14 DAY TRIAL // Even before Michael Jackson passed away in June this year from what seems to have been an overdose on Propofol, a powerful anesthetic the singer used to treat insomnia, AEG Live took a lot of heat in the media. All that will hopefully change when Sony Pictures releases the “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” docu-film, Tim Leiweke, president of AEG, said the other day as the first tickets for the October release were made available.
The concert organizers for the 50 shows that were supposed to take place in London this summer have been blamed for anything from fueling the singer’s drug habit to deliberately signing him for the comeback when they knew he couldn’t make it. The release of “This Is It,” comprised of footage shot during rehearsals at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, will finally set the record straight on all those rumors and show that what AEG did was to actually offer Michael one last chance.
“Some of the things that people have said about us, which are so untrue, this movie’s going to restore his legacy, and prove that we, in fact, gave Michael a second chance here. And an opportunity to make the kind of comeback he was dreaming of. And that we created an environment for him that was probably the best environment that the guy had the last 10 or 15 years of his life. And I’m very proud of the way we treated Michael, and very proud of the partnership that we had with him. And this movie is an opportunity to celebrate that, and we could get past all of the gossip and all of the innuendo.” Leiweke said at the recent press conference.
Leiweke believes that the very fact that some fans waited in a line outside for two entire days to get their tickets for “This Is It,” which drops this October, is a clear sign that they are ready to move on and stop playing the blame game. However, as it’s already a known fact, it wasn’t only the fans who blamed AEG Live for Michael’s condition in his last days, if not death. Joe Jackson and some other Jackson family members also hinted in past interviews that whoever signed Michael for 50 shows when it was clear he could hardly do 10 was trying to exploit him.
However, “This Is It” will set the record straight on all that. “You see the music, the studios, the rehearsals, the dancers, the auditions, the costumes. You see all of the behind-the-scenes, and then you finally see the last few days of the dress rehearsals, and you begin to see the genius of Michael: the dancing, the singing, the choreography, and his concept of creating a one-time performance that no one would ever forget.” Leiweke said of what fans should expect from the much-hyped film.