space Alien
Tommy MobAyatollah - Pseudo-Gangster
Pariah Carey - Wrist-Slashing Basket Case
RiThalinia - Queen Of Her Own Planet

This sounds like a great nutty movie....somebody get Oliver Stone on the line!

[keefelc]

Yesterday's "USA Today" had more info about the former porn director!

"Michael Jackson's Sept. 11 single produced by gay-porn maker" By Edna Gundersen

Michael Jackson's accusation that Sony Music blocked release of his all-star benefit single seems to be backfiring with revelations of the star's ties to a gay-porn maker.

Jackson hired adult-film maker Marc Schaffel to be executive producer of What More Can I Give, recorded shortly after Sept. 11 and due in stores by the end of 2001. Schaffel, also known as Marc Frederics and Frederic Marc Schaffel, operates pornographic Web sites and has directed numerous gay porn videos.

He had no music-production credits when Jackson enlisted him to oversee the song's recording and video. Schaffel and Paul Hugo, a fellow pornographer, teamed to produce the video under the company banner Neverland Valley Entertainment. (Neverland also is the name of Jackson's compound in Santa Ynez, Calif.)

Jackson and Schaffel said they expected the English and Spanish versions of What More, featuring vocals by Ricky Martin, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Reba McEntire and others, to raise $50 million for terror victims. The long-overdue song remains in limbo.

Sony representatives, who last week issued a statement condemning Jackson's ''unfounded and unwarranted'' attacks on Sony chief Tommy Mottola, had no comment on the new controversy. Schaffel, who told the Los Angeles Times that he never concealed his background in pornography, did not return calls. In a USA TODAY interview in September, Schaffel referred to Jackson as a longtime friend. Jackson singles out Schaffel in current album Invincible's credits under the heading ''Michael Jackson Gives Special Thanks.'' The entry reads, ''Marc Schaffel . . . Thank you for all your help. I love you.''

Branding Mottola a racist, Jackson blamed Sony's inadequate marketing for the poor performance of Invincible, which has sold roughly 2 million copies since its release Oct. 30. It spent only 29 weeks on the Billboard chart, vanishing after it sank to No. 198 in late May. By contrast, 1992's Bad spent 117 weeks on the chart. Industry observers now suspect Sony and Jackson's own advisers quashed the single after learning of Schaffel's history.

Dan Klores, Jackson's spokesman, seems to interpret the Schaffel disclosure as retaliation.

''It's unfortunate that old stories like this are being leaked to the media in order to further hurt Michael,'' Klores says. ''The perpetrators of this leak have known for months that Schaffel has had no relationship with Michael Jackson. The minute Michael and his advisers found out about Schaffel's background, they cut the cord immediately. This was months ago. (Schaffel) has nothing to do with Michael Jackson, doesn't represent him in any way, shape or form, and has been told this repeatedly by Michael's attorneys.''

[markydefad]

The New Times, an LA free paper akin to the L.A. Weekly did some investigative reporting and came up with a cover story titled "The Jackson Jive" by Tony Ortega.

Now, they uncovered some facts previously unreported here.

For Jeff, my porn pal, here's some info on the director Marc Fredrics AKA Fredric Marc Schaffel.

Kevin Glover, a film editor well-known in the gay porn industry: "Fred Schaffel was pretty pedestrian. He wasn't singled out for awards or anything. He was competent. He didn't worry about storylines. But he had a pretty good knack for finding attractive men."

Fred's career in gay porn spans about 15 years, from his first big
seller, "Cocktales", which marked the debut of a popular actor named Rex Chandler to James Bond-themed efforts ("View To A Thrill", The Man With The Golden Rod") and a series of films shot in Eastern Europe with extremely well-endowed and uncircumcised actors ("Mansized", "Measuring Up", and "Uncut").

"While the guys are all good-looking and decently hung there just isn't any sizzle in this video", complained Gay Chicago Magazine in its review.

"He's not a great filmmaker," says producer Vaughn Kinsey. "He's not gifted when it comes to art or direction or coming up with great ideas. He started out as a model recruiter, finding actors. That's what he's really famous for. The other stuff sort of fell in his lap."

These sentiments were echoed by several other producers and directors in the industry, most of whom did not want their names used in the story. One guy who wasn't afraid was distributer Stan Loeb, recently honored by the Adult Video News with the porn industry's equivalent of the Lifetime Achievement Oscar.

Loeb says he has a long association with Schaffel and his films. "Fred Schaffel used to find a lot of talent for a lot of people in the industry. How he found them I don't know. I guess some people just have an eye, especially in the gay industry. He could go into a restaurant or a nightclub, and could spot a guy who could be good in his films."

He then proceeds to say that over the years the quality of product Schaffel turned out declined. Loeb sensed Schaffel was less involved in the actual production of these films and just attaching his name to the projects to market them.

Loeb says he was stunned one day last August when Schaffel told him that Michael Jackson had hired him for a job. Loeb also says Schaffel told him that Jackson and he were childhood friends. Loeb thought Schaffel was full of ****, but in November he received a phone call from Schaffel who put Jackson himself on the phone and requested Loeb's son, a chartered pilot, fly some of Michael's people around, which he did.

Then the speculation is over why Schaffel and Jackson got into business together and beyond that, why Jackson would entrust Schaffel to direct a monumentally ambitious video of his charity record, with his seemingly totally inadequate background. Anyway, he was not able to pull this stunt off and whatever footage was shot was deemed unusable. So what the hell was Michael thinking? And why use Schaffel on a sensitive charity project like this with tie-ins to MacDonalds for marketing, etc.? A project where everyone needed to be above the board and squeaky clean--especially with Jackson's own tarnished image? And did Jackson's own people stop the release of the song and video when they found out Schaffel's background? And if so, why did they let Jackson publicly accuse Sony of this sabotage in the name of racism?

So many questions to be answered.

[Jeff H]

Marky--

This is the first time I'm reading that Marc Schaffel is the same guy who made gay porn under the name Marc Fredrics--now that name I know. And I'd have to agree with the comments made by others: His work as Fredrics is OK, not great but not as bad as so much other porn!

Btw, Vaughn Kinsey works in porn under the name John Summers, and he has some real mediocre stuff to his credit too, so maybe he shouldn't be so quick to criticize. Summers scored big with "Two Handfuls" and has been coasting on that reputation since, if you ask me.



_________________
"...a once in a lifetime feeling that returns every week..."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jeff H on 2002-07-19 09:12 ]</font>

[Boodikka]

Supposedly one of the Dark Brothers, ubiquitous producers of straight porn in the late '80s and early '90s, has directed music videos for mainstream Sony artists, so a porn resume' isn't the problem.
Space Alien Mike has started a war with the Evil Empire, and the Evil Empire has fired back hard.....and don't think that this is the last shot to be fired.

[Jeff H]

Boodi: It's true that Dark has directed mainstream music videos (according to EW anyway); see my post in this thread from July 15.

And, yes, since this "news" about Jackson and the porn producer was actually known several months ago, the best explanation for its resurgence it that someone is trying hard to discredit the "King of Pop."

Not that he needs any help from anyone else in doing that.

[Nano]

In a little digression, I want to share with you this I just read in Today's Studio Briefing of IMDB:

Brando Received $1 Million Check From Jackson, Says Report

Marlon Brando, whose appearances in films are becoming more and more infrequent, was paid $1 million by Michael Jackson to appear at Jackson's 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden last year to deliver a talk praising the singer, according to Fox.com's Roger Friedman, who cited reliable insiders. Contacted by phone and asked to confirm or deny the report, Friedman said Brando replied, "I don't talk to the press!" and hung up on him. He quoted an unnamed Jackson associate as saying, "A million bucks? Yeah, I heard that. That's why Michael has so little cash for himself." Friedman says that Brando's appearance "was so boring it had to be cut from the televised show."

Mmmm... so for those many 'friends' on Jacko's TV appearances!!!

[markydefad]

In some article that I can't find now to refer to, a reference was made that porn dirctors had directed high-profile videos for several artists, including Britney Spears. BUT, the difference here was that this was a charity event on a par with "We Are The World" that wanted to do promo tie-ins with McDonalds, the choice of an inexperienced gay porno director to helm such a project, given Jacko's own notoriety, was inexplicable.

There's more good stuff to tell. Jacko's people supposedly owe lotsa people lotsa money for services that were bought but never paid for in connection with the video shoots and the cinematopgrapher recounts how he was instructed to surround Jacko with 4000-watt softlights from every angle coming at him. "Being as white as he is, in the video camera the picture is blown out. there's no detail. You just see a mouth and two eyes floating in space."

The cinematographer also recounts how several years earlier on a Janet Jackson video shoot which included Michael, he was told by Michael's people to stay back at least 11 feet and "Don't look or stare at him!!!!"

He said, "Hey, wait a minute, I'm the cameraman, I HAVE to look at him."

They also set up a shot where President Bush was supposed to call Michael--but after much effort they were told the Pres didn't have time.

It just goes on and on. One foolish gaffe after another.

One question: How did Paul McCartney ever lose control to the rights to his Beatles music? Was he hoodwinked? Why would such a rich man as himself ever give up the rights to such precious material??? I've never read how this happened, only that McCartney is pissed at Jackson because of it and wants his music rights back. Can anyone explain that one to me?

_________________
Make My Feet Wanna Dance!

Markydefad

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: markydefad on 2002-07-19 18:10 ]</font>

[Nano]

Marky, in the Beatles biography "The love you make" (by their lawyer Peter Brown) there's a detailed chapter about Northern Songs, the music publishing house build by John & Paul (advised by Brian Epstein) and how they lost the rights to their own material on the band's last days. By the way, it's a superb book, with plenty of insider's info and first-hand testimony.
Also, there's the whole story of the Apple Records project, which now sounds too fantastic but is true!

[markydefad]

So Nano, you're saying Paul & John lost the publishing rights to their music many years before Jacko acquired them? I had no idea. I assumed they owned them through the seventies and mid-80's until Jacko got them.

Whoever advised or allowed them to give up their publishing rights must have been a moron of the first magnitude or a guy who stood to gain from that sale. Unbelievable.

[markydefad]

Also, I should clarify that Marc Schaffel was really the Executive Producer of that charity single. I was maintaining he actually was directing the video--BUT I'm unclear whether that is true. Whatever, the article in New Times implies he was in totally over his head. The project called out for a Quincy Jones or some other savvy, show biz veteran to coordinate the many conflicting artist's schedules and somehow make the project happen. Schaffel was not up to the task, apparently.

Which leads me to the subject of all of these childhood friends of Jacko's. Now he supposedly attended a school at Hawthorn & Gardner in Hollywood, a couple blocks from where I live--they have a Michael Jackson Auditorium there. Did David Gest (Liza's shlubby hubby and the producer of Jacko's self-congratulatory NYC concert) and Marc Schaffel also attend that somewhat seedy, rundown school? Probably not. I can't quite believe Jacko EVER attended a class there either. Yet his name is on the building. PR, perhaps?

_________________
Make My Feet Wanna Dance!

Markydefad

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: markydefad on 2002-07-20 15:27 ]</font>

[Nano]

Marky, I don't have the Beatles book with me but it was something like this: in the mid-60's the Fab founded a music publishing company (as usual in England and USA) to manoeuvre the royalties payday. That's the famous Northern Songs quoted in all their early credits of Lennon-McCartney. But for tax reasons or something like that, it was arranged that the control of the company (51%) would be owned by some friends of the band. Around 1968, after Brian Epstein's death and the decision to let all their contract managing to then Stones producer Allen Klein (famous later for sue and being sued for both Beatles and Stones), John and Paul found that guys running Northern Songs for them had sold part of their shares, and the company even had gone public, so it was pretty impossible to get them back at once. This situation led to a big and long series of discussions and litigations between the Beatles, their managers, ex-managers, lawyers, etc., that lasted well into the Eighties (the Apple company was closed for good around 1985, you'll remember that because all Beatles records were reissued with the EMI label instead of the green apple).
A big chunk of Northern Songs ended in a public selling (around 1984), and of course being John dead, Yoko and Paul were the first bidders, but Jacko was fresh from Thriller's smash and offered even more than Macko could. Of course that ended with their collaborations and friendship.
There's plenty of stories like this in the rock and roll world. Billy Joel, for example, sued his own brother for cheating on him with royalties et al in the years he managed Billy's career. But of course you know about this, there you have Woody's claim against Jean Doumanian! Seems you can't trust anybody these days.