What a surprise
to see Mary J. Blige on the cover of The Advocate!
I was blown away by her rendition of "Sweet Love" years ago
from The Uptown MTV Unplugged album. I played
it for everyone!! Years later I was EXTREMELY
disappointed when MCA/Universal decided to exclude the
song, "As" (a duet with MJB) on the U.S. released version of
George Michael's The Best of George Michael (The
European version included the song). This supposedly
was because they (MCA/Universal/MJB???) didn't want to
be associated with George Michael during his
bathroom/sex scandal. It's a shame that although it was
probably a corporate decision to exclude the song from the
US released version of the album, I still somewhat
hold MJB responsible for giving it a green light/not
doing anything. It's a shame that Ernest Hardy did not
address this because I could have used some clarity on what
role MJB played in this decision. It's a shame that I
view this "giving a green light/not doing anything" as
a form of homophobia. What a surprise to see Mary J.
Blige on the cover of The Advocate!