Fact Check: Did Michael Jackson buy Eminem’s catalog after being dissed by the rapper? Viral claim debunked
Eminem dissed Michael Jackson in his 2004 song ‘Just Lose It.’ (Image via Instagram/ michaeljackson/ eminem)
In February 2024, a rumor arose online that late pop icon Michael Jackson purchased the entire catalog of Eminem’s music after the latter reportedly dissed him.
One of the first accounts to make the claim was a Michael Jackson fan page on Facebook called Joseph Moonwalkers. It had a collage of Eminem and the Thriller singer with the caption:
“WHEN EMINEM DID A DISS ON MICHAEL JACKSON IN 2005, MICHAEL MADE NO COMMENTS. HE WENT AND BOUGHT EMINEM’S WHOLE CATALOGUE AND THEN GOT PAID EVERY TIME EMINEM PERFORMED.”
However, the viral claim is false. While MJ did have a 50 percent stake in the company that owned Eminem’s back catalog in 2007, there is no concrete evidence that his media-rights acquisition had anything to do with Eminem dissing him in his 2004 song Just Lose It.
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Michael Jackson’s ownership of Eminem’s catalog was unrelated to the latter’s diss of the former
The claims that around 2005, Eminem dissed Michael Jackson, and the latter purchased the former’s entire catalog and “got paid” every time Em performed is false.
Firstly, the Eminem song in question refers to his single Just Lose It from the album Encore, which was not released in 2005 but in October 2004. The song threw shots at Michael Jackson and his then-legal battle surrounding child molestation charges.
“What else could I possibly do to make noise?/ I done touched on everything… / And that’s not a stab at Michael/ That’s just a metaphor, I’m just psycho/ I go a little bit crazy sometimes/ I get a little bit out of control with my rhymes,” Eminem rapped.
However, contrary to the recent rumor, MJ did not stay silent. Instead, he reportedly threatened Eminem with legal consequences. Two weeks after the music video for Just Lose It was released, Michael Jackson publicly threatened to sue Eminem and demanded that all “U.S. cable music video channels cease showing the video.”
Besides, during an interview with Steve Harvey for a local Los Angeles radio station at the time, MJ said:
“I am very angry at Eminem’s depiction of me in his video. I feel that it is outrageous and disrespectful. It is one thing to spoof, but it is another to be demeaning and insensitive.
“I’ve admired Eminem as an artist and was shocked by this. The video was inappropriate and disrespectful to me, my children, my family, and the community at large,” he added.
Three years later, in 2007, Famous Music, which contained rights to over 125,000 songs by artists including Shakira, Christina Aguilera, and Eminem (his album The Real Slim Shady), was bought by a Sony/ATV joint venture, where Michael Jackson had a 50 percent stake. At the time, The Guardian reported:
“Michael Jackson now owns the rights to Eminem’s back catalog, after his partnership company Sony/ATV purchased the publishing company Famous Music for $370 million. Bjork, Shakira, and Beck are also among the many artists whose publishing rights were sold by Viacom, of which Famous Music is a subsidiary, at auction yesterday afternoon.”
Therefore, the now-viral claim that the rights to Eminem’s “whole catalog” were vengefully purchased by MJ’s company is false. There is also no proof that the purchase had anything to do with Eminem’s diss.
Besides, the speculation that MJ and his company made money every time the Houdini rapper performed is also unfounded. Furthermore, whether the media-rights acquisition included Emine’s live performance royalties remains doubtful.
Notably, seven years after MJ’s demise in 2009, Sony/ATV also purchased his portion of the stake by paying $750 million to his estate. Sony/ATV became the sole owner of the rights to the music catalogs of artists, including Eminem, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan, among others.
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