Michael Jackson’s music dropped the world over after abuse claims

Agencies
March 7, 2019

Radio stations in Australia, Canada and New Zealand are refusing to play Michael Jackson's music in the wake of fresh allegations against him of child sex abuse. Sydney's Nova Entertainment on Thursday became the latest radio group to announce they are taking the late ‘King of Pop’ off the air in response to public opinion.

The move comes after the broadcast of a US documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’ that featured two men who claimed Jackson sexually abused them for years. "In light of what is happening at the moment, SmoothFM is not currently playing any Michael Jackson songs," local media quoted Nova's programme director Paul Jackson as saying.

The documentary has not yet been broadcast in Australia. A second major Australian radio network, ARN, said it was "closely monitoring audience sentiment in relation to individual artists". In New Zealand, the star's songs are now almost totally absent from the airwaves, after being pulled by the country's two biggest radio networks, MediaWorks and NZME.

The two companies between them dominate commercial radio. "We aren't deciding whether Michael Jackson is guilty of paedophilia, we're just making sure our radio stations are going to play the music people want to hear," MediaWorks director of content, Leon Wratt, told Magic FM.

He said the decision was "a reflection of our audiences and their preferences". NZME group director of entertainment, Dean Buchanan, confirmed Jackson's material was off the air, though he shied away from talk of a ban. Meanwhile, public broadcaster Radio NZ said Jackson's songs did not feature on its playlists anyway.

The HBO documentary, which aired in the United States on Sunday, has rekindled long-running questions about Jackson's relationship with children. Two men, James Safechuck and Australian-born Wade Robson, say Jackson sexually abused them when they were aged 10 and seven.

There had been persistent rumours of throughout Jackson's life, but no allegations were ever substantiated. The four-hour, two-part documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, has made sure those allegations continue a decade after he died of an overdose.

Jackson's estate has denied wrongdoing and filed a USD 100 million lawsuit against HBO. The 53-page complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims HBO was violating a "non-disparagement" agreement by airing ‘Leaving Neverland’. "Ten years after his passing, there are still those out to profit from his enormous worldwide success and take advantage of his eccentricities," the suit claimed.

The decisions not to play Jackson's music will no doubt further tarnish his brand and could result in a loss of radio royalties. But it is far from clear that listeners on digital platforms are abandoning the singer in the same way, and ‘The Essential Michael Jackson’ is still the 65th most downloaded album in Australia.

Earlier, a chain of dozens of Canadian radio stations said they would not play Jackson mega hits such as ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Bad’ for the time being. "We are attentive to the comments of our listeners and the documentary released on Sunday evening created reactions," Christine Dicaire of Cogeco, which operates radio stations in Quebec and Ontario, said in a statement to AFP.

In Britain, where ‘Leaving Neverland’ was set for release Wednesday and Thursday, reports said the BBC had also shelved his music. While a spokeswoman for the network told AFP it does not ban artists, the organisation said in a statement: "We consider each piece of music on its merits and decisions on what we play on different networks are always made with relevant audiences and context in mind."

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News Network
July 23,2020

Mumbai, Jul 23: Mumbai Police will soon issue summons to actor Kangana Ranaut to record her statement in connection with the case related to the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said on Thursday.

A day after Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, Kangana Ranaut had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry of not acknowledging the star's talent.

She had also said that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

According to the police, statements of 39 people, including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

The Mumbai Police had recently said the statements of three psychiatrists and one psychotherapist have been recorded in connection with the suicide investigation.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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News Network
April 3,2020

Washington, April 3: American actor Kristen discussed her experience being isolated with husband and their two kiddos.

According to Fox News, the 39-year-old actor discussed how she and Shepard are finding quarantine to be a little tough in a video chat to Entertainment Tonight.

Bell admitted: "We've gotten on each other's last nerve these last couple days. We're doing much better now because were laughing about it. But when we were not laughing about it for the first couple of days, that's the hard spot."

The 'Bad Mom' actor then shared her thoughts on why quarantining with loved ones can be so tough. She explained that she loves spending time with her husband and he loves spending time with her.

But what she thinks is different about this quarantine time is you have so much more time to think about the other persona and their actions and sort of replay what they said or attach a meaning to something that they did.
Bell added: "Nobody really needs time for that. That's useless."

The 'Frozen' actor also discussed having to make adjustments in regards to her kids, 7-year-old Lincoln, and 5-year-old Delta, and the schedule she tried to keep once the quarantine began.

She said that the biggest lesson she learnt, in the beginning, was that she wrote out the colour coded schedule, and noted about when will be their academic and academic time.

Kristen explained that by day five of schedule, she was making everybody miserable. About a week ago, she woke her kids up and encouraged her daughters to rip up the schedule, explaining that the kids "felt so good."

"I said the learning lesson here is that if you make a plan and it's not working, you pivot," said Bell.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Mumbai, Jul 17: After helping scores of stranded migrant labourers return to their native places amidst the coronavirus pandemic, actor Sonu Sood has now extended a helping hand towards the coronavirus warriors as he donated 25,000 face shields to Maharashtra Police personnel.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday took to Twitter to thank the Bollywood actor for his "generous contribution" to help the Police personnel who have been working tirelessly amid the testing times.

"I thank Sonu Sood Ji for your generous contribution of giving 25,000 #FaceShields for our police personnel," tweeted Deshmukh.
Responding to the Home Minister, Sood said, "Truly honoured by your kind words Sir! My police brothers and sisters are our real heroes and this is the least that I can do for the commendable work which they have been doing. Jai Hind."

The 46-year-old actor who is known for his roles in films like 'Singh is Kinng,' 'Simmba', and 'Happy New Year' has been hailed all over the media for arranging hassle-free passage of migrant labourers to their respective homes.

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