Watch: Music journalist Touré regrets not believing Michael Jackson abuse allegations
The veteran music journalist says he could have done more to investigate the alleged abuse involving the late Michael Jackson.
With more than 30 years in the business, music journalist and author Touré has interviewed everyone from Nas and Jay-Z to Suge Knight and Lady Gaga, and there’s not much he’d do differently. However during his appearance on The Blackest Questions podcast, he admits to host Dr. Christina Greer, he is “disappointed” in himself for not looking into the abuse allegations he heard for years regarding Michael Jackson.
Touré says the journalism community brushed them off for years and thought those following up on the disturbing rumors were “crazy.” After watching HBO’s documentary “Leaving Neverland,” and hearing survivors speak out about Jackson’s alleged abuse, Touré says he no longer listens to Jackson’s music.
There are countless fans who believe Jackson was innocent and believe the larger-than-life pop star was a victim of the media. Jackson was found not guilty on all charges of molesting a teenage boy back in 2005 and 18 years later, the hashtag #MichaelJacksonInnocent is used by his supporters to stand in solidarity with Jackson who died four years after the acquittal.
The following is a transcript of that conversation.
Dr. Christina Greer: Where do you fall on, say, Michael Jackson, then?
Touré : I don’t listen to Michael Jackson’s music any more. It turns my stomach. I saw the documentary. And I cannot take I cannot treat him in my life, in my mind, the same way that I did before. I am completely grossed out. And I’m also disappointed in myself because when he was doing his thing and I’m not sure that I could have figured it out, but I was a major music journalist at the time and there were whispers of There’s a serious problem here. And I never took it seriously to say, Let me go see, let me knock on some doors, let me call some people and see. And I think in general, the music journalist community heard the rumors and never did anything. And, you know, I and I, chief among them, and Diane Dimond, was running around saying this for years, and we were like, she’s a kook. And it was like, you know. [00:49:05][60.8]
Greer: Who was Diane Dimond?
Touré: She was it was the first person who who I remember on a big scale writing book saying Michael Jackson is doing these things. And we were like, she’s crazy. And it was like, No, she wasn’t. She called it. Now, I don’t know what her sources were early, but she she had the story. I didn’t I didn’t look into the story. And I am regretful of that, even though I don’t know that I could. I think that story is so behind closed doors that, you know, you have to be much bigger to be able to get at it.
EPISODE DESCRIPTION:
Music Journalist, author, podcaster and, self-proclaimed hip-hop head Touré joins The Blackest Questions for a special Black Music Month episode. Dr. Christina Greer will test Touré’s music history knowledge and send him spiraling with a Queen Latifia comment. The pair talk about everyone from Wu-Tang Clan and Nicki Minaj to The Geto Boys and Jay-Z. Touré also dishes on his infamous conversation with R. Kelly and his terrifying run-in with the disgraced former CEO of Death Row Records, Suge Knight.
Watch The Blackest Questions Tuesdays on theGrio Black Podcast Network or wherever you get your podcasts.
