Posted on 11/14/2002 4:13:04 PM PST by blam
Michael Jackson vanishes after being unmasked in court battle over concerts
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
15 November 2002
First they saw him – perhaps a little too much of him – and then they didn't. Michael Jackson staged a disappearing act yesterday, failing to appear for a second day of testimony in a court case following a torrent of publicity over his freakish appearance.
The case, a contract dispute between the 44-year-old star and a concert promoter, might have passed unnoticed were it not for photographs of Jackson taken on Wednesday in the court in central California.
The singer removed the surgical mask he habitually wears – supposedly to ward off germs and air pollution – revealing a scarred, misshapen, peeling nose, swollen lips and eyes heavily ringed with make-up.
Yesterday, speculation was rife that Jackson failed to come back because of the widespread circulation of the photographs. The judge, Zel Canter, called the previous day's pool photographer into his chambers, although it was not clear what they discussed.
On Wednesday, Mr Jackson was driven from his Neverland ranch by a white-gloved chauffeur and escorted by a posse of police motorcycle outriders to the courthouse in Santa Maria. About a hundred fans cheered as he arrived.
On the stand, he seemed easily distracted, at one point swivelling about in his seat as though dancing to a song playing in his head.
Many of his answers were puzzling. He initially said he couldn't remember details of his concert commitments but later suggestedhis memory hadbecome clearer over time.
The German concert promoter Marcel Avram, who has had a long, stormy relationship with Jackson, alleges that he was left $21m (£13m) out of pocket when Jackson pulled out of two concerts in Honolulu and Sydney, Australia, on either side of the international date line planned for New Year's Eve 1999.
Jackson told the court it was Mr Avram who cancelled the engagements.
He also said it was not true he had not rehearsed for the concerts, saying he had practised his dance moves in front of a bathroom mirror.
A black Howard Hughes. Wait....a white Howard Hughes. No....a black Howar...
Really sad.
Like most of the people who frequent this webspace, I'm old enough to remember the Jackson Five and the extremely gifted young man who shot to stardom showing the world how James Brown would have danced if he'd only had the talent.
I was never a fan of Michael's, but due to the sad result of this twisted life and the current type of attention he's brought on himself, I've taken the time to make my 4 kids watch some of the old material of the days before "Thriller". I just didn't want them to think he'd always been like this even while he was becoming a star.
Entertainment is certainly the lighter and trivial side of history, but the the fact is that it IS history and this sad reminder of a man was part of that history.
Agreed; tragic indeed. [There but for the grace of God go I (perhaps not the same affliction(s), but nonetheless, possibly as debilitating emotionally/mentally; I'm glad I didn't have to find that out). I'm also glad that "I know in Whom I believe, and am persuaded that He is able," and I am not, therefore, tossed, to and fro, with whatever thoughts get "whispered" in my ear to do.]
SANTA MARIA, Calif., Nov 14 (Reuters) - Superstar Michael Jackson turned up hours late for court on Thursday after his lawyer objected to a photographer whose pictures set the Internet buzzing over the reclusive singer's bizarre appearance. Jackson had mysteriously failed to appear for his second day on the witness stand in a $21 million lawsuit over canceled millennium concerts.
No explanation was given for his morning no-show. But the pool photographer said he had been summoned to the judge's chambers because of objections by Jackson's lawyers to the courtroom pictures on the grounds they were distracting. The photographer was not however barred from the court.
Photos of Jackson on the stand on Wednesday showed him with a Band-Aid-type plaster on his scarred nose, pink lipstick, heavily black-penciled eyebrows and the beginning of a goatee-styled beard all framed by a long black mane of hair. Web services said the close-up pictures -- a rare glimpse of Jackson off-stage -- were some of the most viewed of the last 24 hours.
When the self-styled King of Pop finally returned to the courthouse at Santa Maria -- the central California town nearest to his Neverland Valley ranch -- he appeared drowsy. His eyes drooped and he had to be prompted to answer by lawyers as testimony proceeded at a snail's pace.
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