Santa Isn't Real

In 1966, steel worker Joseph Jackson assembles his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael into the musical band the Jackson 5, with Michael on lead vocals. After months of grueling rehearsals, involving corporal punishment from Joseph, the Jackson 5 perform at gigs until Suzanne De Passe discovers them in Chicago in 1968, and they are signed with Motown a year later. Their albums top the charts, and they sell out concerts across the US, allowing them to move from a small house in Gary, Indiana, to a mansion in Encino, California, in 1971. Motown founder Berry Gordy believes Michael has more potential as a solo artist. In 1978, Michael signs with Epic Records for his first solo album as an adult, Off the Wall, with Quincy Jones producing. Despite its success, Michael's solo career is held back by Joseph, who believes he is solely responsible for his children's fortunes. Michael is forced to continue touring with his brothers on the Triumph Tour. Feeling insecure about his appearance and developing vitiligo, Michael undergoes a rhinoplasty to make his nose smaller. Following an argument with Joseph, he takes advice from his bodyguard and close friend, Bill Bray, and creates his own path. In 1981, he hires John Branca as his attorney and has him fire Joseph by fax. Michael visits children's hospitals and experiments with ideas for his next album, which is set for release in 1982. After watching a news report on the Crips–Bloods gang war, he hires members of both gangs to appear in his music video for "Beat It". Thriller breaks worldwide sales records while Michael delivers a groundbreaking performance of "Billie Jean" at Motown 25. Michael and Branca head to New York to ask the CBS Records president, Walter Yetnikoff, to get MTV to play Michael's music videos, despite the network not playing videos by black artists. MTV agrees to give him airtime after Yetnikoff threatens to pull the CBS Records catalog out of the network if they do not play "Billie Jean". While Michael enjoys his success, Joseph has a meeting with the boxing promoter Don King and proposes the 1984 Victory Tour to reunite his sons. King offers Joseph a PepsiCo sponsorship deal, provided that Michael tours with the Jacksons, to which Michael objects. While the Jacksons film a Pepsi commercial, a spark from the pyrotechnics sets Michael's hair on fire, resulting in third-degree burns and nerve damage. He and Branca sue PepsiCo for the damages, with the settlement proceeds going to the burn center where he was treated. Whilst in hospital, Michael meets with the other patients as he thinks about whether he will take part in the Victory Tour or not. Once Michael recovers, he agrees to tour with his siblings. During the final show of the Victory Tour at Dodger Stadium, they perform "Human Nature" and "Working Day and Night" when Michael announces it is the last time the Jacksons will perform together, severing his ties with Joseph. Michael performs his first solo tour, the Bad World Tour, at Wembley Stadium in 1988 to an ecstatic crowd.