Apology sought over Jackson’s Jew remarks

MICHAEL JACKSON is being urged to apologise after a TV network aired a tape which the pop star apparently referred to Jews as “leeches.”

The message was supposedly recorded two years ago and has now surfaced in connection with a lawsuit against the pop star.

The American Anti-Defamation League (ADL) yesterday demanded that the singer apologise for the comments, saying he has made similar remarks in the past.

ADL director Abraham Foxman said: “Michael Jackson has an anti-Semitic streak and hasn’t learned from his past mistakes.

“It seems every time he has a problem in his life, he blames it on Jews.”

Jackson infuriated Jewish groups in 1995 when his song They Don’t Care About Us included the lyrics “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me, kick me, kike me.”

Jackson apologised, saying the lyrics were meant to demonstrate the hatefulness of racism, anti-Semitism and stereotyping.

He then changed the lyrics.

“While he apologised for, and later removed the anti-Jewish lyrics in They Don’t Care About Us, it is clear now that he never was able to completely remove the bigotry from his own heart,” Mr Foxman said.

Jackson, 47, is currently living in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain after he was acquitted last June of charges of sexually molesting a boy at his Neverland ranch in California.

However, earlier this week, ABC’s Good Morning America TV show aired portions of a 2003 voice message that Jackson was alleged to have left for a former adviser, Dieter Wiesner.

The message was among about a dozen released by attorney Howard King, who represents Mr Wiesner and another former adviser who are locked in business disputes with the pop star and are suing him for millions.

A transcript provided by Mr King’s office quotes Jackson as saying: “They suck them like leeches ... They start out the most popular person in the world, make a lot of money, big house, cars and everything and end up penniless. It’s a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose.”

Jackson’s spokeswoman Raymone Bain said yesterday that the singer had no comment.

Mr King said he released the messages to keep Jackson from appearing sympathetic in court.