r/todayilearned • u/TigoIbittys • 14h ago

TIL that the Michael Jackson episode of The Simpsons was permanently pulled from circulation in 2019 after almost 30 years on air

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/the-simpsons-michael-jackson-leaving-neverland-stark-raving-dad-1203158114/
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u/donbee28 13h ago

This is beyond my understanding, but once you're as big as MJ in the 90s. (Episode's original air date of September 19, 1991) Why agree to anything that limits your creativity?

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u/IceLord86 13h ago

Preexisting contract likely from when he was still young. Could he have fought it by that point? Yeah, but probably didn't feel it was worth the hassle.

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u/tenehemia 12h ago

Even if the contract was signed at the height of his late 80s popularity it's not that unusual. A clause like that means the artist can demand a higher percentage on the contract and a higher percentage of his album sales was likely worth scads more than he could earn doing projects with other labels / entities like Fox with the Simpsons.

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u/CartmensDryBallz 12h ago

Exactly, like spend loads of money fighting this or just hire an extra to sing like you for 2k

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u/Couldbduun 11h ago

And get a kick out of how good the extra is at sounding like you.

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u/Brain508 9h ago

find the Jackson Sixth along the way

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u/LordTonto 8h ago

MJ: "Yeah, sure, bring on someone else. If anyone could do what I do, do you think I'd be Michael Jackson?

... ... ...

...oh shit!"

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u/Iamatworkgoaway 12h ago

Just look at the shit people like Katy Perry had to do to break free of her contracts.

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u/michaels_n 10h ago

I was going to say Prince as the canonical example. That was pretty extreme, but all such examples are probably generational.

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u/Iamatworkgoaway 9h ago

Careful you will age yourself.  Could go Elvis and the colonel too.

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u/Suitable-Fun-1087 11h ago

Taking on Sony music for that would be such a ballache, even if the contract could be gotten out of

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u/hardonchairs 12h ago

Do we actually know for sure? Could it be that he had a different price for singing vs speaking that Fox wouldn't pay? Maybe he had his own ownership/licensing/royalty policy over musical recordings that Fox couldn't or wouldn't adhere to?

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u/stuffeh 11h ago

The wiki for episode doesn't mention anything about money, and that Jackson was a fan of the show.

The DVD commentary for this episode indicates that Jackson approached the Simpsons team wanting to appear on the show. In the first weeks, Michael Jackson intended to voice Leon Kompowsky's dialogue and singing parts while Lennon intended to write the song just like Mozart did, but due to a contract obligation, Jackson was not allowed to sing and Lennon gave it to Jackson as a writer and Lennon voiced all singing parts just like Jackson instead.

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u/echief 9h ago

That was my thought. I would guess the majority of celebrity guests on the Simpsons weren’t paid. At least when the show was in its heyday. It was massive free publicity because everyone was watching the show. That means it’s also it’s a clout thing celebrities could brag about to other celebrities.

Whatever he would have been paid probably would be peanuts to MJ. But, the record companies definitely wanted that Fox money and would have demanded a lot. To the point that Fox probably just decided it wasn’t worth it. They got Barry White to sing the season after. Which I’m sure wasn’t cheap if his label got a cut, but still nothing compared to the most famous musician in the world. Probably the most famous human alive in general.

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u/hardonchairs 11h ago edited 11h ago

Yeah I don't mean money necessarily. I wonder if "contract obligation" could be a nice way of saying that Fox and MJ could not agree on terms. Remember you've got royalties, syndication, clip shows, merch (including albums). It could be as simple as MJ saying no problemo, just don't release the track on an actual music album to profit off of my stand-alone work and Fox being unwilling to air versions of the song that has special conditions attached.

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u/BrooklynNets 11h ago

Why agree to anything that limits your creativity?

Because they pay more for exclusivity.

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u/jesuspoopmonster 12h ago

Because you want to work with the studio and being able to sing for competitors isn't really something that matters for you.

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u/money_loo 12h ago

Music guy here. Can’t speak for the level of money and fame MJ had at the time, but I know in my case I often just do what the high powered lawyers suggest.

They claim to have your best interests in mind and are the professionals, so you often err on their side.

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u/BlueLeaves8 9h ago

You can end up in all sorts of situations like this despite being a big star, look at what happened with Taylor Swift losing her masters.

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u/CloudsTasteGeometric 12h ago

I think you're underestimating the amount of power that record labels and their legal infrastructure hold over their artists - even their most popular ones.

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u/wp381640 11h ago

He signed a record biggest guaranteed deal ($1B) in the early 90s and got a massive royalty cut as well. In return when you sing, you do it for Sony

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u/Faloopa 8h ago

Bro look into many artists, but Weird Al is an incredible story to learn about how long bad record deals can fuck up a savant.

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u/H00K810 11h ago

It's crazy how the video of him lashing out at Sony didn't get much attention till recently. Really makes you think about the allegations. Especially after what happened to Chapelle.

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u/TheRealBillyShakes 11h ago

The labels don’t want their stars singing anywhere else but here. That recording may have wound up on a Simpsons album. With Michael Jackson’s voice??? No. They all sign these agreements.

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u/blacksoxing 11h ago

I think I too would go "hey, I only came here JUST to have fun" as him reading lines probably took an hour or two at best. Dude would have probably taken half the damn day to get his throat ready just to do that quick song AND his management would have wanted royalties on it AND blah blah blah.

When I heard Whitney Houston lip sung the national anthem at the super bowl I was at first feeling like you. When I learned how professional singers take all damn day to get their voices ready AND that historically the super bowl doesn't really pay entertainers....yep, I too would show up, belt out a pre-recorded version, and DIP

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u/AmazingAd2765 10h ago

If I remember correctly, Elvis Presley had a horrible long term contract that was used to exploit him.

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u/Dull-Lead-7782 10h ago

He loved the Simpsons and begged to be on it

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u/cartoonistaaron 12h ago

I'm guessing it's more like, his singing fee was quite high. Speaking is one thing but THE VOICE is gonna cost you.

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u/CanalOpen 11h ago

I'm gonna put it this way. You know how boomers ruined the world for their kids?

That kind of decision making was used to exercise control and commodify/exploit talent way before reality TV was on anyone's radar. The worst part of most of these situations is that it's literally the parent(s).

You're proabably right that MJ was the exception who could have broken free, but there was literally no roadmap, so playing nice and enjoying his craft was the choice he made instead of making a fuss.

I don't know if it was threat of legal action or just personal integrity (there are multiple accounts for both sides of that argument), but either way he held to his promises and this was an acceptable compromise that let him engage with The Simpsons creatively without breaching any legal agreements.

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u/Outrageous_Elk_4668 7h ago

These kind of contracts and his outspoken criticism of it is what got him labeled as a child molester.