Lanre Bakare

But we know for sure the way that black Americans have been treated by the state, let alone the music industry.

Yeah, so why do we have to attack him as well?

We're not going to join in.

We're not going to do that.

And I think there is a weird dynamic there where African-Americans are often asked to defend Michael Jackson or come out and denounce him.

The reason that Michael Jackson is Michael Jackson is because white America embraced him.

The reason he sold 80 million copies of Thriller isn't because African-Americans bought it.

It's because white people bought it as well.

And everybody was making absolutely loads of money out of him.

That's the reason Michael Jackson became Michael Jackson.

But when it comes to the allegations and the dark stuff, all of a sudden it's a black problem.

And why aren't you coming out and decrying him?

I think there's a really important kind of timing issue at the heart of it.

Michael, the biopic was supposed to come out earlier, and that has been delayed for multiple reasons.

And I think the gap in time from 2019 and those allegations to now has been really useful for the Michael Jackson estate.

And in that intervening period, they've made a lot of money out of...

multiple musicals, merchandise sales, like they've built up this kind of war chest.

And then Michael is the kind of crown jewel in that kind of new cultural awakening around Michael Jackson.

So there's been this period of time where the allegations have been made.

And now what you start to see in a really interesting way is like people kind of saying, well, I'm skeptical about some of the allegations.