Michael Jackson descends

TownHall.com ^ | 2/07/03 | Brent Bozell

[kattracks]

Nearly everyone loves the idea of fame and fortune, but at what cost? As the news headlines tell us almost every day, some of the richest and most famous people turn out to be the unhappiest, most demented people in the world.

Legendary but erratic music producer Phil Spector has been largely out of sight since the early 1970s. He's back in the headlines, a la O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake, as the only suspect in the slaying of a Hollywood actress killed inside his home. In another La La Land mansion, another legendary musical has-been, Michael Jackson, has granted eight months of interviews to British TV interviewer Martin Bashir, which aired first in Britain and then on ABC's "20/20." Consider it another in a series of Jackson's acts of slow professional suicide.

Consider the series of career-crumbling bombshells gleaned from this interview. First and foremost, Jackson said he still hosts sleepovers for kids at his Neverland Ranch, where he serves them milk and cookies, and shares his bed with them. ''It's not sexual," explains this facial freak show. "We're going to sleep. I tuck them in. It's very charming; it's very sweet.''

Jackson's image went from eccentric man-child to potential pedophile in 1993, when he was sued over allegations of fondling in his bed and he settled out of court. If he actually cared about his image and his career, why on Earth would he ever parade around the world's largest media outlets showing he hasn't learned a thing from the lurid spectacle 10 years ago?

Then there's Jackson's "family." Jackson says his two older children -- Prince Michael I, 5, and Paris, 4 -- have no contact with their mother, the singer's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe. ''She can't handle it,'' he said. ''She'd prefer them to be with me than with her.'' The 5-year-old believes that "I haven't got a mother." Jackson says Rowe gave him the babies as a "gift" because he was so desperate to be a dad, he carried around dolls pretending they were his babies.

Jackson also claims that when his daughter was born, ''I snatched her and just went home with all the placenta and everything all over her. I'm not kidding. Got her in a towel and ran. They said it was fine ... And I got her home and washed it all off.'' His latest son, Prince Michael II, who Jackson nicknamed "Blanket," is said to have sprung from a surrogate mother he'll never know.

Any notion that Jackson is running something just like the average American family is easily washed away by all these revelations. When Jackson complains that he didn't get a normal childhood and that his father was cruel to him, he's not seeing that his difficult childhood doesn't look much worse than the strange, motherless fairyland his children are suffering through now.

It's also hard to believe anything he says when he makes ridiculous claims like he's only had two plastic surgeries, only on his nose, and only so he could hit high notes. I'll believe there were only two procedures if someone can give me evidence that at least one was called the "Hiroshima Survivor" look.

With stunts like this, it's amazing Jackson could have the chutzpah to claim that the comparative failure of his 2001 album "Invincible" is not due to his freakish behavior. Last year, he went on the attack against his label, Sony Music, describing company executives as racists out to sabotage him. Jackson fanatics picketed Sony offices claiming "We, the fans, have been helpless spectators of an unprecedented smear campaign." Lost on this sorry lot: Whatever Sony could have ever done to damage its own profits is minuscule compared to what Jackson has done to himself.

It's not like he's a total flop. It's hard to define his last effort as a failure as sales of more than 5,000,000 albums worldwide. But when his biggest album holds the world record at 45 million, in relative terms, he's crashing. When its debut sells tens of thousands less than the rapper DMX the week before, he's not the "king" of anything musical. He's no longer the toast of teen culture. The Peter Pan routine might have been cute at 24. It's creepy at 44.

Maybe Jackson is marching in this pathetic parade just to keep himself in the public eye in any way he can. Why can't he just go away? All he's telling us now is that Hollywood is a place where sanity goes to die, and that for some, being infamous is perfectly acceptable when you can no longer simply be famous.

Brent Bozell is President of Media Research Center, a TownHall.com member group.

©2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Contact Brent Bozell | Read his biography

[eccentric]

Sleep-overs? Kids do this all the time. Nothing sexual about it. So MJ never grew up.

There is also the idea of "the family bed" where parents and kids all sleep together. Again, no sex involved (parents get creative in that area). As kids get older they usually move to a seperate bed, but probably in the same room. It's a lot safer than having kids sleeping in another area of the house.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Thanks for the link. How many millions did this kid receive in settlement? How many people would perjure themselves for that kind of cash?

If what is written in this affadavit is literally true, then Mr. Jackson is accountable and understandably should be judged accordingly. Should we then root around in his perversity like pigs?

[cyncooper]

Sweet. I haven't a clue why you feel this idea you present would be news to me, as I'm quite familiar with it. It is not normal, no matter how you slice it, for a 44 year old man to have little boys--including those not his "own"--sleep over and in his bed, no less.

Any comments on my other observations? Like when he's "feeding" the baby while the baby's head is draped with a swath of material and he's bouncing the poor child--and let me emphasize--NOT in the gentle, natural rhythm we all are accustomed to observing competent and normal adults doing when holding a baby. It was bizarre, and that alone--not to mention it was the same baby he had held aloft over the balcony railing--warrants an investigation, and pronto!

[cyncooper]

And what of his sick tale of grabbing "his" baby daughter at the moment of birth and scatting home with her, placenta and all.

Does that give you pause?

Something is amiss with Jackson, and I could care less, except that he is left to impose his bizarre ways on babies and children.

[GSWarrior]

Jacko's childhood was basically stolen from him. It should come as no surprise that as an adult he seeks that childhood lost in the company of children.

That's still not an excuse for any illegal behavior he may have committed, or for any distress he has caused others.

[Blue Screen of Death]

The best I can say about Michael Jackson is that he should be able to keep three bus loads of psychologists busy for decades, thereby removing the threat to the rest of us that all those psychologists represent.

[cyncooper]

I question the "stolen childhood" and "abuse" stories.

I am willing to be corrected, but he was shown to be a liar of massive proportions last night, so if it is based on his word it isn't worth anything.

[biblewonk]

This looks like one of those rare threads where there is no one to take the ignorant slut counterpoint. We all agree MJ is a total loser.

[GSWarrior]

The list of child stars who "go bad" is not a short one. Jackson became a mega-superstar before he was a teenager. However, I believe that the seeds of the behavior that Jackson demonstrates today were sown while he was a baby.

Still, that doesn't excuse the harm he has brought to others. His immense wealth only isolated him from those who might suggest he seek help.

BTW, I didn't watch the show, but I was reading on another thread last night that the interviewer was a real creep.

[SamAdams76]

It's hard to define his last effort as a failure as sales of more than 5,000,000 albums worldwide. But when his biggest album holds the world record at 45 million, in relative terms, he's crashing. When its debut sells tens of thousands less than the rapper DMX the week before, he's not the "king" of anything musical. He's no longer the toast of teen culture. The Peter Pan routine might have been cute at 24. It's creepy at 44.

What's really creepy is that there were 5,000,000 people who went out last year and bought the latest album from this sick bastard.

[bootyist-monk]

My understanding was the kid got about 6 million (15 large total minus lawyers and taxes).

This boy was basically being pimped by his mother, who was enamored with being close to celebrity, the private jets, the trips to Europe, etc. Once the father got custody, the party ended.

Did this boy perjure himself? I tend to think not for a couple reasons. Beyond the obvious legal issues, there are plenty of people (and facts) who can corroborate most of his story. His mom and sister were with him on the trips, and would be able to testify about where he slept. Airfare and hotels can be checked, as can phone records.

What we have here is a pedophile, pure and simple. The cocoon of protection provided by wealth and fame allows him to get away with it. A simple question to ask: If Jacko was a plumber, and had the same predilection for sleep-overs with the neighbors’ kids, is there any doubt that he would be in jail by now?

Bootyist

[SarahW]

Have you read the legal complaint?

It's credible on it's face, unlike the self-deluded narcissist that was on view last night.

Also, another FR forum member has seen a piece of evidence that convinced her that the reason he settled was because he'd been caught.

I don't know what she saw, but, if I had to guess about a piece of evidence that wouldn't send him to jail but would convince me he was guilty of child molestation, it would be somwthing along the lines of a tape showing on-the-mouth-kissing - not enough to convict without the testimony of the boy, but enough to corroborate his complaint.

But let's pretend he got a bum rap and paid out the 20 mil blackmail to make it go away.

He is not psychosexually normal. He is obsessed with children and childhood. He has abnormal man/child relationships.

Alright then, forget his misuse of other people's children to meet his emotional needs.

How can anyone condone him buying children and deliberately cutting their mother off from them? The one he married (because of the legal benefits of presumption of paternity - no adoption or paternity testing needed) he says is a great person. How could he deprive his own children of the maternal bond? He snatched one, placenta and all, and according to him, ran out of the hosptital with the newborn!

He's sad, sick and twisted in any case.

I do feel sorry for him. But I feel sorrier for the children he uses for his own selfish ends.

[SarahW]

He snatched one, placenta and all, and according to him, ran out of the hosptital with the newborn! As if HE has just given birth - He wanted all the bonding for himself.

[cyncooper]

As if HE has just given birth - He wanted all the bonding for himself.

The implications are just staggering.

[newgeezer]

Wow. 35 posts, and not a one trashing the article's author, Brent Bozell. Will wonders never cease? :-)

[Fester Chugabrew]

"What we have here is a pedophile, pure and simple."

I prefer to call it conjecture. Affadavits and settlements are not proof of guilt. How is the affidavit's claim going to be corroborated when all was done in "private?" Why would anyone with or without MJ's stash of cash want to explain everything to the public (as if he would find a willing ear) when it can be avoided? If anyone filed that affidavit against YOU, regardless of your innocence, would you want to sit in court to explain to the public that you do not enjoy sexual contact with children?

[CaptainJustice]

If anyone filed that affidavit against YOU, regardless of your innocence, would you want to sit in court to explain to the public that you do not enjoy sexual contact with children? Yes. As many times as it takes. You dont run away from stuff like that. If you are truly innocent, you fight and you fight hard for your reputation. You dont throw money at it and then flitter back to your giant amusement park. (That isnt a reference to you, Fester, by the way)

[miss marmelstein]

You've seen Red Buttons act?

[smith288]

Michael? Is that you?

[bootyist-monk]

A, I would never be foolish enough to put myself in the positions that Jacko goes out of his way to make part of his daily life.

B, I would absolutely fight any false claim vigorously, and do whatever it took to prove my innocence, not pay them off because I didn't want to go to court. This is just silly. Jacko has a whole team of lawyers on retainer who would glady beat down any false claims.

C, much like Monica's stained dress, my understanding is that the boy testified about visually distinct markings on Jacko's block and tackle.

Call it as you see it. I'll call it as I do. And as I call it - He's a sad has-been whose time has long since past and who now relies on self-mutalation and controversy to make up for the loss of his talent. He is also a child molester. Period.

Bootyist