The Wiz (film) certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different – they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different – we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area." Michael Jackson, a former Motown star and close friend of Diana Ross was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development on "The Wiz" in 1977, he and his brothers The Jacksons, had left Motown for Epic Records, though Jackson had yet to make a solo album since
Michael Jackson to critical and commercial success. In April 2011, billionaire businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, chairman of Fulham Football Club, unveiled a statue of Michael Jackson outside the club's stadium, Craven Cottage. Fulham fans were bemused by the statue and failed to understand the relevance of Jackson to the club. Al-Fayed defended the statue and told the fans to "go to hell" if they did not appreciate it. The statue was removed in September 2013 and moved to the National Football Museum in Manchester in May 2014. In 2012, in an attempt to end public family feuding, Jackson's brother Jermaine Jackson retracted his