“It wasn’t just a comedy to him, it was something that was used as a tool. And I strongly believe that. That, to me, is my belief, and it’s why I think removing it is appropriate. I lose a little bit of money financially, it’s not something that’s great personally to lose one of the most successful things I ever did, but I totally think it’s the right move.”
The classic animated comedy’s executive producer has spoken out after the team decided to pull 1991 episode ‘Stark Raving Dad’ – which featured the voice of the late musician – from circulation in the wake of the ‘Leaving Neverland’ documentary.
Admitting it’s his own opinion rather than based on fact, he said: “What saddens me is, if you watch that documentary – which I did, and several of us here did – and you watch that episode, honestly, it looks like the episode was used by Michael Jackson for something other than what we’d intended it.
The episode in question sees Homer sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he befriends a man named Leon Kompowsky who thinks he is Michael Jackson. Although originally credited under the pseudonym John Jay Smith, it was later confirmed that the ‘Thriller’ singer did voice the character. Michael has been accused of child sexual abuse and Al believes he used the fact that he appeared in the show “to groom boys”.
He added: “I don’t believe in going through and making judgments on every guest star and saying ‘this one was bad, that one was bad,’ but the episode itself has a false purpose, and that’s what I object to about it now … I think it was part of what he used to groom boys. I really don’t know, and I should be very careful because this is not something I know personally, but as far as what I think, that’s what I think. And that makes me very, very sad.”
The Daily Beast also reported, “the episode was penned specifically for Jackson, a fan of the show, with the icon demanding that a scene be included wherein he and Bart Simpson create a song together. In light of the documentary, the lyrics of that song seem troubling, to say the least. ”