America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 171. Multi-pronged attack to encircle and hunt down Sony.

In Santa Barbara, media and fans continued to wait anxiously outside the courthouse.

It was already 2 p.m., and the trial had lasted for five hours without a recess, which was somewhat unexpected.

This situation must be due to a major event that could affect the course of the case. Reporters have already set up their cameras, determined to gather firsthand information.

Major television networks like ABC, NBC, and BBC broadcast the scene live during their midday news.

Large gatherings of tens of thousands of people are rare, and many celebrities and politicians cannot attract such a large turnout for their events, which has fueled the growing interest in the event.

Some television stations broadcast the event live, and even though all that could be seen were the closed courthouse doors, the number of viewers was greater than that of the O.J. Simpson murder case years ago.

Conservative estimates suggest that the number of online viewers has exceeded 3000 million, while the O.J. Simpson murder case, a thrilling highway chase, only attracted over 2000 million viewers.

Online, many people are also scrolling through images and text messages, following the progress.

Squeak!

A few minutes later, the courthouse doors opened, and bailiffs stepped out to maintain order, followed by a steady stream of people coming out to observe the proceedings.

"Here it is!"

Suddenly, an NBC reporter spotted Janet Avizo and her group hiding in the crowd and rushed over to interview them.

Seeing her actions, the other reporters also noticed the group and rushed forward as well.

Upon realizing that the reporters had noticed them, Janet Avizo and her companions acted like cats seeing mice, quickly running outside.

Just kidding, if we don't run now, when will we? What will we say if we're surrounded by the media? That we're about to win?

Looking at the vast crowd, they felt intimidated; if they incurred public wrath, they risked being beaten to death.

Janet Avicoe and her group slipped away quickly, leaving the reporters unable to catch them and forcing them to continue waiting. Fortunately, Mike also came out at that moment.

Upon his appearance, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd, with countless shouts nearly shattering the glass.

"McClover! McClover!"

Michael, I love you!

"Michael, look here, please look at me!"

Eric, Gadot, and Elizabeth Jr. watched everything from a short distance away.

"It's absolutely insane. Just by standing there, he's a superstar. No one can overshadow his brilliance," Gadot exclaimed.

Eric pinched her cheek: "Don't be envious, baby. You'll become a top international star someday, and so will you, Elizabeth. Believe me, you can do it!"

The young woman nodded obediently, but the scene from the court hearing was still lingering in her mind—it was too exciting and too embarrassing.

Seeing that Mike showed no sign of leaving, the reporters breathed a sigh of relief and all their cameras were pointed at him.

"Michael, how did the trial go? Are you confident of winning?" a reporter from The New York Times asked.

Michael laughed brightly: "Of course, I will definitely win, there's no doubt about it, in fact I've almost already won."

"Those accusations against me are all baseless. I have produced a large amount of witness testimony and physical evidence, while Janet and the others have not been able to produce any valid evidence."

Recalling how those people had hurriedly fled, and comparing it to Michael's smile, everyone already had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

"Would you mind revealing the specifics?"

"It's inconvenient for the time being, but my fans can rest assured, I'll be fine. Thank you for your long-term support, and I will continue to create great songs for you."

"But your relationship with Sony is so bad. Last year you even had a public spat with Sony Music president Tom Motora. Would Sony still record a new album for you?"

Eric couldn't help but smile when he heard the reporter's question.

Although paparazzi are indeed annoying, always taking photos without permission and creating scandals, sometimes their tendency to stir up trouble can be quite useful, like now.

Michael didn't answer, but instead handed the microphone to Messerio.

"I am Tom Messerio, Michael Jackson's lawyer, and regarding this matter, we have reason to suspect that the documentary by Martin Bashir that defamed Jackson was produced by Sony Music."

"Because Mike holds half of the copyrights to Sony Music, Sony has always wanted to buy them back, but Mike has never sold them."

"That's why Sony wanted to destroy Mike through underhanded means in order to obtain the copyright they had been dreaming of. It's a huge conspiracy."

"We have filed an application with the court to subpoena Sony Music and Martin Basher, because they are likely the people behind Janet Avizo."

As expected, the moment this bombshell was dropped, the entire street erupted in excitement.

The reporters also showed excited expressions. This was an unexpected surprise. They didn't expect it to lead to a case within a case. It was really great. They didn't have to worry about the latest news hotspots.

They wanted to ask more questions, but Mike had already waved to the fans and left.

At Dream Manor, Siti brought out the heated food, and everyone, who were starving, immediately began to eat heartily.

After eating, Eric and Mike cooled off in the pool.

"Michael, today's court proceedings have proven that Avizo and his men pose no threat to you whatsoever. They are nothing but a rabble. Now we need to shift our focus to Sony."

Michael nodded. "I saw it too. That recording has already sealed their fate. The jury will no longer believe her lies."

"As for Sony, since they've already declared war, I plan to give a lot of interviews soon and talk about what's happened over the years."

Eric was actually quite pleased to see that he had finally made up his mind.

A wise person deceives others with integrity; a kind person is easily deceived. One must be wicked when necessary.

"Yes, we've already decided to go all out, there's no need to hold back. Besides the media, the most important thing is to rely on your fans."

"You have fan clubs all over the world, right? That's a powerful force. Call on them to boycott Sony and put pressure on Sony."

"We must force Sony to compromise, not just by firing one or two executives, but by terminating the contract."

"If necessary, like I said, use your half of the copyright and see who can outlast whom."

"Sony has to maintain its stock price, satisfy its shareholders, and inflate the bubble in the capital market. It can't fight a protracted war. As for your debt problem, rest assured, I will cover it."

"We must always remember our goal: leave Sony with the copyright!"

Michael clenched his fist and nodded heavily.

As the trial concluded, a media storm began to brew that afternoon, with major newspapers, television stations, radio stations, and websites all starting to report on it.

Meanwhile, Eric's pre-prepared online trolls began appearing on various forums and chat rooms to stir up trouble and generate buzz.

More than a month ago, he began to produce countless articles, analyzing the event from all angles and in all aspects.

Why is Michael Jackson always being criticized?

A boy who grew up in the slums became a global pop icon in twenty years!

Exclusive Insider: The Love-Hate Relationship Between Sony and Michael Jackson.

What methods did Sony use to persecute Michael Jackson?

"Jody Chandler: This is an apology ten years overdue; I must tell the truth of what happened back then."

Michael Jackson's philanthropic journey: He did so much for the world.

Listing Sony Music's Ten Major Sins!

"Pedophile? Philanthropist? What kind of person was Michael Jackson really?"

The vast majority of the content in these articles is true, though some may contain elements designed to stir up controversy. It's difficult to detect that nine parts are true and one part is false.

At the same time, they arranged for intermediaries to provide insider information to many tabloids.

These tabloids don't check the authenticity of their content; they'll publish whatever they're given, and the more eye-catching it is, the more enthusiastically they'll publish it.

One or two local tabloids or regional radio stations may not have much influence, but when hundreds of tabloids work together, the topic is instantly turned into a regional hotspot.

Once this group takes the lead, other tabloids have to follow suit in order to get more traffic.

The following day, major national television stations began to follow up further.

Interviews with key figures such as Jody Chandler, a former Sony Music employee, and the team behind Mike's out-of-court settlement in 1993 have been released one by one.

"Yes, I want to apologize to Michael again. It was all orchestrated by my scumbag father and his two accomplices. Only today have I had the courage to speak out."

"I worked at Sony Music for fifteen years, and I know some things that others don't. In 1993, Michael was actually on a world tour."

"At the time, Mike's team paid money without his consent to reach an out-of-court settlement, which led many people to believe that Mike was a pedophile."

"Mike had always been against a settlement; he wanted to go to court, but his team betrayed him, and the person in charge of that team was the distribution director of Sony Music at the time."

"It's hard not to wonder if there's a conspiracy involved, or if this hunt for shares has already begun."

"I worked at Sony for eight years, always in charge of logistics and statistics. I can assure you that Michael Jackson's album sales have not been tracked for the past three years."

"As long as album sales don't increase, Jackson's income will decrease, but anyone with common sense knows that stagnation is impossible, so it's obviously manipulated to cripple Jackson's finances and force him to hand over the copyrights."

These reports and articles quickly ignited Michael Jordan's global fanbase, who has a large following in Europe and North and South America.

Even in the Middle East, many of his songs are allowed to be released.

However, at this moment, the vortex of public opinion has not yet fully formed, because the vast majority of onlookers have not yet been fully mobilized.

They were in a state of indifference, simply watching for fun, and had not yet joined the wave of attacks on Sony.

Sony Music has not responded to this, perhaps because they haven't decided how to respond yet.

The next day at noon, Martin Barshere's secretly filmed video suddenly appeared on the internet and on major television stations.

This scumbag reporter's smug and ambiguous smile was practically a direct accusation: "I did this on Sony's orders; Sony is the mastermind behind it all."

The article report still has the suspicion of being based on rumors, but the release of this video has almost sealed Sony Music's fate.

Michael also began giving interviews, recounting his experiences over the years. Coupled with the unfair judicial treatment he had previously suffered, many people who had initially remained indifferent were finally moved to action.

Humans are emotional beings, and the vast majority of people also possess a sense of justice.

Especially when upholding justice only requires you to use your mouth to curse people, without having to take action or donate money or goods, many people are willing to do their part.

As a result, the wave of criticism against Sony Music and Martin Barshere grew stronger.

The major charitable organizations were the first to speak out in support of Mike, after all, Mike is one of their financial backers, and who hasn't taken tens of millions of dollars from his pocket?

The situation is now becoming clearer; Michael is on the side of justice, so it's only right and reasonable for us to stand up and support him.

American Cancer Society: "Mr. Michael Jackson is a noble philanthropist who has been donating since 1995, giving millions of dollars every year. We have absolute faith in his character and call for an end to the persecution of him."

Children's International Academy: "Mike is a celebrity who loves charity and cares about children's causes. To say he's a pedophile would be the ultimate irony!"

The Make-A-Dream Foundation: "Mr. Jackson is definitely one of the most dedicated philanthropists we've ever met. He donates quietly and rarely talks about it. His deeds deserve to be known by everyone."

UNESCO: "We will publish a detailed list of Michael Jackson's donations over the years so that the public can better understand such an outstanding person."

A torrent of public opinion and overwhelming accusations have emerged, with the entire society demanding an explanation from Sony Music and the BBC.

Sony Music, meanwhile, remained silent, deploying a large number of security guards to guard the entrance of its New York headquarters to prevent any incidents in the very short term.

President Tom Motora never showed his face; he could not be found at his home or company.

The BBC fared even worse; they were completely caught off guard and a huge scapegoat fell on them. Just yesterday they were reporting from Santa Barbara, and today the boomerang hit them in the face.

This matter may not necessarily be related to the decisions of the BBC's senior management; it is more likely to be Martin Barshere's private behavior. But since it is a private matter, the company will pay for it, because he is your journalist and the documentary is broadcast by your company.

Due to the suddenness of the incident, the BBC only issued a brief statement saying that it would conduct an internal investigation, and Martin Barshere disappeared without a trace.

As the clock struck midnight, a gunshot once again ignited public outrage!

(Regarding the court proceedings, just take it as entertainment; the real trial wasn't like that. Also, Michael's real case lasted over three years, but for the sake of narrative continuity, we've compressed it to about six months.)

(End of this chapter)