I don't know. I agree to a certain degree.
When I look at MJ's life, I really feel like if it wasn't for the 1993 extortion case the last 16 years of MJ's life would be completely different.
The Chandlers have blood on their hands. Plain and simple. For greed they tarnished this mans life and reputation forever.
For the last 16 years people always use that settlement as their proof that MJ was guilty.
To me it started with the Chandlers, Bashir, then the second extortion attempt.
I am so disgusted and ashamed of Bashir. I wonder how he can live with himself. But you know, vast majority of people know him for what he is. He is a fraud, and he is the lowest form of journalist.
But I blame the Chandlers the MOST....
But Michael managed to overcome the setback in his career and life the first time around. He had wild successes after 1993, let's not forget. HIStory was by all accounts a success -no matter how some try to claim the opposite-, and if it wasn't for Sony, 'Invincible' would by all accounts have been HUGE as well -I think it's Billboard that has stated that.. I know that for some people the picture they had for Michael changed for good in 1993, but I think that at the end these are a small fragment that doesn't really have alot to do with pop music. When it comes to people who listen and buy this stuff, I think Michael revamped, and his career went well on.
And personally too, he had a family and kids after 93.
Whereas, after Bashir, and although AGAIN at the end of the day, as all leads us to confidently conclude, he would have made a huge comeback (and who else could do that really..?) the first acts of which we saw (Thriller 25 massive success, a huge sold-out tour, admissions from various knowledgable people that showbiz was ready to welcome him back and as big as ever), on a personal lever the whole thing, as it evolved after Bashir, was too much for him. It is the one point from which his physical and psychological decline begins -that he was never able to fully reverse.
So when all of us talk about Michael and the calamities he faced, let's all bear in mind that when it comes to his career and appeal to the world, and despite all that happened, Michael at the end was NOT destroyed whatsoever, and in fact proved invincible -the guy that always manages to comeback. This is a documented fact and part of his legacy, don't let anyone deny it.
But personally, physically and emotionally, that's where he was drained. And that's what brought his ending. So all of these people never achieved their goal directly, to destroy his career, but did harm him personally, leading him to a state that eventually cost his life.
And Bashir is the point from which MJ never recovered from this point of view.
So although he proved too little to spoil his career, he did contribute directly to the situation that signaled his death. It's him who has blood on his hands.