XPost: rec.arts.tv, alt.music.michael-jackson, alt.simpsons   
   XPost: alt.censorship   
   From: weberm@polaris.net   
      
   A classic episode of "The Simpsons" featuring Michael Jackson's   
   voice will be removed from circulation, the show's longtime   
   executive producer, James L. Brooks, said.   
      
   "It feels clearly the only choice to make," Mr. Brooks said of the   
   1991 episode in which Mr. Jackson voiced the character of a patient   
   in a mental hospital who believes he is the pop star.   
      
   Mr. Brooks said he, along with Matt Groening and Al Jean, the other   
   two masterminds of the long-running Fox cartoon, came to the   
   conclusion after watching the HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland."   
   In the documentary, which premiered earlier this week, two men   
   allege in graphic and compelling detail that Mr. Jackson molested   
   them over several years when they were children.   
      
   "The guys I work with-where we spend our lives arguing over jokes-   
   were of one mind on this," Mr. Brooks said in an interview, speaking   
   on behalf of the production team behind "The Simpsons."   
      
   A spokesman for Twentieth Century Fox Television, which handles   
   distribution of the show, referred to Mr. Brooks for comment.   
   Twentieth Century Fox parent 21st Century Fox and Wall Street   
   Journal parent News Corp share common ownership.   
      
   Mr. Jackson, who died in 2009, steadfastly denied he had molested or   
   harmed any children. The The Michael Jackson Estate last month   
   attempted to block HBO from airing the documentary by suing the   
   network in Los Angeles Superior Court charging among other things   
   that it "falsely claims Michael Jackson was abusing children."   
      
   Mr. Brooks said he found "Leaving Neverland" convincing and   
   heartbreaking.   
      
   "The documentary gave evidence of monstrous behavior, he said,   
   adding that he went into it wanting to "believe the thing that we   
   believe," which was that Mr. Jackson was falsely accused.   
      
   In the episode, Homer Simpson meets a man in a mental institution   
   who claims to be Michael Jackson. The character was voiced by Mr.   
   Jackson.Photo: NO CREDIT   
      
   In "The Simpsons" episode titled "Stark Raving Dad," Homer Simpson   
   briefly ends up in a mental institution, where he meets a man who   
   claims to be Michael Jackson. The character, Leon Kompowsky, was   
   voiced by Mr. Jackson. Mr. Brooks said the episode had been one of   
   his all-time favorites.   
      
   "This was a treasured episode. There are a lot of great memories we   
   have wrapped up in that one, and this certainly doesn't allow them   
   to remain," Mr. Brooks said.   
      
   Mr. Brooks said pulling the episode was important because of the   
   need to show compassion for Mr. Jackson's alleged victims.   
      
   Asked why Mr. Jackson's previous run-ins with the law over   
   allegations of child abuse weren't enough to pull the episode   
   earlier, Mr. Brooks cited his acquittal in 2005. But the   
   documentary, in his mind, made the case beyond argument.   
      
   Getting the episode off all the platforms and outlets that carry the   
   show-including streaming services, TV stations and Blu-ray/DVD box   
   sets-won't happen overnight, Mr. Brooks said, "but the process has   
   started."   
      
   Mr. Brooks acknowledged the potential for criticism from fans of Mr.   
   Jackson, as well as from people who love that particular episode.   
      
   "I'm against book burning of any kind. But this is our book, and   
   we're allowed to take out a chapter," he said.   
      
   --   
   Trump: A president so great that Democrats who said they would leave   
   America if he won decided to stay!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)