MUMBAI: Kanye West has objected to the references made for Michael Jackson in the media. Defending the King of Pop, Kanye West recently said that the media should not "tear down our heroes." Kanye West also denounced using references like "Wacko Jacko" and other names given to Michael Jackson by several agencies and media. During a conversation with Pharrell Williams for i-D Magazine, Kanye West stated that he believes both Williams and Michael Jackson have brought new facets of black culture to the mainstream.

"It felt like you really tore down the walls and the doors much like Michael Jackson did a generation before. In a way, he’s very similar to Michael Jackson, in the ways where Michael Jackson was doing covert, super gangster stuff, like he’d just pop the needles off, Kanye West said and argued that Michael Jackson is entitled to more respect. He also condemned the 2019 documentary titled Leaving Neverland, which saw two men accuse Michael Jackson of molesting them as children.

"We should have something that says we can’t allow any company to tear down our heroes," he asserted. "Not on The Shade Room, not on social media and especially not in documentaries. I’m like every time the media isn’t happy with me it’s like, ‘Here they go. They’re gonna come and Wacko Jacko me.’ Which in some ways, they’ve tried to do," Kanye West added. This comes a few days after the Black Lives Matter movement kickstarted in the US after George Floyd was arrested by four policemen and one of them kneeled down on his neck till he died. Kanye West has been supporting the cause since the beginning. Michael Jackson too was an African-American himself. Hence, Kanye West stands in support of him.