Here's a recent conspiracy theory for you: during the break-up years of the mid-90s, Michael Jackson was under siege, accused of fooling around with underage boys. Whether or not you believe the accusations in light of evidence released later that seemed to suggest at least one of the cases was an elaborate fraud, the fact is that at the time, pretty much everyone assumed Jackson was guilty, especially when he settled out of court. Slash, of course, was friends with Jackson, having appeared in the video for Black or White, and playing with him live in the early 90s. This allegedly infuriated Axl Rose, himself a victim of childhood molestation. According to former manager Doug Goldstein, speaking to the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone in 2015, he said
When Axl found out Slash was going to play with Michael Jackson and that the payment was a big-screen TV, he was devastated. He thought Slash would support him and be against all abuse. From the point of view of Axl, that was the only problem. He could ignore the drugs and the alcohol, but could never the child abuse.
Slash would later state that he "didn't think" playing with Jackson had anything to do with Guns breaking up, and made it clear that he was not on good terms with Goldstein.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
