So, Did MJ Do It?

I have been an MJ fan for the longest time. His music was the soundtrack of my childhood. I have written elsewhere on this blog about how I grew fatigued with his sound, as he dominated the 1980s music terrain, and proceeded to explore and enjoy other male music artists in the early 1990s.

For me, the basis of my attraction towards any music artist, regardless of who they were has always been the music. I was never keen on knowing about their sexuality, intimate life and who graced their beds. Their moral codes and world view never interested me. I knew nothing about their lives and was not in the position to judge or evaluate them. They were neither idols nor people I looked to for inspiration. Of course, their gift was immensely admired and appreciated but not to the point of deification. It has always been the music, period!

If MJ appeared in my environment, I definitely did not belong to the group of people who would faint or lose their minds because he was a human being, like all of us. I always found absurd and ridiculous the emotional outburst and responses MJ’s proximity ignited in many people. That could never be me! I suppose my mental frame allows me to have a clear perspective about the manifold accusations levelled against him.

For many years, I disbelieved the multiple media news reports. In fact, I refused to watch any documentaries aimed at tarnishing his legacy. I viewed them as the witch-hunting of a great man and the rubbishing of his unique talent, as the media is wont to do. Last year, I came across a book Shine Bright by Danyel Smith where she interrogates Janet Jackson’s relationship with her brother MJ and how the former’s participation in the song “Scream” was a show of solidarity and belief in his innocence.

However, a sentence caught my eye and it was “Michael settled with his 1993 accusers for more than $20 million. In May 1994, a Los Angeles County grand jury disbanded without handing up an indictment, and while Michael was not charged, he was not absolved” (241).

This stirred up my thoughts and raised questions in my mind. The first was why has the accusation of paedophilia against MJ remained persistent and consistent? Since 1993, we are talking over three decades long. Even after his demise, it remains unfaltered. The second question was why would an innocent man pay his accusers such whooping amount, if he was not guilty?

An innocent man remains steadfast in his truth when in collision with negativity and accusations. An innocent man never spends a dime to assuage accusers, no matter whose ox is gored. An innocent man remains consistent in his claim of innocence and allows time to be his arbitrator. When money comes into the equation, it already indicates self-indictment and that is regardless of legal counsel.

That was my conclusion of the matter. Now, does that mean that I would cease to listen to MJ’s music? No, this blog has already dedicated the month of June 2026 to memorializing his music legacy. That by itself is a statement. But, do I think he was innocent? As someone who wears no rose colored glasses when it comes to life, no, I don’t think so!