Video will appear as you scroll through the story
Michael Jackson · S6 E8
The First Allegation
August 1993 and the seismic shift that never fully reversed
August 1993, Bangkok, Thailand. Michael Jackson is mid-tour when the news breaks: a thirteen-year-old boy's father has accused him of child molestation, and the story is on every screen on earth.
They Don't Care About Us, Michael Jackson (1996). The prison version, directed by Spike Lee. Michael's most confrontational song and video, born directly from the persecution he felt during and after the 1993 allegation. The anger in this performance is not an act.
They Don't Care About Us, Michael Jackson (1996)
Michael at his angriest. The production is built on pounding drums, chanted vocals, and an aggressive rhythm influenced by Brazilian percussion. The song caused its own controversy when the Anti-Defamation League objected to certain lyrics they considered antisemitic, forcing Michael to re-record those lines. The prison version of the video was temporarily pulled by MTV, which only added to the song's notoriety.
Sources
HIStory album credits, Epic Records, 1995
Anti-Defamation League public statement, 1995
The Allegation
In August 1993, Evan Chandler, a Los Angeles dentist, accused Michael Jackson of molesting his thirteen-year-old son Jordan. The accusation was made during a custody dispute between Chandler and Jordan's mother. The LAPD and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney launched investigations. Michael, in the middle of the Dangerous World Tour, maintained his innocence from the start.
Sources
Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, J. Randy Taraborrelli, 2009
Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, Randall Sullivan, 2012
TAP TO REVEAL: What happened to the Dangerous World Tour?
The Settlement
In January 1994, Michael's legal team reached a civil settlement with the Chandler family for a reported $23 million. The settlement contained no admission of guilt. No criminal charges were filed: the District Attorney stated there was insufficient evidence to proceed without the family's cooperation, which ended after the civil case was resolved. Michael maintained his innocence for the rest of his life.
Sources
Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, Randall Sullivan, 2012
Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office, public statements, 1994
August 1993: The Timeline
Is It Scary, Michael Jackson (1997)
From Blood on the Dance Floor, a song where Michael directly confronts the people who have decided he is a monster. Originally written for the Addams Family Values soundtrack in 1993, the same year the allegation broke, the lyrics ask a single devastating question: am I the beast you visualized? The production builds from a whispered verse to an operatic chorus that sounds more like a courtroom defense than a pop song.
Is It Scary, Michael Jackson (1997)
The lyrics are structured as a confrontation. Michael addresses his accusers directly, asking them to look at what they have created: a man reduced to a caricature of fear and suspicion. The vocal shifts between vulnerability and defiance, as if he cannot decide whether to plead or fight. Written during the first allegation period, it reads like a preview of everything that followed.
What tour was Michael Jackson on when the 1993 allegation surfaced?
The allegation changes everything, but Michael Jackson does not disappear. His response is a double album called HIStory, and it contains the angriest, most personal music he has ever made.
0 XP earned this session