Jackson Single In Limbo

A charity single recorded by Michael Jackson to raise money for victims of Sept. 11 has fallen into limbo since the pop star learned that the song's executive producer is involved in the pornography business, the singer's spokesman said Friday.

The self-proclaimed King of Pop "cut all ties" with the song's original executive producer "the minute he found out about this guy's background," several months ago, Jackson publicist Dan Klores told Reuters.

Klores said fallout from the disclosure and other issues had thrown into question whether the all-star single will ever see the light of day, but added that as of "three or four days ago there was still hope that this single will be released."

The producer in question, F. Marc Schaffel, acknowledged in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Friday that he worked "in the adult film business" and had produced and directed dozens of gay pornography videos.

But he said the flap over his vocation in connection with Jackson's project was a "smokescreen" for efforts to "shut this single down because of a bigger fight going on."

Jackson recently accused Sony Music Entertainment of blocking release of his charity single, titled "What More Can I Give," in an escalating public feud between the singer and his music label, Sony Music Entertainment Inc., a unit of Japanese electronics firm Sony Corp

Sony declined comment on reports about the single, or even on whether it had ever planned to release the song.

Jackson's representatives said last October he had finished studio recordings for "What More Can I Give," which he hoped would raise $50 million for victims' families and survivors of the suicide hijacking attacks on New York and Washington.

Among the three dozen pop stars said to have lent their talent to the project were 'N Sync, Ricky Martin, Mariah Carey, Carlos Santana, Celine Dion, Tom Petty, Julio Iglesias and Reba McEntire. But after an initial fanfare of publicity, the project inexplicably stalled.

The Los Angeles Times, citing unnamed sources and documents obtained by the paper, reported the singer's own advisors quietly had asked Sony to bury the project after learning of Schaffel's background.

Klores told Reuters that Sony "has known about this for many, many months, as has Michael Jackson. So for this to suddenly become news, clearly there's an agenda."

The Times also reported that fast-food giant McDonald's Corp. pulled out of a multimillion-dollar agreement to distribute the single in its restaurant over concerns about Jackson's involvement in a 1993 child molestation case that he settled for out of court for a reported $15 million. Jackson, who denied any wrongdoing, was never charged with a crime.

A spokeswoman for McDonald's said the company was in talks about "a potential fund-raising effort" with Jackson last year, but "there was never an agreement between the parties."

"We looked at it from a strict business perspective and decided to take a pass on it based on timing, distribution and cost issues," McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard said.

Jackson grabbed headlines last weekend when he led a protest of about 150 people in front of Sony Music headquarters in New York, calling Sony Music chief Thomas Mottola: "racist" and "very, very, very devilish."

Jackson has said half-hearted promotion by Sony was to blame for meager sales of his latest album, "Invincible," and accused Sony and other labels of conspiring to cheat artists, particularly black performers, out of royalties.

Sony has defended its marketing of "Invincible" and dismissed Jackson's charges as "ludicrous."

Industry sources have said Jackson, under contract with Sony until 2004 and among the highest-paid pop stars of all time, appeared to be trying to pressure Sony into breaking his pact so he can exit with his valuable trove of master recordings.

By Steve Gorman