In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance For a number of years Sony had
Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained re- been pushing to buy all of Jackson's
mixes of hit singles from HIStory and five new share in their music catalog venture.
songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million cop- If Jackson's career or financial situa-
ies as of 2007, making it the best selling remix tion were to deteriorate, he would
album ever released. It reached number one in have to sell his catalog. Thus, Sony
the UK, as did the title track In the US, the al- had something to gain from Jack-
bum was certified platinum, but only reached son's career failing, Jackson was able
number 24. Forbes placed his annual income at to use these conflicts as leverage to
$35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997. exit his contract early. Just before the
Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved release of Invincible, Jackson in-
in a number of charitable events. He joined formed the head of Sony Music En-
Luciano Pavarotti for a benefit concert in tertainment, Tommy Mottola, that he
Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the was leaving Sony. As a result, all
non-profit organization War Child, and raised a singles releases, video shootings and
million dollars for the refugees of Kosovo, as promotions concerning the Invinci-
well as additional funds for the children of ble album were canceled. Jackson
Guatemala.Later that month, Jackson organized made allegations in July 2002 that
a set of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit Mottola was a "devil" and a "racist"
concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists who did not support his African-
involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz American artists, using them merely
II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. for his own personal gain. He
Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana charged that Mottola had called his
Chandrakumar, Andrea Bocelli and Luciano colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nig-
Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the "Nelson ger".Sony disputed claims that they
Mandela Children's Fund", the Red Cross and
UNESCO.
In 2000, Jackson was listed in the book of
Guinness World Records for his support of 39
charities, more than any other entertainer or
personality. At the time, Jackson was waiting
for the licenses to the masters of his albums to
revert to him; this allowed him to promote his
old material how he liked and prevented Sony
from getting a cut of the profit. Jackson ex-
pected this to occur early in the new millen-
nium
however, due to various clauses in the contract,
this revert date is still many years away. Jack-
son began an investigation, and it emerged that
the attorney who represented the singer in the
deal was also representing Sony creating a con-
flict of interest. Jackson was also concerned
about another conflict of interest.
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