Citizens Veto Iowa State Fair Michael Jackson Butter Sculpture Plans
This year’s Iowa State Fair will not feature a butter sculpture of a moonwalking Michael Jackson.
Fair organizers had planned to include a buttery display of the late pop legend, but word of their plans prompted complaints to fair officials over the appropriateness of the gesture, given Jackson’s “lifestyle.” They responded by putting the issue to a seven-day online vote.
According to Kent Lehs, of the Midwest Dairy Association, people were not critical of the man’s career, but rather of the rumors and accusations of child molestation that plagued his personal life.
“[The complaints] were more pointed toward what they felt they understand Michael Jackson’s reputation was and not as a singer and dancer,” he said, “but more some of the things he was implicated on in his personal life.”
In past years, spectators have seen buttery likenesses of Harry Potter, Elvis, John Wayne. and Jesus Christ.
After more than 100,000 votes were cast, sixty-five percent of Iowa residents voted against the Jackson butter statue, according to The Associated Press.

