Latest on MJJC

'Faking Michael' Podcast Out Now

Mister_Jay_Tee said:
It's a horrible time to talk about this in my opinion, to be honest. Even if you don't feel cynical about MJ and trial cases, trying to bring attention to this before the potential MJ Renaissance is just straight suicide. This will have to really keep legs to grow.
Click to expand...
Damien did an interview with Billboard.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Damien did an interview with Billboard.
Click to expand...
After reading that, my opinion is largely the same. 60/40 chance of something coming from all this.

But, my idea of Damien has gone up. What I thought was someone cynical is actually a genuinely frustrated consumer of art who's given Branca and his team a pretty significant alibi to come away from all of this perhaps smelling faintly of roses. If they do have the Casios had for extortion, well, id consider that justice served.
 
Kissenya said:
this material should be translated into different languages and distributed
Click to expand...
Looks like someone has done a Spanish language analysis of the podcast. It's a start.

@MJRadioNet

"En el episodio 95 analizamos el podcast @FakingMJpodcast de @DamienShields, en donde nos narra su investigación del fraude de los Cascio tracks en el álbum "Michael"

"In episode 95 we analyze the podcast @FakingMJpodcast of @DamienShields , where he tells us about his investigation of the fraud of the Cascio tracks on the album "Michael"



https://twitter.com/x/status/1851132007969144899
 
“There were stipulations in the deal that you will release X amount of songs on Y amount of projects over Z amount of years.”

This bit caught my eye. So Sony was calling the shots as to how much new music was released during the initial contractual run?

Assuming that the estate fulfilled their end of the bargain, Sony asked for 24 new songs over the course of their 10-year contract. (10 on Michael, six on Bad 25, and eight on XSCAPE.) Seems like a solid enough offering, though I’m baffled that the estate hit that number in the first four years.
 
AlwaysThere said:
“There were stipulations in the deal that you will release X amount of songs on Y amount of projects over Z amount of years.”

This bit caught my eye. So Sony was calling the shots as to how much new music was released during the initial contractual run?

Assuming that the estate fulfilled their end of the bargain, Sony asked for 24 new songs over the course of their 10-year contract. (10 on Michael, six on Bad 25, and eight on XSCAPE.) Seems like a solid enough offering, though I’m baffled that the estate hit that number in the first four years.
Click to expand...
I'm unter the impression that damien is talking about the contract the estate entered with the Cascios.
Cascios stipulated the estate had to release those tracks, so they generate money from those songs, apart from what they got initially.
It's a major point of the podcast, that estate HAD TO release the songs according to their agreement with those phoneys. After estate realized the damage done with those three tracks on MICHAEL was much greater than they ever expected, they stopped releasing them.
And that's probably the reason the Cascios are now resorting to extortion, after already going through with big time fraud.
Those are criminal scumbags only in it for the $$$ no matter what!
Now I wouldn't even be surprised anymore if there were ties to organized crime on part of that family.
 
MJJuniorSinceMW said:
I'm unter the impression that damien is talking about the contract the estate entered with the Cascios.
Cascios stipulated the estate had to release those tracks, so they generate money from those songs, apart from what they got initially.
It's a major point of the podcast, that estate HAD TO release the songs according to their agreement with those phoneys. After they realized the damage done with the three tracks on MICHAEL was much greater than they expected they stopped releasing them.
And that's probably the reason the Cascios are now resorting to extortion, after already going through with big time fraud.
Those are criminal scumbags only in it for the $$$ no matter what!
Now I wouldn't be surprised anymore if there were ties to organized crime on part of that family.
Click to expand...
Also a valid framing!
 
As I'm not on any social media anymore I wanna say this & I hope Damien reads this:

Damien, you did a hell of a job. Extraordinary investigation & overall work you put into this project.
Also the presentation & listening experience of the podcast - superb.
Even beginning with the re-titeling of the project from "A Truth Untold" to "Faking Michael"!

I ate this podcast up, starting with the initial 9 episodes in a matter of 48 hours, just after they released. I'd even consider listening to it a second time.

To each his own opinion, but I have NO gripe with the podcast whatsoever! The repeated parts are there, so that every listener can meticulously understand what is being talked about. And also some parts of the information or facts are mentioned more than once, it's most often in different context. Like every evidence can be viewed in different relations & with different reference points. That's not only perfectly reasonable to do, it is the necessary and only way to do your investigation professionally. So that in the end you have a bulletproof case.
And exactly THAT'S what damien has accomplished - a bullet proof case. He truly has the receipts.
And an interview with one of the biggest music magazines in the biz shows it.
I hope this can create an even bigger wave, or at least rattle those who have dirt on their fingers.


Damien, I already bought your e-books connecting to Xscape & Thriller. And I definitely will buy the Faking Michael book.
Your work has earned to be supported.
 
Just listened to episode 13.

Holy s**t.

I maintain my critiques about the first dozen, but the revelations in this final one are absolutely mind-blowing, especially Jason’s confession and the meeting to release the songs “properly.” I’m at a loss for words here. I would love to hear the entire, unedited call. Genuinely some extraordinary investigative journalism on Damien’s part.
 
robotchicken14 said:
Did Branca, McClain and Weitzman all hear the Cascio tracks prior to signing the contract? If that's the case then I retract my previous statement saying I feel sorry for them
Click to expand...
What i got listening to the podcast is that the estate bought the songs before properly vetting them because they were desperate to put out the last songs of Mj's life. And that they genuinely didn't know in the beginning and DID actively try to find out the truth, HOWEVER when many experts told them it either wasn't Michael or that they couldn't say for sure one way or the other they chose to ignore them and still put out the songs because they had already paid for them.

I definitely think the recent cascios story may be about those songs and not abuse allegations especially since it's supposedly only Eddie who made the threats.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Damien did an interview with Billboard.
Click to expand...
I think Damien should fall back on this at least until after the BIOPIC

The fact that Billboard which is usually anti-mj would post about this should be alarming. They likely have an ulterior motive for bringing attention this this and that motive to harm MJs legacy and the biopic.


Also to the people saying the cascios blackmailed the estate into taking the songs.

That doesn't make sense because Wade essentially tried the same thing. He tried to make a creditors claim and he tried to keep it under seal and get the estate to pay him without it going public, but they did not cooperate and allowed him to make his allegations public and here we are today.

Please be careful with your theories and think about the implications of them before spreading them around.
 
kelley said:
I think Damien should fall back on this at least until after the BIOPIC [...]
Click to expand...
I'm neutral about this, partly bc it's not something that any of us can influence or change. The biopic was officially announced at the beginning of 2023, Lionsgate's involvement was announced back in 2022, iirc. The news was already out about John Logan being on board back in 2019. Damien has worked on this thing for 14 years so I assume he thought about exactly when he should release his podcast, should he wait until the biopic has been out for a few months? He chose to go ahead so I guess he must have reasons that he thinks are legit. At some point he'll presumably do an MJ Cast interview and they'll probably ask him about it.
 
zinniabooklover said:
I'm neutral about this, partly bc it's not something that any of us can influence or change. The biopic was officially announced at the beginning of 2023, Lionsgate's involvement was announced back in 2022, iirc. The news was already out about John Logan being on board back in 2019. Damien has worked on this thing for 14 years so I assume he thought about exactly when he should release his podcast, should he wait until the biopic has been out for a few months? He chose to go ahead so I guess he must have reasons that he thinks are legit. At some point he'll presumably do an MJ Cast interview and they'll probably ask him about it.
Click to expand...

The MJcast has confirmed they will devote an entire episode to Damians podcast. (via Elise)
 
Last edited:
kelley said:
its not??

billboard didn't support the two liars?
Click to expand...
That is just business optics at this point, they want to "support all victims". As long as they exhibit the same behavior to all accused billionaires, I don't take it seriously.
 
kelley said:
I definitely think the recent cascios story may be about those songs and not abuse allegations especially since it's supposedly only Eddie who made the threats.
Click to expand...
The FT article mentioned inappropriate behaviour with kids though..:

'The man and four others told the estate in about 2019, a decade after the singer’s death, that they might go public with allegations that he had acted inappropriately with some of them when they were children.'
 
Victorious said:
The FT article mentioned inappropriate behaviour with kids though..:

'The man and four others told the estate in about 2019, a decade after the singer’s death, that they might go public with allegations that he had acted inappropriately with some of them when they were children.'
Click to expand...
Yeah but thats not a quote from Branca, its the ft reporters words. And FT is anti-MJ and pushed the guilter narrative in the past. It could be that they assume branca was talking about them making accusations. He might have said something like "they threatened to tell damaging stories" and the FT journalist put their own spin on it.

Even stacy brown started backtracking that they claimed to be victims and he also claimed he spoke to the estate.
 
kelley said:
Yeah but thats not a quote from Branca, its the ft reporters words. And FT is anti-MJ and pushed the guilter narrative in the past. It could be that they assume branca was talking about them making accusations. He might have said something like "they threatened to tell damaging stories" and the FT journalist put their own spin on it.

Even stacy brown started backtracking that they claimed to be victims and he also claimed he spoke to the estate.
Click to expand...
Let's hope so!
 
Damien having a little celebration.

"Big shout out to the fans in 80 countries around the world who have listened to Faking Michael since its release two months ago!
For those who haven’t yet, listen now:
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7p6l748UOi77PCcxrUzASr…
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/faking-michael/id1434372710…
YouTube https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_8jmX2IbHofd1Oto7tVYsxjJDvgHn5fS&si=u38E827xg3D1OtDn
Gd_6WKIa0AQUWV6


https://twitter.com/x/status/1864484043762618777
 
I finally started listening to the podcast, and it´s a lot to take in, emotionally, for me. I didn´t know all the details about the fraud, and it is mostly heartbreaking 😖, but it also makes me angry!

Damien Shields did a fantastic job researching, redacting, and presenting the material!

I am at episode 8 right now ... need to take lots of breaks to digest and think about everything I heard.
 
Listening to the podcast, too atm. Gotta say it's very hard for me to continue listening because of several reasons:
  • they repeat themselves and all the statements over and over again and again and again 🫠
  • it makes me angry that this could actually happen
  • it makes me angry that Michael's trust in people was exploited again and again,...
  • it makes me angry that I just heard the name Oprah, so gotta stop now :rolleyes:
Well, it's interesting nonetheless, but still not sure if I can finish it.
 
someplace_else said:
Listening to the podcast, too atm. Gotta say it's very hard for me to continue listening because of several reasons:
  • they repeat themselves and all the statements over and over again and again and again 🫠
  • it makes me angry that this could actually happen
  • it makes me angry that Michael's trust in people was exploited again and again,...
  • it makes me angry that I just heard the name Oprah, so gotta stop now :rolleyes:
Well, it's interesting nonetheless, but still not sure if I can finish it.
Click to expand...
There's some great info in there and I'd say it's worth listening to if you want to know the story of what went on.

I absolutely agree that they went overboard with the repetition, though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top