This Time Around

As many of Michael Jackson’s fans know, from 2002 onwards, Michael often spoke about various conspiracies going on all around him.  If you search on YouTube you can find two speeches in 2002 and a radio interview in 2005, where Michael is talking about it.

He says he is unable to talk in detail about the conspiracy because he is under a gag order, so I’m guessing that most people will not have a clue what he is talking about. In fact, because his claim sounds so farfetched, and is unsubstantiated by any facts, it may cross your mind that at best he is exaggerating, and at worst, that he is lying in order to cause sensation.

But this is exactly what the corporate bullies want you to think.

So what is corporate bullying? Quite simply, it is mental bullying. It is quite sophisticated, because with mental bullying, no one can see the scars, and most onlookers will not even notice it is even happening.

There are different types of corporate bullying, but I believe that Michael was subjected to the kind of bully who controls access to the means to do your job. This kind of bully plays mind games with the victim. If they are an immediate colleague, the bully will pass on misinformation about work, in order to humiliate, and worse, if they are the boss, will tell the victim what a good job they are doing, yet tell senior management the victim is incapable of doing the work. The bully may even take credit for any good work the victim has completed, and use it to gain promotion.

Meanwhile, a second layer of bullying is put into motion:  even slight mistakes or flaws the victim makes at work or socially are magnified, embellished and circulated amongst those with the power to influence. Soon, everyone believes that the victim is a timewaster, of questionable morals, and is not fit to be doing the job.

Eventually, the victim cottons onto what is happening, and starts to complain, and to tell their side of the story. But by now, no one believes the victim is credible anymore, and the benefit of the doubt is given to the perpetrator.

Anyone who can read a newspaper has seen stories in the tabloid press about Michael, for the last 20 years. How everything, from his appearance to his ability to be a parent, has been dissected and questioned and condemned. Many thousands of people think Michael Jackson’s words are no longer credible. This is corporate bullying in action.

If you really want to take someone down, you capitalise on what has already been started. Even if your motives are different from the motives of the original bully, you can use the damage to your advantage.  The majority of people are already questioning the credibility of the victim, so piling on more doubt is made a lot easier.  Accusing the victim of a crime they didn’t commit, even when the evidence is shaky, or in some circumstances, fabricated, is going to be a lot easier. Because by now, no one wants to stand up for, or have their name on record as being in favour of the victim. People don’t want to look bad by association.

The controlling of Michael’s ability to do his job is hidden mental bullying that is hard to see.  But I am going to expose it. In 2001 Michael’s “Invincible” album was released.  Sony wanted Michael to promote the album with a tour, but Michael didn’t want to do this on advice from his doctors. As mentioned on a previous post, Michael became so engrossed in performing on tour that he forgot to eat or drink, and worked himself to exhaustion. A few months after it was released, Sony stopped promoting the album worldwide, thereby curtailing its success, and giving the impression that Michael’s work was no longer as successful as it used to be. Why would a record label want to promote an album or artist with declining sales? Why would they want to invest in expensive videos and marketing, to promote such an artist?

This is the point where a record label believes it can take control and start calling the shots. Telling the artist, who has been given creative freedom in the past, and who has earned them billions, what tracks can or cannot be released, and limiting the promotional budget. The record labels now think that they have the knowledge to make money without the artist’s input! This is crazy and short-sighted, because eventually their game will be rumbled, and artists will start to circumvent the system out of necessity. But in the meantime, the artist’s saleability is called into question, limiting their prospects for moving forward creatively, whilst the record label holds onto the legacy assets as a kind of ransom, and uses them for further profit.

Eventually, Michael went public with his concerns and distress, but by now the corporate bullying had taken its toll. Michael’s very real concerns were often portrayed as the vain attempts of a has-been artist, to claw his way back to the top. But because the bullying was mental bullying, and was invisible to the rest of the world, it had a devastating effect on Michael’s self-esteem, career and his life. Thankfully, Michael knew what he had to do to beat the corporate bully:

Never back down from the bully if you feel the bullying is unjust

Do not retaliate with bullying behaviour; make them dance to your tune instead

Do not allow yourself to be a victim.

Even after several attempts to resurrect his career had been further sabotaged, Michael was still determined to forge ahead, and not allow himself to be a victim of corporate bullying.  I think he knew exactly what they were doing to him.

And now I hope that you can see it too.