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Michael Jackson · S8 E3
Not Guilty
The verdict, the flight, and the years in Bahrain
June 13, 2005. The foreman in a Santa Maria courtroom reads 'not guilty' on every count, and Michael Jackson walks into the California sun as a free man who will never feel safe in America again.
Earth Song, Michael Jackson (1995). Official music video directed by Nick Brandt. Forests burn, elephants fall, the world tears itself apart, and then everything reverses: the fires go out, the dead rise, the earth heals. On the day of the verdict, Michael Jackson gets his own reversal.
Earth Song, Michael Jackson (1995)
"Earth Song" was built over four years, with orchestral arrangements and a production scale that rivals a film score. It was never released as a commercial single in the US, but in the UK it spent six weeks at number one and became one of the biggest-selling singles in British chart history. The production layers a full orchestra over the Andraé Crouch Singers gospel choir, with Michael's vocal building from a whispered plea to a full-throated scream. Listen for how the song structurally mirrors its video: quiet devastation giving way to something enormous, as if the music itself is trying to undo the damage.
Sources
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I album credits, Epic Records, 1995
UK Official Charts Company, singles chart history
The Verdict
The jury files into the courtroom after seven days of deliberation. Michael sits at the defense table between his attorneys, gripping their hands. The foreman reads 'not guilty' on the conspiracy charge, then 'not guilty' on each of the remaining nine counts. By the time the last charge is read, fans outside the courthouse are screaming.
Sources
People v. Jackson, Santa Barbara County Superior Court records, 2005
Aphrodite Jones, Michael Jackson Conspiracy, 2007
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Michael do the night he was acquitted?
The Exile
Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the son of the King of Bahrain, offers Michael a compound, a recording studio, and something money cannot buy: anonymity. Michael accepts and moves to the Gulf state with his three children. For the first time in decades, he walks through shopping malls without being recognized. He later moves to Ireland, then France, then Las Vegas, spending three years as a man without a permanent address.
Sources
Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, Randall Sullivan, 2012
Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, J. Randy Taraborrelli, 2009
After the Verdict
Don't Walk Away, Michael Jackson (2001)
From Invincible, a mid-tempo ballad about not wanting to lose someone, about the fear of being left behind. In the context of exile, Michael is the one walking away, but the song captures what it costs. Leaving America meant leaving Neverland, leaving his career, leaving the place where he became the biggest artist alive.
Don't Walk Away, Michael Jackson (2001)
The lyrics describe a relationship at its breaking point, with Michael pleading for one more chance. The production is restrained compared to Invincible's harder tracks, with a warm piano bed and strings that underscore the vulnerability in his voice. In the aftermath of a 14-week trial, that quiet feels earned.
Where did Michael Jackson go immediately after the 2005 acquittal?
For three years, Michael drifts between countries with no permanent home. Then, in March 2009, he walks onto a stage at the O2 Arena in London and speaks two words into the microphone: 'This is it.'
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