It's Weird That Michael Jackson's 2005 Trial Hasn't Gotten the 'People v. OJ Simpson' Treatment

03/12/19 • 57 min

It's fitting that Michael Jackson's 2005 trial ended with a woman releasing white doves -- one for each count on which he was acquitted. Doves are a traditional part of many magic shows, and Jackson's trial was his greatest trick of all.

On every episode of "Shoot This Now," we talk about true stories that should be made into TV shows and movies. This week, we talk about the 2005 Michael Jackson trial, which I covered from beginning to end for The Associated Press.

As the new Dan Reed documentary "Leaving Neverland" makes clear, the trial continued a long Jackson tradition of manipulating the people around him. Wade Robson describes in the documentary how Jackson persuaded him to lie on the stand about being molested. And the news media (myself included) sometimes paid attention to his pajama-and-epaulette ensembles instead of everything Jackson wanted to hide.

Will the trial ever get the "People v. OJ Simpson" treatment it deserves?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the trial ever get the "People v. OJ Simpson" treatment it deserves?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Angela James' Life Story is the Black Lesbian Hockey Movie America Needs

Born in Toronto to a black father and white mother, Angela James went from defending herself from bullies in the projects to becoming one of the first women ever inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

She was also the first openly gay athlete to be inducted into a major sports Hall of Fame, and is widely regarded as the "Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey."

Her story has the grit of "Miracle" and "Warrior," with the fish-out-of-water and blue-collar racial dynamics of "8 Mile." We haven't seen a massive female-centered sports film since "Million Dollar Baby," and unlike that masterpiece of sadness, Davis' biography is happy and uplifting.

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Next Episode

The Twins Who Tricked the 1984 Olympics

In the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Puerto Rico’s Madeline de Jesus was injured in the long jump, and found herself unable to run in the 4×400-meter relay. Fortunately she had a secret weapon: Her identical twin sister, Margaret, who took her place in a qualifying heat.

The college admissions scandal and Jordan Peele's "Us" have us thinking about cheating and duality, respectively. Madeline and Margaret de Jesus' story has both. Join us for our very special 50th episode as we talk about their hilarious ruse, and also about Lori Loughlin and dystopian boy band Menudo.

If you enjoy this episode, check out one of our sources, Yara Simon's story about the de Jesus twins for Remezcla.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.