In 2004, Eminem released “Just Lose It,” the lead single off his album Encore. The video leaned hard into parodying Michael Jackson, dressing Eminem up as Michael, mocking his plastic surgery, and recreating the moment from 1984 when Jackson’s hair caught fire during a Pepsi commercial shoot, an accident that left him with burns, surgeries, and migraines for years afterward.
THE VIDEO ALSO POKED AT THE CHILD MOLESTATION ALLEGATIONS JACKSON WAS FACING AT THE TIME, WHICH MADE THE WHOLE THING LAND FAR WORSE THAN A TYPICAL CELEBRITY SPOOF.
He Insulted Him With His Song
Michael didn’t stay quiet about it. About a week after the video dropped, he called into Steve Harvey’s radio show in Los Angeles to address it directly. He said he’d admired Eminem as an artist and was genuinely shocked by what he saw.
In his own words, he was very angry at how he’d been portrayed, calling it outrageous and disrespectful, adding that there’s a difference between spoofing someone and being demeaning toward them.
“He Should Be Ashamed Of Himself” – Michael Responds To Eminem
Michael went further than just words. He publicly asked music channels to pull the video from rotation and reportedly looked into legal action.
Only BET actually agreed to stop airing it. Eminem later apologized for how far things had gone.
But people say Michael’s sweet revenge was just in the making. In 2007, Sony/ATV, the publishing company Jackson held a 50% stake in, acquired Famous Music.
It was a catalog that included some of Eminem’s songs, including “Just Lose It,” in which he mocked Michael. He literally bought and owned the music by that singer. That’s how powerful Michael was!
REVENGE OR NO REVENGE, MICHAEL WAS DEEPLY HURT BY THIS DISTASTEFUL VIDEO.
He never tried to get back at him by saying anything against him. But that’s just the kind of bigger person Michael was, always taking the high road.