Looking back now, it’s obvious that Michael’s career had already peaked by this time, though he refused to acknowledge it. It was our job to handle the public relations as it pertained to his music and recording career, but we couldn’t do anything in these legal matters other than support him in any way he asked. Tommy Mottola “There are few charges more serious than molestation, and in the case of Michael Jackson there was little we at Sony could do but step back and wonder how it would play out. Then the 1993 molestation accusations happened. Both have been successful and had high viewership numbers and Dangerous seen an increase in sales. Mottola says in 1993 they tried to reignite interest for Michael’s Dangerous album by arranging SuperBowl performance and Oprah interviews. As high as those numbers were, and as profitable as they were for the company, they were shrinking.” Tommy Mottola: “But Michael was very right about one thing. Tommy Mottola: “So you can see how differently our views were of the same numbers from the start.” Mottola says he would tell Michael that they sent a promotional army and no other album was selling even remotely close to these numbers. Mottola says similarly Michael was not happy with the 32 Million sales of Dangerous album. Mottola says he started working for CBS/ Sony soon after Bad was released and Michael was not happy with 45 Million unit sales of Bad album and would tell Mottola to turn it around and it could sell more than 100 Million units. He mentions however Michael wasn’t happy with the sales numbers, starting from Bad album. Mottola calls Dangerous album a success with 32 Million units in sales. From the beginning, part of him resented that, but mostly he respected that.” But I might have been the only person in the world who was able to say “I don’t think that’s right” to Michael Jackson.
I was in charge of Sony Music- and Sony was writing his checks. That put me in somewhat of a unique position. Michael, what would you like? Michael, how would you like that? Michael, we can do this. He surrounded himself with people who said yes simply to be around him or because they were cashing his checks. Tommy Mottola: “But there was virtually nobody around Michael who could speak truth to him because he was Michael Jackson, King of Pop, and he was writing the checks. In other words, if you said no to Michael one time because it was the right thing to do, you’d be gone.” Tommy Mottola: “ Anybody who punctured the balloons that Michael blew up around him was not around Michael Jackson very long. Mottola says although Michael was happy with the contract he refused to sign it unless the press-release announced it as a billion dollar deal. He says they paid Michael an advance of $35 Million. He says it was one of largest contracts offered. Mottola mentions renewing Michael’s contract in 1991. But if you know me, you know that I’m not the kind of guy to avoid it.” Now that Michael has passed there’s little benefit to me in bringing the incident back up. As the head of the company, I remained above the fray and most certainly did not comment on it. Tommy Mottola : “ The attack was sad and pathetic.
He says Michael lashing out had nothing to do with racism but it was about declining sales numbers and Michael wanting to get out of his contract with Sony.
Mottola very early in the book mentions Michael calling him racist and denies such claims mentioning his wives & openness to all cultures. Here is the summary : (Dates aren't exact, direct quotes are in blue) This book is not about Michael Jackson but Mottola mentions his interactions with Michael in it – although they aren't a lot or long in nature. Tommy Mottola has released his autobiography called Hitmaker. Note : Many people have requested a summary of Mottola's book to learn about what he said about Michael.