Drake appears to have axed a Michael Jackson song from his UK tour as the child sex abuse allegations against the late popstar continue to mount.
The 32-year-old rapper launched his Assassination Vacation Tour in Manchester on Sunday ahead of a mammoth six-week stint in promotion of his latest number one album, Scorpion.
Last year, Drake performed the US leg of the tour which featured the track, Don’t Matter To Me, from the album. The track includes a sample of Jackson’s vocals from 1983 but wasn’t listed on the Manchester show’s setlist.
Don’t Matter To Me caused a stir when it was released on Scorpion last year, with Michael’s nephew Austin Brown, criticising the Canadian rapper for sampling the demo.
Brown, son of Jackson’s brother Rebbie, previously said: ‘I just feel like if [Michael] didn’t finish it, [Drake] shouldn’t use it.’
Drake’s decision comes after the airing of Leaving Neverland, a Dan Reed documentary which explored the child molestation allegations against Jackson, who died in 2009 and always protested his innocence.
Two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, appear in the documentary claiming to be victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Jackson when they were young children.
In the wake of the allegations, many radio stations have removed Jackson’s music from their playlists but some of the popstar’s albums have re-entered the charts.
Jackson’s Number Ones album has risen to 43rd place, climbing 44 places in just a few hours.
