NEW YORK (AP) -- Multiplatinum singer Michael Jackson, already feuding with his record company, charged Saturday that the recording industry was a racist conspiracy that turns profits at the expense of performers -- particularly minority artists.

"The recording companies really, really do conspire against the artists -- they steal, they cheat, they do everything they can," Jackson said in a rare public appearance. "(Especially) against the black artists."

Jackson, 43, who began his recording career as a child, spoke at the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Harlem. Sharpton and attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. recently formed a coalition to investigate whether artists are being financially exploited by record labels.

He also singled out Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola, saying he was "mean, he's a racist, and he's very, very, very devilish." Jackson also accused Mottola of using "the n-word" when speaking about an unidentified black Sony artist.

Sony Music issued a statement calling Jackson's comments "ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful. It seems particularly bizarre that he has chosen to launch an unwarranted and ugly attack on an executive who has championed his career ... for many, many years."

Sony produced Jackson's last album, "Invincible," which has had disappointing sales despite an estimated $25 million in promotion. The singer's fans say Sony didn't do enough to launch the album. Others in the industry say sagging sales were indicative of Jackson's declining appeal.

Jackson mentioned several black artists as victims of the industry, including James Brown, Mariah Carey and Sammy Davis Jr. Jackson alleged that Davis died penniless, although Davis' attorney said in 1990 that the "Rat Pack" member left an estate worth more than $6 million when he died.

"If you fight for me, you're fighting for all black people, dead and alive," Jackson said, adding: "We have to put a stop to this incredible injustice."

Outside Sony's Manhattan headquarters, about 150 fans gathered later Saturday, hoisting signs reading "Please Sony, stop killing the music," "Terminate Tommy Mottola," and "Invincible is Unbreakable."

Jackson arrived at the Midtown building on a double-decker city tour bus that twice circled the block. He stood in the open top deck and, raising his fists, joined the crowd in chanting "Down with Tommy Mottola!"

Jackson held up a poster with three boxes marked "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" -- with an image of himself in the "The Good" box and Mottola's face with devilish horns in "The Bad" box, while Mottola's real image adorned "The Ugly" box.

Quoted:

Maybe this is why he's trying to become white.
What a freak.

Over the weekend, Michael Jackson carried on in a most undignified way. He called Sony Music COO Tommy Mottola "the Devil." He accused him of ripping off artists.

If Mottola is really the Devil, Jackson should have known more than a decade ago what he was getting himself into. Jackson borrowed millions of dollars from Sony, took out loans and used Sony as a guarantor, and spent millions more on excessive, unnecessary behavior in the recording studio. Did he think these bills would never have to be repaid?

I'm the last person to defend Tommy Mottola, but Jackson's much-publicized antics on Saturday were ridiculous. Kissing Al Sharpton, a buffoon that no one takes seriously?

Michael, Tommy Mottola has taken advantage of plenty of artists over the years, and most of them have been white. (And as a matter of fact, you're white — but that's another story.)

For another thing, sell Neverland. Get rid of the chimps, the rides, the whole mess. Downsize. Move into a regular mansion, with a normal sized staff. Stop making appearances with children. Stop being photographed with children. Give your children back to their biological mother. Take off your mask. Give an honest interview (come see Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, we're waiting) about your plastic surgery, your skin tone, the child molestation charges. Make the public think you're human. Going around Harlem complaining that you're a put upon black man is not going to work.