Hadley Freeman’s Guardian Article: A Rant

By Jamie Bergen

The other day, I read an article entitled, “Michael Jackson’s life showed us the journey from abused to abuser” by Hadley Freeman, published on The Guardian website on March 26, 2019.

I have some thoughts.

Usually when I see articles of this nature, I don’t bother reading them. They’re pretty much all the same anyway. What made this one different for me is, for starters, I actually did read it after seeing people talking about it on Twitter.

And then there’s this:

Yes, and you have written about him poorly. (Your tweet is poorly written, too. #JustSaying)

Really, Ms. Freeman? You even know what you’ve written is bad, or else you’d stand by it. But no, you just drop it and run. So much for journalistic integrity. Not that journalists have any integrity when it comes to Michael Jackson, but I digress.

Apart from that, though, there are a few specific things in this article that really irked me and I feel the need to address them.

This is not going to be a thorough debunking akin to my Maureen Orth article, though. Don’t get me wrong, I will provide receipts for any facts I drop, but this is going to be more of a rant than anything else. While the lies in Orth’s article made me roll my eyes mostly, the lies in this article, and Freeman’s subsequent chicken shit behavior on Twitter, just pissed me off.

As such, my tone will be a bit less sarcastic here than it was in my Orth article. I’m too annoyed to be a petty bitch with this. Instead, I’m going to be a straight up bitch.

I’m not going to go through each paragraph and rip every sentence to shreds because, frankly, I don’t have the patience. What I am going to do, however, is focus on the parts that made me yell things at my computer screen. And by things I mean, “Oh, my FUCKING God!” and “Is this bitch fucking serious?!” and “ARRRRGGGGHHHH…”

Here we go.

Jimmy Savile. Harvey Weinstein. R Kelly. Kevin Spacey. We are not exactly short these days of celebrities accused of exploiting their fame to mask predatory behaviour.

No. No, no, no, NO. Michael Jackson DOES NOT belong in the same category as these creeps. I really need people to stop doing this fucking YESTERDAY.

Michael was fully vindicated in 2005. He was charged with FOURTEEN counts. He was found not guilty FOURTEEN times. They couldn’t even get him on a fucking misdemeanor.

And even though it’s insinuated later on in this trash article that he paid his way out of a conviction, let me relay this little factoid: The prosecution’s case was so unbelievably ridiculous, 10 out of the 12 jurors were ready to vote not guilty by the time the prosecution rested. And the defense hadn’t even started presenting their case yet.

The FBI investigated him TWICE, for months at a time, within a 10+ year period. Which he had no knowledge of. They found NOTHING.


Can any of the above men say the same? Of course Savile can’t, he’s dead, but the others? Oh, that’s right, all of them are in the middle of legal battles where the evidence isn’t exactly in their favor. Gee.

I’m surprised Weinstein was mentioned here, though. I mean, while all this Leaving Neverland nonsense has been going on, he’s been persona non grata as far as the media is concerned. I guess he only exists when it’s convenient.

And that’s not just because he is, still, so passionately defended by some – including, most recently, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross…

Yeah, Barbra Streisand wasn’t defending him. She believes these two liars. She was just stating what Leaving Neverland’s narrative actually is.

It’s interesting to me how everyone who believes the schlockumentary somehow sees it as some legitimate study of child sexual abuse, while those who don’t see it as the pro-pedophilia propaganda it is. Barbra is a strange hybrid of the two. She believes it, but she also took away from it exactly what was presented to her. “Thrilled to be there” and “it didn’t kill them” is pretty much accurate.

But of course the Leaving Neverland supporters freaked the fuck out and attacked her when her opinion went public. Guess when someone puts it that way, it doesn’t sound quite right, huh?

And fuck yeah Diana Ross defended him! She knew him for 40+ years. And she sure as HELL knows a lot more about him than Freeman thinks she does. Strange how someone who never even met him just knows that he was a pedophile while the person who knew him from when he was 9 YEARS OLD doesn’t know shit.

…while he also, simultaneously, did so little to mask his predatoriness.

Michael had nothing to hide. Because he wasn’t a predator. And it pisses me of SO MUCH when people like Ms. Freeman take Michael’s true nature and twist it into something it wasn’t because they’re too sick and cynical to see the innocence in it.

Actual pedophiles do everything they can to hide their “predatoriness”. They go to extreme lengths to appear as normal as possible to the people around them so they can commit their crimes undetected. Did Michael look or act “normal”, ever?

Oh, and by the way, “predatoriness” isn’t a word, just so you know. Huh. Look at that. Guess I am going to be petty. Okay then.

In his lifetime, he talked happily about sharing his bed with little boys, and was rarely photographed more than six feet away from one…

No, he didn’t. He DID NOT “happily” talk about sharing a bed with boys.

Can this “oMG, HE slEpT wITh LitTlE boYz!!!1!” media narrative just fucking die now?

Look, the thing people need to get into their damn heads about the sleeping situation is this: Michael grew up differently to most people. He lived his adult life differently to most people. When someone says, “You wouldn’t let your kids sleep in the same bed as Joe down the street!” it’s like, well no, of course not! Michael Jackson and some average guy aren’t the same thing! The two can’t be compared.

Michael just saw bed sharing differently than the average person.

He lived a sheltered life, for the majority of his life. He was pretty naive when it came to the concept of bed sharing. He did that as a kid, so as an adult he figured, “What’s the big deal? It’s just sleeping.” And while some people do actually understand that, others, like Ms. Freeman obviously, see something sinister in it. Which I personally think reflects more on them than it does on Michael.

He was “rarely photographed six feet away from” boys? Really?

Wow, look at all those little boys! OMG, Ms. Freeman’s right! He really was a predator! Exhume his corpse and lock him up right now!!

Look, I’m not saying Michael was never photographed with boys, because duh. He was. But he was photographed with others just as often, and to state he was “rarely photographed more than six feet away” from boys is complete and utter bullshit.

…he was publicly accused – four times – of child sexual abuse (by Jordy Chandler, Gavin Arvizo and two boys who accused him of molestation during the Arvizo trial, both of whom received financial payouts).

I searched quite a while for the source of this blatant lie about two boys receiving payouts during the trial, but to no avail. I couldn’t even find a tabloid source for it. So the only conclusion I can come to is that Hadley (fuck formalities) made it up herself.

Maybe she was confused about the Chandler and Francia settlements, but I don’t see how. They both occurred in the 1990s, ten years before the trial.

These are the ONLY settlements Michael paid to accusers. EVER. If he had paid anyone else during the trial, it would have been a massive media shitstorm inside an already massive media shitstorm. Everyone would’ve known about it. But even the most knowledgeable fans I asked have never heard of it.

So again, the only conclusion I can come to is that Hadley’s source for this is her own ass.

With Jackson we have, uniquely, witnessed an entire life of abuse played out in front of our eyes, in which the once-adorable little boy, whose father notoriously physically abused him, grew up to become himself the most notorious abuser in modern music.

Yeah, this excerpt here features a couple of the things I mentioned in the intro that really irked me. Well, pissed me the fuck off to be more accurate.

Hadley goes on and on AND ON about Michael’s physical abuse as a child at the hands of his father throughout her article, title included. A less discerning reader may attribute that to sympathy. But it’s not. It’s the excuse she’s latching onto to justify calling Michael a pedophile without any actual proof. Abuse begets abuse is her reasoning.

Does Hadley have a psychology degree? If so, I’d like to see it. And if she does, I will stand corrected. But until I see the proof, her presumed armchair psychology does not impress me.

Now, Hadley mentioned above that Michael was accused of molestation four times. That makes him “the most notorious abuser in modern music” how exactly? Even if Michael was a pedophile (HE WASN’T, but for argument’s sake for just a moment), he had three accusers (Jordan Chandler, Jason Francia and Gavin Arvizo) during his life, and now two (Wade Robson and James Safechuck) accusers after his death. That’s a total of FIVE. (Math!) So again, how does that make him the most notorious abuser?

A pedophile tends to have dozens, sometimes even hundreds of victims in their lifetime. So even if Michael was a child molester, five victims isn’t anywhere close to notorious. In reality, though, Michael had five false accusers. He was the victim of extortionists, con artists and liars, even in death. That’s not notorious, that’s just tragic.

Hadley and journalists like her must stop making untrue statements like this if they ever want to be taken seriously again. Because if there’s one thing a lot of people are taking away from this Leaving Neverland debacle, it isn’t that Michael Jackson sexually abused Wade Robson and James Safechuck. It’s that the media is actively participating in a conspiracy to destroy his legacy. “CANCEL MICHAEL JACKSON!!!” isn’t exactly subtle.

And yes, “conspiracy” may be somewhat paranoid, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Joe Jackson, who finally died last year…

Wait. What? Finally?

When one says the word “finally”, it’s usually in regards to relief. Would I be remiss to assume Hadley is glad Joe Jackson is dead? Is that an unreasonable conclusion?

Wow, she clearly doesn’t give a shit that the Jackson family is still grieving for him. Joe may have had his faults, but he was still their patriarch. They love him. Despite what Hadley and others think of him and the way he raised his children, they LOVE him and they are GRIEVING for him. They don’t need shit like this.

Joe Jackson was so vicious that even when Michael was in his 40s he would tell people that just thinking about his father made him feel sick.

And here we have another example of Hadley really DRUMMING IT INTO THE READER that Joe was abusive towards Michael. But again, don’t be fooled into thinking she’s being sympathetic.

I’m going to start a running total of these examples, so we can all see just how many times Hadley brings it up in an attempt to brainwash the reader into the same way of thinking. So this one is #…

When I interviewed Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the subjects of Dan Reed’s seminal documentary, Leaving Neverland, they both told me that Jackson spoke to them at length about the emotional and physical abuse his father subjected him to as a child, and that he was still scared of him.

Okay, so here, not only do we have yet another mention of Michael’s childhood abuse, but also an example of Wade and James making themselves seem more important in Michael’s life than they actually were.

Ooh, Michael confided in them! Told them something he told every person he ever met in his entire life, including Oprah Winfrey, on live television! He really must have been obsessed with them!!

Look, Wade Rosbon and James Safechuck were not important to Michael Jackson. No matter how many lies they tell to make it seem like they were in order to sell their non-existent abuse, they simply were not. That’s all there is to it.

A grown man turning to little boys for comfort.

FFS. Michael turned to many people for comfort. People of all genders, races, ages and religions. He craved companionship and normalcy, and the families—yes, FAMILIES, not just boys—he befriended provided that for him.

In fact, here’s an example of Michael receiving comfort from the Stein family, people who weren’t little boys.

And here’s Michael with his best friend, Elizabeth Taylor. You know, AN ADULT.

And lastly, here’s a video about Michael’s friendship with Chris Tucker. You know, ALSO AN ADULT.

…just as so many parents would later justify pushing their children into Jackson’s clearly unhealthy orbit by telling themselves they were helping their children on to the path of celebrity.

Michael’s orbit was only unhealthy in regards to a lot of the people he allowed into his life, the Rosbons and Safechucks included. They didn’t give a shit about him, only about themselves and what they could gain from him, and in most cases he sadly didn’t find that out until it was too late.

For example, Joy Robson HUNTED Michael down and forced her children into his life for her own personal gain, which was her son’s fame and fortune. The only thing she had to justify to herself was using Michael to advance her son’s career.

I’m really tired of this shit about these poor families who were drawn into Michael’s life against their will. They were there for their own benefit and nothing more. Michael’s habit of freezing people out when he realized that only made their motives more obvious. The Chandlers and the Arvizos are proof of this.

It is a well-established tragic truth that one of the biggest predictors for an adult becoming an abuser is if they have been abused themselves.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, this is the reasoning Hadley is using to call Michael a pedophile outright without any actual proof.

But I don’t know if this is actually true. Hadley states it as fact, but I when I Googled it, I couldn’t find any proof one way or the other. It seems there have been many studies of child abuse victims and whether or not they grow up to become abusers themselves, but the results vary too much for there to be any definitive answer. So for Hadley to state this as “well-established truth” just so she can use it to “prove” Michael Jackson was a pedophile is irresponsible, I feel.

Also, and since I know practically nothing about psychology I could be entirely wrong here, but IF Michael was going to grow up to become an abuser, wouldn’t it be more likely he would inflict the same kind of physical abuse he was subjected to rather than sexual abuse? Since that was what he was exposed to as a child? (If any psychologists/psychiatrists read this, your input would be appreciated.)

He ostensibly groomed the public, as well as the parents of his victims, by insisting that his fondness for being around children had nothing to do with paedophilia, but was rather an expression of his yearning for a childhood his father had denied him.

There’s that word again. Groomed.

This mass hysteria over grooming is fucking ridiculous, especially since the ones perpetuating it don’t seem to grasp the true meaning of it. Wade Robson said in Oprah’s After Neverland special that Michael groomed him before they even met. Al Jean of The Simpsons said Michael used his episode to groom victims when Al himself was the one who wrote it. And now we have moronic journalists saying Michael groomed the entire world.

Yeah, grooming, the kind of grooming pedophiles engage in, doesn’t work like that. Especially as far as Michael’s Simpsons episode goes. How would a pedophile even use that to groom a child?

You know what can be used to groom a child, though? Leaving Neverland. Yeah, the so-called documentary that the media and haters are praising as an important lesson in grooming is actually grooming material itself. It would be ironic if it wasn’t so horrifying.

Jackson was one of the most talented performers of all time, and a predator; Jackson mourned his lost childhood, and he was a paedophile.

Why do all these “journalists” think it’s just hunky dory to outright call Michael a pedophile/predator? It would be different if they were able to back it up, but they can’t. At the very least they owe their readers an “allegedly”.

Speaking of hunky dory (see what I did there?), I believe Hadley is a David Bowie fan. And I’m pretty sure there’s been some interesting headlines about Bowie in the past few years since his death…

“But these are unsubstantiated claims!” “There’s no proof any of that happened!” “Bowie’s dead, let him rest in peace!” some, possibly including Hadley, may say.

Well, gee…

It is bizarre that one of the most popular questions Leaving Neverland has sparked is whether people can still listen to Jackson’s music, as if what Dave from Birmingham does with his Thriller album is really the most pressing problem when faced with overwhelming evidence of compulsive sexual abuse.

Only the media is asking this question.

Michael’s fans, on the other hand, are too busy fighting to stop his legacy from being destroyed to bother asking such idiotic questions.

The only overwhelming evidence that exists is in regards to Michael’s innocence, not guilt. We’ve done the research, we know this is true. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

…is at least partly why, despite the detailed allegations, so many fans and even some fellow musicians still defend him and refuse to believe his accusers: they’re resentful at the prospect of losing his music.

Not the first time I’ve seen this dumbass insistence that Michael’s fans only care about the music. In fact, the #MJFam have to deal with this superficiality being projected onto them by the haters they interact with on a daily basis.

Let me say this so hopefully it will sink in: If Michael’s fans had even the slightest suspicion that what the media is saying about him is true, that would be IT. His music be damned. There is no way in hell any of us would support him or listen to his music if we found out he truly was a fucking pedophile. The reason we do support him is because, again, we’ve done the research. We’ve read everything from the FBI files to court transcripts to legal documents, all of which proves his GODDAMN INNOCENCE.

In fact, I’ve seen people become fans of Michael BECAUSE of Leaving Neverland. It inspired them to do the research necessary to learn the truth and guess what? They not only discovered his innocence, but the person he truly was, too.

So for journalists like Hadley to say that we only care about Michael’s music, pretty much accusing us of being pedophile apologists because we don’t want to stop listening to Thriller, is not only stupid, insulting and infuriating, it’s discriminating. Especially since a lot of fans supporting Michael are abuse victims themselves.

In Jackson’s particular case, there are several reasons: his enormous celebrity, which made him seem otherworldly and therefore asexual…

Asexual?

Oh, no. No, no, no. People who aren’t Michael Jackson fans are the only ones who tend to believe this, whether they think he’s a pedophile or not. Very few fans think this. No, most of us know he was very much a heterosexual man who loved women. I guarantee it.

We’ve heard the stories of Michael and Lisa Marie Presley’s robust sex life. We’ve heard the stories about him with other women.

We’ve seen him interact with many different women over the years.

We know how much Michael loved the ladies. So this asexual crap?

…his money, which afforded him endless legal protection and privacy.

PRIVACY?! What fictional, bizarro world does this chick live in where Michael Jackson had ANY privacy?? He was the most scrutinized celebrity in fucking history!!

He was photographed by the paparazzi almost every single fucking day of his life. He was spied on by the FBI for years without his knowledge. Details of his personal life were sold to the tabloids by people he knew, whether they were true or not.

I mean, Christ, the man has no privacy in death, either! Because of his PUBLICLY AVAILABLE autopsy report, we not only know that he had vitiligo AND lupus, but that he was uncircumcised. How fucking invasive is that??

He even wrote a song called Privacy where he begged to be left alone!

Does any of that sound like privacy? Because it sure as shit doesn’t sound like it to me.

Joe Jackson’s brutality was no secret and Michael, deliberately or not, played up to people’s sympathy for him: everyone from Quincy Jones to Corey Feldman has described him as “a lost little boy”, even when that boy was in his 40s.

Repeatedly, Jackson told Robson and Safechuck’s mothers how lonely he was, and there’s no doubt that he was…

Maybe he told them he was lonely, maybe he didn’t. They would know either way, because he told EVERYONE who would listen how lonely he was, including that asshole Martin Bashit Bashir.

So if this was another attempt at making the Robsons and Safechucks seem more important in Michael’s life than they actually were, then I gotta say…

…it was easier to convince ourselves that this grown man who idolised Peter Pan and built an adventure park in his house was merely a harmless, childlike weirdo.

But that’s exactly what he was. A big kid who was kind, generous and sweet. No convincing necessary.

Too damn bad if that’s so difficult for Hadley to believe. Weird ≠ Pedophile.

He sketched out a story and we eagerly filled it in, focusing on one tale of abuse to ignore another.

Huh? If Hadley is talking about the media, I’d love to know when they actually did this. Because I only remember them focusing on the abuse allegations against Michael.

If that’s Hadley’s idea of ignoring Michael’s alleged abuse of children, I’d hate to see what she thinks giving attention to it would entail.

It is no surprise that the Jackson family have not – as they have proudly told multiple reporters – watched the documentary.

Mmmmmmmmmmm, no.

I’m sure there are some family members who haven’t watched it because it’s just too painful to do so, but they certainly haven’t bragged to the media about it. The ones who are speaking to the media, namely Taj and Brandi, sure as hell have watched it so they know exactly what they’re dealing with.

In death, Jackson remains their cash cow as much as he was in life.

Okay, Jamie, breathe… 1, 2, 3, 4…

I’ll explain this before I go postal: The only Jacksons who benefit from Michael’s Estate are his children and his mother. THAT’S IT. Not a single other Jackson receives one fucking cent of Michael’s money.

Now, to lose my fucking shit.

Cash cow? Fucking seriously?? What a good little shill Hadley Freeman is. Did creep ass Dan Reed personally tell her to regurgitate his bullshit racist phrase? I mean, she did interview the two liars in person, so it only stands to reason that their pimp was there, too.

It’s pretty obvious by now just how complicit the media is in this Leaving Neverland fucking scam (because that’s what it is, a Goddamn money making scam for all involved). From Oprah at the top to the bottom rung bloggers like that asshole Perez Hilton, they are all happy to perpetuate the piece of shit mockumentary’s lies. The media missed its opportunity to profit from Michael’s downfall after he was acquitted in 2005, so now they’re definitely making up for lost time.

And since he’s dead now, they can truly fulfill their thirst for revenge without any fear of legal repercussions. Revenge against a dead man, how fucking pathetic.

The media’s attempts at vilifying the Jacksons for defending their dead loved one from disgusting lies when he can no longer defend himself are also fucking pathetic. They couldn’t possibly be defending him because they care about him, no, they only care about money. The Jacksons are greedy and broke and they’re desperate to protect their “asset”. But no, wait, the Jacksons are this huge “cash machine” with power and influence. Well, which is it, media? They can’t be both. Oh no, that’s right, they’re whichever one you need them to be when it fucking suits you.

Cash cow. Fuck Dan gReed and fuck Hadley Freeman.

Joe Jackson brutally pushed his children, and in particular Michael, into the spotlight, whatever the physical and psychological cost. The family then kept him there in adulthood…

Another jab at Joe AND the Jacksons, AND a fucking insult to Michael’s hard work and legacy. Wow.

Joe may have pushed Michael into the spotlight when he was young, but NO ONE forced him to stay there. Michael believed the reason he was put on this earth was to entertain and by God, he fucking did that. As an adult, his career was controlled by him and him ONLY. His family had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Michael Jackson was the legendary performer he became because that was what he wanted. He had goals and he achieved them. Biggest selling album of all time. Five number one singles from one album. The highest grossing concert tour of all time. The most awarded artist in history. These are things he accomplished on his own WITHOUT any interference from his family.

So to suggest Michael had a career only because his family forced him into it… I just…

There is no redemption in the story of Jackson, as exploited by his family in death as he was in life.

Like this bitch gives a FUCK if Michael was ever exploited. She thinks he was a pedophile! She can take her fake sympathy and shove it.

Damn straight he’s being exploited now in death, but it’s definitely fucking not by his family. No, he’s being exploited by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, two liars who really are after his money.

He’s being exploited by Dan Reed, who is hell bent on portraying Michael as an insatiable pedophile strictly to advance his own career, and probably because he just gets off on it.

He’s being exploited by Oprah Winfrey, who totally threw him under the bus in her desperation to become relevant again, and simply because she hates him.

He’s being exploited by so-called journalists such as Hadley Freeman, who outright call him a pedophile without proof for clicks and recognition.

And he’s being exploited by the haters, who so badly want him to be guilty so they can project their own sick fantasies onto him.

But Michael Jackson is the monster?

…how a damaged little boy can grow up to damage so many others, and why our sympathy for what someone suffers in childhood should never blind us to the horrific suffering they then cause as an adult.

One more time to really DRIVE IT HOME!!

With all my tallying and sarcasm, I hope no one thinks I am minimizing Joe’s abuse or dismissing Michael’s pain, because I’m not. I feel so badly for Michael and the pain he suffered throughout his life. It actually hurts me that he went through everything he did, and if I could go back in time and prevent all of it somehow, I would. No hesitation.

No, this is aimed 100% at Hadley Freeman and the assholes of the media at large.

Before I close this piece, I just want to share an excellent Twitter thread from @TheMJAP about this article.

Ms. Freeman, on the off chance you actually read this (and I doubt you will since you’ve already proven you can’t handle criticism), if you feel attacked right now, you have no one to blame but yourself. Your article is bullshit. The only thing you got right is Joe’s abuse, which you only acknowledge for your own purposes. Everything else is tabloid lies, self congratulatory pseudo psychoanalysis and outright defamation.

I have one word for you: RESEARCH. MJ fans may go on about it, but that’s because “journalists” like you simply refuse to do any. A five minute Google search is all it takes to get started and obviously you won’t even do that.

Look, I’ll make it easy for you. Skip Google. Go to our Research page. Click on a link and start reading. Otherwise, shut the fuck up about something you have no intention of ever learning the truth about. K?

Sources:

Twitter users: Hadley Freeman | Charles Thomson | New York Daily News | Mockingbird | Judi Brisse | Ricky Nardella | Leaving Neverland Facts | Sabby | Billboard | BBC Sounds | life ain’t so bad at all | Rodrigo Victor Condori Quisbert | Dr. Andrew Greene | Taj Jackson | Samar @ TheMJAP

YouTube channels: tnabound2009 | Christoffer Falchenberg | mjsarmyoflove | LivinOffTheWall | Youtubius Mix | cheerstofrasier | LittleBhoot | nenabunena | PawpCulture | Hazel Amarie | JacksonPassion | Michael Jackson | ASparkOfLegend | manu gmz | TabloidJunk

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3 thoughts on “Hadley Freeman’s Guardian Article: A Rant

  1. She wrote a piece defending Woody Allen and his allegations.
    Her and other “journalists” have made a complete mockery of journalism.
    You are here to give the facts, not your own false opinions about someone.
    Thank you for your article.
    The truth is slowly being shown and when everything is out there to see, I will make sure to let every single journalist know how much of a disgrace they are.
    This and 2005 should always be etched in stone as the most pathetic and disgraceful moment in media/journalism history.

  2. You put into words everything I have been thinking since I read the same article; this was a fantastic read and I’m glad I took the time to take in everything you said. I agreed with it all !!

  3. Hadley is a good writer (her book Life Moves Fast is ace) but her pieces on MJ are poor. Bit of a sheep, needs to think for herself and research in this area.

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