Posted on 11/19/2002 1:15:06 PM PST by mgist
NEW YORK — A man who appears to be pop superstar Michael Jackson was seen in a videotape on Tuesday apparently dangling an infant out a hotel balcony in Berlin, Germany.
The man in the video, apparently Jackson, seemed to be smiling as he briefly held the baby out over the edge of the balcony before retreating back into the hotel room. The child, who has not been positively identified, had a small blanket draped over his head and was seen kicking his feet as he was held out over the railing.
"He brought him out to show him off to the fans and he had the face covered because he didn't want cameras to see it," Flo Anthony, Jackson's longtime friend and editor of Black Elegance magazine told Fox News. "However, that was a grave mistake ... But I don't think Michael was thinking maliciously ... He wasn't aiming to toss that baby over the railing."
Anthony added that the child was Jackson's youngest, a six- or seven- month old baby.
"This is a new child that I don't know if he adopted or what," she said.
Despite believing Jackson's motivations were pure, Anthony said she could not defend his actions. "I'm not going to sit here and say that's not disturbing because it is disturbing."
The King of Pop was in Berlin to attend the premiere of the latest James Bond flick, Die Another Day, starring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry.
Jackson has been in the news lately for testifying in a $21 million lawsuit filed against him by a former promoter who claims the superstar backed out of two millennium concerts.
On his first day of testimony, shocking photos of Jackson on the witness stand, with pieces of his nose apparently peeling off, were widely circulated and discussed.
Jackson, 44, has been married twice, to Debbie Rowe and Lisa Marie Presley. He has three children.
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| Tue Nov 19, 2:35 PM ET |
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Popstar Michael Jackson (news) holds a towel covered, unidentified child as he looks down to the crowd from his fourth floor hotel balcony in Berlin November 19, 2002. (Tobias Schwarz/Reuters) |
AND
The man in the video, apparently Jackson,
I didn't realize there was a question that is was Jackson or not---I don't believe there is.
Is it possible that he WILL be charged with something and the media is taking the usual precautions of legalese?
Despite believing Jackson's motivations were pure ...Of course they were. Dangling babies over the balcony is perfectly normal parental behavior. </sarcasm>
It's either him or his evil twin LaToya.
That's curious - he told the judge back in California that needed a break from the lawsuit against him because he had to go to Germany to accept an award for all his work on behalf of children (balcony dangling notwithstanding). Gee, I hope he doesn't get held in contempt of court or anything for not telling the whole truth.
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