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Michael Jackson's Savvy Business Move Silenced Eminem's Diss
26 Oct
Summary
- Eminem mocked Michael Jackson in 2004, sparking a feud
- Jackson later acquired the rights to Eminem's music catalog in 2007
- Jackson quietly profited from Eminem's success for nearly a decade
In 2004, Eminem released a song that mocked Michael Jackson's plastic surgery and the infamous 1984 Pepsi commercial accident. Jackson expressed his disappointment, but Eminem did not apologize. However, Jackson had a different plan for revenge.
Three years later, in 2007, Jackson's company Sony/ATV acquired the publishing company Famous Music for $370 million, which gave them the rights to Eminem's back catalog. This meant that every time Eminem's songs were played, streamed, or licensed, a portion of the profits went to the very man he had publicly ridiculed.
While it was never explicitly stated that the purchase was an act of revenge, the rumor mill started, and no one could stop it. Jackson never sought to censor or alter Eminem's work, but he quietly profited from the rapper's success for nearly a decade. After Jackson's passing in 2009, Eminem eventually regained his publishing rights in 2016.
