A furious Michael Jackson hit out on Tuesday at United States rapper Eminem over what he branded a ”demeaning and disrespectful” video that mocks the ”king of pop” and shows him cavorting with children.
Jackson, who is awaiting trial on child-molestation charges, wants the rapper’s Just Lose It video, which shows a Jackson lookalike on a bed surrounded by children, taken off the air.
”Michael is very angry about this video,” his spokesperson Raymone Bain said. ”He feels that Eminem has crossed the line. It’s one thing to spoof someone, but it’s another to be so disrespectful.
”He feels it’s inappropriate, insensitive, demeaning and disrespectful and his first priority is to get it pulled from the air waves,” she said.
Jackson is focusing on persuading television networks to stop playing the video, Bain said, and is not yet considering legal action against Eminem.
In the irreverent song, the always-controversial Eminem says: ”Come here, little kiddie, on my lap. Guess who’s back with a brand-new rap? And I don’t mean rap, as in a case of child molestation.”
The video also makes fun of an early-1990s incident in which Jackson’s hair famously caught fire while he was filming a commercial for soft-drink maker Pepsi, showing the Jackson lookalike with his coiffure ablaze.
The song also pokes fun at the extent of Jackson’s plastic surgery. When the burning ”king of pop” lookalike rushes to a public toilet to put out the flames, his nose falls off.
Bain said Black Entertainment Television had agreed on Tuesday to take the video off the air and issued an appeal to other US broadcasters to ”immediately follow suit and pull the video”. The video is in rotation on MTV.
Eminem’s representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Jackson (46) has been accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy after plying him with alcohol at his Neverland Ranch last year.
The singer pleaded innocent in April to 10 charges including child molestation, plying a minor with alcohol and conspiracies to kidnap, illegally imprison and extort his alleged victim or his family. He is free on bail of $3-million.
He has branded the allegations a ”big lie” and accused the boy’s family of attempting to extort money from him.
The next court hearing in the explosive case is set for Thursday in the California town of Santa Maria, but Jackson is not expected to attend. — Sapa-AFP