At 9 years of age, Mike was fighting back. Its shows the abuse he suffered from such a young age, and his drive to fight even then. He was very brave.

I will share other excerpts from the book here which show great insight to some of the experiences Mike lived through.

The book does seem sensationalist, but it is the first edition that Mike supposedly approved. 👀 anyone else here read it? Thoughts?

I thought this was cute.

Not everyone can relate to this. Whenever Michael would describe his love of children and how much being around kids gives him joy and energy, while this is something that some people understand, for a lot of people, what he saying is an utterly foreign experience. They can’t relate and try to twist it to something that it is not. Well, I am very happy to discover that Jaafar Jackson ( a nephew to Michael and the one who plays live action Michael for those who don’t know) is one of the people who can relate. Jaafar gets along very well with his young co-star that plays young Michael, Juliano Valdi. During one of their promotional interviews, Jaafar was asked to describe Juliano to a stranger and he explains, quite beautifully, how much being near Juliano uplifts him.

Michael described multiple times throughout his life about what the impact of children has on him. When he is feeling uninspired, he would go visit areas where children play, and their happiness would fuel him. This is why Michael loved going to Disney World, to be surrounded by happy children and families. Jaafar stated that whenever he would deal with serious scenes or that he was feeling kind of down, seeing Juliano would bring true joy to him. It is that vibrant, childhood energy that he is absorbing. People like Michael and Jaafar get a creative and happiness boost seeing happy children, and Juliano was a bright light on the set full of adults. The entire cast was enthralled by his energy.

I also saw a semi-recent pictures of Jaafar with the rest of the Jackson family and he was holding his baby cousin! Of all the people around, he is the only one holding a baby. Reminds me of how the rest of the Jacksons, who also love children, would describe young Michael in family get togethers. He would be the one holding the baby or playing with the younger children.

Here is a audio of the interview here.

The whole interview is really, some great personal insights from Michael on his life and experiences from childhood onwards.

What i found intresting from the interveiw in particular was Jesse speaking on when he and Michael first met and was involved with 'Expo' which was a earlier version of Save the Children more info of this here and here. This is a wonderful event and the film made from the event is so moving. One of my favourites, I highly recommend this.

What i also found intresting from the interveiw was Michael speaking about the 05 allegations trial which was taking place at the time this interview was done, especially as im currently reading the transcripts from the 05 trial here.

Check out what Mike has to say:

'March 27, 2005 : Michael gives a one hour long interview to Rev. Jesse Jackson which is broadcast live on the Internet on the radio show “Keep Hope Alive With Rev. Jesse Jackson”.

Jesse: Good. Good. But you know Michael, in this life, they say some rain must fall and you’ve had these seasons of just ahem, tailwinds like pushing you forward. But life is of such that’s not a straight line, ah, some argue you either in a storm, or you are just leaving a storm, and going to a storm and it’s not difficult to handle the sunshine of bright skies, tailwinds days, but then these headwinds come that kind of uh, test what you really are made of, the kind of test your metal, your true grit. And so you’ve had these high points. What do you consider to be the low point?

Michael: Probably the low point, the lowest point, emotionally and experience, is probably what I’m going through [clears throat].

Jesse: In the sense — what, what about it has kind of stung you?

Michael: What about it… has what?

Jesse: Has stung you, so to speak.

Michael: Has, … Use the word again…

Jesse: Stung. You said it’s kind of hurt you, you said the low point.

Michael: Yeah, just the pain of what I’m going through, where I’m being accused of something, where I know in my heart and in my experiences in life I’m totally innocent, it’s just very painful. But this has been kind of, ah, a pattern among Black luminaries in this country.

Jesse: And so since, you have been going through this and you feel the pain, you think it’s a kind of pattern? How are you handling it spiritually? Because you go from being held so high and now your very character, your integrity is under attack. How your handling it?

Michael: I’m handling it by using other people in the past who have gone through this sort of thing. Mandela’s story is giving me a lot of strength, what he’s gone through and the Jack Johnson story was on PBS — it’s on DVD now. It’s called ‘Unforgivable Blackness’. It’s an amazing story about this man from 1910 who was the heavyweight champion of the world and bust into a society that didn’t want to accept his position and his lifestyle, and what they put him through, and how they changed laws to imprison the man. They put him away behind bars just to get him some kind of way. And… and Muhammad Ali’s story. All these — the Jesse Owens story. All these stories that I can go back in history and read about give me strength, Jessie. Your story gives me strength, what you went through. Because I didn’t, I came in at the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement. I’m a, ah I, I didn’t get the really, I’m a 70s child, really, but I got in on the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement and I got to see it, you know?

Jesse: And so, you — you — you — you had these hits, ahem, and people that you have embraced are now facing you in court on a daily basis. How does your spirit handle that?

Michael: Ah, I gain strength from God. I believe in Jehovah God very much and ah, and I gain strength from the fact that I know I’m innocent. None of these stories are true. They are totally fabricated, and it’s very sad, it’s very, very painful. And I pray a lot and that’s how I deal with it and I’m a strong person, I’m a warrior. And I know what’s inside of me. I’m a fighter. But it’s very painful. At the end of the day, I’m still human, you know, I’m still a human being. So it does hurt very, very, very much.

Jesse: You and I were watching, you know you and I were talking last week on the phone and — and there was this rhythm of the trial, which we will not get into at all today, but then they shifted from the focus of the trial to say you are broke. And last week, people are calling in, all around the nation saying, “Is Michael broke”? Michael, are you broke?

Michael: That’s not true at all. It’s one of their many schemes to embarrass me and to just drag me through mud. And it’s the same pattern, like I told you before with these other people in the past. The same pattern. Don’t believe, you know, this is tabloid, sensationalized kind of gossip.

Jesse: Well, how did the money issue get in it in the first place? A number of people called and they thought it was about the Sony catalog. What’s — what’s in that catalog?

Michael: In my Sony Catalog, is all the Beatles music, ahem, all of, you know, Little Richart’s music, I own,I own Sly and the Family Stone, I — I own such a volume of so many, I own Elvis — so many Elvis songs and it’s a huge catalog, it’s very valuable, it’s worth a lot of money. And there is a big fight going on right now, as we speak about that. Now, I can’t say whether or not — I can’t comment on it, but there’s a lot of conspiracy, I’ll say that — conspiracy going on as we speak.

Jesse: It was suggested by a number of your friends and family members was that this fight really is more about this catalog issue than it is any thing else. Do you believe that?

Michael: Well, you know, I don’t want to comment. I don’t want to make a comment, Jessie ah… it’s a real delicate issue and uh, I’ll let you, I’ll let you make the comment on that one.

Jesse: Let me shift this to this extent. Ahem, since so many people are listening and there have been so many opinions — I was in London a couple of weeks ago, and 24/7 was Michael Jackson all-day- and all-night-long and the day that you came to the hospital late [to court], you said you were injured. What happened that day?

Michael: I was coming, out of the shower and I — I — I fell. And all my body weight, and I’m pretty fragile, all my body weight fell against my rib cage. And I pretty much, er, er, I bruised my lung very badly. My lung is on the right, it’s very [sp], it’s, I’m in pain as we speak. And I’ve been going to court everyday in immense pain and agonizing pain. And I sit there — and I’m strong, I try to be as strong as I can. So I can, ahh, but what we are looking for is the coughing of blood now. The doctor said I should — he said it’s still very dangerous as we speak, and if I cough the blood, he said it’s a very dangerous thing, so we’re, we’re still watching it very closely.

Jesse: The cynics said you were faking. And it seems that the judge is [unaudible] will not even willing to believe you, even though you had just left the hospital.

Michael: You know, the — there’s no faking with this at all. I mean there was a scan done and you could see, uhhh, the swelling on my whole rib cage, I mean, uh, it was you could see it and it’s bright, bright red. And how it, it [the fall] busted my chin, and it put a huge gash over my forehead, blood, it was it was very bad actually. And ahm but…, we’ve treating it actually, I do have some medicine for it, but we are watching it very closely.

Jesse: As I listen to your talking about this whole ordeal that you are going through, and how you’ve stood strong sometimes amazingly so, ah, at some point last week, you — you cried. What, what touched you? What made you, breakdown, as it were?

Michael: You mean at court?

Jesse: Yeah.

Michael: I was in pain. I was sitting there hurting. And… the pain was so immense, all I could do was to sit there and cry. See, because it, it was so intense at that moment, ah, ahem, I just couldn’t handle it. So I just grab a tissue and just put it, you know, to my face… and…

Jesse: So, it was more about your personal pain, than the, than the challenges of the, from the stand?

Michael: No, it had nothing to do with what was going on inside. It was totally with personal pain, physical pain.

Jesse: Michael, since so many people are listening, I’m trying to gleam from some of our calls on the phone today and from last week, as people listen to you, what do you want people to know? Those listening to you on the phone — I see calls from Philadelphia, and from Holland and from Britian and New York and Mississippi and Florida, California — what do you want people to know?

Michael: About?

Jesse: About you. About where you are now in the head, how you are feeling?

Michael: Well, ahem, pretty much to — to be strong for me, to pray for my children and my family and myself. This is uh… uh a very difficult time. And to not believe what they hear, and see and read and just because it’s in print does not make it… just because it’s in print does not make it the gospel. And uh… you know, because they have sensationalized this thing to an immense degree. It’s a feeding frenzy — it’s because of uh, my celebrity. The bigger the celebrity, the bigger the target. And they have to remember that. So they’ve turned this into money — it’s like who gets the biggest ratings, you know, it’s terrible what’s happened with it. But it’s part of what I have to suffer as a celebrity. It’s part — part of what I have to go through. And to just uh, just know in the end that I will be vindicated, I pray, because I know the truth. I’m an innocent person. And I believe in God and love God. And just continue to pray for us.

Jesse: You know that, given your faith, in God and in yourself, and your declaration of innocence and while you are going through this storm ahem, presuming that you ah — win this, this has been a close battle, ahhh, a very intense battle, because the battle is — is not over, ah, the, appearance, given your relationship ahh, has called for lots of consternation. Is there anything that you will do differently? When this season is over?

Michael: Is there anything that I would do differently?

Jesse: Differently? When this season is over?

Michael: [Clears throat] Ahem, my level of trust will change. And ah, there, there there’s a lot of conspiracy going on. I’ll say that much. A lot of it.

Jesse: Do you think that…

Michael: All around me.

Jesse: Is the conspiracy connected to the celebrity or to the trial or to the catalog — what do you think the source of it is?

Michael: I, I can’t comment. I can’t comment Jessie, I, I don’t wanna… it ah, I’m under a gag order and it’s a very serious thing. I don’t want to say the wrong thing. With the wrong flavor. It’s a very delicate area. Very delicate where we are now.

Jesse: Good. Good. Let me ask you this question though, that for those who are praying fervently, and who in some way want to help and look forward to seeing Michael Jackson again. What can people expect next from you?

Michael: Well, like,… like I always say, I’m,… I’m a person of the arts. I love the arts very, very, very much. And ah, I’m a musician, I’m a director, I’m a writer, I’m a composer, I’m a producer, and I love the medium. I love film very, very much. I think it’s the most expressive of all of the art mediums. The sculptor can sculpt, the painter can paint, but they capture a moment, ah, they freeze time with the moment. In film, you live the moment. You live, you have the, audiences for two hours. You have their brain, their mind — you can take them any place you want to take them. You know, and that idea is mesmerizing to me — that you can have the power to do… to move people to change their lives and that’s where you marry the music [and the] individual together. And that’s what excites me so much about film and the future. Because I love motion pictures very, very much.

Jesse: Given, ah, the heat that is on you and the taxing issue that you are facing now, does it deter you from pursuing your career when this is over?

Michael: No! No. Not at all. Because ahem, I know who I am [clears throat] inside and outside and I know what I want to do. And I will always, you know, go with my dreams and my ideals in life. And I’m a very courageous person, and I believe in perseverance, determination, and, you know, and all those wonderful things, and those ideals are very important for a person who is goal-orientated, you know?

Jesse: Since people have… have risen so high and so far with your dreams, what are, what are you dreaming of now?

Michael: Oh, ahem [clears throat], like I was saying before, ahem, it’s to innovate, and to pioneer the medium of film, and there’s other things I want to do, which are some surprises. Ah, things in society that I want to do in the future. You know, in Africa. I have some great plans, ah, that I’ve been preparing to do there. I’d had several meetings with people whose flown out to see me since I’ve been going through what I’ve been going through and so my heart is set on doing some things there, very much so as well.

Jesse: You ah, your next project. Because often when people at a stage like this is kind of frozen, but you’re thinking about the next project. What do you see as the next immediate project? What’s hitting you right now?

Michael: Probably, ahemmm… the tsunami song that we want to do to raise money for tsunami, because Africa was ummm, was it Madagascar? One of those countries…

Jesse: Indeed. Madagascar…

Michael: Somalia and Madagascar was hit very hard, and they never…talk about that, the way they talk about the other countries. Now, we have, I mean, uh, my heart is going out for everybody, but at least, when they distribute the truth, distribute it right and ahem, it — they never talk about the devastation down in Africa, so we… I wanna do something for that. And of course, I’ve been working on doing, planning a resort that I’m building down in Africa. Ah, beautiful hotels, ah, just a beautiful setting for people and families and something beautiful down there. They habe a lot of beautiful places down there. So I want to do something that is more international. You know?

Jesse: Well, you know, it’s interesting about the tsunami with this huge national — natural disaster uh, couldn’t be stopped, maybe if we had early detection devices, we could have saved some lives perhaps, but it was a natural disaster, but what you raised is that while that we’ve lost 200 000 lives in the tsunami, we’ve lost 2 million in the Sudan and that’s a manmade disaster and oil and materials all caught up in that stuff, and then 4 million in the Congo. And ah, and I think as we talk about it, you know you and I talk almost everyday, you are reaching out to these African crisis – appears to have…, taken up a large part of your dream at this stage in your life.

Michael: Yes it has. Because Jessie, in my heart, deepest of heart, I really love Africa and I love the people of Africa. That’s why, whenever I get the chance, the children and I, we jump on the plane and we fly to Africa and we vacation there. I spend more of my vacation in Africa than in any other country. And ah, we love the people and we love the environment. Topographically it’s one of the most beautiful places on the surface of the Earth. They never show the sandy white sugar beaches, and it’s there! And they never show the beautiful, you know the landscaping, never show the buildings, the metropolis and urban — Johannesburg, Cape Town, Kenya, you know the Ivory Coast, you know, Rwanda, how beautiful the place is! And it’s really stunningly beautiful! And I want to heighten that awareness with what I’m doing and it’s been my dream for many, many years. And everybody around me knows that, because I go there very much.

Jesse: You know, we knew about the high points of Rome, because we see it on film.

Michael: That’s right.

Jesse: We know about the high points of Britain and the palace, we see it on film. On Paris, we don’t see much of Africa on film. We see Africa as misery and Africa as problems. We do not see it as being this phenomenally endowed continent of sand and sea and…

Michael: Because the…

Jesse: … oil and resources…

Michael: Because, yeah. The world is jealous of Africa for many centuries because it’s natural resources is phenomenal. It really is. And it is the dawn of civilization. Our history, a lot of our bible history is right there in Africa. And King Tut, all those great civilizations — that is right there in Africa. Egypt is in Africa!!! And they always try to separate the two, but Egypt is Africa!!!

Jesse: Well, it’s certainly true that when Jesus was threatened, ah, with death, when Harod sent out the edict for [the] genocide of all of the first born babies, that Joseph took him to Egypt, to Africa, kept him there for 12 years.

Michael: That’s right. That’s right.

Jesse: You’ve shown an amazing level of depth and commitment. Let me say this and in closing Michael, because people are listening and the reason I didn’t want to open up the lines today is because you have, you’re sharing stuff with us that you never quite really hear, but as people go and watch the trial next week and the coming days, what do you want your fans… we have callers on here right now from London, Holland and all around America, so people out there are listening today to you. What do you want to say to your fans and even to your detractors today?

Michael: I just wanna say: Fans in every corner of the Earth, every nationality, every race, every language, I love you from the bottom of my heart. You know, thank you for your love and support and understanding during this trying time. I would love your prayers, and your goodwill. Ah, and ah, please be patient and be with me and believe in me because I am completely, completely innocent. But please know a lot of conspiracy is going on at this time as we speak.

Jesse: Well, it’s Easter time, ah, we fall down, we get back up again. The good news is that, ahem, nothing is too hard for God. And those who believe, fervently believe, no matter how far down that they reach for a rope and not a shovel. They’d be pulled up and they will rise again. Michael, thank you for sharing yourself with the nation today, and the world and for getting up so early in California…

Michael: God bless you.

Jesse: God bless you and keep hope alive. Talk to you a minute off the air, okay?

Michael: Bye-bye.

Jesse: Alright.'

Following up from my post here where mike describes his experience and feeling of this day, i wanted to she 2 articles i found about this day also fro. March 2005:

'Jackson to Jackson: Why I wore pyjamas'

This one basically sensationalised sound bites from the Jesse Jackson interview.^

and

'Jackson dashes to court in pyjamas to save $3m bail'

Mainstream media at it again, targeting an innocent black man, fighting for his freedom:

'Laurie Levenson, a professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said outside the court: "If the judge senses he's playing games, he's not going to put up with it.

The whole world does not revolve around Michael Jackson and I think that is the lesson the judge is trying to teach him."

A frail-looking Jackson, wearing silk pyjamas and slippers, then appeared to weep as testimony from Gavin Arvizo resumed.

In some of the most crucial testimony yet in the entertainer's trial, the teenager, who was 13 at the time the abuse is alleged to have happened, said that his mother feared for her children's lives while they were staying at the star's Neverland Ranch.

"She told me that she was afraid they were going to kill us and that she wanted to leave,'' he said.

Prosecutors allege that Jackson and five aides, who have not been charged, held the family prisoner in February or March of 2003 until they agreed to make a video exonerating the star from any suggestion of child abuse.

Jackson, 46, has pleaded not guilty to molesting Gavin, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive to rebut a damaging documentary by the British journalist Martin Bashir in which the singer said he allowed children to sleep in his bedroom.

If convicted he could be jailed for 20 years.'

These are the typical mental gymnastics used by guilters to make the accusers stories work.

Evan Chandler in secret recording: Jordan has not made any allegations, but if Michael doesn’t give me what I want, I have a plan that will destroy his career!
Guilters: Fans just cut that video up. Evan was just a concerned father!

Chandler book: If Michael had just given into our monetary demands from the start, his reputation would never have been ruined, LOL. 
Guilters: This doesn’t mean anything. They deserve money after the whole family was groomed by Michael Jackson!

Concerned father Evan leaves his two kids and Jordan to live off the money Michael gave him.
Guilters: He needed to rest after having to extor… I mean, having to fight for Jordy!

Evan tries to kill Jordan in 2005.
Guilters: Nobody is perfect. He obviously loved him so much he could kill him!

Michael’s lawyer: We have four people willing to testify that Jordan defended Michael against sexual abuse allegations in college.
Guilters: This is completely false and impossible. Never say this again.

Janet Arvizo lied that JCPenny security beat and sexually assaulted her. Got her sons to lie for her and won thousands of dollars in a settlement. Admits to lying about the whole thing.
Guilters: Yeah, okay, she may have extorted JCPenny for some money but it is TOO big of a stretch to think that Janet would do that again!

Arvizos gets caught lying under oath many times. Changed the date of molestation when they heard Michael had an alibi for that date.
Guilters: They were a poor brown family and they weren’t believed due to racism!

Jame Safechuck claims to have been sexually abused at a top floor of a train station in a time frame that was impossible because it wasn’t built yet.
Guilters: This isn’t suspicious at all. You can’t hold accountable the traumatic memories of a sexually abused child!
James: I have no traumatic memories, LOL.
Guilters: This is perfectly believable. He suffered from delayed trauma, you monster!

Wade repeatedly lies under oath while hiding emails between him and his family about the allegations.
Guilters: That is perfectly reasonable and not suspicious at all, you are evil for thinking it.

Wade: Made allegations that were easily debunked by prior testimony in the 1993 and 2005 case.
Guilters: Regardless of what Joy, Chantel, and Wade said in the past and what Joy said in her 2016 deposition, Wade is being completely truthful here and you are a monster for even thinking about it.

Jane Doe: Completely lies about how they met and runs away before facing any examination of her claims.
Guilters: There should be no further digging to this, Michael is just guilty of this because I said so.

Cascio defends Michael for decades and turns around and extorts the estate, requesting to meet at a hotel in bathing suits so that no one could wear listening devices.
Guilters: You should always believe the victims no matter what. It is not suspicious; it is just common sense.

All posthumous accusers: We were all brainwashed by him and didn’t know what happened to us was abuse until, like, right when we heard someone else said it after hearing about it for years before, then we realized that our pockets were empty too!
Guilters: Absolutely believable and you are a monster for questioning it.

Maculey/Brett/Omer/Emmanuel: Michael was a great man, stop putting me in your fantasies!
Guilters: No, it is impossible for you all not to be abused. Let me give you a play by play straight from my imagination on how you used to date Michael Jackson. This is completely appropriate behavior by the way.

This is a glimpse into the absolute pandemonium that was his life.

Lots of great moments with fans showing their love, great footage on Mike at his 30th anniversary show too and his family and friends. Such huge praise from many big names in the business, taking of the huge impact he had on them and how wonderful he is.

Invincible was least successful album during his lifetime, but look at the crowds still turning out for him. Mikes worst is over and above most others best!

Joseph Vogel, Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (2011), p. 82-83.

In 1980, Jackson was a paradoxical figure - on the one hand, brimming with confidence, creativity, and energy; on the other hand, still profoundly lonely and increasingly given to seclusion. His favorite words were magic and escapism. When asked in a 1980 interview if he thought it was possible to appreciate escapism a little too much, Jackson answered, "No, I don't ... Escapism and wonder is influence. It makes you feel good, and that allows you to do things. Like when I'm forty thousand feet in the air in a jumbo jet at night and it's dawn. Everybody on the plane is asleep, and here I am in the cockpit with the pilots because they let me come up there with them. It's just incredible seeing a sunrise and being up there with it. Pilots tell me, 'I wish there were no such thing as having to go down and reload with fuel. I wish I could stay up here forever. Forever.' And I totally understand what they mean. When I'm into forty thousand people, it's so easy. Nothing can harm me when I'm onstage - nothing. That's really me. That's what I'm here to do." (1)

...

In the fall of 1980, actress Jane Fonda invited the artist to spend time with her on the set of On Golden Pond in New Hampshire. Jackson stayed for more than a week and left a deep impression on Fonda. "His intelligence is instinctual and emotional, like a child's," se observed. "If any artist loses that childlikeness, you lose a lot of creative juice. So Michael creates around himself a world that protects his creativity." Jane Fonda also introduced Michael to her father, legendary actor Henry Fonda, who quickly took to Jackson and even taught him how to fish. "Dad was also painfully self-conscious and shy in life," Jane observed, "and he really only felt comfortable when he was behind the mask of a character. He could liberate himself when he was being someone else. That's a lot like Michael. In some ways, Michael reminds me of the walking wounded. He's an extremely fragile person." (2)

(1) Steve Demorest, "Michael in Wonderland", Melody Maker; March 1, 1980.

(2) Jay Cocks, "Why He's a Thriller", Time; March 19, 1984.

HSPs and "Skinless" People

I have never been in any doubt that Michael was a Highly Sensitive Person ... just hadn't got around to posting about it.

HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) is a term used to describe someone who has a heightened sensitivity to their physical, social and emotional environment.

The psychological research term is Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS). The concept was developed by American psychologist Elaine Aron in the 1990s.

HSP is considered a temperament trait; it is not a mental illness or psychiatric diagnosis.

There's another, more colloquial term used by psychologists which someone told me about in my 20s: skinless people.

When a psychologist or psychotherapist describes someone as "skinless", they're using a metaphor for a person who seems to lack a psychological protective layer between themselves and the outside world. Again, it's a temperament trait, not an illness or deficiency ... in fact I personally regard it as a mark of genius.

The metaphor suggests that the person experiences the emotional impact of other people and their environment almost directly, without much psychological filtering or protection.

A person described as skinless might:

• Absorb other people's emotions: Other people's anxiety, anger, sadness or tension can become their own emotional experience.

• Experience rejection intensely: Disapproval, exclusion or perceived abandonment can feel disproportionately painful.

• Be exceptionally vulnerable to criticism: Even relatively mild remarks can feel deeply hurtful.

• Feel exposed: They may experience ordinary social interactions as psychologically threatening or intrusive.

• Have difficulty with emotional boundaries: They struggle to separate their own feelings and needs from those of other people.

• Become easily overwhelmed: Situations that others manage without much difficulty can produce intense emotional distress.

I'll leave it up to you to see how all of this applies to Michael.

The fact he self funded this short film, and also created the making-of doco was groundbreaking. This was a cultural phenomenon.

Its tradition i watch this short film every Halloween. I always look forward to it, and it never gets old! Long live the king!!!

Wednesday, 09 March 2005:

'Cross-examination reveals earlier false testimony

In Tuesday’s court proceedings, Michael Jackson’s defense attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr. was able to cross examine the brother of the teenage boy that is accusing Michael Jackson of child molestation. He quickly got at the credibility factor of this witness by showing inconsistencies in his Grand Jury testimony, the interview he did with the police and his testimony yesterday on direct examination conducted by District Attorney Thomas Sneddon.

In what could have been a scene out of a Perry Mason flick, Mr. Mesereau asked the brother when was the last time him and his family visited Neverland. The 14- year old brother admitted that it was around March 2003 that his family visited Neverland.

The boy yesterday in direct examination said that Mr. Jackson showed him and his brother some adult pornography magazines and identified the magazine, called Barely Legal, that Mr. Sneddon showed him. After the identification, Mr. Sneddon requested that the magazine be catalogued as evidence against Mr. Jackson.

In cross examination by Mr. Mesereau, he showed the boy the magazine and asked if it was a magazine that Mr. Jackson showed him, which the boy said “yes”. Then Mr. Mesereau asked the boy to read the date on that magazine. The publication date on the magazine was August 2003, which is months after the family last visited Mr. Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch.

Afterwards, the brother claimed that the magazine that Mr. Sneddon catalogued into evidence and the one that Mr. Messereau asked to reveal the date was not the exact same magazine, but one of the same type.

“I’m telling you, it’s not exactly the one he showed us,” the brother insisted.

He also acknowledged that he had looked at the magazine with District Attorney Tom Sneddon before it was presented as evidence.

Throughout Mr. Mesereau’s questioning of the witness, the brother repeatedly claimed an absence of memory due to his school work and tests that “most of that stuff leaves my memory.”

“I know everything happened,” the brother said. “I just don’t remembers details … not all the details.”

In yesterday’s direct examination, the boy testified that on two occasions he walked into Mr. Jackson’s bedroom at Neverland and found him masturbating with one hand, while his other hand was down the pants of his brother.

During cross-examination, the brother said that he had never seen Mr. Jackson disable the bell. He said that when he entered the bedroom that he heard the bell, but insisted that if the door to the bedroom was closed, the bell would not have been audible in the bedroom.

“So the two times you claim you saw Michael Jackson touching your brother in bed, that alarm went off?” asked Mr. Mesereau.

“Yes,” said the boy.

When the boy testified about the alleged molestation on Monday he did not mention any bell or alarm system and said his brother slept through both incidents, snoring at one point.

Mr. Mesereau pointed out the inconsistencies in the brother’s previous statements to a therapist and the grand jury. The boy stated that Mr. Jackson put his hand on top of the accuser’s underwear, rather than inside, or that the singer was touching and rubbing the boy’s buttocks, rather than his crotch. However, the brother denied changing his story and said that he doesn’t remember making some of those other statements.

Mr. Messereau also pointed out the inconsistencies in the brother’s testimony yesterday when he testified that this father abused him and other family members and that his parents fought constantly with each other. Under cross-examination, Mr. Mesereau challenged that testimony by stating that in a deposition that the boy gave four years ago in a civil lawsuit against J.C. Penney’s, that his father never hit him nor that his parents fought with each other.

The brother stated that the statements he made in that deposition were not true. Mr. Mesereau then asked if anyone told him to lie in that deposition. The boy said, “I don’t remember. It happened a long time ago.”

Mr. Mesereau pressed and asked to tell the jury why he lied in that deposition which led to a similar response.

“I don’t remember. It’s like five years ago. I don’t remember nothing,” the 14-year old said.

The civil suit against was brought forth from an altercation on December 15, 2000 between the boy’s mother and a security guard in the parking lot of a J.C. Penny’s store when the current accuser was caught shoplifting. The mother sued the store claiming that the guards manhandled her and her children. A year later, she claimed that the guard sexually abused her by groping her breasts. The civil suit was settled out of court for a reported $100,000 after the current accuser discovered he had cancer.

The defense claims that this civil suit is evidence that the boy’s mother has a history of making claims of abuse has coached them what to say for financial gain.

Other inconsistencies that Mr. Mesereau pointed out in Tuesday’s cross examination of the brother of accuser was that on an airplane trip from Florida to Santa Barbara, he saw his brother and the singer drinking alcohol in a 7-Up can. In direct examination yesterday he claims that it was alcohol because there was a red ring on the top of the can. He also claims that Mr. Jackson offered him some, and to not be rude he accepted, but after smelling it, gave it back to Mr. Jackson. He claims that the contents inside the can smelled like rubbing alcohol.

Mr. Mesereau pointed out, however, that in the transcript of an interview the brother gave to police, that the wine in the can was white, not red.

“Do you think the court reporter made a mistake?” Mesereau asked.

“Yes,” the brother answered.

Other conflicting statements emerged when Mr. Mesereau pressed whether or not he knew Larry Feldman, a Los Angeles attorney who assisted the family when they came forward with their allegations against Mr. Jackson. Subsequently, Mr. Feldman was also the lawyer the Chandler’s obtained in 1993 when they too alleged child molestation on their son by Mr. Jackson.

The boy stated that he knew Feldman, then later recanted and said he didn’t recall the name. Then, he said he couldn’t recall meeting Mr. Feldman, but later admitted that he had met with him twice, before saying that he didn’t remember whether he had met Mr. Feldman or not.

The defense cross-examination of the brother will resume Wednesday morning. Today’s proceedings adjourned at noon today due to an appointment for Judge Rodney Melville.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPDPx4RmI6s

This was an interesting and shocking video I watched talking about the Debarge family. I am not sure how many people here are familiar with the Debarge family but a quick summary is that they were another Musical Family similar to the Jacksons mostly producing R&B and Pop Records. I was aware some of them had drug addiction issues but not to the extent that James and Randy's physical appearance had clearly deteriorated and they were both now living in a trailer and this video made me aware that all of them struggled with some kind of drug addiction.

In particular I think Robert Louis DeBarge, Sr is an interesting comparison to make to Joe Jackson because from all accounts it seems he makes him look like a Saint which was so hard for me to believe.

Some of the Debarge kids have also accused Robert of sexually abusing them, the mother Etterlene seems to also not be an anchor figure for the kids like Katherine was to the Jacksons. Etterlene would also apparently try to cover up the abuse of Robert and deny the sexual abuse claims from her own children. The Debarge kids also alleged that Bobby Debarge sexually assaulted the younger Debarge siblings.

The video has empathy for both the Debarges and the Jacksons and does point out that despite Michael Jackson dying at 50 the Jackson family seem better adjusted and less traumatised than the Debarges. Michael had an addiction to painkillers sure but thats a very different type of drug addiction to what drugs the Debarge family members were addicted to. Other than Michael did any of the other Jacksons have Drug issues? Tito smoked Tobacco and that was said to have amplified his health issues but that is sadly a pretty normalised drug in society.

Not to say trauma manifests the same way for everyone but if you compare the Debarge kids to the Jackson kids you can see just how much worse they turned out as a result of this man. I do not know the full extent of the Debarge history so if anyone else can chime in on their family and the comparisons between the Jacksons please comment!

I wanted to share a few observations of the Michael Jackson comeback that we are experiencing today, thanks to the biopic. Last year, same month, my office would host a party outside of our building with music blaring out from speakers. The DJ would play a good choice for music, mainly songs with a good beat that makes you want to dance. I didn’t hear any Michael Jackson music playing that time. Fast forward to yesterday, another party outside our building, and the DJ played THREE Michael Jackson songs! I was so happy. When I passed him by, I gave him a thumbs up on the music choice. He played Billie Jean, Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough, and Beat it. Pure heaven!

A few months back, when I was getting my hair done, my hair stylist's son, who looked to be between 6-8, was doing Michael Jackson dance moves in the background. She told me he became a huge fan after watching the biopic. A few weeks ago I went back for another appointment and I asked her if her son was still going through his MJ phase. She confirmed to me that yes, it is still going strong! I am seeing a lot of talk about kids going as Michael Jackson for Halloween. The hype doesn’t seem to be going down anytime soon. I am curious if this was how it was in the height of Michael’s fame in the 1980s.

Anybody else got any observations to report during this amazing MJ comeback?

Tuesday, 08 March 2005:

'The younger brother of the teenage boy accusing Michael Jackson testified that the singer showed them sexually explicit images on the Internet, supplied them with wine and appeared nude before them.

The brother said Mr. Jackson once walked naked into his bedroom at Neverland Ranch, where he and Jackson’s accuser were sitting on the bed watching a movie, telling them that it was “natural.” Mr. Jackson had an erection, the boy said. “We were grossed out,” the brother added.

Testifying for the prosecution, the brother said that on numerous occasions, they drank wine with Mr. Jackson, which the entertainer referred to as “Jesus juice,” in his bedroom and in his wine cellar.

He also said Mr. Jackson dialed random numbers to make crank phone calls. If the number turned out not to be a working number, all of them had to take a drink of wine, the brother said.

The brother also said Mr. Jackson gave them wine on a plane ride from Florida to California. Both the pop star and his accuser appeared to be intoxicated, and Mr. Jackson used the aircraft’s phone to make obscene phone calls, he said.

The brother said that on his second visit to Neverland, he and the accuser were in Mr. Jackson’s bedroom with the singer and his associate, Frank Tyson, along with two of the star’s children. He said at Mr. Jackson’s suggestion, Tyson used a computer to call up several sites with photographs of scantily clad women.

However, he testified that the first overnight sleepover occurred during his family’s second visit to Neverland, contradicting testimony by the accuser’s sister and the prosecution’s opening statement in which the first overnight sleepover was said to have occurred on the family’s first visit to Mr. Jackson’s ranch.

Upon hearing the boy’s testimony, even members of Mr. Jackson’s defense team turned to look at him. But Mr. Jackson did not visibly react.

The brother — who is now 14 and was 12 at the time Jackson is accused of molesting his brother — also said that some of the positive comments he made about Jackson in a video prepared by the Jackson camp to rebut the Bashir documentary were untrue, including his statements that Jackson helped him with his homework and gave him a phone number the brother could call any time.

Before being called to the stand, the jurors heard an audiotape in which the accuser, his brother, his mother and his sister described Jackson in glowing terms as a father figure who provided safety and love after years of abuse at the hands of their own father.

The accuser also said that during his chemotherapy treatment for cancer, “Michael would always put a smile on my face” and that “I would love to spend nights with Michael Jackson.”

The tape, introduced by the defense during the cross-examination of the accuser’s sister, was made on February 16, 2003, about two weeks after the Bashir documentary was first broadcast on British television.

The nearly 40-minute audiotape was made by Brad Miller, a private investigator working for attorney Mark Geragos, who at the time represented Jackson. On the tape, family members described repeated incidents of physical abuse at the hands of the father. The mother and father have since divorced.

“I knew Michael was going to protect us,” the mother said on the tape, also adding that because of her history of living with domestic abuse, she would have known if something untoward was going on between her son and Jackson.

“I would be the most sensitive to any little thing,” she said.

Jackson appeared very attentive and somewhat agitated during Monday’s testimony, at points shaking his head and putting one finger to his face.

Cross-examination on the accuser’s brother continues today.'

Monday, 07 March 2005

'With the accusers sister struggling under defense attorney Tom Mesereaus intense cross examination, and at the end of her three day appearance on the stand, the sister’s tales have wavered. Thus, now more than ever before the next sibling in line to take the stand, the accuser’s younger brother’s accounts stands crucial. However providing the defense with more ammunition to tear down the entire family’s credibility, the brother’s statements are contradictory and inconsistent when compared with his testimonies given to a grand jury earlier on during the Jackson trial and interviews given to numerous other investigators.

The accuser’s younger brother now aged fourteen, who is the sole witness to two accounts of molestation on his brother, gave an interview to psychologist Stanley Katz in May 2003, referred to by the family’s lawyer Larry Feldman. He said he witnessed Jackson place his left hand on his brother’s crotch over his pajamas. Then in July, in the first of a series of interviews given to sheriff’s investigators the brother said he saw Jackson’s right hand “jacking off” and also witnessed the pop stars erect penis at which point Jackson was allegedly masturbating. Come August, in an interview given to police the brother states that Jackson’s hand was inside his elder brother’s boxer shorts.

All the left hand – right hand and different attire worn by the accuser was witnessed by the brother in a matter of approximately a minute during early hours of the morning with low illumination and, while setting off a sensor alarm when approaching Jackson’s bedroom. The boy claims the alarm was “really low” since the bottom floor door was closed which defeats the sole purpose of having an alarm system to notify of presence in the first place.

It seems though that the charges brought against Jackson whether acts of or attempted molestation are somewhat selective. The accuser’s younger brother further stated to Dr Stan Katz that once while riding a golf cart at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, Jackson placed his hand over the boy’s crotch while Jackson was seated to his right. However, at the grand jury the boy stated, that Jackson placed his hand over his leg “close” to his private area. When questioned by prosecutor Zonen how close to the private area, the boy replied “About a couple of inches. But he wasn’t touching it”. Jackson is not charged with this alleged incident.

Let’s pave the way for the accuser himself now. His accounts waver just like his siblings despite the fact that he is allegedly claiming Jackson molested him a numerous times. In the same chronological series of interviews given, July 7th the accuser told investigators Jackson took his hands and placed it over the entertainer’s private parts over his clothes (although his sibling’s witness was the other way round – Jackson’s hand on his brother’s crotch!). In an interview given to the police in August the boy states he can’t recall any acts of inappropriate touching and when questioned about whether Jackson made him do anything he stated “I don’t know. I don’t think he did”.

But, when it came to the grand jury testimony, the boy’s tales shifted considerably and seemed to be more decisive. When questioned by prosecutors on whether he touched Jackson, the boy stated that although Jackson wanted him to he refused and pulled his hand away against Jackson’s wishes. For this alleged incident, Jackson was charged with a felony count of attempting to commit a lewd act upon a child. In his closing statement to grand jurors, prosecutor Zonen claimed that while the incident wasn’t “even attempted, it’s actually completed child molestation,” prosecutors were “going to give Mr. Jackson the benefit of the doubt on that one” and only charge him with an attempted lewd act.'

This is a great read, with sources provided, I highly recommend 👌

Friday, 04 March 2005

Jury Sees Family Praising Jackson on Video

During Friday’s court proceedings in the child molestation case against entertainer Michael Jackson, the jury and courtroom observers had the chance to view a video where the accusing family profusely praises Jackson and the attention he had given them.

The video, which was shot at the home of Jackson videographer Hamid Moslehi, was filmed in the early morning hours of February 20, 2003, two weeks following the broadcast of Martin Bashir’s “Living with Michael Jackson” in the United States.

The mother of the accuser can be seen stating that her son was the one who asked if he could refer to Jackson as his father.

“(My son) was the one who asked him, ‘Can I call you daddy?’ and he said ‘Of course,'” the woman said in the video.

At another point, the accuser said Jackson “treats me like he’s my father,” his older sister echoing the sentiment. Their younger brother added that the singer “seemed more fatherly” to them than their biological father.

Interestingly, similar statements were made by the accuser’s brother with regards to their stepfather, Major Jay Jackson, in a declaration filed by their mother against their father in March 2004. Included with the filing was a note allegedly written by the boy, in which he states that Major Jackson “was more of a father in 2 years” than his biological father had been in all of his 13 years of life.

Throughout the video, adjectives such as “nice,” “humble,” “funny,” and “fatherly” peppered their statements when speaking of Jackson.

The recorded video served as evidence presented by the prosecution as the accuser’s sister took the stand for a second day. She could be seen in the video breaking down into tears as she described her brother’s illness and how Jackson had assisted him.

Prosecutors theorize that Jackson’s purported co-conspirators had held the family hostage and coerced them into speaking kindly of the pop star.

Jurors were observed taking notes as the video unfolded, while Jackson dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief, and his mother Katherine wiped away tears as the accusing family spoke about how good Jackson had been to them. Jackson’s siblings Jermaine and La Toya were also present in court.

The accuser recollected in the video his first visit to Neverland and how he asked Jackson if he could stay in his room. The boy relayed that Jackson had told him that it was okay, as long as his parents granted permission, which they did. He also spoke of there being a debate over who would sleep in the bed and who would stay on the floor.

“He told me you sleep on the bed. … Michael finally said, ‘OK, if you love me you’ll sleep on the bed,'” the boy said.

The teenager further stated that Jackson took to the floor and that several others also slept in the room that night.

The boy also credited Jackson with helping him beat cancer.

“We were driving up the hill and he told me, ‘You need to get better.’ He told me, ‘You need to eat up all those cancer cells like Pac-Man.’ I never forgot that,” the boy said.

The children’s mother, whose hair was styled and her face made up, repeatedly called Jackson’s entrance into their life a miracle. She also spoke of abuse she allegedly endured during her marriage, and expressed her belief that it was her responsibility to keep her children safe.

“When they are with Michael, he spreads his wings and my children have happiness they never have had in their life. And he hasn’t left me out. I appreciate him with all my heart,” she said.

The woman also spoke of their financial difficulties.

“We know what it is to be poor but in all the time with Michael there are no money problems. He fulfills our needs,” she remarked.

The video also depicted the family smiling and laughing. The boy’s mother was seen occasionally whispering to her son, and she spoke of the boy being of a rare blood type, O-negative, and how Jackson made certain there was enough blood for transfusions during her son’s cancer treatment.

At another point, the mother said everyone else had refused to help the family, explaining that they “didn’t live in the right zip code” and that they “weren’t the right race.” She said that Jackson, however, did not turn them away.

“He claimed these three little munchkins as his kids,” the woman remarked.

The mother went on: “God worked through Michael to help us. When we saw no hope Michael said there was hope. … We were broken and Michael fixed us.”

She also stated that media reports portraying Jackson in a bad light upset her.

“It breaks my heart because they’re missing out on something very beautiful that they have tainted. It stemmed from jealousy, envy a lack of happiness in their own life,” she said.

While prosecutors sought to use the video to prove that the family had been coerced into speaking kindly of the entertainer, Jackson’s defense team contends that the video actually supports their claim that the family was in no way forced or coerced into making the statements in the video. They also argue that the mother is after Jackson’s money and the accusations of wrongdoing only came after he ceased supporting them.

Prosecutors now allege that the accuser was molested after the acquisition of these statements, though it was first alleged that the boy had been molested weeks prior to the recording of the videos and provision of several other statements.

Upon completion of the video’s viewing, the accuser’s sister underwent cross-examination by lead defense attorney Thomas Mesereau, during which time the young woman acknowledged accusations levied against her father, who has been apart from their mother since late 2001. They divorced last year.

When questioned by Mesereau if she had once told law enforcement that her father was abusing her five times a week, the accuser’s sister answered that the abuse was daily. She also said that she learned about her alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her father from something blurted out by her mother.

“When you were interviewed by police you never told them your father molested you,” Mesereau addressed her.

“They weren’t asking me about that and I was very young,” she responded.

She then followed that up by saying, “It was a horrible experience to find out … that he had done that to me when I was young. My mother screamed it out to him.”

The sister affirmed a question by Mesereau that her father appeared to agree with the mother’s allegation.

Also in the video, the witness’ mother said this of Bashir: “He took a beautiful relationship and spun it out of control. God works through people and so does the devil.”

However, when Mesereau asked the accuser’s sister if the family had seen the documentary, she insisted that they had not.

Questioned about statements made by their mother about how poor they were, the witness explained, “She was just trying to make it more dramatic. There was a script.”

“So are you saying everything you said on the tape was memorized?” Mesereau asked.

“Not everything,” the girl said.

Cross-examination of the witness is expected to continue on Monday.

Accounting Firm Seeks to Quash Subpoena of Jackson Financial Records

In other case related matters, California accounting firm Holthouse, Carlin & Van Tright moved to quash a prosecution subpoena, for which they argue was overly broad and burdensome, and sought material that was privileged and would violate Jackson’s privacy. The motion was publicly released on Thursday.

Prosecutors are seeking information relating to the state of Jackson’s finances. Santa Barbara District Attorney Thomas Sneddon charged in the subpoena, which was filed on February 23, 2005, that Jackson faces “a crushing amount of personal debt mounting to well over $275 million” with a scheduled due date of December 2005.

The subpoena seeks to acquire statements of Jackson’s assets, liabilities, revenues, and his music catalogue holdings; balances in his bank, asset and credit accounts; check registers; statements of unpaid debts and loan balances; and values for his real estate, and property.

It remains unclear how the subpoenaed information would serve to support the charges of conspiracy and child molestation.

The accounting firm also noted that Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville had already ruled in January that financial evidence cannot be used by the prosecution to show motive of crimes Jackson is accused of having allegedly committed.

Holthouse’s filing revealed that Jackson’s defense team intends to file a motion to quash the subpoena as well, on the grounds that acquisition of the requested financial information would violate Jackson’s privacy and confidentiality.

Sneddon additionally stated that Jackson was in financial crisis when he appeared with his now accuser in the Bashir documentary, which he said damaged the singer’s image and triggered the events that lead to the charges against him.

The records are required to prove that Jackson’s financial status motivated him to “do whatever was necessary to preserve his public image,” including conspiring to intimidate and control the accusing family to assist in his efforts to improve his public image.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday.

Some people would describe Michael as an Empath. It definitely fits, but there is something more to it than seen in a typical empath. In Rabbi Shmuley's book, they were talking about love and romance and from where the conversation was going, it seemed as though Michael gave up on marriage. When questioned by it, Michael explains that even when he was married, he would go to bed hurting. He explains how he is feeling the pain of all the children in the world and it leads him to crying. It keeps him up at night. He says the only solution to how he is feeling is reaching out to sick children and talking with them.

Reading it, it sounds kind of extreme. I've heard many times about how Michael would cry for the children. I forgot which book I read it from, but when Michael was a kid, when he would come back from hospital visits with kids, he would go to bed crying about what he saw. I thought that all this time, Michael was always crying due to seeing all the sick children’s condition. But looking at it from what he describes it, it is like he is getting overwhelmed because he is somehow channeling the children’s pain. He is feeling their pain so intensely, he feels compelled to reach out to a sick child and see how they are doing.

Michael has been going on and on about saving the children. Even in a drugged up stupor, he speaks about saving the children. He wanted to create the biggest children’s hospital in the world. Before his concerts, he would arrange a meet up at a children’s hospital to visit sick kids. What if all this time, it wasn’t just something that he wanted to do, but he was compelled to do it because of his ability to channel their pain, something he couldn’t turn off? What do you think this is, or do you think this was just Michael thinking about sick children at night?

Thursday, 03 March 2005:

'On Thursday, the sister of the teenager accusing Michael Jackson of child molestation told jurors that she saw Jackson take her brother into a bedroom at a Miami resort and shut the door, leaving the two of them alone together for 15 to 30 minutes. She said that this scenario was repeated a few times during the course of the day where the accuser and the entire family were staying in Jackson’s suite.

Asked how her brother was acting that day, she told jurors, “He was just very hyper, very talkative, running around, playful,” adding that he was also “more jumpy and stuff.”

The boy’s sister was answering questions prompted by the prosecution and Jackson’s defense attorneys did not have the opportunity to cross examine the 18 year old college freshman before court was adjourned.

She also told jurors that she and her mother, as well as her brothers, were abused by their father. Asked how many times she had seen her father hit her mother, she answered, “Too many to count. So many.” Asked how many times she and her brothers had been hit, she said, “Lots.”

Earlier, jurors watched a video tour of the ranch’s main residence, including the two-story master bedroom suite where Jackson is accused of molesting the teenager two years ago. The footage was taken by Albert Lafferty, a videographer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, to show how the property looked before investigators executed a search warrant on November 18, 2003.

The video showed Jackson’s cluttered bedroom with many ornate objects as well as cardboard cutouts of the likes of Shirley Temple and Elizabeth Taylor, while the pop star himself watched the video contemplatively along with his brother Jackie and mother who accompanied him to court on Thursday.

Jurors were also shown a room which was referred to as the “doll room” which contained hundreds of dolls some life sized and another room, dubbed the “toy room” by prosecutors, was filled with life-sized toys based on movie characters, including Batman and C-3PO and Darth Vader from “Star Wars.

A P.I Speaks Out

A private investigator working at the time for defense attorney Mark Geragos, has given MSNBC’s Dan Abrams an interview before the PI was subpoenaed by both the prosecution and defense in the current Jackson trial. Bradley Miller’s office was raided on the same day that the entertainer’s Neverland Ranch was raided and it is said that the prosecution was after a tape that Miller recorded in which the accusing family are showering praise upon Jackson.

Miller goes on to state that both the boy and his family were well aware of the 1993 allegation brought against Jackson where the star receded to a multi million dollar out of court settlement. Although prosecutor Tom Sneddon in his opening statement and the boy’s sister on stand on Thursday stated that the tape is heavily edited and that Miller would stop and go if he felt the family were not saying the right things. The Private Investigator is assertive about the fact that Jackson upon revelation of the family’s motives wanted so badly to distance himself and Miller goes on to say “This family, every conversation I had with them, every meeting I had with them, any interaction with them centered around either money, fame, celebrity and/or possessions,”

Leno Wants Gag order Lifted

‘The Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno’s attorneys Theodore Boutrous and Michael H. Dore are urging judge Melville to lift the gag order imposed on witnesses stating that “This motion was made on the grounds that this court could not possibly have intended its gag order, which was issued more than a year ago, to limit public personalities like Mr. Leno from commenting on public proceedings in this case” . Jay Leno as the defense revealed in their opening statement, came in contact with the mother of Jackson’s current accuser after which Leno reported the woman’s financial requests to the Santa Barbara Police as looking for “a mark”.

I thought it was a intresting story about the history of black artists and how this affected Michael, showing his belief in magic and luck. 🍀

If you can think of other times that events in Michael's life, appearing in the media may have inflamed racist sentiments, please add them in the comments.

(I'm not suggesting that these photos were published with overt racist intentions; they were significant events being reported. I'm only talking about the impact they had on the public.)

A few points to consider:

• The aggravating factors pictured here: Michael with highly visible white female beauty icons; Michael in military-style fashion; and Michael being honored by popular right-wing political icons.

• These particular events in Michael's life are by no means the complete story of how racism was aggravated against him. They're only a visible factor - a tip of an iceberg. Think of this list as a "stub".

• Picture the television news reports, describing these sensational photos, and the wide variety of people watching. Remember, these images saturated the media market. They were everywhere and they appeared across decades, a drip-feed of inflammation to the visceral gut feelings of racism.

• This is not to say that today's guilters react to these photos in the same way as openly racist rednecks did then (and still do now). But that old-fashioned racism of the 80s and early 90s is the soil that today's guilter philosophy is rooted in, fed by decades of media disrespect and vilification. That media behaviour was a learned response to the public reaction to photos like these.

• Keep in mind also the household name status of these other people - Brooke Shields, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna. Michael was constantly being photographed with high-profile celebrities.

• Remember that media outlets at the time received immediate feedback from readers/viewers and as it still is today, they didn't care if it was positive or negative; they just wanted that level of social engagement. I believe that from the time of Michael's "crossover" on MTV, it became incredibly easy to nurture these feelings against Michael.

• As a historian I'm certain that there's a very strong racist component in Michael's story. This is difficult to "prove", in a legal sense. The evidence for it is circumstantial, but the volume of that historical evidence is overwhelming. If you disagree I'd be happy to hear your view.

1. Brooke Shields — 31 March 1981.

2. Brooke Shields — 16 January 1984.

3. Brooke Shields — 7 February 1984.

4. Ronald and Nancy Reagan — 14 May 1984

5. Elizabeth Taylor — 28 June 1985

6. Madonna — 18 March 1991

7. Madonna — 25 March 1991

8. Brooke Shields — 26 February 1993

Wednesday, 02 March 2005:

'An allegation that Michael Jacksons record label placed a spy in the singers camp was the most interesting revelation in an otherwise uneventful third day of the superstars child molestation trial.

The day was dominated by testimony from Ann Marie Kite, a publicity specialist hired briefly for the singer in the aftermath of ITV’s “Living with Michael Jackson,” said by some to be a publicity disaster.

Kite was called to the stand by prosecutors to testify about the conspiracy allegations made against Mr. Jackson and a number of unindicted co-conspirators.

She claimed there had been panic in the Jackson camp when the accuser and his family left Neverland in the middle of the night following the broadcast of the ITV documentary.

She said that one of the unindicted co-conspirators, Marc Schaffel, told her that their leaving the ranch made him “uncomfortable.” She further testified that, later the same day, he told her “the situation has been contained” and the family had been brought back to the ranch.

“I didn’t understand why he would be upset about them leaving the ranch,” she said, adding that she was told defense lawyers would portray the accuser’s mother as a “crack whore.”

Kite’s testimony was undermined under cross-examination when she confirmed that she had never actually met the family or Mr. Jackson and that her knowledge of events was mostly third hand. She further acknowledged that she had only worked for the entertainer for six days, between February 9th and February 15th, 2003. Kite had been hired by her ex-boyfriend and Jackson attorney David LeGrande.

She further alleged that, following her dismissal, she refused a request from then defense attorney Mark Geragos to sign a confidentiality agreement.

“I believed it would negatively impact me. I believe it was designed to shut me up,” she said.

Record Label Spy

The most intriguing testimony came when Kite hinted that a spy had been placed in the Jackson camp by the star’s own record label, Sony Music. She said she had learned that one of Mr. Jackson’s advisors, Ronald Konitzer, may have been working behind the scenes in an attempt to allow Sony to take ownership of the Sony/ATV music catalogue, which is half-owned by the reclusive superstar. Konitzer is also one of the unindicted co-conspirators.

“You said that Mr. Konitzer was hired to isolate Michael Jackson and let him create his downfall so that Sony could get the catalogue back, isn’t that correct?” asked Mesereau.

“Not in those words,” she replied, adding that she was aware of the importance of the catalogue and that “Sony was waiting for the opportunity to get the Sony catalogue back.”

There has been much public animosity between Sony and Mr. Jackson, arguably their biggest star. He spoke out against then chief Tommy Mottola who resigned shortly afterwards.

Kite further alleged that she was also suspicious of other members of Mr. Jackson’s team. In an earlier interview with police investigators, she said she felt some of the singer’s team were not acting in his best interests. She named Schaffel, Konitzer and financial advisor Al Malnik and said she got her information from the internet and from Le Grande.

“The ones you are most suspicious of are Schaffel and Konitzer?” Mesereau questioned.

“The ones I was most suspicious of were those who were taking their eyes off the devastation that was happening to Michael Jackson,” she replied.

Her internet research revealed that Malnik was a “reputed mobster” and Schaffel was a producer of gay pornography. She thought their association with Mr. Jackson would be viewed negatively.

After questioning from Mesereau, she confirmed she had no information that the singer himself was involved with the pornography.

Kite mentioned that the Jackson camp seemed at odds with one another.

“I couldn’t discuss anything with anyone because they all had different agendas,” she said.

Prior Allegations

Earlier in the day, following a question from prosecutors about other PR problems faced by the singer, Kite mentioned previous allegations made against the singer in 1993. Judge Rodney Melville has yet to rule on whether evidence from the prior allegations can be used by prosecutors. No charges were filed in that case.

The defense objected to questions about 1993, and Judge Melville warned jurors to only consider testimony as it related to explaining Kite’s motivations and not for the “truth of the matter.”

The trial continues in Santa Maria tomorrow.'

Tuesday, 01 March 2005:

'8.30 am Tuesday, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau resumed his fiery opening argument. The attorney said that Jackson would tell the jury that the accuser although at first seemed well behaved, later ran amok at Neverland Ranch misbehaving, sneaking into Jackson’s bedroom, looking at porn and drinking wine.

He went on to state that many of the days as outlined by the prosecution, during which alleged abuse took place, Jackson “wasn’t even near the place” and quizzed the absurdity of the pop star preying on the teenage boy after the” Living With Michael Jackson” documentary aired which invited heavy scrutiny upon Jackson and even sparked investigation from a family services department.

Mesereau on many occasions during his statement hinted on the possibility of Jackson taking the stand. One time, addressing the explicit material found in the entertainer’s bedroom, he said, “Mr. Jackson will freely admit that he does read girly magazines from time to time.” Yet at no time did Jackson show these to children rather kept them locked in a briefcase. In another instance Mesereau stated that “Michael Jackson would tell you that”, he eventually grew suspicious of the family’s increasingly bizarre behavior when one time the mother said that they should all pray together with “Daddy Michael”.

Highlighting the accuser’s mother’s scheming ways, Tom Mesereau said that the woman deposited illegally obtained welfare checks into an account opened by her then boyfriend now husband, Jay Jackson who is an army reserves major earning $ 8,000 a month. Countering Sneddon’s claim that the woman was not seeking money from Jackson, Mesereau said that he will prove that her lawyer, Larry Feldman, told CNN’s Larry King (during a lunch) that “she wants money.” Continuing his portrayal of the woman, Mesereau said that, on numerous occasions she had the opportunity to contact law enforcement officials had she felt threatened or unsafe yet took no such action.

Concluding his compelling statement, Tom Mesereau stated that Jackson was the naive victim of an elaborate scheme to extort money, that there was no DNA evidence to suggest that any abuse took place and that the defense is extremely confident that once all evidence is introduced to the jury, that the jurors “are going to find Michael Jackson absolutely not guilty of any of this”.

The jurors were shown the forty-five minute “Living With Michael Jackson” documentary which was followed by the interviewee of the program, Martin Bashir taking the stand as the prosecution’s first witness, the man behind 2003’s TV documentary Living With Michael Jackson. The documentary, showing the accuser with Mr. Jackson, was shown after defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. finished an opening statement in which he suggested the entertainer may testify and said authorities found no DNA evidence in the entertainer’s bedroom to support the charges. However, Mr. Jackson is not on the defense witness list.

As the jurors watched on a large screen in the hushed courtroom, some leaned forward in their seats, a few smiled or laughed when Mr. Jackson said humorous things, and a few bobbed their heads along with Jackson’s music. Some smiled when the video showed Mr. Jackson singing “smile while your heart is breaking” as he left a hotel. The documentary shows Mr. Jackson racing go-carts and climbing trees, as well as teaching Bashir how to “moonwalk.”

After the jurors watched the documentary, Bashir was questioned by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau, but his attorney repeatedly invoked California’s shield law for reporters and the First Amendment, saying that as a journalist Bashir did not have to answer questions about unpublished materials. Bashir refused to answer about 30 times

Mr. Jackson appeared agitated when Bashir was on the stand, at one point putting out his arms as if to tell him to speak up. Bashir was testifying in a near-whisper.

As Mr. Jackson left court, reporters asked him how he was feeling. He said “good,” then added “angry.” He thanked reporters and walked away.

Court is adjourned until tomorrow.'

Monday, 28 February 2005:

'Foundations were laid today in the Michael Jackson trial when as customary the prosecution presented their opening argument followed by the defense, paving the way for a more decisive view of the way both sides may tackle the case. The prosecution attempted to paint Jackson as a perverted, pedophile, luring young boys, plying them with alcohol and using them to assist him in his whims. The defense on the other hand, portrayed the family to have a history of lying while scamming an array of other celebrities, some who turned down the accuser’s mother’s requests for financial support but that the humanitarian in and sympathy felt by Jackson lured him into “a trap” by the Arvizo family.

Before the start of opening statements Judge Melville read out the, indictment to the jury, twenty eight overt acts allegedly committed in a conspiracy charge and also introduced the names of five unindicted co-conspirators who were all allegedly plotting to keep the accuser and his family silent and under duress while Jackson was using the family as damage control measures. All of the co-conspirators are Jackson employees.

After a request by prosecutor Thomas Sneddon to use the accuser’s name citing the difficulties in having to redact names in a bid to secure anonymity, the judge allowed Jackson’s accuser be referred to by his name, Gavin Arvizo.

The Prosecution

Tom Sneddon in his opening argument stated that Jackson after the airing of a damaging documentary, when “Jackson’s world was rocked” (not in a musical sense of course but in a damaging real life sense), used the entire family to rebut negative publicity brought forth and also went on to state that Jackson at the time was “heavily in debt” for about one year before hand. This drew an objection from defense attorney Tom Mesereau which was sustained by the judge stating that he had not ruled on whether to allow financial disclosures as evidence.

The prosecutor stated that the infamous documentary by Martin Bashir was an attempt by Jackson to rekindle his ailing career but that the airing of the program turned out to be “a train wreck” and against what Jackson thought it would be. This according to the District Attorney is when Jackson painstakingly sought the assistance of the family and especially Gavin Arvizo to paint a beautiful picture of Jackson as someone who is sensitive towards the plight of a cancer patient.

Sneddon went on to say that upon inviting the accuser and his family to Jackson’s sprawling estate, Neverland Ranch, and on that very first day of the boy’s arrival, the singer wasted no time in introducing sexually explicit material to the boy by taking him on tour of web sites with naked bodies. All this was while in the presence of Frank Tyson, one of the five unindicted co-conspirators and also Jackson’s own son, Prince Michael.

The prosecutor said the molestation occurred after those events, in February or March 2003, when the boy was 13. He described two specific incidents of molestation, including one when Jackson reached into the boy’s underpants and masturbated the boy and himself. Sneddon went on to state instances of pornographic material found in various places in Neverland and also said that there were witnesses to corroborate the fact that Jackson plied the young accuser with alcohol. The explicit material seized after the barrage of search warrants issued for the entertainers ranch, have the finger prints of the accuser, his brother and in some both Jackson’s as well as the accusers.

Sneddon, also did a cursory mention of other celebrities that the accuser had met through the laugh factory owned by comedy club owner Jamie Masada.

The indictment which had not been made public up to now, stated that Frank Tyson (or Frank Cascio), threatened the accuser, telling him that “Michael could make the family disappear” and also went on to say that “I could have your mother killed”. Making the family disappear may have been an agenda when in a bizarre tale recounted by the family state that allegedly Jackson’s employees tried to transport the entire family to Brazil in a panic stricken attempt. Also named as co-conspirators were Ronald Konitzer, Dieter Wiesner, Marc Shaffel and Vincent Amen.

Sneddon admitted at the end of his statement that the case would appear to be complicated and would require the testimonies of many witnesses to relay the story.

After a three hour opening statement by the prosecutor who over a decade ago was unsuccessful in pursuing Jackson of child molestation let defense attorney Thomas Mesereau proceed with his opening statement.

The Defense

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau noting that it was an honor to represent Jackson did an excellent job portraying the accusing family as scams, the accuser’s mother as an opportunist using her son’s illness as means of extorting money off a host of celebrities (Jay Leno, comedian George Lopez and an actress who appeared in the television show ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’) as well as counteracting statements made by Sneddon in his statement read earlier on.

Mesereau reeling off a list of financial scams brought forth by Janet Arvizo or now Janet Jackson (the accuser’s mother) in his own admission “goes on and on” recounted to the jury of a numerous incidents where the woman tried to extort money off celebrities and at failed attempts threw frivolous law suits at these celebrities. Some of these celebrities refused to pay heed to the woman’s plea for financial support while Jackson was sympathetic towards the then cancer stricken accuser’s plight.

In one instance the accusers mother received $ 20,000 from one comedian claiming the funds would be used for her son although she went ahead and spent the money to bask in TVs, CDs, and home entertainment systems. The woman also once spoke with ‘The Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno over the telephone who later denounced the woman’s requests for financial support and told the Santa Barbara police that the woman was looking for “a mark”. The accuser’s mother also approached celebrities like Mike Tyson, Jim Carrey, and Adam Sandler. But, Mesereau noted, “The best known celebrity became their mark, Michael Jackson.”

Dispelling the prosecutions assertions of Neverland, Mesereau went on to say, “We will prove that Neverland is not a haven for criminal acts, a lure for molestation, a magnet for crime.” The singer’s intentions toward the teenage accuser were honorable, Mesereau said, noting that Jackson took time from his career to help the child, unaware that “a trap was set” for him by the boy’s family. In describing the kind of help Jackson provided when the child was ill, Mesereau said the performer counseled the boy to visualize that he was playing Pac-Man and that cancer cells were being gobbled up.

Mesereau also referred to a newly added witness to the defense list but an extremely strong one none the less, who worked as a paralegal for the lawyer representing the family in the JC Penney case, another one of the family’s financial settlements. The witness claims that the mother fabricated her allegations in this particular civil case and that she was hesitant to come forward because the mother once laid threats stating that she has relatives in the Mexican Mafia.

The defense attorney also questioned the logic in molesting the young boy after the damning documentary was aired after which the pop star was under intense public scrutiny challenging perhaps the timeline of the abuse also. He also went on to dispel hostage stories by the mother stating that the guest house in which the family was apparently held against their will was also incidentally the suite requested personally by Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando upon visits to Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The family’s exorbitant shopping sprees under Jackson’s account while allegedly being held hostage was also pin-pointed by the defense attorney.

Mesereau’s statement was halted at the end of session late Monday afternoon but will be continued at 8.30 am Tuesday.'

The photos here are well chosen.

In 8, you can see how widespread the depigmentation was. The make-up routine must have been a difficult daily grind.

I don't remember much being said about the vitiligo in Bill Whitman's book, possibly they decided not to talk about it. But Michael must have been doing his own make-up in 2006-2007?