Sony, Mottola and “Sony killed him”

In July 2002 Jackson stood with Al Sharpton in Harlem and accused the record industry of exploiting Black artists. He named Tommy Mottola, the chairman of Sony Music, calling him “racist” and “very, very, very devilish”. [1]

The dispute had a business core. Jackson believed Sony had failed to promote Invincible, his 2001 album, and the contract that would return his master recordings to him was coming due. Sony said it had spent heavily on the album and rejected the accusations. [1]

Sharpton, who hosted the event, said within days that he did not share the charge of racism against Mottola. [2] No court or inquiry ever examined Jackson’s accusation. It is a documented accusation, not a documented fact.

The strongest version of Jackson’s side is that a major label lost interest in an aging star with a costly record and wanted his share of Sony/ATV, in which Sony held an option. [3] The strongest version of Sony’s side is that Invincible sold millions and that a business dispute became a public attack. Both can be true without either party being racist or criminal.

The strongest version of this theory goes like this: Jackson was deep in debt, his half of Sony/ATV was pledged, Sony wanted all of it, and within seven years of his death Sony owned it. His sister La Toya said in 2009 that he was murdered for his music publishing, and that he had told her people wanted to kill him for it. [1][2]

The motive part has a basis. Sony did end up owning the whole of Sony/ATV, paying the estate $750 million in 2016. [3] But the deal was a negotiated purchase from his estate, seven years later. Sony did not acquire the stake through his death; it paid for it.

The theory also needs a link between Sony and the man who gave him the propofol. Conrad Murray was hired for the This Is It tour, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and lost his appeal. [4][5] No investigation, trial or lawsuit produced evidence that Sony directed him. In the AEG wrongful-death trial, which went through the tour’s finances in detail, Sony was not a defendant and no such evidence emerged.

Jackson’s fears were real to him and La Toya’s claim is sincerely made. A motive without any evidence of an act does not make a murder case.