Actors - They Don't Care About Us

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	Actors - They Don't Care About Us

They Don't Care About Us was the third US single and fourth European single released from American pop and R&B singer-songwriter Michael Jackson's 1995 album, HIStory
.

Controversies

Both the lyrics and the video generated controversy for Jackson.

The original version of the song brought accusations to Jackson of being anti-Semitic in the lyric: "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me". He responded to these allegations by insisting that he did not mean to offend any member of the Jewish community, that some of his best friends were Jewish and that racism was never in his heart. He also explained in his letter to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that the song was meant to demonstrate the hatefulness of racism, anti-Semitism and stereotyping. He said: "My intention was for this song to say 'no' to racism, anti-Semitism and stereotyping. I intend to include, in all albums that have not been shipped as of this date, the above paragraph so that no one can listen to my music and misconstrue my intentions. Just the idea that my lyrics could offend and hurt anyone's feelings is extremely painful to me."

Still under pressure, Jackson then tried to prove his good intentions as he withdrew HIStory from the market, altered the controversial words and re-released it on his own expense. Ever since, the original version became rare to find.

The original music video for the song showed Jackson singing the song in a prison. MTV took the video off its playlist because it showed scenes of violence. Jackson and video director Spike Lee did another version of the video set in Brazil.

Chart rankings

In the United States the single peaked at #30 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart and #10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart in early 1996. It hit #4 in the United Kingdom and #1 in Germany.

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