Michael Jackson rarely attacked other artists publicly.
But in October 2004, Eminem released a music video that pushed him too far.
The video was for “Just Lose It.”
In it, Eminem dressed as Michael and mocked several deeply personal parts of his life, including his appearance, the allegations surrounding him and the 1984 Pepsi accident in which Michael’s hair caught fire.
Michael saw it.
And he was furious.
On October 12, 2004, Michael called into comedian Steve Harvey’s Los Angeles radio show and spoke about Eminem directly.
His words were unusually strong.
Michael said:
“I am very angry at Eminem’s depiction of me in his video.”
He called the video “outrageous and disrespectful” and said there was a difference between joking about someone and becoming demeaning or insensitive.
But one detail makes the story more interesting.
Michael said he had actually admired Eminem as an artist before seeing the video.
That was why he said he was so shocked by it.
Eminem – “Just Lose It”
The official video shows exactly why Michael reacted so strongly.
Eminem appears dressed as Michael, his fake nose falls off and his hair catches fire in a direct reference to the Pepsi commercial accident.
Other scenes parody the allegations Michael was facing at the time.
Michael said the video was disrespectful not only to him, but also to his children, his family and the wider community.
He wanted music television networks to stop showing it.
BET agreed.
The network pulled the video, with founder Robert Johnson saying BET did not believe it was appropriate to air something disparaging Michael’s character. MTV continued showing it.
Even Stevie Wonder criticized Eminem’s decision, describing the attack on Michael as effectively kicking someone while he was already down.
There is one popular version of this story that needs clarification, however.
People sometimes say Michael “hated Eminem” after this.
Michael never publicly said that.
In fact, he specifically said that he had never previously had a problem with Eminem and had admired his work.
What is documented is that Michael was extremely angry about this particular video.
And then the story took a strange turn.
In 2007, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the company then co-owned by Sony and trusts formed by Michael Jackson, bought Famous Music from Viacom.
The catalogue contained around 125,000 songs and cues, including Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady.”
That has led to years of internet claims that Michael personally bought Eminem’s music as revenge.
There is no evidence that revenge was the reason.
The Famous Music deal was a huge corporate acquisition covering thousands of works by many artists, not simply an attempt to purchase Eminem’s songs.
Still, the irony is difficult to miss.
Three years after Eminem publicly mocked Michael Jackson, a publishing company co-owned by Michael ended up controlling publishing interests in some of Eminem’s music.
Michael Jackson may never have said he hated Eminem. But “Just Lose It” produced one of the rare moments when the normally guarded singer publicly admitted another superstar had made him genuinely angry.