He just heard a lot of people making a lot of promises
许多人跟他承诺了许多事
and telling him, 'lt's no big deal. '
跟他说 没什么大不了的
like, 'Pay them the money, it's like a quarter to you.
'付钱就是了 对你来说不过是点小钱
The reason they did it was because Michael was out on tour,
原因是因为迈克尔当时正在巡回
they had accused him of this terrible thing,
他们又作出这种指控
and they didn't want to stop the tour, so they just paid it off.
他们不想终止巡回 所以才决定和解
lt was too late. He got some of the worst advice, probably, in the music business.
但太迟了 最糟的建议 恐怕是来自音乐界
l interviewed Michael right after he made the settlement,
我在和解不久后访谈迈克尔
and l asked him, 'Why did you do it?
我问他 你为什么这么做?
'Don't you realise that
你难道不明白
from this moment on, people are going to believe you were guilty?
'现在所有人都会认为你有罪吗?
And Michael said he didn't care.
迈克尔说他不在乎
He said, "lt's my life, it's my career, it's my choice."
他说 这是我的人生 我的事业 我的选择
l discussed it with him many years later and he did regret the settlement.
多年后我们再聊起这事时 他坦承很后悔当初庭外和解
lt was one thing in the moment, you know, when you're in pain
当下很痛苦的时候
and you're making a decision based on the pain of the moment,
这痛苦影响了你所作出的决定
it's another thing when years go by and you look back on it and you think,
但多年后再回想起来 就会觉得
'Why did l do that?
'当初怎会这么做?
And it wasn't about the $17 million, that meant nothing to him.
重点不在那一千七百万 他根本不在乎那钱
lt was paid out in an instalment plan, like he was buying a refrigerator.
还是分期付的 就像买冰箱一样
lt really meant nothing to him.
他真的不在乎那个
lt was just the fact that people believed he settled because he was guilty
而是大众认为他庭外和解 是因为作贼心虚
that really pissed him off.
这点令他很愤怒