The Wiz (film) a threat to the Jacksons group cohesion. Cohen moved Michael and his sister La Toya Jackson into a Manhattan apartment, allowing him to be on his own for the first time. During the production, he became a frequent visitor to New York's famous Studio 54. Jackson was dedicated to the Scarecrow role, and watched videotapes of gazelles, cheetahs and panthers in order to learn graceful movements for his part. The long hours of uncomfortable prosthetic makeup by Stan Winston did not bother him. During the production of the film, Jackson asked Quincy Jones who he would recommend as a producer
Michael Jackson 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century. On February 22 of the same year, his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born. The mother's identity was not announced, but Jackson said Prince was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm. Jackson alleged in July 2002 that Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own gain. He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger". Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract,