Margaret Maldonado' account of what transpired after "Word to the Badd!" was released:

“Word to the Badd!” was mysteriously leaked to a radio station in Los Angeles several days before Black or White’s” official release. Both singles, Black or White” and “Word to the Badd!”, were dropped of separately in the early evening at the same radio station in brown paper bags. No note; no instructions.
The station played both records, first “Black or White,” then “Word to the Badd!” Over and over, those were the only two songs the disc jockey played. The telephone at Hayvenhurst began to ring as friends and business associates heard ‘‘Badd” and reacted.
Jermaine walked around strutting like a peacock. In his entire career, he had never had his music played so much on the air. He was invigorated by the controversy and loved the intrigue of how the songs were leaked. Clive Davis, president of Arista Records, was less than pleased, as was Jermaine’s producer.
The following morning at 10 o’clock, Michael came up the driveway of the Hayvenhurst house. We watched his arrival from our bedroom window. Jermaine seemed to welcome the opportunity to confront Michael face-to-face. When LA and BabyFace had disappeared from Atlanta and we discovered they were working for Michael, Jermaine made repeated attempts to contact his brother. None of his calls was ever returned. This was his moment to speak to Michael and he seemed ready for anything. Other published accounts of this confrontation suggest that Michael and Jermaine came to blows in the driveway between the guard gate and the recording studio. It was said that Michael physically attacked Jermaine, promising to “kiss ass”. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When Michael entered the house, he and Jermaine went into the trophy room off the foyer and closed the door. A second later Katherine went in to mediate their discussion.
Thoughts were racing through my head as I waited for an explosion. First, I knew we would be kicked out of the house; after all, Michael was paying for everything—the phones, the cars, the cooks, the maids, the security, the gardeners, the pool men, the maintenance men, everything!
…
The telephone rang again. It was Clive Davis. “Margaret, what’s going on?’’ he asked. I had to tell him what I had told Bob Lee, Basically, I didn’t know anything, but said I’d call him the second the meeting broke up.
The next call came from Jermaine’s attorney, Joel Katz, in Atlanta. He had heard about the record on the news. “What’s going on? I heard this song has been leaked to radio. What, has Jermaine gone nuts? He’s going to kill his career.”
Again, I repeated my plea of ignorance and my pledge to all back as soon as I had any news. The meeting lasted a good half hour before the door to the trophy room finally opened. Michael left the house without saying a word to anyone. Soon afterward, Jermaine left as well. I immediately went running to Katherine to learn what had happened and tried to read the reaction on her face.
“I don’t understand Jermaine,” Katherine said to me as we settled into chairs in the kitchen. He was so mean to Michael. Michael was crying at the way his brother was treating him. Michael kept repeating over and over, ‘Why Jermaine? Why did you do it?’”
Katherine said Jermaine slammed his hand down on the table and said, “You’re just mad because it’s my turn now. Somebody else is getting some of the spotlight.”
She said Michael just sat there and took the accusations Jermaine was handing out. When he did finally speak, it was only to repeat himself. “I’m your brother. How could you write something like that about me?”
Jermaine never responded directly to the question, but rather talked about the fact that Michael had never call him back about the LaToya—BabyFace affair.
“Please Jermaine, don’t release this song. It’s not going to hurt my career, but it will totally ruin yours. My fans aren’t going to care. Don’t do it Jermaine, for your own sake,” Michael pleaded.
Jermaine wouldn’t listen. Essentially the meeting was over. Jermaine had shown absolutely no remorse. He said he wrote the song and he was going to stand by it. At that point Michael left. I could tell Katherine was embarrassed for Jermaine. She kept shaking her head and saying, “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s gotten into the boy.”
…
… I begged Jermaine to call his brother and end the entire fiasco. I couldn’t get Jermaine to believe how stupid he was being.
“Hell, no,” Jermaine shouted at me. “This is what Michael needs. He needs someone like me to put some fire under his ass. To let him know that he’s not the only one around here who can create some heat. He’s just scared because he knows that I’m going to happen this time. He’d better watch out for his brother, Jermaine.”

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