Thriller (Michael Jackson album) video that would appeal to the mass market ended up influencing the way that professionals now market and release their songs. John Landis' production of a mini-movie, rather than the usual short music video, would raise the bar for other directors and producers. Before the success of "Thriller", many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was black. In an effort to attain air time for Jackson, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV and declared, "I'm not going to give you any more videos and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the
Leave Me Alone (Michael Jackson song) and Spain. "Leave Me Alone" was generally well received by critics. In the music video, Jackson pokes fun at the rumors about him. The video was the recipient of a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Music Video. The song was never performed on any of Jackson's tours. "Leave Me Alone" was a response to negative rumours about Jackson that frequently appeared in the media and tabloids post-1985 after the success of "Thriller." Beginning in 1986, the tabloids began to publish rumours about Jackson, one of the first being a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber