Michael Jackson’s 1982 Thriller album became and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time, with current sales estimated at being between 110 and 120 million copies worldwide. Breaking down racial barriers and becoming the first African American artist to appear on MTV, effectively saving the fledgling company. Michael had been a star since his early start with his brothers in the Jackson 5 but was now propelled into superstar status.
A popular misconception in recent years is that the title of “King Of Pop” was self proclaimed and popularized by Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with the Soul Train Heritage Award in 1989, proclaiming him “the true king of pop, rock and soul.” In actuality newspapers coined the term much earlier.
In February 1984 CBS records hosted a bash for Jackson at the Museum Of Natural History in New York. Over 1500 guests were on hand to celebrate with Jackson as his Thriller album broke the 25 million sales mark. A New York paper’s headline read, “Some loving balm on injured new King Of Pop.” Other papers soon followed suit with the King Of Pop title including the July 3rd, 1984 issue of the Daily Star and the December 7, 1984 issue of The Chicago Sun Times.
Countless papers reported that, “Jackson shows no signs of the scalp injuries suffered when his hair caught fire during filming of a commercial in Los Angeles.” The injury they were referring to was of course the January 27, 1984 incident at the Shrine Auditorium when pyrotechnics caught Jackson’s hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial. Jackson, the ultimate showman as he was wheeled into the hospital waving his trademark sequined glove, was not about to let the world know just how bad his injuries really were. After his death burn records from Brotman Medical Center appeared in an online auction complete with the horrific photos of his injuries. The records also revealed that during a verbal consultation with Jackson’s physician, “patient has had recent diagnosis of discoid lupus erythematosus with scalp flakiness and previous scalp infection.”
“Haywood Nelson, who played Dwayne Wade on What’s Happening, told me in the early ’80s that MJ had Lupus. I believe Jermaine told him. I found out when everyone else did about the vitiligo,” family friend Flo Anthony.
“The doctors did procedures that they knew nothing about –just for a celebrity client,” one long time Jackson employee told me. “They found things out when it was too late. The Pepsi burn got infected and his head blew up. He was in so much pain and couldn’t get his hat on right. He was a commodity to the record label and went back to work too soon.”
After Jackson’s highly successful 1982 Thriller album and subsequent tour, entitled Victory with his brothers, the pop star would take a hiatus. In the meantime Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in her capacity as an editor at Doubleday Books, secured a coveted book deal with Jackson in 1984, when he was still riding high on the success of his “Thriller” album released two years earlier. Stephen Davis, the ghostwriter of “Moon Walk,” recalled when the book came out in 1988, topped the New York Times Bestseller list, and quickly sold out of its initial print run of almost 500,000 copies.
Davis had won over Jackson with his infamously seamy Led Zeppelin biography “Hammer of the Gods,” which was packed with tales of underage groupies, orgies and massive drug abuse. “Moon Walk” on the other hand was more tempered and family friendly.
“The book was very meat-and-potatoes — ‘Diana Ross discovered us, and then we went to Motown and we worked for (label founder) Mr. Gordy, and then we went to Los Angeles, I was in The Wiz…'”
“That was an extremely successful book. They made money on it,” Davis said.The obvious next step was to print more copies, and then prepare a paperback version. But Jackson, who had total control of the project, vetoed both plans — annoying Onassis.
The book’s major “scoop” was Jackson’s allegation that he was beaten by his father. But a throwaway comment Jackson made — and Davis cannot remember if it was in the book — proved to be more significant. Jackson had recounted how he and his older brothers would squeeze into a pair of hotel beds while on the road as youngsters, “and that’s how I feel best about going to sleep, to this day.”
Davis did not think it was odd that children were always on hand at Jackson’s Encino, Calif., home where the interviews took place over an intermittent eight-month period. “It was like his ward. It was like Batman and Robin. He was a very nice kid,” Davis said. “But there were several of them. “I’m sure they were bedding down with Mike, but I don’t believe for a minute that he ever molested them or touched them or anything like that, or gave them alcohol.”
Rather, Davis surmised that they were playmates in Jackson’s innocent fantasy world. They would play video games, watch movies and run errands for him.
Bad was Michael Jackson’s first solo concert tour, launched in support of his seventh studio album of the same name released in 1987. Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts to over four million fans and spanned across 15 countries, making it the second highest grossing tour of 1987. Generally described as a polite and generous man –sometimes to a fault—Michael was secretive about most of his charitable work. Jackson dedicated his Japanese concerts to Yoshiaki Hagiwara, a five-year-old boy who was kidnapped and murdered. He also gave £12,000 to the child’s grieving parents. While off stage in Australia, he spent time visiting sick children at their homes in the Sydney suburbs. For two shows in Atlanta, Georgia– Jackson gave 100 tickets to the Children’s Wish Foundation for terminally ill children. The first of three concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City in March served as a benefit to raise $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund. Jackson also presented a check for $600,000 to the fund.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles attended the July 16, 1988 show at Wembley Stadium. “Dirty Diana” was meant to be taken out of the set list because Jackson thought that it would offend her Royal Highness, but to Jackson’s surprise, the Princess stated backstage that “Dirty Diana” was her favorite song of Jackson’s, however being so close to show time, Jackson was allegedly unable to add the song back to the set list. Jackson presented a check for 300,000 pounds made out to the “Prince’s Trust”, an organization addressing disadvantaged children. “I was so excited at meeting the royal couple. I’m very very happy that they came to watch me perform. I thought the Princess was just wonderful”, said the singer following the meeting.
In their first in depth conversation, the next day at tea time, they exchanged stories about their prospective childhoods. Michael, who was then twenty-nine years old and had just put the finishing touches to his autobiography, felt relaxed and confided in Diana. Afterwards Jackson and the Princess instantly bonded. “Michael would spend thousands of dollars on phone bills to Princess Di. They would talk about feeling hunted and trapped by the paparazzi,” a rep from People magazine recalls.
While still in London, Michael donated 100,000 pounds to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. He meet with critically ill children and their parents at the hospital on July 20, 1988.Spending time with patients, sharing words of comfort, reading stories to the children and delivering presents, including albums, signed photos and T-shirts. He aligned himself with the “Wishing Well Fund” for sponsoring the construction of a novel unit, as part of the “Hospital for Sick Children” in London, England. Notably, 4-year-old Joanne Doeffer, having undergone a throat operation and breathing through a special tube, was visited by the star. The meet-and-greet prompting her to struggle and say “Thriller” to a delighted Jackson.
Upon completion of the successful tour Jackson had secretly been looking to buy the, “home of his dreams.” The singer previously visited Sycamore Valley Ranch during the filming of the music video for ,”Say Say Say.” A song he performed with Paul McCartney for the latter’s 1983 Pipes of Peace album. The former Beatle would tell Michael about the publishing catalogs he currently owned and just him how much money could be made in music publishing. A conversation that many would say McCartney would come to regret.
Years earlier, Robert and Janet Holmes à Court purchased a company in the UK that contained a music catalog –ATV Music publishing. In 1985 Bert Royter did the negotiations for the sale of the catalog for Holmes à Court saying, “We had given Paul McCartney first right of refusal but he didn’t want it at that time so Michael Jackson’s people approached us we negotiated with him.” Upon stipulation to the sale Jackson agreed to fly to Perth, Australia and attend a Telethon benefiting Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research among others.
According to Janet Holmes à Court during his time in Perth, Michael attended a garden party and was deeply concerned about sun exposure. He also requested to visit an antique bookstore where he purchased, “two medical books with graphic 19th century drawings about skin disease.” Behavior that re-confirms his early diagnosis of the skin disorder, vitiligo. Holmes à Court further stated that she was convinced that a deciding factor in the decision to purchase the catalog was because of the great American “black music” such as “Nat king Cole” contained therein. Although, that might have been a factor Michael was well aware of the value of the Beatles music and future earning potential of such an investment. Ultimately, Jackson bought the entire Beetle’s library, ATV music publishing, for approximately 41 million. Little Richard would soon appeared on the Joan Rivers show and excitedly tell viewers how Michael was generous enough to return his music rights.
Michael secretly purchased, the property he previously visited with McCartney, from entrepreneur William Bone in 1988 –for just over 17 million in cash. Renaming it Neverland Valley Ranch .His family, with the possible exception of his mother Katherine, was hurt to be informed of the news by television. A few weeks after Michael purchased his new home family members were invited to the ranch. Noticeably absent was his father Joseph who Michael would address by stated to his mother,” You know I don’t want Joseph here and you know why.”
Jermaine Jackson’s common-law wife, Margaret Maldonado, would describe Latoya Jackson as, “innocent with a good heart but a master at getting what she wanted.” Ironically, Latoya asked her opinion about getting breast implants and posing for Playboy magazine, when the two women lived at the family’s Havenhurst home. A question that Margaret found odd at the time –but foreshadowed things to come.
Latoya might have been sheltered in her youth but not entirely innocent. For several years, singer Bobby DeBarge pursued La Toya Jackson . Switch band mate and DeBarge’s best friend, Gregory Williams, contended that the group’s hit songs, such as “There’ll Never Be” and “I Call Your Name” were love songs to La Toya. While he didn’t mention her name, he did mention Jackson’s song “Nighttime Lover” in the Switch ballad, “You & I”, a song he wrote in response to Jackson’s single. By 1984, DeBarge had split from Jackson and later married his first and only wife, Terri, with whom he would have two children. Actor Lawrence Hilton Jacob from the television show Welcome Back Kotter was another suitor as well as a very brief courtship with David Gest.
Joseph Jackson, who was known for associations with questionable business men, brought Jack Gordon in to help manage Latoya’s career. Under Gordon’s management, Latoya’s public image became increasingly sexier. When Joseph became disenchanted with Gordon, whom he felt assumed too much control over Latoya’s career, the men had a heated argument that ultimately became physical at the family’s Havenhurst home. Latoya who sided with Gordon at the time began to cry stating,” My mother is behind all of this. You think she’s the sweetest woman, but she’s the one who’s pushing Joseph’s buttons.” Thirty-three year old Latoya eventually fled the family home with Jack Gordon and made her first appeared in Playboy Magazine in March 1989.
Heal The World
In a way, Michael Jackson’s monkey Bubbles would be the inspiration of one of the songs on his Dangerous album. In late 1990 Jane Goodall, a primatologist expert who has spent her life dedicated to studying the behaviors of chimpanzees in Africa, would be invited by Michael to visit him in Neverland.
Goodall, famous for her 50 years of groundbreaking research on chimpanzees in Africa, said Jackson invited her because “he loved what I did.”
When challenged about how his own interest in these types of animals might make him appear “weird” later on Jackson would tell an interviewer, “God created animals. And they’re loving; they’re beautiful. I feel the way [anthropologist] Jane Goodall does or any of those naturalists. I don’t find my interest in animals weird or strange at all.”
In 1988 Jane had actually turned down making an appearance at a PETA dinner where she was being honored because Bubbles would be present. PETA had named him an “animal rights ambassador” because of how Jackson had rescued him from a cancer research lab, but Goodall didn’t believe in keeping chimps as pets. PETA would defend Jackson and Bubbles with founder Ingrid Newkirk saying, “Seeing how intelligent and social he is, people can see why we have to leave chimps in the dignity of their natural environment,” adding that, “[Bubbles] did have a good time at the dinner.”
Perhaps after hearing he’d offended her and being a fan of hers, he’d sought her out to speak to her directly about Bubbles and her work with primates. Goodall would say that she had heard through friends that Michael wanted to speak with her, but had not heard anything directly until Christmas 1990 when the telephone rang at her house and her mother answered, only to turn to her in shock and tell her that Michael Jackson was on the end of the line. Jane says that, “The first thing he said was, ‘you don’t approve of me having a pet chimp, do you?’ “I said, ‘No.’
Although she still disagreed with people keeping chimps as pets, they decided to overlook this difference in opinions, sharing a common idealism and a love of both children and chimpanzees, and so she agreed to visit him at his ranch. It’s reported that he had also sought her advice on how to properly take care of the chimps he had, including Bubbles, who apparently seemed discontent at the time, and that she had suggested fixing the chimp up with two female chimps and a kinder trainer. She would later say that keeping wild animals was slightly different for Jackson, “with the money and space he has he can create conditions on a par with any zoo.”
Goodall remembers of her visit to Neverland in late 1990, “I got taken to my room, and then sat waiting for Michael. Classical music was playing. The views were magnificent. I sat, feeling the whole experience was surreal. After a while, I heard a small voice. I turned and there was Michael. We said hello and he asked if I would like a drive through the ranch. At the time there were many animals there.” She remembers seeing a large swan swimming in a children’s pool, waiting as a larger pond was being constructed for it, his long python, Muscles, some giraffes, and two beautiful black horses she says he’d already had harnessed for her in case she wanted to ride.
While driving across the ranch together he began to sing softly. But then suddenly, he stopped. She asked him to continue singing, and was surprised when he told her that he was too shy. “I pointed out that when he was on stage he was anything but shy.” He told her that when he was on stage, “there was magic. He let the magic come at him and take him over, he became another person.” Goodall said she told him that she could relate to that, “It was the same thing that happened to me when I was working with animals.” She says that he pointed out areas to her where giraffes and other animals moved about freely, “He seemed very happy in his new home.” He told her about his plans for the ranch, “he talked about his dreams for the place to have animals running, looking free like they would in the wild. … It was just a very charming day, very low key, nobody else was there.” At some point Jane said that Jackson had even done a little home footage with her at the ranch with him, just to keep for himself.
Then he told her that he would take her to “my children’s rooms.” He lead her to a room full of toys and games which he told her was his son’s room. “When we reached the miniature train set, Michael sat on the floor and tried to start it for me, but something went wrong and out came a cloud of smoke. He quickly turned it off laughing.” Then she says he took her to “his daughter’s room”, which was full of dolls and gowns. She congratulated him on the birth of his upcoming daughter and says that at this he started laughing. “I have no son and no daughter,” he told her, “But you believed I did!” She told him that she thought it could be true, spending much of her time in Africa she was out of touch with mainstream celebrity news. Jane would say, “He seemed very funny.” He would explain to her, “I will have a son and a daughter someday,” and that these were the rooms he’d created for them. Michael had also shown these bedrooms for his future children to Ryan White’s mother Jeanne who would say that she’d seen other celebrities epress similar desires for children, “It was not to be the last time that I would come upon a rich, famous man longing for the comfort of a family of his own.”
Jane says that he then lead her into a room full of all sorts of lessons for children with chemical experiments, workbooks,-all the kind of material you would if you were teaching children. Michael told her that he wanted to give her the opportunity to teach many children what it was that she knew. “In some ways, he was like a child, and a very sweet and gentle child, and he wanted me to tell him many, many stories,” she said. “Stories about the chimpanzees, the forests, animals, anything. He told me he liked the way I told stories.”
“Later, we went to his own bedroom. I had brought him a few small gifts: a stone with polished edges from a special beach in the Isle of Wight (an island off the south coast of England), a photo of my favorite chimpanzee, David Greybeard, one of my books and a video.”
Jane wanted to show him footage of chimps in a medical research laboratory that she had brought with her. “We lay in his bed together to watch, propped against pillows; I had to bend down and look behind a pile of pillows to see his face.” She says that as they watched the footage of these chimps in captivity at certain points she saw Michael smile. “But it’s terrible,” she says she’d told him, “So sad, how can you smile?” “It’s his face,” he’d told her, “I love their faces. They’re so much like us. I like going to the zoo to see them eat. They are so sweet!” She thought that it was a “childish response” but said it was obvious that, “he loved chimpanzees. He loved to watch them feeding. He liked their faces. They made him smile.”
Then she asked him if he would be willing to help the chimpanzees. When he said yes, she suggested that if he wrote a song especially for the chimpanzees, it could raise millions. He told her he would like to write such a song.
She left the next day, “My lasting impression of him was of a very sweet, bright, and lonely man.” Some time later, her friend Michael Aisner received a message saying that Michael had asked her if she could send him a lot of videos involving stories about animal cruelty. He wanted these tapes because “he wanted to be angry and cry” as he wrote the song. Goodall says, “Michael told me later that he had cried and could not sleep after seeing the reports.”
“The last time I saw Michael, Mr. Aisner and I were invited to his studio to hear the song. It was an early version of “Heal the World”. Later, of course, the song had changed and became an anthem for children.”
Although the song would not be about animals and Goodall was disappointed that the proceeds did not go towards chimpanzees, Jackson would host a £500-a-seat Chimps’ Tea Party at Neverland in April of that year to raise money for Jane Goodall’s ape research institute and a few weeks after that, at a fundraising gala he would pay for a $10,000 table even though he could not attend, as well as sending a videotaped message and a white fedora to be auctioned off in support of the Gombe chimps in Nigeria. At the end of the album there is a thanks to “Jane Goodall for her inspiration.” Though expressing her disappointment at the lack of funding from the sales of the song Jane still lists Heal The World among her favorite songs on her site
This song and his desire to make a difference would coalesce into his “Heal The World” foundation.
Be Mine
In June 1990, Michael was hospitalized. His personal publicist, Bob Jones, read a statement from Jackson’s attending cardiologist, Mark Zatzkis, who said the singer suffered from an inflammation called costochondritis , “which can be caused by overexertion and stress and is usually extremely painful.” Michael’s brother Jermaine visited him while in hospital and took note of Michael’s reading material stating, “I noticed two books on his bedside table: one about marriage and divorce, the other about taxes.”
“I remember he was going with this girl and he was so in love with her. He came to show me the ring he’d bought for her,” said Liza Minnelli in an interview after Jackson’s death. “But the girl turned him down. She said that she wasn’t ready to commit right now. It all but killed him. He was heartbroken.” When asked about Minnelli’s statement, family friend Flo Anthony would say, “I do know he dated an artist from the Oakland, California area who he was considering marrying. She had one of those African type names.”
Brenda Harvey Richie would say on Twitter, I know of a woman Michael proposed to in 1991 but she was not an artist from Oakland! Yes African American!”
A draft of Jackson’s 1992 hit song “Remember The Time” was found among his possessions and written on the back of a clock. It was dated August 12, 1990.
Do you remember
On that summer night
When I gave you that ring
There are tape recordings of Michael Jackson speaking on the telephone with members of the Stein family from 1990-1992. Within the Jackson fan community these recordings are dubbed “The Glenda Tapes.” In the mid-80’s Michael had been contacted by Glenda Stein’s son, Damion, who was a fan of the superstar. Michael had graciously written a letter back to the Steins and a friendship soon developed with the family. Damion would later claim that Michael’s phone calls to his family were taped out of marital jealousy, because Michael was spending a lot of time speaking to his mother, Glenda. His father Sam had become suspicious that his wife might be having an affair with Jackson. In a conversation taped sometime in mid-1992 Glenda mentioned Jackson’s proposal:
Glenda: (laugh) Or when you called me and told me that you were gonna get married. I thought that I had given you all the wrong advice, I thought, “Oh my god!”
MADONNA
Early 1991 also brought Madonna back into Jackson’s life. According to Madonna, Michael approached her with the idea of collaborating on his upcoming Dangerous album. He was writing a song called “In the Closet”—a title intended to be playfully provocative—for the album, and perhaps felt that Madonna, the reigning queen of all things provocative, would be the most suitable partner for such a track.
The two had first met years earlier, in 1984, after a Victory Tour show in New York. Madonna had been deeply impressed by Jackson’s talent: “I met him in the early Eighties, when I first started working with my manager, Freddy DeMann, who at the time was managing Michael Jackson. I saw him play at Madison Square Garden, and I was blown away. He was flawless. There was a party at the Helmsley Palace Hotel. He was very shy, but it was a thrill for me.”
Jermaine Jackson remembered seeing her there. “At first, she actually came across as shy. She seemed more of a VIP fan than a fellow artist as she moved between rooms at the hotel, being social, spending most of her time with Michael and Randy. It was certainly productive networking time for her. Not only did she end up being managed by the Jacksons’ management, Weisner and DeMann, she would recruit our keyboard player, Pat Leonard, as her musical director, and our drummer Jonathan Moffett for her Virgin tour.”
But Jermaine believed Madonna was interested in more than just networking, saying that she’d been “hovering with intent” at the party, determined to get action with one of the brothers. Michael was “indifferent” to her back in 1984, and so Madonna turned her attentions to his brother Randy. Even though Randy had his girlfriend with him and in fact on his arm, this didn’t deter her and Jermaine says: “Ignoring his girlfriend, she walked up to Randy, grabbed his face and stuck her tongue down his throat.” While Jermaine didn’t reveal exactly what Randy and Michael thought about that kind of forwardness, he went on to add, “You would have thought that kind of directness would be enough to put off someone as delicate as Michael when it came to future dating prospects but, come 1991, he and Madonna ‘dated’ for the shortest time.”
Madonna was intrigued by the proposed collaboration: “He wanted to work with me, I think he wanted to get to know me, and I wanted to do the same.” As they began working together, their relationship would become more personal. She explained, “At his suggestion, we started to write a song together. I said at the beginning that we weren’t gonna do some silly love duet. He could do that with anyone. It had to be organic. When you write with somebody, it’s a weird experience, you feel vulnerable and shy. To write songs together is a very intimate experience.”
In order to help forge this intimacy, they agreed to go out to dinner together to get better acquainted and to see if they had the level of chemistry they would need for a sexually-charged duet.
Michael knew from the outset she had certain perceptions about him. “Madonna laid the law down to me before we went out,” he recounted. “[She said,] ‘I am not going to Disneyland, okay? That’s out.’ I said, ‘But I didn’t ask you to go to Disneyland.’ She said, ‘We are going to the restaurant and afterwards we are going to a strip bar.’ I said, ‘I am not going to a strip bar, where they cross dress. Guys who are girls…. If that’s how it is, forget this whole thing.’”
In the end, their date featured neither Disneyland nor strip bars. They instead had dinner together at The Ivy in Los Angeles in early March. Madonna wore black hot pants, a low-cut top, and lace stockings; Michael wore jeans and sunglasses. Madonna remembered, “We drove to the restaurant in my car. It was dark out, but he was still wearing sunglasses. I said, ‘Michael, I feel like I’m talking to a limousine, do you think you could take off those glasses so I could see your eyes?’ He paused for a moment, then he tossed the glasses out the window, looked at me with a wink and a smile and said, ‘Can you see me now, is that better?’ In that moment, I could see both his vulnerability and his charm.”
Photographers were there to catch them as they arrived. Two of the biggest celebrities in the world were out on a date—a photograph of the pair meant an instant payday.According to journalist Jamie Foster, other diners at The Ivy recounted that Madonna would notice Michael stealing glances at her cleavage during dinner. With her signature forwardness, she reportedly took one of his hands and placed it on her breast, letting him know that she’d caught him looking and didn’t mind. Michael was apparently taken aback, as it wasn’t his style to put on a show for the public eye. Realizing that onlookers were watching his every move, he simply smiled and carried on with the evening. Madonna reportedly continued to tease him; at one point intentionally dropping a piece of bread down her cleavage, only to fish it out and eat it suggestively, much to Michael’s bemusement.
Madonna felt keenly aware of the differences between Jackson and herself. In a later account of her relationships with Michael and the musician Prince, she recalled, “I felt like a peasant next to them, like this big clumsy farm girl. Like, when I’m hungry, I eat. When I’m thirsty, I drink. When I feel like saying something, I say it. And they have these manners and they’re just so careful about what they eat and what they say.”
But she was determined to bridge that gap with Michael. She explained, “The rest of the dinner, I was hell-bent on getting him to eat French fries, drink wine, have dessert and say bad words. Things he never seemed to allow himself to do.” She says she succeeded: “He got relaxed. He took off his sunglasses, had a glass of wine, I got him to laugh.”
Outside the restaurant, photographers were crowding the pavement, waiting for the couple to finish dining. Now that they knew the stars were there on a date, they were in a frenzy to get more shots of the two of them together, causing a commotion outside. Photographer Vinnie Zuffante said that the Maitre ‘d had refused to let the photographers get their sought after shot of the two together outside his restaurant and so had them escorted out one by one with busboys covering their faces with menus and tablecloths. But the photographers were still determined to get their shots, as Zuffante said, “So I hit him in the head twice with the camera—the maitre d’. Madonna says, ‘It’s OK, you don’t have to do this,’ and the maitre d’ is saying, ‘Not in front of my restaurant.’ He’s hitting me, I hit him in the head with the camera. Madonna starts laughing. It was crazy.”
After escaping the photographers, Madonna took Jackson to a more private spot: “We went back to my house to watch a movie and sat on the couch like two kids, and somewhere in the middle of the movie, his hand snuck over and held mine. It felt like he was looking for more of a friend than a romance, and I was happy to oblige. In that moment, he didn’t feel like a superstar. He felt like a human being.”
During the next few days, the two spoke on the phone regularly about their potential collaboration, and Jackson asked for Madonna’s opinion on an early demo of the track. When she learned the title of the song, she was surprised and impressed: “Strangely enough, he chose the song title ‘In the Closet.’ And I said to him, ‘Michael that’s great, but it has connotations, right? What do you think you mean by that? Do you know what that iplies?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’” While Madonna was no stranger to controversial topics, she didn’t expect them from Jackson. She explained, “I like to deal with these ironic innuendo kind of things, so if you want to go that way…. I was shocked that he would call [a song] something like that because it’s a very provocative title.”
Although “In the Closet” is one of Michael’s most overtly sexual songs, she thought it should be more edgy. She wanted the song to be about who he was—or rather, who she perceived him to be: “Because I wanted him to explore not just being emotionally in the closet but sexually, too, and I thought, what better people to do that than Michael and me? The juxtapositions…. I had tons of ideas for the video.” These ideas reportedly included both of them playing with gender roles, such as dressing as a couple in drag – with Madonna as the man and Michael as the woman. Unsurprisingly, Michael wanted nothing to do with these suggestions.
However, Michael wasn’t completely opposed to all of her suggestions. “I started throwing things at him, to provoke a response,” Madonna remembered. “I gave him the movie In the Realm of the Senses, and he always said he liked it.” A very sexually explicit Japanese movie, In the Realm of the Senses had garnered a great deal of controversy at the time for showing unsimulated sex acts between the leading actor and actress.
The public had another taste of the new relationship between Jackson and Madonna a few weeks later. Knowing that Madonna was set to appear at the Oscars in a few weeks, Michael asked who she would be taking as her date. Madonna says she, “looked at him and said, ‘I don’t know, you wanna go?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, that’d be great.’”
That night, Michael looked legendary in gold-tipped cowboy boots, a blinding diamond brooch, and a sparkling white jacket. Madonna paid homage to Marilyn Monroe, wearing a low-cut, pearl-encrusted Bob Mackie gown and $20 million in diamonds. Madonna remembered that even her own employees were star struck in Jackson’s presence: “It was pouring rain, the limo door opened and Michael got out first. I got out right after him, and my bodyguard leaves with Michael under the umbrella. I was left standing in the rain. It was so fascinating to see how people responded to him.”
An Oscar date between stars of their magnitude was bound to enthral the public, and the Oscar organizers knew it. According to photographer Vinnie Zuffante, the organizers didn’t even want the two to be seen arriving together. Neither of them were nominees, yet everyone knew that any photo of them together would dominate the front pages of every paper the next day, eclipsing photos of the actual Oscar winners. Although they were ushered in through the back door, they were given front row seats along the aisle for the show.
Ater the show they left to Spago fo for Swifty Lazar’s annual after Oscar bash. Dominick Dunne recounted the stir they caused as they entered the party, even among other legends: “They came in. They were so dazzling. And people like Jimmy Stewart, you know, one of the greats of all time in Hollywood, stood on a chair to get a better look at Madonna and Michael Jackson. I mean, that was the—I mean, they caused such a commotion at that party.” Enjoying the scene they were creating, Madonna reportedly whispered and giggled in Michael’s ear for a bit before abandoning her date and hopping over to former flame Warren Beatty’s table. Within moments, she and Beatty began treating the crowd to a display of heavy breathing and light petting. “He fondled her all over,” remembered one witness.Michael wasn’t alone for long, though; his old friend Diana Ross came to his rescue. As People magazine reported, “tit-for-tat, [Michael] dandled Diana Ross on his lap.”
“Well, I just don’t understand it, Michael,” Diana Ross reportedly then said, loudly enough for many to hear. “I mean, she’s supposed to be with you, isn’t she? So, what is she doing with him?” Jackson whispered that he didn’t know: “I guess she likes him better.” Ross responded, “Well, I think she’s an awful woman…. Tacky dress, too.”
Just ten years earlier it had been the two of them attending the Oscars together, but it had been 5 years since Ross had married Naess and their relationship had been strained since, with Jackson’s jealousy and heartbreak at their marriage something he had never attempted to disguise. Just three months after this chance encounter at the Oscars for the two to catch up she would opine to an interviewer about the way Jackson had shut her out, “Stevie [Wonder] has never shut me out. But Michael – when he wants to see me, he sees me; when he doesn’t he kind of closes the door. There’s no reaching him, there’s no finding him, there’s no anything. He’s just this elusive love out there. Somebody you care about, want to protect in a strange kind of way, feeling motherly toward him, but at the same time you can’t reach him and don’t know where he is.”
Madonna ultimately returned and joined Michael for a grand exit. Madonna was coy about what happened after they left: “Then, yes, he took me home…. And now, what do you wanna know? What happened after that? … I’m not gonna tell you.”
Of course, rumors quickly surfaced about the pair. There were reports in the press that Madonna had confided in friends that the two had indeed “sucked face” at some point that night, although no further details were given. Publicly, she said, “I think we read books…. I have tons of books on photography. So that sticks out in my mind.”
Michael later shared his thoughts on Madonna’s library: “You know, at the time I was with Madonna, she was into books, all over, a whole collection … like a library of books of women who were tied to walls, different things. She said, ‘I love spanky books.’ Why would I want to see that? I think she likes shock value.”
As the days passed, they continued to talk on the phone about their potential duet. But Madonna seemed to be more focused on revamping Jackson’s life than working on their song, saying she wanted to give him a new look, envisioning him in a Caesar haircut, and saying she wanted him to lose his trademark loafers, glove, or buckles. One of Madonna’s stylist friends at the time, House of Xtravaganza member Luis Camacho, said she wanted to give him far more than just a physical makeover–she wanted to completely rehaul his life. Camacho said, “Not that we’re psychologists but he needs to talk, hang out, have a drink at a lonely bar down in Soho, a trip to the rooftop to let him scream.” In Jermaine Jackson’s words, she played on the fears he had about relationships: that every woman tries to change a man.”
Beyond his fashion and hair, it seemed Madonna also wanted to push their relationship further: “How would you like getting a phone call and she is telling you that she is putting her fingers between her legs. I would say, ‘Oh Madonna, please.’ She said, ‘What I want you to do when I hang up the phone is rub yourself and think of me.’ That’s the kind of stuff she says. She does. When I see her she says, ‘This is the finger I used last night.’ Wild, out of control.” This sort of desperation didn’t appeal to Michael and he would say, “She is not sexy at all. I think sexy comes from the heart in the way you present yourself.”
Madonna’s friend Sandra Bernhard remarked at the time that Madonna seemed infatuated with Michael, stating, “Every time I call her she’s either talking to or about Michael Jackson.” Madonna herself made no bones about her feelings. “I think he’s very attractive in many ways,” she said of Michael. Since then, she has admitted, “I was madly in love with him, totally smitten. He was mind-bogglingly talented.”
Despite these personal conflicts, Michael surprisingly continued to pursue the duet idea, inviting Madonna to his studio to discuss his ideas. Sam L. Parity, who was there when Madonna arrived, noticed once again that she had more than music on her mind: “They spent a little while in his private room in the back, and then she left. When I asked Michael later about her visit, he said that she ‘scared’ him. I think we all speculated that she tried to make a ‘move’ on him, but Michael never said. In any event, we never saw her again after that.”
No one has revealed what this “move” might have been, but Michael later confided to Macaulay Culkin’s father that a popular female entertainer had once “exposed herself” to him, just to see how he would react. Kit Culkin didn’t disclose the entertainer’s name, but actor Al Pacino has given an account of Madonna treating him to a similar display.
Regardless of how much she “scared” him, Michael tried once more to bring her attention back to their musical collaboration. He invited her out for dinner at Spago’s—a dinner that spelled the end of their partnership. Michael was offended by Madonna’s behavior during the meal: “I have told you that we were at the table eating and some little kids came up. ‘Oh my God, Michael Jackson and Madonna. Can we have your autograph?’ She said, ‘Get out of here. Leave us alone.’ I said, ‘Don’t ever talk to children like that.’ She said, ‘Shut up.’ I said, ‘You shut up.’ That’s how we were.”
According to Jermaine, this dinner was the deal breaker between them, saying that Madonna’s second big mistake—the first being her attempts to change Michael—took place “when they were at dinner one night and she had the temerity to criticize Janet. Michael was furious and, not surprisingly, they never went on another date.” That was the end of any duet and any possible romance.At the Cannes Film Festival that year, Madonna told reporters that their musical collaboration was off the table, stating, “He ran away from me.” Later, she amended her account, claiming that it had been her idea to drop the duet: “I wasn’t willing to spend all that time being like the policewoman. And I thought, ‘This guy doesn’t need me. He knows what he wants.’”
Interestingly, Michael did ultimately adopt a new look for his Dangerous album, perhaps taking some of Madonna’s suggestions to heart. His representatives reached out to both Giorgio Armani and Thierry Muglier for new fashion ideas, and Michael later wore Thierry’s designs in promotional materials for the album. And although he didn’t cut his hair, Michael opted to wear it pulled back in a ponytail for the “In the Closet” video. His outfit for the video was similarly streamlined and understated.
The celebrity world being a small one, Madonna and Michael were bound to run into one another again. The following year, Madonna filmed Body of Evidence at the same studio where Michael was working on a Pepsi shoot. An extra on the film remarked, “Michael Jackson was there, and it amused me that some of the older female extras that were working with Madonna every day were awestruck when they saw him.”
Michael was aware that Madonna was nearby. Actor Joe Mantegna, who was at the studio at the same time, recalled that Michael started telling him about her, “You know, she can be naughty, a bad girl, sometimes she needs to be spanked.” According to Joe, Michael had no idea that Madonna had walked into the room and was standing right behind him as he said this. Perhaps her “spanky” books had left a bigger impression on him than he would let on.
Indeed, there were unconfirmed reports that Michael, curious about Madonna’s own photography book, had gone out in disguise to purchase a copy of Sex, only to find that the book was out of stock. In an interesting twist, the book also featured nude shots of Naomi Campbell, the woman who replaced Madonna in the video for “In the Closet.”
Other unconfirmed rumors surfaced at the time, hinting that something further had transpired between the two at some point. Some said that she had been very sexually aggressive with Michael when the pair returned to her home after the Oscars. These accounts are in line with other tales of Madonna’s sexuality. The musician Prince, for instance, described her as very sexually domineering, telling T.L. Ross she had the “strength of ten women” in bed.
Perhaps revealing how he’d felt about her seduction process, in a 1993 Life magazine article, Michael was photographed with a large albino python. He told the reporter that the snake was called Madonna because she was “blonde,” but claimed that he wasn’t the one who had named her—although he didn’t reveal who had. And in 1994, Michael reportedly referred to Madonna as “Moo-donna” or “heifer” (Flo Anthony has stated that “heifer” was one of Michael’s favorite insults). Madonna then reportedly responded, “I’d rather look like a cow than a space-alien drag queen.”
“Afterwards she wrote some mean things about me in the press and I wrote that she is a nasty witch, after I was so kind to her,” Michael would say. He later was more candid, telling friend Ahmad Elatab that she was a “bitch.”
Perhaps feeling aware of how she’d behaved Madonna would later reportedly leave flowers at one of the shows she attended during the HIStory tour.
Family Feud
In March of 1991, Janet Jackson signed what was hailed at the time as one of the biggest record deals in music history with Virgin Records. At the same time, Michael was in negotiations with Sony, which had recently bought out CBS/Epic Records. Upon learning of Janet’s news, Michael held off on announcing his newly inked deal to allow Janet to enjoy her time in the spotlight.
Michael’s fifteen-year contract with Sony included six records and a film. The largest contract to date, it made him the CEO of his own record label, Nation Records, a name that played on the title of Janet’s hit song “Rhythm Nation.” The label was later renamed MJJ Music, and Michael’s father Joe Jackson subsequently claimed ownership of a record label during televised interviews.
1991 also brought Michael’s sister LaToya back into the limelight when she posed for Playboy a second time that fall. Her goal was to promote her autobiography, La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family, and an excerpt of the book appeared with her nude photos. The autobiography details the cruelty the Jackson children endured at the hands of their father, Joseph. Her discussion of physical abuse was later confirmed in Margaret Maldonado Jackson’s (Jermaine Jackson’s ex-wife) 1995 book, Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness, and by Michael himself in his 1993 Oprah Winfrey interview and his 2003 interview with Martin Bashir. Michael had earlier recounted many aspects of Joe’s mistreatment in his taped conversations with Glenda Stein:
Michael: It’s like, “The Jackson family, they’re so wholesome.” And we all took pictures together back in the Jackson 5 days with Motown and stuff like that. We were all so close and Joseph was, you know, “Papa Joe.” You know. And then La Toya told the truth. They portray everything, you know, because of publicity. “The Jackson family. They lived in a ghetto in Gary, Indiana, and they made it and they’re so tight knit.” –Tight knit, my ass!
Michael: Joseph used to beat us all the time and…he would just…get to me. And I bought into that, he was like, “Oh you put on a few pounds.” The only thing that I could control in my life, what with Motown…it’s like, they dictate to you everything. What you wear, what you sing. ’Cause back then we weren’t allowed to sing our own stuff and do our own stuff. They dictate to you what you can wear…If you’re on an interview, if you’re going on Carson, “This is what you say, this is what you don’t say.” The only control I had over my life was eating. I had no control. We had no control…I wasn’t like my brothers. People, they’re angry and they take it out on others. I was angry and hurt, and I took it out on myself. And being brought up with Joseph and stuff like that…when we were rehearsing on 2300 [Jackson Street, in Gary, Indiana] —where we used to live. It’s like, If I danced wrong, if I sang the wrong note, I’d get the hell beat out of me, I’d get thrown in the basement. So instead of taking that out on other people, I withdrew and I’d take it out on myself. There was nothing I could control in my life but my eating. And Joseph told me, “Oh, you’re…oh you have such a big nose…you don’t look like my child. Your nose is so big,” and this and that. They used to call me Big Nose and stuff. And instead of retaliating on them, I just did it with myself.”
In the same year, Jermaine Jackson temporarily moved to Atlanta with his common-law wife Margaret to begin recording tracks for his new album You Said with producers L.A. Reid and Babyface. To his consternation, his producers were nowhere to be found. After receiving the runaround for several weeks, Jermaine learned that they were in California working with Michael. This discovery was particularly hurtful since Michael was aware of his brother’s plan to collaborate with them. When L.A. Reid and Babyface finally returned to Atlanta, it was revealed that they had only joined Jermaine in the studio because Michael had decided not to use any of their material on his new album.
Jermaine’s frustration appears to have manifested itself in the first song the team recorded: a single entitled “Word to the Badd!!” In the song, Jermaine lambasted his brother Michael with lyrics that read in-part:
Once you were made
You changed your shade
Was your color wrong?
Thinkin’ about that pie that you’ve been takin’ from me
From a brother to another brother hard to believe
Lost and don’t know it yet you still show it
Givin’ seems to be harder than it is to receive
The glass has gotten shady, time to make it clearer,
Clean it up and let’s start with the Man in the mirror.
The song created a rift between the siblings that continued for some time. Jermaine’s common law wife Margaret said, “When I first heard the lyrics to Jermaine’s ‘Word to the Badd!’ I was saddened but hardly surprised…Jermaine’s jealousy of his brother had hit epic proportions by mid-1991.” Jermaine, on the other hand, declared that he had written the song to “put Michael in his place” and thought it was “the best thing he had ever done.”
“Word to the Badd!” was mysteriously leaked to a radio station in Los Angeles several days before Michael’s song “Black or White,” the first single from his Dangerous album, was officially released in November 1991. Both singles were dropped off separately in the early evening at the same radio station in brown paper bags creating a media scandal. According to Margaret both friends and family expressed their displeasure about the situation. .
In the same year that “Word to the Badd” was released, Whitney Houston revealed in an interview that she wanted to work with Michael Jackson: “I think he and I probably would create a lot of magic… Incredible!” She mentioned that she and Michael had discussed a musical collaboration two or three years earlier, but it had yet to materialize. “He hasn’t called me,” she smiled, “but I can’t wait.”
Flo Anthony, a close Jackson family friend, gave further insight into Houston’s relationships with the Jacksons: “I’ve always heard that MJ and Whitney had crushes on each other, but, she had a long term affair with Jermaine. They even lived together for a summer in New Jersey, so, I doubt if anything was really happening with her and MJ. She also had dinner with him [Michael] at Neverland. He served fried chicken.”
Margaret Maldonado Jackson has confirmed that Jermaine had a romantic connection with both Whitney Houston and the model Iman. The latter had appeared in Jermaine’s 1984 video “Do What You Do” and would soon star in Michael’s “Remember The Time” video.
In an attempt to clear the air, the two brothers met in their mother’s, Katherine Jackson’s, presence, and Michael told Jermaine that he felt hurt and betrayed by his actions. He also warned his brother about the potentially negative reaction from his angered fans. But Jermaine was determined to stand behind the recording: “This is what Michael needs. He needs someone like me to put some fire under his ass. To let him know he’s not the only one around here who can create some heat. He’s just scared because he knows that I’m going to happen this time. He’d better watch out for his brother, Jermaine.”
After the release of the single, Jermaine complained to local papers that he was tired of the public drawing comparisons between the lyrics of “Word to the Badd!” and La Toya’s vindictive tell-all autobiography:
In no form or fashion was this done as a publicity stunt, this is not like Latoya. I think that what LaToya has done is unforgivable. I don’t know who leaked the song. I certainly had nothing to do with it. But it doesn’t anger me. If it wasn’t leaked now, maybe it would have been leaked later. The fact is it’s out there and I have to deal with it.
I understand he’s a very busy person, but after you repeatedly try to contact your own brother and he doesn’t call you back, you begin to wonder if he hasn’t just completely lost touch with reality. I know people are going to go off on a tangent and say that Jermaine is jealous. But it’s not true. Michael and I have never feuded. The only reason I wrote the song — and it came from the bottom of my heart—was to help my little brother get a grip on reality. I never meant to discredit him. The song was never supposed to come out in public. But now that it has, I am here to say that, yes, I wrote it and I stand by it.
Jermaine Jackson addressed the issue of this single again in his 2011 book You Are Not Alone: Michael, Through a Brother’s Eyes. In the book, he contradicts his earlier statements, claiming the song was written by producers L.A. Reid and Babyface, stating he merely sang the song in order to let his feelings out. He was being denied access to Michael at the time and felt hurt by Michael’s decision to use the same producers at the same time without his knowledge. He goes on to say that the single was never intended to be released and puts the majority of the blame on L.A. Reid and Babyface. He also confirms that he did address the single with Michael in person at a meeting with their mother, but denies that there was any serious rift between himself and Michael.
With this family turmoil surrounding him, Michael admitted to friends and interviewers that he felt increasingly lonely and isolated. He was a superstar, but his achievements had come at a high price. Michael longed to build his own family, but had yet to meet the right woman. It was at this time that Debbie Rowe, his future spouse and the mother of two of his children, began to feature more prominently in his private life. They had met several years prior while she was working as a nurse at Dr. Klein’s office and had been close friends ever since.
In 1991, Michael commissioned a painting by artist Ralph Cowan. He informed Cowan that something “magical” was in the works, and the artist created a portrait of Michael that contained striking images and symbolism. Michael had the portrait hung by his piano at Neverland Ranch and even showcased it during his interview with Oprah in 1993. When asked about the imagery in the painting, Cowan remarked that Jackson and Rowe were already contemplating starting a family together at the time it was commissioned: “What was happening was [Debbie Rowe] was carrying the babies or they were making the deal to do it, so I painted a nurse that looks like an angel.” But his marriage to and children with Rowe were still years away, and Michael spent the early 1990’s seemingly moving from one brief relationship to the next.
In 1992 Michael Jackson received Billboard Music Awards for the number one worldwide single. As well as the number one worldwide album, the first time an artist has ever achieved both in the same year. The awards were presented to Michael by Phil Collins via satellite from Neverland ranch. Debbie Rowe told fans on twitter that she was present for the event.”Michael told me to answer the door knowing I am a huge fan.” Meeting Collins was, “ my only– do you know who that is! moment. I didn’t know he was coming and hadn’t even brushed my hair. I was slapping Michael when Phil came up to give him a music award. I love Phil Collins.”
Other women came into Michael’s life, from casual encounters to more meaningful affairs. A fiercely private person, Jackson preferred to keep such moments from the public eye. But during an interview at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 2010, author and television producer Nelson George offered a peek at what took place behind closed doors:
Michael was a huge sex symbol…In talking to L.A. Reid and talking to Teddy Riley, guys that spent a lot of time with him, they both told me stories about these women in the studio. It’s an interesting thing, everyone has their perceptions about what Michael was about, but I’ll tell you what…L.A. Reid is a guy I know very well, I know Teddy very well, these are very straight guys. And they’re telling me that Michael had fine-ass women, you know, hanging out with him. I believe them.
Music producer Teddy Riley, who worked with Michael on his 1991 Dangerous album, confirmed this account. Declaring, “Michael Jackson was a woman lover, trust! Dude gets it in. I have only once told a close friend that I just couldn’t believe how he gets it in. He is a real dude. He’s human. He has a child life in him. He deserves to be a baller and a player sometimes.”
Many guests came to visit Michael while he was recording, some of whom were more high-profile than others. Brad Sundberg, the integrator on the recording sessions for the Dangerous album, saw Michael entertain a number of celebrities: “It was not uncommon for celebrities or VIPs to stop in. One day the Secret Service searched the building for a couple hours before Nancy Reagan came for a visit. Next it was Princess Stephanie from Monaco.”
Princess Stephanie, who was launching a music career, recorded a portion of “In the Closet” for the Dangerous album under the alias “Mystery Girl.” Her identity was kept a secret when the album was released because of plans to hold a contest in which listeners would attempt to figure out the Mystery Girl’s name. However, Princess Stephanie became upset when supermodel Naomi Campbell was chosen to appear in the video instead of her. Due to this dissention, the proposed contest was scrapped.
Princess Stephanie’s irritation over the video appears to have been justified. Filmed in late March 1992, it was Jackson’s most sexually provocative video. The video begins with a scantily-clad Campbell dancing and lip synching. Michael appears in a tank top and tight jeans, singing about a secret love affair with a woman while dancing increasingly closer to Naomi. In an effort to heighten the sexual tension between the duo, video producer Sharon Oreck advised Naomi to position her body nearer to Michael’s during the video. Naomi took this idea to an intriguing level. She rushed to Michael’s side and whispered something in his ear. Michael immediately retreated to his trailer, where he demanded to speak to Herb Ritts, the video’s director.
After his discussion with Jackson, Ritts approached Oreck and asked her, “What exactly did you tell Naomi to do earlier?” When Oreck gave an account of her conversation with Campbell, Ritts responded, “Michael said that Naomi asked him if she could, uh, uh, suck his cock!” Ritts and Oreck looked at Naomi, who attempted to play it off with wide-eyed innocence, despite knowing full well what had caused the commotion. Naomi’s comments to Michael were also later confirmed by Michael’s longtime makeup artist Karen Faye on social websites.
Shooting eventually resumed, and when the video was completed, MTV hosted an event called My Dinner with Michael Jackson in April of 1992. Ritts escorted Naomi, who appeared to be intoxicated, past the paparazzi waiting at the entrance. “Naomi! Herb!” the photographers shouted as Herb steered Naomi down the red carpet. “How’s the video?” a photographer asked. “I want to suck Michael Jackson’s cock!” Naomi cheerfully informed the press as Herb shoved her in the door while attempting to gag her with his spare hand.
The on-screen chemistry between Michael and Campbell was mirrored in Naomi’s off-screen behavior. When Cindy Crawford, who was interviewing Campbell for MTV, asked if the video would feature a kiss between the two stars, Naomi giggled and replied, “No, but I wanna kiss him…I may kiss him but I mean if I kiss him it won’t be for the screen.”
In 1989 Michael was watching Good Morning America when French art historian, Gonzague Saint Brison appeared on the program to discuss Leonardo da Vinci. As a fan of da Vinci’s, Michael remembered the historian and sought him out to talk about art and history.
In February of 1992, Michael Jackson covered 30,000 miles of Africa in 11 days and arranged for Saint Brison to accompany him on his tour of the continent. Visited hospitals, orphanages, schools and churches along the way.
Michael, who architect himself has built its own culture, has always been referring to his masters. All self-taught do not understand the secret that he knew immediately grasp: it is greater than admiring oneself that one becomes. Admiration is the free university, which is why he says humbly: “The best education in the world is watching the masters the work. “That’s what I try to explain myself by listening to what the state of Kerma, an autonomous state and powerful border of Egypt I did not know even existed,” Figure- you that it is even recognized today as a civilization in its own right. If its proximity to Egypt was influenced, he certainly developed its own identity. The Archaeologists have identified it as the first great African kingdom. It is here that the five black pharaohs ruled. They will take possession of the earth the kings of Egypt they will turn the sovereign, making known to Egypt in less than a century unparalleled prosperity and renewal aesthetic extreme wealth. “Although his perfect knowledge of the history of Egypt I had not escaped, I was still impressed by his mastery of the subject. I added a comment banal to show him how impressed I was his demonstration: “A short episode time does not prevent the practice of excellence, or accession to the summit of creation, often brevity is the sister of talent. “The Nubian dynasty finally yield under shots of the kings of the Assyrians and the Delta. Therefore, the Egyptian pharaohs will endeavor to remove the traces of these Black Pharaohs, including a constant mutilation of their statues. But smash statues not enough to erase life. Obsessed with reincarnation and virtual descendant of the Black Pharaohs, the enigmatic Michael still has the last word: “Every birth is the rebirth of an ancestor. ‘
In January 2003, Michael Jackson’s intuition of a vanished kingdom finds its materialization. A Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet, unearthed seven statues of pharaohs, the site of Kerma Sudan. These monumental works slept three meters underground for two and a half millennia. Not only do they offer a new key to understanding the Nubian civilization, but their remarkable state of preservation can get an idea of the face of the sovereign: they are black.
Jackson’s 1992 video for “Remember the Time,” which was dedicated with love to Diana Ross, offered fans another sensual scene between Michael and a stunning supermodel. Set in ancient Egypt and brimming with elaborate visual effects, it features guest appearances by Eddie Murphy, Magic Johnson, and Iman. At the end of the video, Michael embraces and kisses Iman, who later told interviewers that Michael was “a very, very good kisser.” Iman laughed as she remembered that they “had to act out the kissing scene on ‘Remember the Time’ three times,” declaring that “if Michael had anything to do with it, we would still be filming it.”
Iman went on to state, “He really got into it. I told him, ‘You know you’re paying me to do this! You know I’m an engaged woman!’ He thought that was very funny.” Like so many others, she found working with Jackson to be a pleasure: “He’s a shy man but he has a great sense of humor. He mingled with everyone on the shoot and I was amazed how easy he was to be with.”
This shyness, combined with Jackson’s intense need for privacy, often prevented him from engaging in the exploits typical of a rock star. Deepak Chopra’s college aged son Gotham would hang out with Michael at Neverland and at hotels on the road with him. According to Chopra, Michael was envious of Gotham’s adventures with his friends at Flashdancers, a downtown strip club in New York. Michael would occasionally dress up in a disguise and prepare to go with them to the club “only to back down at the last minute or be held back by his security, who would shake their heads and plainly say no to his misguided ambitions.” In the end, Michael would instead pull some cash out of a bag he had hidden in the men’s room and ask Gotham to spend a few extra dollars for him.
Jackson’s concerns about his privacy were justified; all of his actions were subject to the closest scrutiny. In May of 1992, various tabloid magazines alleged that a former aide of Jackson’s was attempting to sell photos of the star. Supposedly, one photo shows Michael “fondling a topless woman in a Jacuzzi.” Others are said to feature the star with a nude woman, apparently unaware he was being filmed. “Jackson Touchy-Feely In The Jacuzzi,” proclaimed the South African paper the Rapport in June 1992. According to the article, the photographs were taken from CCTV security footage at Michael’s Neverland Ranch, and the employee who stole them sought $100,000 for the images. Numerous other tabloids ran similar stories; Britain’s News of the World claimed to have turned down an offer to buy the snaps for £60,000. Michael vowed to sue if the photographs were ever published, effectively squelching any potential deals. But Jackson was never safe from the threat of public scandal for long.
Meet the Future Accusers: The Chandlers
Born in the Bronx in 1944, Evan Robert Charmatz showed an interest in the entertainment industry at an early age. While attending the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, Evan and classmates Phil Feliciotto and Tom Johanson, as well as Evan’s brother Ray, formed a cover band called The Candy Men. With Evan on rhythm guitar, Phil on lead vocals, Tom on lead guitar, and Ray on bass guitar, the band had fun playing college gigs and frat parties. “Then one summer Phil and Evan got together and wrote that first song. We ended up getting a contract with Columbia Records,” Tom Johanson told us. After that, the band changed their name to The Fugitives, and they put together an album. “The whole album didn’t get released, but we had three singles that were released,” according to Tom.
Their double-sided single “Mean Woman” with “I’ll be a Man” on the B side was released in 1965. “We did get to play a lot and did some TV shows… got a lot of coverage. We lived the rock star lifestyle for a while anyway,” Tom reminisced. They appeared on local programs in the New Jersey and Philly area. “We played with The Birds. [Bob] Dylan used to come in and listen to our songs,” remembers Phil. With the one single’s moderate success on the East Coast the band had high hopes; they felt that they were going to make it big. “We looked good and everyone wanted us because we had the perfect rock and roll look.” The band soon changed their name to Fantasia and signed with Kama Sutra Records. For the most part the band members got along with the exception of Phil and Evan who, according to Tom, had “little personality squabbles sometimes—they didn’t get along that well. Evan was the business manager and he was very outgoing, and Phil was kind of introspective and a little wimpy, so I guess that kind of bothered Evan.”
At the new label the band recorded a song entitled “Got to Get Away” and had high hopes for the single’s success and the possibility of appearing on national TV. “We were excited for the Sullivan Show and everything. And then the third song kind of bombed out. I guess Phil was the one who got discouraged and he decided to go on his own. That kinda broke up the band,” said Tom.
Asked if Evan had taken a break from school at this point to focus on his music career, Phil Feliciotto said no. “Oh, he continued with school. I went to a party at his apartment one time and there was nothing but med students there. They were all doing drugs and here I am thinking, I’m the one who looks like the hippie that everyone assumes does drugs. It really made me look at that profession differently. They were all high.”
Apparently Evan had something of a reputation as a ladies’ man too. “Well, you wouldn’t want to leave [Evan] behind to watch your girlfriend. One time he dated this girl named Barbara Fontana. She was the daughter of a mob guy and it got messy. Things always got messy between Evan and these women that he would date. A cat would bring home a bird…Evan would bring in these women. I guess it was his gift to us,” he laughed.
Evan’s brother Ray would later exaggerate his brother’s supposed good looks, going as far as to claim he was better looking than Rob Lowe. He claimed that Evan “never had a problem attracting women. Blessed with movie star looks, a keen sense of fashion, and far more intelligent than the average bear, they flocked to him like ewes to a rutting ram. His problem was holding on to them.” In later years Evan would have numerous plastic surgery procedures that would ultimately disfigure his face and make him nearly unrecognizable. Because of that, claims of his extraordinary good looks still remain unproven.
After the band broke up, they all went their separate ways with Evan continuing his education to become a dentist, reluctantly following in his father’s footsteps. He obtained his dental license in 1972 and was working in New York when he met June Rochelle Wong, a beautiful woman of Asian and African American ancestry who had briefly worked as a model. The two married and moved the following year to West Palm Beach, Florida where Evan set up a dental practice. But he “hated being a dentist” a family friend told journalist Mary Fischer, “he always wanted to be a writer.”
His aspirations to break into the entertainment industry followed him throughout his life. Evan saw his former band mate and nemesis, now calling himself Phil Cody, living in California and having great success as a songwriter. Phil co-wrote “Solitaire” with Neil Sedaka, a song that would be covered by both The Carpenters and Elvis Presley. Evan in turn, determined to make it in the industry in some way, changed his name to Chandler—a former colleague told Fischer that he believed Charmatz was “too Jewish sounding” – and moved to Los Angeles with his wife June in tow, hoping to make it big as a screenwriter in Hollywood.
But Evan Chandler was having little success in both his screenwriting career and his dental one, and by December of the following year he was in trouble. In 1978 he was employed at a family dental center in a low-income area of LA. Evan performed restoration work on sixteen teeth in the mouth of a single patient, all during the same visit. An examination of the work by the Board of Dental Examiners revealed that Chandler, “left decay under the alloy, decay around the preparation, fracturing and crumbling restoration” of many of the patient’s teeth. The dental board sighted “gross ignorance and/or inefficiency” and revoked his dental license, all while Evan and June were expecting their first child and finances were tight. The revocation was later stayed; the Board instead suspended him for ninety days and placed him on probation for five years. Chandler later petitioned the dental board to terminate his probation, stating that he had been a sole practitioner in private practice since June 1983, which was not true since he had actually incorporated a self-named private practice 5 years early in August,1978. But despite the blatant lie, the board granted his petition and terminated his probation in December 1983.
By that time, Evan’s marriage to June was in trouble and the couple divorced in 1985. An unnamed friend of June’s would later say that, “one of the reasons June left Evan was because of his temper.“ June received full custody of their son Jordan, who was five years old at the time, and the court ordered Evan to pay $500 per month in child support.
June moved on from Evan very quickly; that very same year she married David Schwartz, founder of the very successful Rent-A-Wreck company, and like Evan he was many years her senior. June and David went on to have one child together, a daughter named Lily born in 1987.
In May 1992 a random mechanical failure would alter the course of Michael Jackson’s life forever. When his vehicle broke down on Wilshire Boulevard, he happened to be spotted by the wife of Rent-A-Wreck employee Mel Green. After learning of the situation, Mel drove to Michael’s location, picked up the star, and delivered him to the vehicle rental business. Excited, the company’s owner David Schwartz called his estranged wife June Chandler, telling her to come over with their 6-year-old daughter and her son from her previous marriage to meet the star. Jordan Chandler, then 12, was a huge Jackson fan, and his mother June would say that he would even dress up and dance like him as a child. Jordan would later claim that it had been his stepfather’s idea for Jackson to take Jordan’s phone number at this point, claiming that Schwartz had offered Jackson a deal: “You don’t have to pay for the car if you just take Jordie’s number and give him a call.” By her own admission, June had also been keen to encourage a friendship between Michael and her son, telling Jackson about the time that Jordan had sent him a drawing after the singer’s hair caught on fire during the filming of his Pepsi commercial — in reality, it was June who had written the letter and had given it to one of Jackson’s bodyguards in the hospital, including Jordan’s picture and her telephone number. Mel Green, a Rent-A-Wreck employee, said that she seemed pushy with the issue, recalling, “It was almost like she was forcing [the boy] on him. I think Michael thought he owed the boy something, and that’s when it all started.”
When she met Michael in 1992, June’s second marriage was falling apart. David was having financial problems, and the couple were spending most days apart. Her ex-husband had also moved on, dissolving his first California dental practice on June 23, 1987, just a month prior to his second marriage to his wife Nathalie, a French law student who was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1988. Chandler would try his hand at a second dental practice in California and incorporated this practice, located in pricey Beverly Hills, on September 21, 1987. Together Evan and Nathalie had two children. Their son Nicholas was born in 1988 and their daughter Emmanuelle in 1992—the same year that Evan obtained a permit for conscious sedation at his practice. The couple purchased an expensive four-thousand-square-foot, five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Los Angeles.
By all appearances Evan was stretching himself thin considering he wasn’t making his child support payments and had a new young family to support. Seeming to reflect that Nathalie was the one shouldering the financial burdens in the relationship, the couple’s family home had been placed solely in wife Nathalie’s name within months of its purchase with Evan acknowledging that “ he transferred his interest in said residence to wife in December 1992 and he has had no interest in said residence since that date.” Dave Schwartz later testified that June told him about incidents were Evan had become physically violent with several people, including his second wife Nathalie, June’s mother and Evan’s own mother.
June testified that she had heard of a January 1992 incident between Evan and his wife Nathalie that had turned physical. Given the fact that their daughter Emmanuelle was born in July 2, 1992 Nathalie would have been approximately three months pregnant at the time.
Still working as a dentist, Evan had finally achieved minor success in the screenwriting field thanks to his son Jordan, with the 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. In 1992 Director Mel Brooks said at the time, “Evan Chandler’s son turned to his father and said, ‘You know, Dad, you know what would be a great thing, a spoof of Robin Hood.” A Los Angeles Times interview with Brooks revealed that Evan and co-writer J.D. Shapiro had been involved in arbitration with the Writer’s Guild in regards to this movie with a dispute over who would receive what screenplay credit.
Evan would claim that he and J.D. Shapiro had written the script together and then sold it to Brooks, who Evan would claim received more credit than he was entitled to. Evan claims he and Shapiro brought these claims to the Writer’s Guild. In Chandler’s book, “All That Glitters,” he would claim, “According to Evan, the [Writer’s] Guild sided with him and Shapiro, but the head of the Guild told them privately that it would be best if they gave Brooks equal credit.” The Chandler’s claimed that Brooks had threatened to have lawyer Bert Fields sue the Guild – if they didn’t agree to give him the credit he’d wanted.
We contacted J.D Shapiro for clarification, and he explained to us that Evan Chandler had been his dentist and that he had been aware that, “[Chandler] wanted to be in the film business.” One of Evan’s Hollywood patients was Emile Buyse, who worked as an international distributor with Mel Brooks at his Brooks films production company; Shapiro said Chandler had shared that information with him during a dental visit. Shapiro confirmed that after Jordan had suggested to his father a movie based on “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” he had the idea of writing a parody centering around it with Brooks as Rabbi Tuckman. Shapiro says he then wrote the draft of the screenplay without any assistance, but as he suffers from dyslexia, said he’d needed help fixing grammar and spelling. Seizing an opportunity to work with a real writer, Chandler had offered to fix these mistakes for him before then offering to pass this script on to Buyse, who in turn passed it onto Brooks.
After this Shapiro says that he and Brooks further collaborated on it together, and as to why Chandler received a writing credit Shapiro said, “When the script was a shooting script, Evan asked me if he could have a writing credit. He wanted to be a writer and wanted to team up with me. Being naive — well, really stupid — I said yes. So I lied and said he wrote some of the script.” It would seem Evan’s one big screen credit had in reality involved his son Jordan’s idea and then only his editing, as far as spelling and grammar, which was perhaps why Evan’s zeal in screenwriting focused so heavily on his son’s involvement.
June would testify that Evan hadn’t been spending much time with their son because now that he had finally tasted mild Hollywood success he’d become obsessed with writing screenplays, trying to achieve further fame. June would admit that she had been happy when Jackson had entered their lives because Evan had been preoccupied and she and David Schwartz were separating.
Michael kept his promise and called Jordan several days later. June, who would testify that she was present throughout all their phone calls, remembers that in that first call Jordan and Michael spoke about things like video games. While there is no debate that a relationship between Jackson and the Chandlers ensued from their meeting at Rent-A-Wreck, it would be months before the family visited Neverland. Michael was busy promoting the Dangerous album at the time and was making preparations for a world tour. It was not unusual for Michael to form friendships with various families. Over the years, he had developed rapport with the Culkin and Cascio families, who remained his friends until his death.
OTHER FAMILIES
Barnes Family
In November of 1987, Michael arrived in Australia for a series of concerts during his Bad world tour. Like many young people at the time Karlee Barnes and her brother Brett, “were really, really great big fans of Michael’s.” They expressed to their mother how, “badly [we] wanted to go to his concert but my mom wouldn’t let us go, because we were too small –we’d get crushed by the crowd” said Karlee.
As a consolation, “she let us go see his arrival at the airport,” Karlee explains. “My brother [Brett] wanted to write a letter to him. So he — well, with my assistance, we got a letter out to him. And at the airport, he had a number of dancers and backup singers and band members there promoting, giving us show bags and things like that. So my mom handed the letter to one of his dancers, who put the letter into a mail bag. And fortunately, one day Michael decided to pull out a letter and read it, and he put his hand into the fan mail bag and he pulled out my brother’s letter, read the letter, and he decided to telephone us to say thank you.”
“He spoke to all of us, and we developed a friendship, and he continued calling us and speaking to us” their mother Lisbeth Barnes explains. “After developing a friendship with the entire family over the years, but not yet meeting in person “one day he decided to invite us over to his home, in December 1991–and since then we’ve been regular visitors,” Lisbeth said.
Michael arranged for the families transportation to America. “We stayed with Michael for those three weeks. He took us to Disneyland, to Las Vegas.” Their first time in Neverland she says, “He took us on a tour of the place, we watched a film at the theater, had dinner, sat down and talked.” Brett had fond memories of Neverland, “playing arcade games. Going TV/motorbike-riding around the property. Going on amusement park rides. And watching plenty of movies, plenty of cartoons. Eating very good food.” Karlee recalled one memory of their time, “there was myself and my brother and two of Michael’s cousins. And we would just — we’d been playing. We had had an egg hunt, because it was around Easter time. And then the boys decided that they were going to be, you know, a bit more crazy, and they started throwing eggs at Michael and putting them in his hair, and then, you know, they pushed him into the pool just to taunt him even more.”
The family stayed at guest units located on the ranch during their first visit. On subsequent occasions Brett and Karlee would occasionally spend the night in Michael’s room. “The door was never locked, so I could go in anytime I wanted to. I always trusted him and I still trust him. Because he’s just a very nice person. And you just feel when you can trust someone and when you can’t trust someone. And I had total trust in him.” She states the first time Brett had stayed the night in his room, she, Brett, Karlee had been in Michael’s bedroom with him together and that Brett had wanted to spend the night there, “we just happened to be in the room, and [Brett] said he wanted to stay. He wanted to stay there for the night, because they were having fun.” She said, “I asked Mr. Jackson if it was okay, and he said, “Yes. If he wants to stay, that’s fine.” Lisbeth explains further by stating the she and her husband discussed, “whether it was okay, because we didn’t want to impose on Mr. Jackson.” Brett would give a laundry list of other children present in what appears to be a slumber party in Michael’s room “my sister. Macaulay Culkin, Levon and Elijah. There was Frank, Eddie, Dominick and Marie Nicole.”
Brett’s older sister Karlee would elaborate by saying, “Well, the first time we went to his bedroom was when we first met him, he came — like our family was invited to meet him in his bedroom. He’s always said to us that his house is our house, we’re free to go wherever we like whenever we like.” She said that she had personally not liked sleeping in Jackson’s room as frequently because at the age of 12, “I was developing into an adult, and I was at the stage where I wanted my own privacy.” She said, “And there were times when I was happy to, you know, hang out with them and sleep in their room, and there were times when I wanted to have my own room.”
Lisbeth Barnes said she had spent time with Jackson while her kids were in his room and said they had spent the time, “Just talking, watching films, and listening to — just reading stories or just having fun. Just chilling out, you know. Playing with games, toys, whatever.” She said she had “free reign” to go into his room whenever she wanted, and on one occasion late at night while watching videos together Michael had insisted she also spend the night in his bedroom with them as it had been raining outside, “we were watching videos and talking, and he just suggested, “Well, why don’t you stay; stay here,” because it was raining outside. And he said, “Well, you can stay here.” And I stayed for a little while, but then I went back to my room. It was just more comfortable.”
Kalee would spend a considerable amount of time with Jackson, “walked around Neverland talking, telling jokes. Running as fast as we can, challenging each other to races. Stopping to look at the animals. And, you know, things like that.”
“In seventh grade, I spent half of the year over in Europe with him. And in the eighth grade I spent half of the year over in South America. And I’ve been to Chicago. And we’ve been to Las Vegas. When he came to Australia for his “History” tour, he took us to South Australia and to Western Australia. So I’ve been on many, many trips with him,” said Karlee. With her mother, Lisbeth, confirming that the entire family spent considerable amount of time traveling with the entertainer, not sole her son which many have tried to claim.
“My husband, my daughter and I were present, “for three months when he toured South America.” Said Lisbeth. Who was also present in Chicago, “when he was filming the video for the song “Jam” with — with Mr. Michael Jordan in that video.” Jackson would tell the Barnes that he thought of them as family. They in turn would share his sentiment. I do love Michael and consider him family. “He’s a caring, a generous, considerate human being. He’s just a great person”Lisbeth would say.
When asked about the families enduring friendship with the superstar Karlee would say, “We treat him just as we would treat anybody else, as a normal human being. We don’t take advantage of him, we trust him, we love him, and we give him a normal sense of life that so many other people never, ever do.”
Spence Family
Marion Spence and her son Jonathan became family friends in the mid-80’s. Meeting the Jackson’s, “when my son would play baseball and he [Michael] used to be there with some of his family at the baseball game. Because his brothers children would be playing baseball at the same time. So we got to know them very well and got to know Michael very well,” Marion told me.
Michael was our musical mentor and “My dad was my mentor when it came to baseball.” “ At the height of the Victory tour, my dad is coaching out little league team,” said Tito’s son Taj Jackson.
Elaborating further Marion stated, “We used to go to Havenhurst– to the family house on Havenhurst and Latoya would be there and Janet would be there and Tito, his brother, had a house up in Big Bear and we were invited up there for a weekend. The whole family was nice with us. Very, very nice –his mother would call and say Hi and how’s everything and when are we going to see Jonathan.”
Marion would tell us that although they never toured with the superstar, she and her son did spend a considerable amount of time with Michael, “We went to concerts, we went to Neverland which was wonderful –with Michael. He would send a car for us and we would spend the day together by the pool. Have dinner there in the evening and it was just wonderful. It was just like being in a hotel. We would stay in one of his houses on the estate. He was just a very generous, kind, loving person. I absolutely adored him everybody, I mean I don’t know anybody who didn’t. He was just very nice and I would never say anything wrong about Michael because there just isn’t anything to say. His mother was very nice. His family was very nice to us.”
“Jonathon used to go to Elizabeth’s [Taylor] house with Michael. And Sophia Loren’s house–she lived out here in West Lake or Calabasas and Michael went and they played with her two sons and she would make them spaghetti.” Michael would stop by the Spence family home to visit. Bringing along his chimpanzee Bubbles. “I have photographs of him giving him his banana up in the driveway. When I knew Bubbles he was very playful—Michael loved his animals,” Marion said.
Clearly irritated that anyone would suggest wrongdoing on Michael’s part Marion said, “Michael had a load of kids sleeping in his bed all at the same time. There wasn’t anything funny going on there. He just liked to be around kids and toys. Michael was such a good person. He wouldn’t hurt a fly or anybody or anything. Michael was very kind hearted. The media harps on the tragic because that’s what people want to hear. They’re not interested on the good things too much. Anything that’s a scandal, they’re into it, but really they got the wrong person when they thought about Michael.” Her family did indeed have a long-term friendship with the superstar, confirmed that her son Jonathan was married at Neverland years later.
Casio Family
In 1984, Jackson built a friendship with,Dominic Casio, the general manager of the Hemsley palace suites and apartments. Located in an exclusive five star hotel located in Manhattan. “Michael asked me if I was married, if I had any kids and that one day he would love to meet them,” said Dominic.
Indeed Dominic would introduce his children to the superstar and a friendship would form between Jackson and the entire Casio family. The entertainer became a frequent visitor to their New Jersey home –most times showing up unannounced. “He was wonderful and we treated him as part of our family,” said Dominic’s wife Connie. Jackson grew so fond of the family he occasionally spent Christmas and other holidays with them. Including one Halloween where he dressed up with the children –wearing blue scrubs and a surgical mask. “I love to trick or treat,” revealed Jackson. “I love dressing up like some kind of monster… and knocking on doors. Nobody knows it’s me and I get candy!”
One of Michael’s favorite activities while staying with the Casio family was helping to clean the house. “He took my garbage out one night. He loved doing things like that, said Connie.’ He tried to clean up the house …his way of cleaning,” she laughingly said.
“Every time he came to our house, he begged her to make a turkey dinner, complete with mashed potatoes,yams and cranberry sauce. Michael loved cranberry sauce.And always peach cobbler for dessert,” said Frank. “He would always make sure that before every meal that we said our prayers, you know,said grace. And even afterwards we’d all sit down and go through and just talk about what we’re thankful for” Eddie explains.
When the family finally visited Neverland in 1993 the entire family went–including the couple’s children Frank,Eddie, Maria Nicole and baby Aldo.Frank described the sleep overs at Neverland as innocent fun. “We would—me my brother –we would just sit up talking on the floor slumber party like. Talking till 4 o’clock in the morning or let’s go raid the kitchen.”
“Michael believed in me,” said Frank, “my parents saw the influence Michael had on me, and it was one of the reasons they encouraged our friendship.” There was “never a doubt” that my children were unsafe with Michael. “He always called us the family of love – his second family,” said Dominic.
Lewis Family
Child actor Emmanuel Lewis, best known for his starring role on the 80’s sitcom Webster, meet Jackson on the set of his iconic music video for Thriller . The two became friends and would be frequently photographed together. “We always had a good time, we laughed, told jokes –nobody really saw that side of him” said Lewis.
In 1986 Emmanuel Lewis filmed a public safety advertisement telling other children what to do if ever inappropriately touched. “If that ever happens to you say No, then Go and Tell” said Lewis during the PSA. Lewis who was educated on the subject elaborated by saying, “We did a Webster episode, it was called the ‘uh oh feeling’ and it was all about that. One of our producers was molested as a child and she wrote this whole script. So that was a very emotional show that we did and we thought it was very important.”
After the allegations against Jackson hit the media Lewis said the press, “ always trying to put words in my mouth or try and make crazy stuff happen.We just had the best time. He’s always been nothing but a great friend not just to me –to my whole family. It was horrible because you know this guy is great. He’s got a heart of gold and you know he would never do any of those things people were talking about.”
After Jackson’s death in 2009 Lewis said that “there were people in the press that actually came clean but it’s a little late. Thanks a lot, I mean you put him through hell.”
Culkin Family
In his 2005 book entitled Lost Boy, Macaulay Culkin’s father, Kit Culkin wrote the following about these so called “sleepovers”:
“Michael’s bedroom (an enormous room with alcoves and dressing rooms and a fireplace and French doors leading out to a private garden, as well as a stairway leading to the entire upstairs) was almost always an open place to hang out in, as was most all of the rest of the house. My children would sit on the bed, as would I, to play cards or checkers, or watch television or whatever, but then we would do so most everywhere else also. They might on occasion fall asleep there, just as they might on occasion fall asleep most anywhere else, and at most any daylight hour. While they had a bedtime, I rarely enforced it, as they were, after all, at Neverland to play; and as is most always the case with children (as any parent will tell you), they never enforced it themselves, thinking that they should get some rest so as to be better rested to play again the coming day. Children don’t worry about “the coming day”. Therefore, I was constantly and most usually after suppertime, having to round them up and often carry them (sometimes by golf cart) to their accommodations. They’d fall asleep watching a movie at the movie theater or playing with the toy trains in the toy trains room, and there was one occasion, I well remember, when one of them was actually found asleep on the carousel!”
He also wrote:
“First of all, I never saw or heard anything at all during my early days of knowing Michael to suggest that he was a pedophile. I would note that a busload or two of kids might arrive at the estate of an afternoon and be taken straight to the amusement park or the movie theater, and then just as swiftly be bused back off the grounds. In fact, I believe that there was an entire office in an adjacent building and an entire staff that was responsible for overseeing these visits; and I noted also that on no occasion at all did any of these children ever get asked to the house for any reason whatsoever. These were all strictly well-planned and well-supervised excursions, and the people who made them up quite apart from the people (such as those of my own family) who were actual guests. And while we’re on the subject of guests, this list was hardly confined to children. Indeed, adults roamed most everywhere, many of them from the world of government, including (just for instance) former President and neighbor Ronald Reagan, together with “Just-Say-No” Nancy, as well as Secretary of Defense William Cohen and not a few others that I’ve since forgotten; none of whom certainly gave one the feeling that the estate was (goodness knows) a den of pedophilia.”
Enter Victor Gutierrez
It was during this time, on a summer’s day in 1992 in Los Angeles, that the wheels of a machine which would forever alter the narrative of Jackson’s world would begin to kick into place.
A journalist began approaching families associated with Jackson. The man’s name was Victor Gutierrez, he was an emigrant from Chile and a freelance journalist, at various times later on would claim to work and provide information for both the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI; in reality he had worked for neither.
Gutierrez would later admit he had spent 5 months trying to track the Robson family down, having become obsessed with them after having seen young Wade perform in Jackson’s videos. Jackson’s friendship with children had in fact become Gutierrez’ own personal fixation.
Originally, Gutierrez had worked for a newspaper in Santiago, where he claims that he wrote about politics and human rights. He had then first arrived to Arizona in the United States in 1981 but within a few short years he moved to California.
He would later claim that he first entered the US in 1984 as a photographer for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. After the Olympics ended, he claims he chose to remain in the US as a citizen, claiming that “the American Dream was too attractive.” This American Dream seemed a deeply personal one for Gutierrez, and though later claiming in various interviews to be heterosexual as well as admitting to others in being gay, Victor would admit to one journalist that one of the reasons he’d left Chile was because as a gay man, he felt he couldn’t live as he desired, “he knew that he could not realize his plans in Chile because LGBT people had no legal rights in that country. He did not wish to end up like Hernan Diaz Arrieta.”
Hernan Diaz Arrieta was a published Chilean author and poet, and Victor claims to have been mentored by him after they’d managed to meet when Victor was just 16. After analyzing Arrieta’s fictional work, some critics and journalists would say that they would believe there were two Arrieta’s: one, a powerful critic with a clean style who could destroy a writer if he judged him unworthy; and the second, a man who struggled with homosexual urges which seemed to include thoughts about young boys. It seems that being a fervent Catholic, Arrieta did not dare to accept his own feelings. Gutierrez doesn’t speak about this side to him, but clearly felt his life mirrored in his friend. Gutierrez would also say that,“Arrieta’s polite, clean and conservatives manners were nothing for him. So he had to find another home where he could be wild, famous and rich at any price.”
In California Gutierrez went on to find a job as a reporter for a Spanish paper in Los Angeles. He claims that at some point after he arrived he became a Mormon, although his reasons for doing so have never been given. It would seem unusual that a man who hd fled a country because of his dismay at their homophobia would then turn to a religion that had strong homophobic roots at the time.
It was in LA in November 1986 where Gutierrez would claim his life long fixation with Michael Jackson began. Here he would attend the 10th International Membership Conference of the NAMBLA association in Los Angeles. NAMBLA being an acronym for “North American Man Boy Love Association”: a group created and committed to attempting to legalize pedophilia among grown men and young boys.
Victor would claim that while at this meeting other members openly discussed Michael Jackson and in particular his friendship with children, particularly young boys. Gutierrez claimed that the members expressed to each other that they hoped the pop singer was one of them; indeed, they wanted to use his name and celebrity as a platform for their goal of “social acceptance.”
Gutierrez would give conflicting accounts over why he himself had been there. In German media in April 2005 he would claim that he had attended the conference on behalf of his work as a criminal reporter at a Spanish newspaper. This interview was with a paper which held sympathetic views regarding pedophilia. Die Tageszeitung had once promoted a “children’s sexual liberation movement” during the 1970s. They had even published a series entitled “I Love Boys” featuring interviews with men who described “how beautiful and liberating sex with adolescent boys was.”
A year and a half later in 2006 Gutierrez would give an interview with British GQ Magazine, where he would now give a different account for why he was there, claiming he’d actually attended as an undercover agent on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department. In his changing story Gutierrez would claim that after having submitted his findings about the conference to the LAPD, that they took no action. He has never attempted to specify what these “findings” were in the 20 years since his attendance of this conference. Gutierrez attempted to explain the lack of police response by saying that he was a “nobody to them, just a Latino reporter in LA.” The logic in his contention is odd; he claims to have been a “nobody” to the LAPD but insists that the department had trusted him enough to hire him as an undercover agent, only to dismiss any information pertaining to an organization that high profile government agencies such as the FBI had spent years trying to infiltrate.
We contacted the LAPD directly with Gutierrez’ personal information and we were able to confirm that Gutierrez has never worked for them in any capacity.
As to the depth of Gutierrez’ personal involvement in the group, the NAMBLA “constitution” itself states that: “If the person was not a member, he would not be registered for a conference or notified of its [conferences’] location.” FBI agent Bob Hamer who had spent some years in the 80s infiltrating NAMBLA undercover for the government would later reveal that, “[NAMBLA] wouldn’t allow me to attend any of their secret underground meetings until I’d been a member for three years, and had been sponsored by another active duty member.”
One thing that is certain: since that meeting in 1986 Gutierrez has never attempted to expose NAMBLA or spoken out against them in any media outlet, nor has he ever claimed to have reported any concerns about them to any government agency.
At this point Gutierrez would say that he developed a fascination with Jackson and his relationship with boys and he claims a book idea began to form in his mind, saying that it was at after this he started trying to attempt to contact as many people around Jackson as he could.
By the summer of 1992, some 6 years later, it was clear that he was more intent on his plan than ever before. And that being able to track down and contact some of the people around Jackson had been easier than it seemed. Being fluent in Spanish Victor would later say that he’d used this to seek out and befriend Hispanic employees around Jackson such as Orietta Murdock, Adrian McManus and Blanca Francia – everyone he contacted would turn out to have similar stories about who Jackson was, all of them would seek payment for it,
At the end of 1992 he may have also had more than personal reasons for his fixation on the superstar. He had left his position at the Spanish paper and was in debt, with his landlord filing and winning a judgment against him for $1,632.
Victor’s obsession with Michael and boys would focus on six children Jackson had befriended: Jonathan Spence, Jimmy Safechuck, Macaulay Culkin, Brett Barnes, Wade Robson and Jordan Chandler.
An employee who worked under Jackson’s ex PR manager, Bob Jones, would also later say that Gutierrez wasn’t the only one with this obsession, “I was at least forewarned about a year in advance that there had been a collective decision between news media execs to focus on Michael’s friendships with children (one working child actor in particular) or, if he got married first, to focus on making it appear arranged. I’d say this was late 89/early 90.”
An Unexpected Romance
It was in November 1992 that there would be another incidental meeting which would change the course of Jackson’s life.
Elvis Presley’s twenty two year old daughter Lisa Marie was aspiring to become a musician; Michael Jackson was on the lookout for fresh talent for his record label. With her dark, punky outfits, dyed black hair, and self-described “aggressive and fiery” attitude, it seemed unlikely that the two would have anything in common. Brash and outgoing, Lisa Marie had dropped out of high school, experimented with a wide array of drugs, dated drug dealers, had lesbian affairs, and once proclaimed that she liked sex to be “rough … the way they do in porn.”
But beneath Michael and Lisa Marie’s vastly different personas lurked a common element: deep sadness stemming from childhood grief. Fellow Scientologists had described Lisa Marie as distant and melancholy—“the most unhappy” person. Her rebellious, sullen temperament stemmed in no small part from a tumultuous background. Her father’s early death and her mother’s emotional distance had left her without a stable family unit. The relationship between Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley was infamously bad; as one of Lisa Marie’s friends would remark at the time, she “detested” her mother. It seemed as though she was searching for a way to heal some ancient wound or find some lost identity, whether through Scientology or drug use or rebellion. Perhaps she saw Michael as the man who could rescue her. Eventually, she expressed the need to rescue him.
Despite these differences Jackson had sensed that they shared a commonality long before they’d met and he would admit that he had been looking for an opportunity to get to know her better since the late 80s: “I used to tell my lawyer John Branca, do you know Lisa Marie Presley ’cause I think she’s really cute. And he’d laugh every time. He goes, ‘I’ll try my best,’ that’s what he’d say. Then he’d come back and I’d say ‘Well did you find out?’ He’d say ‘No, there’s nothing.’”
Lisa Marie remembered receiving messages like those through her lawyer, who would tell her, “He wants to meet you; he thinks you’re very pretty.” She’d respond, “No way.” At the time, she said she thought Jackson was “a freak” and she had no interest in meeting him.
But now, in late 1992, working on her fledgling musical career, an opportunity would arise for the two to meet. Lisa Marie was in the process of putting together demo tapes, and stories had begun circulating in the press about how she was preparing a debut album after prior attempts had never worked out. “I had a voice,” she explained, “but I didn’t have the experience. Things always got too wild when people found out that Elvis’s daughter wanted to sing. It became a matter of deals and money, money, money. I lost my fire for it. I lost the urge to create. I was scared, I guess, so I pulled back.” Despite an increasingly rocky relationship with her husband, Danny Keough, an aspiring musician himself, he would help produce four of these demo songs for her and she began to seek a record label.
Jackson and Presley had a mutual friend in the artist Brett-Livingstone Strong. Strong knew Lisa Marie was working on music and seeking a record deal and that Jackson was always on the lookout for new musical talent for his own label, and it occurred to him that he should introduce the two. Strong says with this idea in mind, he telephoned Presley, who was taking courses at the Scientology center in Clearwater, Florida. He says he told her, “Lisa, if you’re really serious about your career, why don’t I put you in touch with Michael Jackson? I think you should meet him and play your music and sing for him, and I think he could really encourage and inspire you on a direction you could take.” Strong told her that Michael had his own company, Nation Records, sponsored by Sony, and that he could “really launch her big time.” Lisa was intrigued but hesitant. “She had no confidence in herself as a vocalist,” recounted Strong. “She was afraid of being compared to Elvis, afraid of rejection. When I suggested Michael could help her, she said, ‘He’s a superstar, do you really think he’d help me?’”
Brett’s next step was to telephone Michael Jackson about the potential collaboration. “I said, ‘Michael, what would you say if I found talent for you that had the potential to be number one in the world in the recording industry—beautiful girl, great voice and also a reputation that would be a public relations dream come true?’ and he said, ‘Who are you talking about?’ So I said, ‘Lisa Presley.’ And he said, ‘What? She can’t sing!’ and I said, ‘She can.’” The conversation, recalled Strong, was brief, but it was followed by many similar discussions. Michael was “amazed at first, and then said, ‘Well, get her to send me a tape.’”
When Strong asked Lisa Marie for the tape, however, she was offended that she would have to send in a demo. She exclaimed, “Forget it, I’ll play the tape for him in person!” Lisa Marie immediately began orchestrating a meeting with Michael, excitedly telling her friend Myrna Smith that Strong had arranged to have her visit Jackson at his house in Pacific Palisades, where she would introduce him to her music. Lisa Marie took her husband Danny along to that meeting. They all had dinner together before listening to her demo tapes. According to Strong, Michael was impressed, telling Presley, “You have real talent, a fine voice. You could be a star. Let me see what I can do for you.”
Lisa Marie later revealed that she’d been blown away by her first impressions of Michael from this meeting. “He was very quick to, the first time I met him, sit me down and go, ‘Listen, I’m not gay. I know you think this and I know you think that.’ And he started cursing, and he started being a real person. And I thought, ‘Wow.’”
By revealing this side of himself to Lisa Marie, Michael “immediately dashed any preconceived idea I had about him.” His actions allowed her to see him not as the caricature she’d once had, but as a normal man: “You know, nobody knows him. He’s like the Wizard of Oz, working this whole machine about himself. And he doesn’t let a lot of people see who he really is, but he let me see, and he was very normal. I felt like I was talking to someone I knew, like a brother.”
Presley shared with her lawyer John P. Coale about the instant connection she felt with Jackson that night: “She liked him. She thought he was real nice. In the beginning they were friends, just friends.” Lisa Marie would admit that she hadn’t considered him romantically at this point, “I didn’t think of him like that when I first met him. We had something though. We were sitting talking, and after twenty minutes I’d forgotten who he was.”
As she sat with Michael and listened to stories about his life in the business, Lisa Marie found herself “riveted” by him. According to Brett-Livingstone Strong this meeting between them had gone well and that when Michael was about to leave, he had offered Lisa Marie a penetrating look and said in a conspiratorial voice, “You and me, we could get into a lot of trouble. Think about that, girl.”
And it would seem, she did.
Super Bowl
For years, the Super Bowl had packed it’s halftime roster with the likes of Pete Fountain, Carol Channing, marching bands, the Rockettes and Disney characters. In 1992 when Gloria Estefan was performing, the Fox Network seized the opportunity to directly challenge the N.F.L broadcast with a live edition spoof of its comedy series “In Living Color”, complete with a game clock so viewers could see when the second half of the Super Bowl was going to start and switch back to CBS. The episode of In Living Color was a huge hit. Ratings for the second half of the Super Bowl crashed 10 points.
“Our thought afterward was we had to step it up a notch,” Steeg said. The league needed a game-changing artist who had more appeal with 18- to 34-year-olds. For this reason, Steeg and Arlen Kantarian, then the chief executive of Radio City Productions, which would produce the halftime show, met in Beverly Hills with Michael Jackson’s manager, Sandy Gallin.
They sensed that they had to brief Gallin extensively because they surmised that Jackson knew little about football. “We knew we were explaining this to somebody who would then have to explain it to Michael,” Steeg said. In subsequent meetings, Jackson displayed a naïve curiosity about the game.
“He’d ask: ‘Who plays in it? What is it?’ ” Kantarian said. Jackson’s interest became riveted on the Super Bowl being broadcast in more than 100 countries, including third world nations, and on United States military bases.“He said, ‘Man, I’ll never tour there,’ ” Kantarian recalled him saying. “We talked to him about the blue-collar football fan that might not otherwise be a Michael Jackson fan and about how he could build a new fan base. He got that as well. He was very sharp and very shy.”
Kantarian recalled Jackson pushing to sing newer songs from his “Dangerous” album and not older songs. Michael had told him that if he was going to be given the platform to reach so many millions of people that he wanted to sing songs that had meaning. “‘Billie Jean’s just a tune, it doesn’t mean anything,” he’d told Kantarian. “It’s a new world, this has to be about ‘Heal the World.’”
Michael’s team initially refused the N.F.L.’s proposal three times before saying yes, Kantarian said. JAckson’s appearance was also contingent on one thing: a donation to charity. The N.F.L. pays performers only for their expenses, but it donated $100,000 to Jackson’s Heal the World Foundation. At this, other sponsors chipped in until donations totaled $2 million. Michael thanked them saying, “I can’t think of a better way to spread the message of world peace than by working with Radio City and the NFL and being a part of Super Bowl XXVII.” Following the performance the NFL also donated advertising time for the Heal The World Charity, along with one for Heal LA, a project that Jackson would co-chair with former president Jimmy Carter, focusing on disadvantaged children in Los Angeles.
Michael Jackson’s halftime performance increased the TV ratings more than the game itself, becoming one of the most watched events in television history, with an audience of 133.4 million people in the US, and over one billion worldwide. The Super Bowl’s ratings increased 8.6% over the previous year, raising NBC’s halftime rating higher than the Super Bowl action before it, and just as important, kept its audience during halftime as well as the game’s second half. As for Fox, they declined to broadcast any counter programming against the halftime show as they had done the previous year, because they didn’t want to attempt to challenge Jackson’s star power. NBC’s Sports President, Dick Ebersol said, “He was better than our wildest dreams. He’s an enormous name with crossover appeal from kids to grandparents, an enormous curiosity even for those for whom he is not a star.”
It also increased Jackson’s presence in the charts, with the Dangerous album, released 2 years prior, jumping up 37 places from the week before.
After Jackson, there was deliberate effort to get “A-list” performers to make the halftime shows the way they are today. Who grasped the need to enlist big-name, contemporary, broad-appeal artists to keep viewers from straying.But the following year would see many A list musicians turn down the chance to perform at halftime: nobody, it seems, wants to follow Michael Jackson. According to Dennis Despie, the Super Bowl halftime show’s executive producer, those who turned down the chance to sing a couple songs in front of a projected worldwide audience of a billion viewers in 1994 included Garth Brooks, Elton John, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Janet Jackson and Paul McCartney.
”I said , ‘Look. We’re following Michael Jackson. I feel that’s probably why you’ve come to us so late, because everyone else has turned you down,’ ” Garth Brooks said at the time on having turned them down. ”Following Michael Jackson is harder than anything in the entertainment business to do.”
Newspaper headlines at the time suggested the only person capable of pulling off a bigger show was Elvis, if he were capable of returning from the dead. “Who could top Michael? Could it be all downhill from here? Or is Elvis really scheduled for Super Bowl XXVIII in Atlanta? Gee, if only the game could be as good as the halftime,” noted the Washington Post. Said Steeg: “It is a tough act to follow.”
Ultimately, 1994’s halftime show featured a slew of country music stars including :Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, Brooks & Dunn, and The Judd’s.After Jackson came an A-list of stars, including Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Aerosmith, U2, Shania Twain, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Prince and Bruce Springsteen.
Most longtime observers of championship games agreed that Jackson’s extravaganza of glitz and glitter, remains unchallenged as the best-ever Super Bowl intermission. The Washington Post described the spectacle as “. . . the marriage of sports at its highest level and entertainment at its highest level.”
Amy Agajanian walked hand-in-hand with Michael at the Superbowl. She later described it as a thrilling experience. She said she had no idea it was that big a deal or that Michael was that big a deal, and was utterly stunned and overwhelmed. Michael just told her they were going to a concert, so she had no idea what to expect. She hadn’t known Michael was famous until that moment .
Amy: “When I go up there I spend almost most of my time with him playing.”
Oprah: “What do you play?”
Amy: “I play on his rides and we play hide-and-go-seek.”
Oprah: “And how did you meet him? We want to know so we can do the same thing.”
Amy: “Well I was doing a commercial with him. I was four and I didn’t know anything about him. And I went into his trailer and sat right up on his lap and he said to himself that he was going to be friends for life.”
Oprah
“I never watch television,”said Oprah. But tuning in the ABC broadcast of “The Jacksons: An American Dream” turned out to be a close encounter of the best kind for talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey.The mini-series reminded Winfrey that Michael Jackson was one of three people (the other two are Princess Diana and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) she has always wanted to interview. But after not getting a response to her interview request, she thought, “Oh well, it’s just one of those things. He’s not interested.”
After he called to make inquiries, Winfrey feared she had scared him off. “I made it clear that our conversation had to be totally open and and uninhibited,” she said. Of course, he could say, `I don’t want to’ talk about things he wasn’t comfortable with. But that couldn’t happen too much. Otherwise it wouldn’t work for the audience – or me.
“When he didn’t call back for more than a month, Winfrey thought the deal was dead. But then Jackson called in December to say, “I’ll do it,” and the one-woman entertainment conglomerate “put on all my Michael Jackson tapes and did a little jig on the porch of my house in (Telluride) Colorado.” Winfrey has been spending a great deal of time preparing for the 90-minute interview. “I’ve read virtually everything written about Michael and I’ve looked at the videos so much I’m blind,” she said.
When she flew to Jackson’s ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley to work out technical details and shoot promotional photos, he surprised her with his sense of humor. “I expected him to be shy, but instead he started telling jokes,” she said. “We were cracking up through the entire photo shoot.” But Winfrey says the most important preparation is “calming myself . . . so I can do the best job to make him totally comfortable with me so he’ll share “That either makes or breaks an interview,” Winfrey said.
Winfrey had asking just about everyone she saw, what they want to know about Jackson. So questions about his plastic surgeries, family feuds, quirky health habits, etc., were bound to be asked. Some believed that this interview, coupled with Jackson’s other highly public appearances, was a publicity stunt meant to jump start a faltering career.
A live interview , with only a few exterior shots of Jackson’s ranch pre-taped, was very important to Winfrey. “I want everyone to know that there’s no one editing this, no one controlling the interview – either Michael or me.” But working in a totally live setting has given Winfrey a a few nightmares. The talk show star worries she will be forced to turn to the camera and say, “Just a moment, Michael’s still getting dressed.”
“He knows he can trust me. I know what it’s like to be splashed across the tabloids. After all, Michael, Liz (Taylor) and I could start our own Maligned by the Tabloids Club!” said Oprah.
Michael Jackson’s live interview with Oprah aired in February 1993 and was watched by over a 100 million viewers from around the world. He addresses for the first time his plastic surgery, his changes in skin tone, his artistry and the many tabloid stories written about him.
During rehearsals, he recalled, he would look out and “see all the children playing . . . and it would make me cry.” Before a tour of South America, “I hid, and I was crying while I was hiding, because I did not want to go.” In puberty — “very sad, sad years for me” — his abusive father routinely called Michael ugly, “and I would cry every day.”
Responding to Winfrey’s question “Did your father ever beat you?,” Michael tried to smile as he said, “Yes.” Then, in an aside to his father, “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.” With that wincing smile, Jackson was like a wounded orphan who has walked through fire and has booked a return trip. How strong is the bond, the bondage, of victim to victimizer? Dangerous is “dedicated to my dearest parents, Katherine and Joseph Jackson.” But as a child aching for love, even from those who can abuse his trust, he resembles most other people on earth. And in daring to do battle without the armor of guile, he is something else old-fashioned: a hero on an impossible quest for innocence.
Despite Oprah’s assertion that Michael could trust her and that she lacked control in this interview – the exact opposite appeared to be true. She bluntly asking the 34 year old singer inappropriate and shocking questions during the live broadcast making him look uncomfortable. Such as, are you a virgin?
When it comes to Michael Jackson, journalistic integrity all but flies out the window in search of ratings.
Dangerous
Another discussion with Glenda Stein on “The Glenda Tapes” involved a different girl who had caught Michael’s attention. He spoke of a woman named Melissa who worked as a coordinator on his Dangerous tour and claimed he was going to “be with her” :
Michael: She said … “I love you Michael and I’ll do whatever it takes,” and all that right… And um, so I had to be honest with her and she told me. One of the things that she told me today was, she goes like …”Well, I’d like to spend some time with you before you leave,” because of what happened you know…
Jackson’s “Who Is It” video, filmed in June of 1992 by director David Fincher, opens with Michael in a hotel appearing distraught as he sings about his girlfriend’s betrayal. The girlfriend takes on several identities during the video, one of which is “Diana.” Eventually, we learn that this woman is a high-priced call girl, whom he leaves at the end of the video. This version of the video did not initially air in the United States; it premiered on BBC2, but Michael withdrew it the very next day.
Glenda: How long did it take you to get over Diana?
Michael: Years…A hell of a long time. I just (pause) wanna know what it’s like girl. To have a real relationship with someone who doesn’t want me for…that I don’t, I don’t have to look over my shoulder all the time.
“He was a grown man when she [Diana Ross] married Arne Naess and thought she should have given a chance. In fact, when she married everyone was scared to tell MJ. Kidada Jones was a little girl then, and, she ended up being the one who told him” said Flo Anthony.
Locked in his intense desire for privacy but still craving affection, Michael sought opportunities to playfully joke with others whenever he could. Guitarist Becky Barksdale recalled a concert during the Dangerous world tour where she got an unexpected surprise from Jackson:
“I came out front with him and we were dancing around and playing guitar, and he was right next to me…. We never really had any contact with each other. We’re doing the show, night after night after night. One night, I think we were in Buenos Aires, or Chile, I can’t remember which … I had my eyes shut and I’m playing guitar, doing a guitar solo. All of a sudden I feel something on my butt. I was like, Oh my God, some crazed fan had somehow gotten past security and was on stage. But he was just having fun with me. I turned around and I saw that it was him, and my jaw dropped. And the drummer, I think he skipped a beat because he was laughing so hard.”
” Michael used to do a lot of things, he’d lift up your dress and look underneath” said long time stylist Carol Lamere. Especially fellow stylist Janet Zeitoun, “ cause she always wore a thong .He got me with toilet paper–cause I’ve always been real shy.”
With his shy charm, Michael used light interactions like these with his colleagues to build a sense of normalcy in his personal life..
But, at this time Michael’s relationship with Lisa Marie was progressing; it seems having developed that instant rapport, Lisa Marie was the one keen to make things happen between them, at least professionally to begin with.
But part of her was in “turmoil,” recalled Brett, “on her mind was ‘I have my kids,’ and she was in turmoil with her husband and what should she do? If she wanted to be a star, she had to really want to live and breathe that.” Michael also advised Lisa similarly: If she wanted to pursue a singing career, she would have to dedicate herself to it. During the weeks following their meeting that previous November, Brett had found himself the hapless man in the middle, caught between a balking and busy Michael, and an ambivalent yet driven Lisa. Michael, in Brett’s characterization, was obviously intrigued by the thought of signing Lisa Presley, “but there was more desire on Lisa’s part for something to happen.”
Lisa Marie no longer wanted to just be defined by her father; and neither did her husband. Their marriage having been showing strain for a while, under the weight of her new ambition seemed to be falling apart even further. It seemed she had a choice, she either had to focus on saving her marriage or focus on starting her career. Danny Keough, as an aspiring musician himself, had never been able to cope with living in the shadow both she and her father had cast, as Lisa said, “Even if you have talent, which Danny does, you immediately become Mr. Presley in the world’s eyes, and it eventually tore the marriage apart.” Lisa said it had been an issue that had happened to her repeatedly in relationships with men, “Their egos would be shot to hell, and it would create resentment, and love would never overcome that in the end. Because their identities would be taken away from them, or their importance; basically, they’d have their balls cut off, every time.”
Brett, who was still hoping to bring her and Michael together for a record deal, finally arranged for a representative from Michael’s office to send a formal letter to Lisa stating that Michael was still interested in keeping things going. At the same time, Prince also began pursuing Lisa t sign a recording contract.
Lisa celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday on February 1st 1993 with a huge party, planned by Priscilla, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Prince was among the guests, along with a sprinkling of celebrity Scientologists such as Kirstie Alley, Nicole Kidman, and Juliette Lewis. Lisa invited Michael Jackson as her special guest, “and he would have loved to have gone,” said Brett, “but he had other things.” Instead he sent a gift, a book on Michelangelo and a framed photo of their first meeting together that last November. Brett remembers handing her these gifts at the party and her excitement in having received them.
“Lisa kept calling me after that. Constantly calling me. And she wanted to get together with Michael more,” Brett remembered, and the conversations were no longer just about her career, but a real friendship was developing between the two. Lisa would later say, “I started calling him, he started calling me, I sort of became his friend.” Strong was able to offer additional insight into Michael’s personality, which drew her in even further: “I always talked about him as a passionate man [who was] extremely loving … and that attracted Lisa, that loving part, and loving children.
Mike Edwards, Priscilla Presley’s former boyfriend, claimed that “an amazed Brett” began calling him with reports that Lisa Marie was actively pursuing Michael at that time, beyond the level of just friendship: “He’s saying, ‘Gosh, Lisa’s calling me and Lisa’s really interested in Michael!’ Brett’s impression was that Michael was absorbed in his work, but that Lisa was really interested in him,” said Mike Edwards, Priscilla’s former boyfriend. “And I said, ‘Come on! What do you mean?’ [Brett] said, ‘You haven’t met him, but he’s very charismatic.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but I can’t believe it.’ He said, ‘Yeah, she’s kind of pursuing him.’ And I went, ‘My God! What’s gonna happen?’”
“He’s not stupid, he didn’t get where he was because he’s stupid. It’s unfortunate that not a lot of people know who he really is. He doesn’t let anybody see it. And he has some idea about how he should represent himself in the public, that he thinks works for him, which is the sort-of meek victim, meek-quiet thing that he does, which is not like how he really is. So, he doesn’t let a lot of people see that.”
The Chandler Scandal: Setting the Stage
In mid February of 1993, Michael invited his new friends June Chandler, her son Jordan, and her daughter Lily to visit him at Neverland Ranch for the first time. Jackson had kept his promise to Jordan’s stepfather and had given the Chandlers a call sometime in August or September of 1992, and he would then call and speak to the family about once a month, June testified that his conversations with Jordan lasted from ten minutes to about an hour and a half, with June stating in court that she had been present for all of those phone calls.
At Neverland her children spent the day enjoying the amusement park, zoo, and arcades on the property. Later that evening, Michael called the manager of a local Toys “R” Us, asking if he could bring the children to the store after hours for a late-night shopping spree. After picking up the bill for the many expensive toys the children selected, Michael offered the use of his guest cottage to the Chandlers, and the family spent the night there. When asked to describe how Michael behaved during that first visit, June remarked, “Michael Jackson wasn’t the superstar. He was a regular person, and I couldn’t believe how nice he was.”
June and Jordan again visited the ranch in March. Frank Cascio, another friend who was there at the same time and was around Jordan’s age remembered, “We had all bonded that day. It was clear to me that Jordie and his whole family loved Michael as much as my family did. They were like another family to him, and I felt like we had that in common.” On several occasions Jordan asked his mother if he could sleep in Michael Jackson’s bedroom, because all the other kids were there. His mother, June, steadfastly said no. She described Jordan as being very pushy about this on a number of occasions. Jordan did, however, play up in Jackson’s room until 2:00 AM with the other kids before returning to his guest room.
Frank Casio said, “I had spent plenty of time with Jordie and Michael, and when I was at Neverland, Jordie never even stayed in Michael’s room with us. Not once. I had never seen anything out of line happen, and I didn’t believe anything had happened, not for a single second. Furthermore, Michael had never acted in any way even approximating ‘inappropriate’ toward Eddie [Frank’s brother] or me.” He would call what Jordan would later claim happened, “utterly unbelievable.” He would also add that Jordan had confided in him about his father:
I couldn’t help remembering some of what Jordie had said about his father during the trip we had taken to Disneyland together and later at the ranch. Jordie was an open, honest kid, and I didn’t have the sense that he was hiding anything. The night we’d gone to Toys “R” Us, he told me that his father, a dentist and aspiring screenwriter, Evan, was extremely jealous of Michael. He volunteered the information that his father thought it was weird that Michael was so close to Jordie and the rest of the family and that the relationship had become a problem for the Chandler family.
A few weeks later, Michael invited June and the children to fly to Las Vegas with him on a friend’s private jet. He reserved a $3,000-per-night suite at the Mirage Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.According to waiter, Chad Jahn, who served them in Mirage’s Chinese restaurant, Jackson and Jordan swam with dolphins in the hotel’s marine centre. He also said ”They talked in whispers and laughed like a father and son”. Jordan says he stayed in Las Vegas for a week. His mother would claim it was two to three days only.
“When they arrived, Michael gave the children and their mother a tour of the place. The next day he took the boy shopping, then to the hotel arcade.” John Miklie, who runs the arcade, said Michael couldn’t stay long, “because too many kids crowded around him.”
The trip to Las Vegas brought Michael and the Chandlers closer together, and June seemed very comfortable trusting her children to Jackson’s care. June would even admit that all four of them had crashed in her own hotel room that first night to sleep – June, Michael, Jordan and Lily.
Michael and Jordan stayed up late one night watching movies, and Jordan was apparently terrified by the film The Exorcist. So Jackson told Jordan that he could spend the night in his room. Jordan would claim that they’d spent the night discussing the movie together as they were both keen movie enthusiasts and knowing Jordan possibly wanted to work in the business had talked about things like how the idea for the movie had come about. Jackson’s nephew Austin Brown would spend time with his uncle doing the same thing and has said, “he was the ultimate hang out person. The type that will talk about nothing till five in the morning but at the same time you’re getting tons and tons of lessons.”
Questioned about how many times he’d stayed in Jackson’s bed this week Jordan would at first claim “all the time,” and then after the next question claim that he had stayed there only “maybe two or three” times.
This decision later became the subject of great controversy. June Chandler claimed that she had not wanted her son to spend the night with Michael, and had reprimanded Jordan for requesting to be allowed to stay with the singer. In her 2005 testimony, June stated that Michael was upset by the reprimand, and started “sobbing, crying, shaking, [and] trembling.” She admitted on cross-examination that Jordan had wanted to spend the night in Jackson’s room. She claimed that after this she had relented and allowed Jordan to sleep in the same room as the singer.
However, Jordan contradicted his mother’s version of events and when a psychiatrist interviewed him stated that his mother had only become upset about this sleepover the morning after it had already happened and that he had been the one to tell Michael that she was upset. Jordan claimed it was Jackson who had confronted his mother about it and that it had been his mother who had been in tears.
June Chandler would admit that she had discussed with Michael her marital problems and expressed her appreciation for the fact that Jackson was “taking care” of her and her children. At one point, she told him, “I’ve had males in my life that, you know, have disappointed me. How can I have you in my life and you’re saying that you’re going to take care of us, that you’re so wonderful, everything’s going to be okay, how am I going to do that?”
While still in Las Vegas, Michael took Jordan to Cartier Jewelers to help him pick out something for his mother June. When asked by journalist Martin Bashir in 2002 if he enjoyed buying jewelry, Michael replied that there were three people in his life he would buy it for: “Elizabeth [Taylor] loves jewelry. My mother loves jewelry and if there’s a girl I like at the moment, I’ll buy her jewelry.” Michael and Jordan selected a bracelet by Cartier known as a “love bracelet.” The bracelet had been designed based on the legend about how warriors, prior to going off to battle, would often “lock” their wives up around the waist with iron “chastity belts” to preserve the fidelity of the their marriage; Cartier’s modern take involved a bracelet accompanied by a screwdriver which the giver was to use to lock the bracelet around the other’s wrist, symbolizing a commitment. It seems that after hearing how June distrusted the men in her life, Jackson wanted to give her a symbol of something a little more permanent. In fact, June received several personal gifts from Michael during their time together. In her testimony, she admitted that the star had given her a gold bracelet, earrings, a necklace, a ring, and a $7,000-dollar Fred Segal gift card, and that she had enjoyed the use of Michael’s credit card.
Thomas Mesereau, Jackson’s defense lawyer from the 2005 case who would go on to cross-examine June on the stand, told us that he suspected there may have been more to their relationship: “I thought that Michael, to some extent, was infatuated with her and one of the female jurors, who I spoke to from the 2005 trial, thought so too. I always thought there was a relationship there. I mean, I don’t know what her attitude was. I suspected she was using him — for jewelry, for trips — that was my suspicion, you know, though Michael never said that to me. But this particular juror [also] thought he was infatuated with her.” June would later admit that she had been charmed by Michael and had told him, ”You’re like a magnet. You’re like Peter Pan. Everybody wants to be around you and spend twenty-four hours. Lily would too, except she’s not old enough.”
Apparently, the Chandlers enjoyed their trip to Las Vegas with Michael so much that they were eager to continue traveling with him. Immediately after leaving Vegas, June and her children accompanied Michael to Walt Disney World in Florida, along with Brett Barnes. After returning from that excursion, they continued to routinely talk to Michael by telephone, as well as visiting Neverland.
June would admit that she, too, had spent time in Jackson’s bedroom at Neverland. One of Jackson’s maids, Adrian McManus, who would go on to testify against him in 2005 was forced to admit that she had originally stated that even she had witnessed June being in Jackson’s bedroom. Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau asked her if she was aware of any romantic relationship between June and Jackson, and she said that she was not. Prosecutor Ron Zonen objected to this line of questioning, to which Mesereau responded, “I think the prosecution raised the issue of what was happening in that bedroom.” After being forced to admit she’d witnessed this, she would try to clarify that she’d seen her there only “to bring in [Jordan’s] clothes” but was again forced to admit that she’d never mentioned the clothes in her original statement and had just said she’d seen her in Jackson’s bedroom.
June would say she’d been in Jackson’s room over 10 times, and when asked why she’d been there by Jackson’s attorney she defensively responded that she was Jordan’s mother and was allowed there; an admission which also reflected that contrary to public perception, Jackson never forbade any parent from entering his room. Brett Barnes’ mother Lisbeth said that on one occasion late at night while watching videos together Michael had insisted she also spend the night in his bedroom with them as it had been raining outside, “we were watching videos and talking, and he just suggested, “Well, why don’t you stay; stay here,” because it was raining outside. And he said, “Well, you can stay here.” And I stayed for a little while, but then I went back to my room. It was just more comfortable.”
June also repeatedly invited Michael to spend time at her home. According to some reports, she invited Michael to stay at her home around thirty times from sometime in late March to the beginning of May 1993 – an excessive amount of time for a busy entertainer with an album to promote. June would however testify that he would stay for a week or two. Private investigator Anthony Pellicano would say, “They invited Michael to stay there. Michael didn’t crash their house. He didn’t say, ‘I want to stay here.’ They wanted him to stay there.”
According to Pellicano, there was no cause for alarm in Jackson’s having a friend like Jordan. “They go out and they play and they go on the rides and they have water fights and do all this stuff. And then they kind of like crash. Now, Michael is always fully dressed.” Jordan would go on to tell Pellicano that he had never seen Jackson naked because the singer was shy and always wore pajamas, socks, and a hat in bed. “When [Jordan] went to bed, he had pajamas on and sweats, and Michael had sweats and pajamas on. Michael goes to bed with his hat on. I’m serious.” Jordan would actually take a photo of Jackson in his bedroom; Jackson is seen wearing pajamas with a white shirt underneath, sitting atop a pulled-out bed, and yes, wearing a black hat.
Michael would describe his own interest in why he enjoyed spending time with families like this, “I never did birthdays or Christmases – or sleepovers or none of that simple, fun stuff [in my childhood]. Or going into a shopping market and just grabbing something off the counter, you know all those simple things like going out in society and being normal. That’s why when I befriend people it’s usually not the celebrities, it’s usually the simple normal family somewhere. I want to know what their life is like. That’s why I went to that hut in China or going to some of the mud houses in South America. I want to know what it is like. I have slept in crazy places where people say “Are you nuts?” And I say, “No. I want to know what it’s like.”
According to the Chandlers, Jackson did nothing untoward to Jordan throughout these visits. It would seem according to them that when Jackson stayed over at their house, he did so for the same reasons he would stay over at other friends’ houses: to be part of a family.
Midknight
Along with his musical enterprises, Jackson wanted to be a movie star. Various studios had tried to develop film projects for him– a Peter Pan project had been talked about for years– but nothing had jelled. Some in Hollywood felt that Jackson would never have a film career. His persona was too fey and eccentric, and his plastic surgery had been a source of controversy.
But film producer Jon Peters was enamored with the superstar and did not believe the conventional wisdom. He courted Jackson with promises of his own movie company. “Close your eyes,” Peters told him, according to the Los Angeles Times interview.”That picture yourself getting out of the limo. You open your eyes and it’s an art deco building that says Michael Jackson entertainment company on top. You walk in the lobby and there are guys with epaulets and hats standing there. It’s your family, your home and you are the boss.”
Jackson had loved Batman’s production design and was keen to work with Anton Furst. Peters began to develop a project about a fantasy superhero for Jackson called MidKnight, which Furst would direct. Caroline Thompson was hired to write the original script. She had written Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands– a role that Jackson had wanted to play. Furst began planning extraordinary visual effects that would use Sony technology, including lasers for the characters eyes.
Peters and Jackson met frequently about MidKnight at their respective homes.”Jon was very sweet with Michael, and Michael adored Jon.” Thompson says. Jackson raved about his new pal to the Los Angeles times.”Jon Peters is brilliant, original, sensitive and dynamic,” he said through his manager Sandy Gallen. “He is a rare combination of the effortless spontaneity, ferocity and intensity…. he gets so enthusiastic. One day at lunch while talking about a movie idea, his glasses fell into his soup. I love him.”
Peters and Furst had tried to develop MidKnight for the star. But Jackson had lost his two collaborators in 1991. Peters had left the studio, while Furst had died tragically in November. On the day he was scheduled to get himself into a detox program for an addiction to Valium,Furst had either falling or jumped off the eighth floor of a Culver city parking garage.
In March 1993, Michael publicly announced the formation of Michael Jackson Productions Inc., an independent film company that would give a share of profits to his Heal the World foundation. As well as Junk bond king Michael Milken announcing plans to team up with Jackson to start an entertainment and educational cable network.
When the news of the allegations broke, the two projects that had been in the works at Jackson’s production company, Jack and the Beanstalk and MidKnight, had been in turnaround for some time.
Other background issues in Jackson’s life were taking centre stage at this time. The recurring problem with his scalp from the Pepsi burn was an issue he wanted to finally overcome. He’d been left with a bald spot that surgery had as of yet been unable to heal, and he didn’t want to continue to have to use hair pieces. Debbie Rowe would say that the issue was a complicated and painful one for him, “After the burn, Michael had a huge amount of scarring on the top of his head, on the crown. Because he’s black, he developed keloids. Keloids are extremely painful, thickening scars. He didn’t want to wear hairpieces anymore, and he needed to have something done with the keloids. We were injecting them, which is extremely painful to have done. It wasn’t really working. And so Dr Klein suggested doing what’s called a tissue expander. You cut a pocket underneath the skin, and you put in, like, a saline balloon.“ This is done in order to expand the skin enough that the scar tissue can be removed, leaving healthier skin in its place. Jackson would undergo this procedure once again in order to attempt to finally heal his wound.
The surgery was performed by Dr Gordon Sasaki on March 16th. Dr. Sasaki would explain that he had to place a piece of metal on one side of the defect and one on the other side, and had then stitched it up going from one side of the metal to the other, using a crank to put the sides together. After this the saline balloon was inserted to further stretch out the skin to cover the scar tissue. The doctor explained that this method normally results in about 30% more skin from stretching, and that normally a patient who undergoes this surgery has pain lasting for about 6 weeks.
During the time Jackson spent in Vegas in late March with the Chandlers and their subsequent visits to Neverland in April.
Debbie Rowe was present during the surgery – at his request, feeling increasingly at ease in her company, Jackson would ask her to be present throughout many of his surgeries, in order to reassure him. Dr. Sasaki described Jackson as being very friendly; saying Jackson had invited him and his family to his Neverland ranch a few times, once to check up on the progress of his wound. Of these visits Sasaki has said, “More than talking about him, we talked about the Bible.”
Green Eyed Monster
In April 1993, June, Lily, and Jordan spent five days at Neverland Ranch. Joy Robson, the woman whom Victor Gutierrez had approached in a park a year earlier, was at Neverland during the same week that the Chandlers were visiting and met them. When asked in court about June’s behavior at that time, Joy responded, “My impression of June Chandler was that she wanted to be mistress of Neverland; that she was ordering the staff around as if she owned Neverland; that she wanted everything that went with it. My impression of June Chandler was that she was a gold-digger.”
One of the maids at Neverland would testify in 2005 that she’d felt that June’s son Jordan was much like his mother in how he treated Michael’s employees, and that she’d found him to be “rude” and “demanding” from the moment she’d met him. “Like if I was in the laundry room washing clothes, he’d come and say, ‘Where’s my shirt?’ You know, ‘I want my shirt.’ Just not nice to where you ask, ‘Do you have my shirt?’ Just kind of ‘Give it to me now,’ like that.”
There were no restrictions on parents access to any part of Neverland Ranch; they could freely enter Michael’s bedroom. Many had also been invited to spend the night in Michael’s room, as had Brett Barnes’ mother, who had also testified in 2005. Jackson’s sleepovers seemed to be free-for-alls, with people like Elizabeth Taylor even crashing occasionally: “I’ve been there, when his nephews were there, and we all were in the bed, watching television. There was nothing abnormal about it. There was no touchy-feely going on. We laughed like children, and we watched a lot of Walt Disney.”
It was at this point that the actress Carrie Fisher first heard about Jackson and Jordan’s relationship through his father and her dentist, Evan Chandler. Despite his family’s growing intimacy with Jackson, Evan Chandler had not yet met the star, even though he was fully aware of his ex-wife’s trips and visits to Neverland Ranch with Jordan and Lily. In her autobiographical book Shockaholic, Fisher claims Evan had a reputation as a Dr. Feelgood, and it was due to this fact that he was known as the “dentist to the stars.” She describes Evan as a “very strange character” and admits that she would see him in order to have unnecessary dental work so she could receive prescription drugs like morphine legally. “This man was one of those people who could arrange such a welcome service. He referred his patients to a mobile anesthesiologist [Dr. Mark Torbiner] who would come into the office to put you out for the dental work. And as if that wasn’t glorious enough, this anesthesiologist could also be easily and financially persuaded to come to your house to administer the morphine for your subsequent luxury pain relief.”
The Chandlers would claim that Evan had only raised the issue with a patient of his — one of the many unorthodox things he seemed comfortable doing with his patients — purely out of concern about his son, but Carrie Fisher relayed the story differently. “And this same Dr. Chandler—long before the lawsuit was brought (though not necessarily before it was contemplated)—needed someone to brag to about his son’s burgeoning friendship with Michael Jackson,” she says. “And so my ‘dentist’ would go on and on about how much his son liked Michael Jackson and, more important, how much Michael Jackson liked his son. And the most disturbing thing I remember him saying was, ‘You know, my son is very good looking.’” It was this comment that unsettled Fisher the most:
Now I ask you—what father talks about his child that way? Well, maybe some do but (a) I don’t know them, and (b) they probably aren’t raising an eyebrow and looking suggestive when they say it. Over the years I’ve heard many proud fathers tell me, “My son is great,” or “My kid is adorable,” but this was the only time I’d ever heard this particular boast: “My son [unlike most average male offspring] is VERY [unsettling smile, raised eyebrows, maybe even a lewd wink] good-looking [pause for you to reflect and/or puke].”
It was grotesque! This man was letting me know that he had this valuable thing that he assumed Michael Jackson wanted, and it happened to be his son. But it wasn’t who his son was, it was what he was: “good-looking.” So here was Dr. Chandler telling me how Michael was buying his kid computers and taking him to incredible places and sleeping in the same bed and getting him…WAIT! “Hang on,” I said. “I have to interrupt here. Let’s just go back a tic, okay?” “Sure,” Chandler said. “They’re sleeping in the same bed?!”
He blinked. “Well, yeah, but my ex-wife is always there, so it’s okay, and his stepfather and…and… and…”
Contrary to Evan’s later claims that he’d shared all of this with her because he was concerned about this specific aspect of his son’s friendship with Jackson, it would seem Evan Chandler had no such concerns at all at the time, and that he had only wanted to brag about his “good looking” son’s friendship with Jackson.
In her later testimony, June made it clear she felt that Evan was not spending enough time with Jordan; she complained that he dedicated the bulk of his days to writing screenplays, and neglected his son’s needs in the process. Evan was already thousands of dollars in arrears in child support at this point, and his brother Ray Chandler later alleged that Evan did not pay the money he owed to June because he believed her estranged husband David Schwartz was wealthy and wished to support the child. In any case, Evan Chandler continually allowed others to shoulder the financial burden of raising his child; in his own words, he felt that Jordan’s “relationship with Michael was a wonderful means of Jordie not having to worry for the rest of his life.”
In The Closet
It was at this time that something else significant was going on in the background of Michael Jackson’s life that only a few people in his world knew about — his growing relationship with Lisa Marie Presley. The two had become firm phone friends, and now the lines in their relationship had begun to blur. Her marriage to Danny Keough, which had already been on the rocks, now seemed shipwrecked, and one of the reasons for this was her newfound intimacy with Jackson. Michael said that their relationship reached a new plateau. “We would talk on the phone…I noticed that we had come closer.”
Lisa Marie would later say that she was finding herself drawn to him, “As time went on, Michael and I talked more, I thought, I’m getting to know the real man here. He puts on an act for outsiders, this sort of victim thing, I thought, but I’m the one seeing the real deal, the real person. I started thinking I was special, that he was opening up to me as he never had to anyone else. He made me feel that way. He can be very seductive when he’s pulling you in.” She would admit that she felt an attraction to him, “There is something riveting about him. He doesn’t let people see who he is. When he does, it’s hard to shake.”
“When I met Michael I could tell he was interested in me, we had a connection at the time,” Lisa Marie has stated. Having been aware of his attraction to her, she admits she chose to confide in him that her marriage was in trouble — one friend said that Lisa had told her that she and Danny had “stopped making love and actually didn’t touch each other all of 1993.” And Lisa said that it was this admission to Michael that had spurred him into action, as he had seen this for what it was: her revealing that she returned his interest in her. She says that upon telling him this, “the courting started. Flowers, calls, candies…You name it, everything started coming.”
Having been with men who’d felt emasculated by her, Lisa Marie would say she enjoyed the way Michael was the one with the power in their relationship, “because I want to be able to have a man who’s running things, and who I can admire and respect,” adding that being with Michael “felt more natural, like a female type of natural.”
For outsiders it may have sounded like a surprising statement for a woman to make about Michael, but other women have spoken about the same effect he had on them. Sassy editor Jane Pratt met with Michael at Neverland in the middle of 1995 – during his marriage to Lisa – and said about him, “The truth is actually he’s very different from any perception that I’ve had of him before. He’s incredible. I mean, I defend him to anybody because he’s wonderful. He’s sweet, he’s nice… he’s also incredibly macho. Now I know that’s not really a thing you think of, but he is. I had the biggest crush on him.” She went on, “He’s a flirt, and he’s the kind of person who notices if your drink needs refilling or if you’re cold he’ll come and bring you a jacket…he’s very, very different than anything I’ve ever heard around before and much more normal than anything that’s ever been portrayed.”
Executive producer of the TV series Jacksons: An American Dream, Jodi Gomes also shared this sentiment saying, “He let me hug him for an eternity, while whispering naughty silly things in my ear!” She said that he “had a way of making you feel like you knew him for 100 years, and eased your nerves about how HUGE he was.”
It was at this time that Michael was invited by former President Jimmy Carter to attend a fundraiser for the Atlanta Immunization Drive, a project to give a number of impoverished American children — specifically African American children — access to proper vaccinations. Former UN Ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young would later describe Jackson as “having a big heart” and said that his appearance at the event had helped them “to immunize some 37,000 pre-school kids. He was phenomenal.” It was at this event on May 5, 1993 in Atlanta that Lisa Marie and Michael were photographed together for the first time, and in the photos for the event Lisa Marie’s husband is conspicuously absent. Though it would seem as though they’d managed to randomly bump into each other, it would later transpire that they had agreed to attend together.
Art consultant Adrian King who attended the event remembers seeing them together, “I was in the reception room at the Carter Center and President Carter introduced me to Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley—I did not ask how she hooked up with him, but I surmised she was traveling with Jackson and came with him.” The Carter Center would later confirm that Jackson did bring Presley with him.
Michael would admit, “We later traveled to Atlanta for [former] President Jimmy Carter to visit children, but no one knew that she was there with me. The brilliant thing about us is that we were often together but did not let anybody know about it.” He admitted, “We were really quiet and comfortable with each other. That’s pretty much how the dating started happening.”
However serious this was getting and whatever happened during their time in Atlanta (Lisa has said that around this time there was “some romantic stuff” going on), she was a married woman and their relationship was still a closely guarded secret, so when Jackson was due to attend The World Music Awards a few days later in Monaco, he invited the Chandlers with him to attend.
Monaco
June was ecstatic about the trip.Repeatedly telling Evan about the “seven thousand dollar first class tickets” Michael had given her, waiving them in the air as Evan helped load their bags into the limo. “I was happy for June,too,” Evan said,” “Dave never treated her that well, but Michael was nice to her. I half-joked.”Hey, maybe you’ll marry Michael.” It would have been great for both of them. He’d get a new image and she’d finally have a peaceful relationship.”
All seemed well when Michael, June, and the children flew to Monaco and checked into the luxurious Hotel de Paris on May 9, 1993. Michael introduced the family to his good friends Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie, who were hosting the awards. The princess herself presented Jackson with an award. During the televised event, June was seated behind Michael with her children in the front row, next to him. Television footage of the event and paparazzi photos show them laughing and smiling during the trip.
Back in the United States, Evan Chandler and June’s husband David Schwartz became upset by the numerous tabloids featuring paparazzi photos of the foursome taken in Monaco. The National Enquirer published an article on May 25th about Michael’s trip entitled “Michael Jackson’s Secret Family: A Millionaire’s Wife And Her Two Kids.”
The story, reportedly leaked by a friend of June’s, stated that after their first meeting at Rent-A-Wreck, “the family was on cloud nine over the encounter.” The story further claimed that Michael had “adopted” June and her two children soon after he first met them, saying, “He had long conversations with Jordie and became fascinated by June, a beautiful Oriental woman.” Schwartz was referred to as a man “who went from rags to riches by starting Rent-A-Wreck and turning it into a $100 million a year car rental company;” there was no mention of Evan Chandler in the story. June’s lawyer at the time, Michael Freeman, would later say, “Evan began to get jealous of the involvement and felt left out.”
Feelings of jealousy had been a common theme among men in the families that Michael had befriended in the past. The Jackson’s publicist from the 1984 Victory tour, Howard Bloom, spoke about another such family: “Where the person whose kid and family became close to Michael and who suspected the wife was having an affair with him. Michael had someone like that on tour with him. A married woman who was in her forties and very good looking. I mean not glamorous but a very handsome looking woman, and she had the room right next to Michael’s and her family had somehow given her permission to go out on the road with him and he found it very comforting to have her,” said Bloom. This unknown woman and her family preceded the Steins and of course the Chandlers. However, Evan Chandler would take his feelings of jealousy to unprecedented lengths.
Michael would later say, “I love how a child is so honest. If they are jealous, they will tell you. If they are mad at you, they’ll tell you… ‘You like him more than me.’ Adults won’t say that. They will be vindictive and find another way to hurt you because of their jealousy.”
A former employee of the National Enquirer, Lydia Boyle, tells us that it was around this time that an anonymous person began calling the tabloid’s tip line claiming to have information about Michael’s inappropriate behavior with an underage boy. Boyle sat at the desk opposite the tip line. Over the course of three weeks the caller provided the tabloid with the “entire story” about the sequence of the supposed molestation events, including names, but did not ask for money in exchange. Boyle, who’d worked for the paper for a number of years, found this highly unusual for a tipster. Because the caller wasn’t able to give any validating information the tabloid did not print the story. Boyle suspected that the caller was either Evan Chandler himself or someone he put up to making the calls.
Geraldine Hughes, the legal secretary for Chandler’s attorney, would also state, “It started somewhere in the neighborhood of May.” There was secrecy within the law firm and ,” I had never seen any billing with this client,” Which she found unusual and started making notes in her calendar.
June would later state that both Michael and Jordie had the flu in Monaco and were cooped up inside the hotel for most of the trip. It was this trip that would become the starting point for the allegations against Michael, with Jordan later alleging that this was when his relationship with Jackson “got out of hand.” It’s worth noting that through all of this Jordan would state that his school work hadn’t suffered, “Well, I managed to still get all As; I brought my book with me.”
But despite her later assertions that she was unhappy with how close Jordan had become to Jackson, June and her children flew from Monaco to France with Michael on May 13 to spend three days at Disneyland Paris. With June calling Evan’s French wife Nathalie to,” find out the best places to shop and mentioning that Michael had invited her and the kids to accompany him on the second leg of the Dangerous tour in August.” All on Michael’s dime of course, before returning together to Los Angeles.
Upon the families return Evan seized the opportunity to meet Jackson, having stopped by June’s home for a surprise visit. He brought along Nicky, his son from his new marriage. In court, June claimed Michael, Evan, and the children had a water gun fight. She also learned from Jordan that Evan had invited Michael to visit his home. In her testimony, June claimed to be “upset by this” but offered no explanation for feeling that way.
Evan Chandler’s descriptions of Michael were self-contradictory. He stated that his first impression was that Jackson was an odd person with a weak, limp handshake. Chandler further stated that ,on Jordan’s return he was surprised by the amount of gifts he saw in Jordan’s room, though it wasn’t the price of the toys that upset Evan, it was that he deemed that they were “inappropriate” for Jordan’s age. These weren’t toys that were too grown up for his son, they were the opposite – they were plastic army men and other toys which Evan believed were for much younger children. Evan claims he’d berated his son over this, “Jeez, Jordie, Nicky doesn’t even play with this stuff anymore. What are you doing with it?” Apparently Evan was unaware that his son had chosen most of his own toys and either didn’t know his own son very well or was using this as an absurd reason to question Michael’s influence and motives toward his son.
According to Evan, this was the moment when his lifelong trust in his ex-wife crumbled and he started to doubt her motives concerning their son: “What I saw in Jordie’s room disturbed me not only because it was so inappropriate for his age and personality, but also because I instinctively knew that June had to know it was inappropriate, and was therefore condoning it. It was the first time I had ever doubted her motives concerning our son.” How toys for younger children revealed a sign of ulterior motives by either June or Jackson is never explained, neither is how he’d managed to know that Jordan had not been sexually abused just before Monaco, but how seeing these toys on his arrival lead to his sudden conviction that he had – a conviction which would oddly enough coincide with Jordan’s claim.
But he then asserted that Michael was kind and considerate with the children, and that he was funny and “completely normal.” He even went on to say, “I felt then that maybe June should just divorce Dave, since they were having problems and maybe hook up with Michael. After all they were having a good time, even if I had some reservations about it.”
The following day Jackson invited Evan, Jordan and Nicky to his Century City condominium. The singer met them when they arrived and escorted them past his Rolls Royce and up the stairs to his unit. As was his custom with guests, Michael presented the father and son with gifts: a gold watch for Evan and some toys for Nicky. Evan would later state in a taped conversation with David Schwartz that while the children were busy playing with the new toys, he had confronted Jackson, telling him: “Nobody in this world was allowed to come between this family of June, me and Jordie. When I first met him I told him that. That’s the law. That’s the first thing he knew. Nobody’s allowed to do that.”
According to Evan Chandler, he also asked Michael at that point if he “was fucking [Jordan] up the ass.” He claims Michael had objected to his language, and when Evan pressed on about the nature of their relationship, Jackson told Evan that his relationship with Jordan was “cosmic.” Evan’s brother explained that at first Evan felt Michael’s answer was evasive. Then it dawned on him that the singer was referring to the three chance encounters he and Jordie had had over the years.Wondering if Michael believed their friendship was preordained.The word and idea was actually one Michael used often to describe the people and events in his life.
Talitha Lineham, one of the many fans who Jackson would befriend throughout his life, says he would call her to speak on the phone sometimes just to chat. Once they had just returned to Los Angeles and he said of their friendship, “It’s all cosmic, you know. We are connected to each other. We are drawn to one another. Even tonight, this phone call, it’s cosmic. You wanted to talk to me. And I wanted to hear your voice. And that’s why we’re talking now. The universe made it happen.” The Chandler encounter would seem “cosmic” and “preordained” — but for all the wrong reasons.
Whatever Evan’s misgivings may have been, he appears to have swallowed them immediately. He and Jackson discussed the possibility of Jordan going on tour with Michael in August. June had expressed concerns about the fact that the child would miss school during the tour, but Evan claims he saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for his son . Finding it, “hard to believe that such a man could be anything but a positive influence on his son. He envisioned an opportunity for Jordie in which no door would be closed to him. An experience unavailable anywhere else on earth.” Ultimately, a tutor was suggested as form of compromise. Despite his suspicions about Jackson’s behavior, Evan was so in favor of the idea that he offered to speak with June about it. One can only speculate why a father who believed a man was abusing his son would champion a trip together for the two.
It was during this visit that Evan was shown the computer that Michael had purchased for Jordan. Presumably motivated by the success of Men In Tights, Jordan had been entered into film school to help nurture any talents he had so that they could work on scripts together, and Jordan had required a computer, which Evan had promised to purchase for him, however when the computer never materialized Michael had stepped in and purchased one for Jordan instead. Evan said he’d been impressed by how advanced the computer was and was jealous that Michael had “beaten him to the punch.” This would contradict his earlier boasts to Carrie Fisher about it.
Prior to leaving the condo, Evan invited Michael to spend a few days at his home. He was throwing a birthday party for his son Nicky on May 22 and wanted Michael to attend with Jordan. Michael accepted the invitation. It seems difficult to believe that a father harboring suspicions of sexual abuse would actually invite that man into his home for his child’s party, much less encourage the man to travel with his son.
Evan later explained that even though he was concerned about Michael’s intentions toward Jordan, he felt that his guests would be impressed by the singer’s presence at the birthday party. Apparently, the prospect of such prestige was enough to quell his apprehensions about his children’s well being. Saying at the time, “Who wouldn’t want his kid to be Michael Jackson’s pal?” Michael attended the event at Evan’s home, which he shared with his second wife Natalie and their two children. Perhaps sensing that he was being invited to impress Evan’s social circle, Jackson had arrived a late to the party so as not to distract the guests from Nicky’s day.Astonishingly, Chandler encouraged Michael to spend time with the kids and even provided a rollaway bed in their room for him to sleep with them—even though his home contained five bedrooms.
“Yes, I am absolutely sure that Evan Chandler invited Michael Jackson to his home and made him sleep in Jordan’s bedroom as a sort of a provocation on his part,” said Chandler maid Norma Salinas. Suggesting a different room for the guest but the masters of the house insisted on a special bunk bed added to Jordan’s. This made Norma Salinas think that the father and stepmother were “prostituting” Jordan, though Evan’s master plan was different – the idea was evidently to stage a scene of molestation and possibly even record it for proving the fact of the crime and making the extortion easier.
According to Evan, so enthralled was Jackson after having known him for just a couple of days, that he had told Evan right then that he wanted to move in with him, suggesting they build an extra wing onto their house – though this also contradicts the Chandler’s claims that Jackson was seeking to only furtively share a bedroom with Jordan. Clearly eager to have Jackson around as often as possible, Evan Chandler would invite Jackson to spend the very next weekend at his house.
Memorial Day
This would be the weekend after the National Enquirer story featuring his family and the superstar had been released, with not a mention of Evan or his screenwriting career inside it.
According to the Chandler’s during this weekend, “Michael and Jordie had been off in their own little world all day, as if Evan didn’t exist.” Evan claimed later on that his wife Nathalie had backed up his fears telling him that Jordan didn’t even notice when his father was in the room, and that she’d told him, “Can’t you see what’s going on? They’re in love!” Evan claimed her reasons behind saying this were that Jordan wanted to dress up like Michael (though according to the Chandler’s, this had been something he had done for many years before meeting him), that the two enjoyed spending time together and that he would call Jordan by nicknames like “Applehead” or “Doodoo head”; the nicknames Michael used for everyone around him and that they used on him. However, on the taped phone call between Evan and Schwartz it’s revealed that Nathalie had been the one attempting to urge restraint with Evan, with him saying, “And Nathalie just kept telling me, “You don’t want to really do this.”
Everything seemed fine at first. They watched movies together and talked about Jordan’s adventures with Michael. It was also at this point that Chandler admits he brought up the fact that he was a screenwriter seeking his next big break to Jackson, saying he’d told Michael that he and his son had just finished working on the draft for a script they had, “Joe-Bob, Billie and the Cap Gun Kid”. He claimed that on sharing this with him that Jackson had allegedly been all too eager to say he would finance it, and in fact, to even immediately bring him on board to his own multi million dollar production company.
During their first conversation it seems that perhaps Jackson had been mildly interested in this script, as at the time Chandler had the screenwriting credit with Men In Tights about to be released, and had seemingly been impressed by Jordan’s maturity, perhaps thinking the two could be capable of producing an interesting script together.
Chandler would allege that upon further discussion with his wife –Evan felt that being under Jackson’s control would not make him happy, and Evan then apparently responded that he didn’t want to turn Jackson down his only reason being that it would “hurt his feelings” if he did. In reality, it had been Evan who had eagerly sought to become part of Jackson’s multi million production company.
Evan would claim that Jackson had complained about a strong headache, saying that he hadn’t been able to sleep because of it. He’d told Evan that he’d had headaches like this since his hair had caught on fire in 1984, though it would seem the Chandler’s had no idea about the saline balloon inserted into his scalp or any of the surgical issues that were ongoing in his life because of that. Evan claims he then gave him Aspirin and Tylenol but they didn’t work, and then claims he’d called his anesthesiologist and great drug hero to Carrie Fisher, Mark Torbiner for advice, who perhaps hearing that any celebrity was in need of a drug, immediately came over and brought some Toradol with him, a non-narcotic equivalent to Demerol.
It’s rather hard to believe that Chandler would call in anyone for a ”non-narcotic” drug given the fact that Dr.Chandler had been licensed for conscious sedation since 1992. Then inject someone in his home, who was not his patient and whose medical history he did not know. Despite this, Evan apparently did not give up and by demonstration, would go on to be involved in an almost surreal scenario where he admits to injecting the singer with a drug twice into his buttocks, questioning him while under the drug if he were gay, and then letting him sleep in a bedroom in this inebriated state with the same son he claimed he’d been concerned he was abusing.
Evan claimed that Jackson’s consistent denial of being gay made him believe that he was “asexual”, as though those were the only two options available for him. Evan checked on the star three times that night while he slept. The third time, it is alleged, he saw Jordan in Jackson’s bed and the two were sleeping in a “spooning” position “with Michael’s arm wrapped tightly around the boy, his hand resting on the boy’s crotch on the outside of the covers.”
According to the story in their later book, upon observing this scene, although he believed this “reinforced his suspicions,” Evan did not wake Jackson up and angrily confront him over something so wildly inappropriate, a reaction most parents — especially ones with volatile tempers like Evan’s — would consider reasonable, nor did he question them about it the next morning. According to Evan’s own version of events he removed Jackson’s hand, let his son remain there, and then quietly walked out of the room,.
According to Evan the next morning he’d asked his son whether the relationship between him and Michael was sexual – apparently just as bluntly as he claims he’d asked Jackson before: “Hey, Jordie, are you and Michael doin’ it?” He claimed Jordan had responded, “That’s disgusting! I’m not into that.” Evan explained it this way, “It was crude, but I was so anxious, I decided on the spur of the moment to say it because I figured it would elicit an unplanned response.” They’d claim that Jordie’s repulsion brought Evan great relief.
June Chandler confirmed in her 2005 testimony that so eager was Evan to cement Jordan’s friendship with Michael that he even asked Michael to finance the construction of a new wing on their home, ostensibly so that the singer could visit them more often. When the zoning board refused to allow the addition of the wing to the house, Evan asked Michael to build them a new home altogether.
But things began to sour when Evan tried to milk Jackson’s Hollywood connections upon learning of the singer’s $40-million film production deal. He continued to make progressively more elaborate demands as Michael’s stay with the Chandlers progressed. According to Evan’s brother Ray, it was at approximately this time that Jordan stopped speaking to his father. Knowing that Michael was visiting Jordan, who was home sick with his mother, Evan had conveniently showed up to check on his son. Evan got into an argument with June over the family’s relationship with Michael, causing the rift.
Evan claims his sudden hostility towards Jackson would be based on the fact that through illegal snooping he claimed he’d found Jackson had lied about a possible dentist he had. According to Chandler, his friend Torbiner had “inadvertently” find out that Jackson may have been a patient of a celebrity dentist who reportedly had AIDs, a dentist who Jackson had denied knowing. Later, Chandler claimed Torbiner would stumble across an X-ray belonging to Jackson,sighting this as proof Jackson had lied and motivate his zeal against Jackson as now he had “proof” Jackson was not upfront with him. However he would later also admit that another dentist friend of his had gone through this doctor’s list and could not find Jackson’s name listed.
Evan Chandler would tell Schwartz he’d made his demands to Jackson in person, “In fact, Dave, I – you ask Jordy. I sat in the room one day, and I talked to Michael and told him exactly what I want out of this whole relationship, what I want [tape irregularity], okay, so he wouldn’t have to figure me out.”
Michael cut off all communications with Evan and directed his staff to begin investigating the man. Despite his refusal to communicate with Evan, Michael was still friends with June and her children in June 1993, but their relationship grew increasingly strained. Jackson, who was passive aggressive and hated confrontation, especially with domineering men, started avoiding Evan, perhaps hoping this would help cool down the situation, but Jackson’s avoidance only further enraged Evan. “I had good communication with Michael. We were friends. I like him and I respect him and everything else for what he is. There was no reason why he had to stop calling me,” He would tell Schwartz a month later, “My approach is that the people who don’t talk are the ones who are wrong,” and that, “You know, as long as you’re talking, nobody’s gonna get hurt. When the talking stops, that’s when people get hurt.”
- CHANDLER: That’s the rule, okay, because I know that as soon as you stop talking weird things start going on and people [tape irregularity] —
- SCHWARTZ: Imaginations take over.
- CHANDLER: Imagination will just kill you.”
Flicker
Before screenwriter Paul Hernandez had success with his 2005 Disney film Sky High, he was an aspiring writer new to Los Angeles. Being a comic book fan with aspirations of working in that field, he took on a job at Golden Apple. “It’s a huge store on Melrose,” he explains. “Not only do they have comic books and action figures, but the place really is over the top — movie props, incredibly rare and cool items.” It was common for the store to be frequented by celebrities such as Mark Hamill, John Singleton and Samuel L. Jackson. Yet, Paul was advised one morning that an unnamed celebrity was coming in and to “be cool.”
Later that same day a black SUV pulled up and out popped Michael Jackson, an assistant, and Jordan Chandler. Hernandez was tasked to assist Michael as he browsed the store and said, “Michael was a huge Spiderman fan” and that “Jordan was into the Flash comics and the Flash action figures.” Michael went on to purchase multiples of certain items because “he used them in gift bags for the children that visited Neverland and would ask me, ‘There’s nothing violent, nothing sexual in any of these?’ To ensure that children visiting Neverland weren’t given anything inappropriate.
“It must be something to wake up or get up in the middle of the night and that’s your backyard,” Paul asked, recalling the images of Michael’s home during his live Oprah interview that aired a few months prior. But Michael said, “No, it’s something when you wake up and you see all these children that are never going to get a chance to ride another ride and they’re happy for one day.” Paul told us, “I remember that distinctly because I thought he’s not running this for himself, he’s running this for other people.”
There is an adult book section within the Golden Apple, Paul explained and “Jordan had wandered back there and I said, ‘You really don’t want to go over there — there’s nothing really good over there,’” Hernandez recalled. “Michael then asked, ‘What’s over there?’ and I said, ‘Well it’s like the adult books, the X-rated books.’
Michael said, ‘Jordan, don’t go near that section– that’s where the bad books are.’ I remember he did say ‘bad books,’’ recalled Hernandez, but “Jordan giggled…he acted like he was moving over there and [Michael] said, ‘I’m serious Jordan, if you go near there I’m not going to buy you anything.’ And [Jordan] said, ‘No, no, okay, okay.’”
Michael was a fan of comics and pointed out multiple items that he had interest in. “I remember the comic book I was showing him was called The World’s Finest and when Michael leaned over to pick up a copy I could see behind his ear, it was his left ear. He had scars from the burns, and I recognized what they were because I was burned,” said Hernandez. “When he leaned back up I didn’t catch myself from doing it — I’ll talk to anyone who was burned because I have problems sometimes so I said, ‘Do you still have problems from the burns you got during the Pepsi commercial?’ He turned and looked at me and I said, ‘I don’t mean that in a bad way, I was burned,’ and I leaned down immediately, to let him know why I was asking, and I pulled up my pant leg.”
Michael exclaimed when he saw the burn scars on Paul’s leg and asked, “How did that happen?” and “I told him that both of my legs were burned and that when I was two,” said Paul, who went on to tell him about his horrific childhood incident. Michael “was just devastated — and you could just tell in his face he was just like, ‘Oh my Gosh,’ and he kept saying that over and over again.” Michael told Paul, “I didn’t have it half that bad when it happened to me. At the time I just thought it’s the end of the world and I thought, ‘I can’t believe this, my hair is gone.’ But when I started meeting burn patients I realized I had nothing to cry about, I was lucky.” Michael “talked to me about how he really doesn’t worry about it when he’s wearing a hat and he’s out in public. But on stage he would have to wear I guess little wigs and stuff and when he did spins and things like that he didn’t want people to see he was still scarred up there,” Paul recalled and pointed to this conversation with the superstar as being a particularly poignant moment.
“I have to mention, too, is he wasn’t wearing gloves so you could see the vitiligo on his hands. You could see the spots were his skin was different pigmentation. It reminded me a lot of my uncle because my uncle had it on his arms and it looked like that. The same type pattern and shape. I didn’t think about it when I talked to him.” The two men were talking about superheroes when Paul asked, “Would you ever be in a comic book movie?” (“And this is of course before comic book movies were en vogue,” Paul explained to us.) With that question Michael exclaimed, “Oh yeah I would love to play a superhero!” as he elaborated further, “I think you carry that stuff with you — you know, like moments in movies. When we’re young and we can’t make up our minds what’s right and wrong, it’s always good to have powerful imagery that you’ve seen or you’ve read that sort of guide you in the right direction.” In complete agreement with Jackson on the topic, Paul recalls, “We started talking about black heroes. Now there’s more, but back then you had Black Panther and Black — unfortunately all these guys have that name before it.” Michael went on to say that “he created a character called MidKnight and it was something that he really wanted to do,” said Paul. But, “I think what he said was that they could never get the story to where he approved of it.”
Hernandez stated that this encounter was shortly after,” Michael had just done a short radio interview with Rick Dees to promote his new album” on June 5th 1993. He asked Michael about it because at the end of the interview– Rick asked him, what can people expect from your new album? Are there any secrets? Michael responded (in a high-pitched voice) oh, I have to go Rick… I love you… I love you Rick. Paul asked him, was that really you? Michael just started laughing… so Paul started laughing and Michael says jokingly maybe I should put a song called “I love you Rick” on my next album.
As Michael and Jordan perused the store, “they acted like kids sometimes…like brothers. I remember he would kind put his arm around Jordan and give him noogies and stuff like that, and it was more like somebody who was just looking after a kid, who was just trying to show them a new world.” Hernandez, who now has children of his own, elaborated further by stating, “You can just see in [kids’] eyes like, ‘Wow! I didn’t know this existed!’ and you’re kind of like, ‘Come check this out! Come check that out!’ And that’s kind of how they were. It wasn’t anything weird…and anyway when we were talking about all the superhero movie stuff he was saying how it was good to have memories burned into your subconscious level, these great things you’ve seen as a kid. And it’s true we all carry that.” Before departing the store, “Jordan had gathered up the toys that he had wanted and it wasn’t too much stuff. It was like a little pile of books and anything we stopped on or [Michael] said, ‘Oh, that would be cool to have.’ Jordan would say, ‘Can I get one of those?’ And I remembered Michael corrected him a few times. Like when someone would come up and ask him something. Jordan would go, ‘Yeah,’ and Michael would say, ‘Yes, sir,’ and he would say, ‘Tell them thank you,’ or ‘Tell them please.’ You know, like a father does.”
At this point the demands from Evan had begun and if Michael Jackson had just given into those demands right then, none of what would later happen would transpire. It was Jackson’s refusal to give Evan anything that would hold him hostage to everything else that would unfold – a “plan” Evan tells Schwartz that was under way, and having already been “rehearsed” on what to say the last time he’d seen him, it would seem the plan had been something that had been almost immediate from meeting Michael.
Frank Cascio would reveal, “When I was older, Michael would tell me that Jordy’s father had wanted Michael to invest in a film he wanted to make. Michael initially liked the idea, but his advisers were against it. They dismissed Jordy’s father rather thoughtlessly, and Michael, not one for confrontation, blew him off, too. Michael thought that this, more than anything else, had set Evan Chandler off.”
Artist David Nordahl was at the time working on projects for Jackson within that company and he confirmed Chandler’s demands of his friend had been motivated by his zeal to become a screenwriter: “Sony had given [Jackson] $40 million to start this production company and that little boy’s dad, who considered himself to be show business material because he had written part of a script… And being friends with Michael, and his son being friends with Michael, this guy had assumed that Michael was going to make him a partner in this film production company. That’s where the $20 million figure came from. He wanted half of that Sony money.”
Chandler might have felt that he was capable of writing quality screenplays but others in Tinseltown thought differently.
“There was a screenplay that was passed to me by my friend Richard Jefferies a long time ago, and it’s a horrible screenplay,” says screenwriter Paul Hernandez. “He said you’ve got to read this!…and I can’t remember the title of it but it was about a rock star that OD’d on heroin. Basically the whole movie is this girl finds him and washes him up and she’s a big 80’s fan and she wants him to come back and be as great as he once was. They’re fighting throughout the whole script, and it was really boring. I remember laughing because he finally makes it back — she stuck by him, he cheated on her and all this crazy stuff. He’s finally about to get another shot and it’s this huge concert — it’s his comeback tour. She goes backstage to get him and he’s got this needle hanging out of his arm, he OD’d,” Hernandez laughed hysterically recalling the script. “We all laughed about this script because she walks in and his sunglasses are broken and he never takes his sunglasses off. She takes his sunglasses off to hold him and say ‘Charlie’ or something and there’s no comeback, no nothing . [Chandler] wrote that, Jordan Chandler’s dad wrote that script. I couldn’t get over the fact that he wrote that script and it’s kind of famous around town for being a bad script,” said Hernandez, still laughing.
Bad script or not Evan was determined. At a school graduation ceremony, Evan claims he told June his suspicions about Michael Jackson’s interest in Jordan. June quickly dismissed Evan’s notions, and Jordan’s demeanor towards his father grew even colder . The child’s ongoing interest in spending time with Michael did not sit well with Evan, nor did the fact that June, David. and Michael appeared to have formed a united team against him. June and David began warning Jackson about Evan’s allegations, but Michael simply dismissed the threat at the time, saying that those kinds of things happened to him all the time because people were always trying to get money out of him.
Shortly after school ended in June, Jordan and Lily went to New York to attend her brother’s wedding. Michael decided to accompany them and had his secretary make all of the hotel arrangements. They stayed at the Righa Royal Hotel. Jordan, Lily, and June left on Thursday, but Michael did not arrive until Monday evening around 11:00-12:00 at night. Prior to Mr. Jackson’s arrival, June and the children had been staying in a two-bedroom suite. Jackson rented a huge suite at the end of the hall, and Jordan decided to move all of his belongings in and stayed with Jackson on the evening that he arrived.
On Sunday evening before Jackson’s arrival, June and her two brothers had gone to dinner. She thought this was a good opportunity to talk to Jordan because Michael was not there. She stated that she had had a very difficult time breaking Jordan away from Michael and that even though Michael wasn’t there that they would spend hours talking on the phone, sometimes until 2:00 in the morning. She spoke to Jordan about spending time with his New York cousins and complained about the fact that Michael was occupying all of Jordan’s time.
Father’s Day was on June 20th, and Evan would claim that Jordan did not talk to him on this day or days later when he called again, stating that June had also refused to be a mediator between father and son. June said in her testimony that even though Jordan initially had not wanted to call his father, “eventually” in her presence he did talk to Evan on Father’s Day as a result of her mediation. According to Ray Chandler’s book Evan attributed Jordan’s refusal to talk to him to Jackson’s negative influence on the boy, as if Evan’s mania, threats, temper tantrums and weird sexual suggestions and questions would not be enough to alienate a child.
Astonishingly, given June Chandler’s alleged growing mistrust of Jackson. The Chandlers and Michael traveled from New York City to Florida. They then flew to Santa Barbara on a private plane. Whichever version of the story about Father’s Day is true, according to the Chandlers, Evan left this threatening message on June’s answering machine :
It’s Wednesday, July 7. June, make sure you play this message for Michael and Jordie. I’m going to repeat that. June, make sure you play this message for Michael and Jordie. All three of you are responsible for what is going on. No one is a neutral party. Since Jordie has repeatedly refused to return my phone calls, this will be my last voluntary attempt to communicate. I will be at your house at San Lorenzo this Friday, July 9 at 3:30 in the morning. Take my word for it, there is nothing else any of you has to do that is more important than being at this meeting.
The message was left on the same day that Evan Chandler’s attorney Barry Rothman filed papers for modification of the custody agreement between Evan and June. This would prove to be the first step in a lengthier plan, and Evan understood that he needed to have custody of Jordan in order for that plan to go forward. When June played the message for Michael, the singer immediately called his attorney Bert Fields; it appears that Jackson knew something bad was coming.
Dr. Torbiner had referred Evan to a patient of his, attorney Barry Rothman, who just happened to offer to do this custody work for free, since Evan was so accommodating in his practice. Rothman’s legal secretary at the time was a lady by the name of Geraldine Hughes, who later said she found it unusual that Evan sought Rothman out to use in this matter. “It appears to me that if custody was the main issue he should have hired a family law attorney. Mr. Rothman was primarily known as an entertainment attorney but had recently handled a child abuse case in which a female client accused the father of child molestation. Please note that Mr. Rothman, once again, represented the accuser.”
Although Chandler was filing custody documentation that was not his main objective. At Least according to documents filed by his attorney prior to the allegations being made. “In July of 1993, Rothman was retained by Mr. C.[handler]and his son, a minor, to seek redress against the popular singer, Michael Jackson, for alleged torts against the boy. Rothman contacted Jackson and began to negotiate on behalf of the C.[handler] family, but did not immediately file a lawsuit, as the family wished the matter kept confidential.”
As these events were unraveling, Michael wasn’t keeping it to himself. Understandably horrified about what was happening, he began confiding in his friends. Liza Minnelli remembers Michael calling her up to seek her advice, saying that Michael had told her that the father of one of the families he’d befriended over the years had called him up demanding money and threatening that if he didn’t pay: “I’m going to tell everyone you made a pass at my son.” Liza said, “And that’s when Michael called me. When he’d finished his story, I remember pausing and then saying: ‘Michael, maybe you should tell your lawyer about this.’ He said, ‘But it’s insane.’ So I repeated my advice. ‘It’s blackmail, though,’ he said. ‘It is,’ I replied, ‘and that’s why you need to involve your lawyer.’ But he wouldn’t.” Having spent a lot of time at Neverland herself Liza continued, “What everyone forgets is that, when kids stayed at Neverland, their parents came, too. And they were treated grandly. But then other people jumped on the bandwagon.”
Kit Culkin, Macaulay’s father, also remembered Michael wanting to let him know about what was coming. “I want you to know,” Kit said Michael had told him, “that there are some bad people out there who are going to be saying some bad things about me.” Kit hadn’t inquired further as to what these things would be, and says that he had simply nodded, “I just want you to know that they aren’t true,” he says Michael had continued with emphasis. Kit would later go on to refute any suggestion Michael had acted improperly with any of his children – including two of his daughters who had spent time with Michael.
It was at this time that Michael would begin to rely more and more on his developing relationship with Lisa Marie. “I was in on the beginning of the molestation stuff, and I was getting the phone calls, and he was telling me that it was extortion.” She said that her feelings for him deepened at this point, “I believed that he didn’t do anything wrong, and that he was being wrongly accused and yes, I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it.”
On July 8th June’s estranged husband David meet with Evan, and a heated argument erupted between the men. Evan was irate that Michael, June, and Jordan were avoiding him. He blamed Michael for the problems in the family and was angry that David disagreed with his assessment of the situation. David pointedly asked Evan, “Do you need money — is this about money?” suspecting that Evan’s goal was financial gain. Evan refused to answer and stormed out. Fearing what Evan would do, David secretly recorded a conversation he had with him later that day (a day before the meeting Evan had demanded on June’s answering machine). In the taped conversation, Evan again stated, “Michael has to be there. He’s the main one. He’s the one I want.”
David Schwartz would state that he recorded the call between himself and Evan Chandler on July 8th because a day earlier he received a call from Evan wherein he was abusive, belligerent and violent and that this was a common occurrence. David said Evan told him he had thoughts of harming the entire family, including the children, and that he recorded the conversation out of fear and concern. Schwartz further stated that he did not think Michael Jackson had molested his stepson.
Evan Chandler: I have some things on paper to show a few people and that’s it. My whole part is going to take two or three minutes, and I’m going to turn around [tape irregularity], and that’s it. There’s not going to be anything said, other than what I’ve been told to say – and I’m going to turn around and leave, and they’re going to have a decision to make…And based on that decision, I’ll decide whether or not we’re going to talk again or whether it’s going to go further…I have to make a phone call. As soon as I leave the house, I get on the telephone. I make a phone call. Say, “Go,” or I say, “Don’t go yet,” and that’s the way it’s gonna be. I’ve been told what to do, and I have to do it. I’m not — I happen to know what’s going to be going on, see? They don’t have to say anything to me. [Tape irregularity] “You have refused to listen to me. Now you’re going to have to listen to me. This is my position. Give it a thought…Think it over.” I’m not saying anything bad about anybody, okay? I’ve got it all on paper. I’m going to hand out the paper so that I don’t inadvertently [tape irregularity], handing out the paper, “Michael, here’s your paper. June, here’s your paper. Compare papers. Read this whole thing. This is my feelings about it. Do you want to talk further? We’ll talk again. If you don’t…” [tape irregularity] — but, see, all I’m trying to do now, they have forced me to go [tape irregularity] on paper and give it to them to read – because…[tape irregularity]. I mean, isn’t that pitiful? Now, why would they want to cut me out, to go this far, spend this much money, spend so much time in my life crying, being away from my practice, not paying [tape irregularity] everybody else? Why would they want to put me through that?…Well, you see — yeah. That’s why I tried to get in touch with them, to [simultaneous, inaudible] work it out –-
David Schwartz: Yeah, well, but that’s — wait.
Evan: — but they don’t want to talk to me.
David: Wait. Well, that’s not true. That is not true.
Evan: I had good communication with Michael. We were friends. I like him and I respect him and everything else for what he is. There was no reason why he had to stop calling me. I sat in the room one day and talked to Michael and told him exactly what I want out of this whole relationship. I’ve been rehearsed about what to say and not to say…[Jackson] broke up the family. [Jordan] has been seduced by this guy’s power and money…I am prepared to move against Michael Jackson. It’s already set. There are other people involved that are waiting for my phone call that are in certain positions. I’ve paid them to do it. Everything’s going according to a certain plan that isn’t just mine. Once I make that phone call, this guy is going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. And I’ve given him full authority to do that…And if I go through with this, I win big-time. There’s no way I lose. I’ve checked that inside out. I will get everything I want. [Jordan’s welfare is] irrelevant to me. It’s going to be bigger than all of us put together. The whole thing is going to crash down on everybody and destroy everybody in sight. It will be a massacre if I don’t get what I want…And they will be destroyed forever. June will lose [custody of Jordan] and Michael’s career will be over…This attorney I found, I picked the nastiest son of a bitch I could find. All he wants to do is get this out in the public as fast as he can, as big as he can, and humiliate as many people as he can. He’s nasty, he’s mean, he’s very smart, and he’s hungry for the publicity.
At this point Evan admits to having researched sex abuse and claims he had already spoken to “experts” regarding the issue. “You could — as you said before, you want to sit down and talk to the people I spoke to — you’re going to have a chance to do that if you want to. You go and ask the experts — and you won’t have to ask. They will be there anyway.” None of these “experts” would be presented any any point against Michael from the Chandler side.
Schwartz asks Evan directly if he believes Jackson had sexually abused Jordan: “Do you think that he’s fucking him?” Evan admits, “I don’t know. I have no idea.”
Schwartz repeatedly tries to ask him what evidence therefore he has to base this crusade on to which Evan says, “You show up in court and you’ll see it on the big fucking screen — and then you’ll know what I’m talking about. And you’ll hear in on tape recordings. You’ll hear it all. You’ll see it all, just like I have.” He reveals he was already hugely invested in this financially, “It cost me thousands, tens of thousands of dollars — to get the information I got, and I — you know I don’t have that kind of money — and I spent it, and I’m willing to spend more.” He admits that his obsession with this had also caused him to skip work which meant he’d being losing money. Evan claims, “I know what he has to hide. I happen to know what it is. But I can’t tell you.” He claims that it will come out if Jackson doesn’t agree to his demands, “The evidence is already locked up in a safe place — and it’s gonna come out only [tape irregularity] let it come out, and that’s it. If they don’t talk to me tomorrow, out it comes.”
At no point would the Chandler’s ever claim to have any actual evidence of abuse – photos, documents, letters, audio tapes, or indeed of anything damaging against Jackson, so what this was supposed to include and where – or who – it came from, would perhaps remain a mystery, though through later associations it could be speculated that he believed that he had purchased information exposing Jackson had sexually abused other children. As the police would later state, their investigation had not produced physical or medical evidence that would support a criminal filing, nor did any proof of Jackson abusing other children ever come to light.
Evan tells Schwartz that Michael is “evil” and that the reason he hates him is simply, “because he broke up the family, that’s why.” In his conversation with David, Evan Would reveal that his wife Nathalie had actually been urging him to calm down about his allegations against Jackson and telling him to talk it out with him first.
Evan: I’m only going there because of Nathalie, because, to tell you the truth, Dave, it would be a lot easier for me and a lot more satisfying — to see everybody get destroyed — like they’ve destroyed me, but it would be a lot easier. And Nathalie just kept telling me, “You don’t want to really do this,” and she finally [tape irregularity] for the sake of everything that we’ve all had in the past — to give it one more try, and that’s the only reason.
Evan went on to voice his frustration at June and Jordan’s refusal to speak with him and threatened to seek custody of Jordan if they refused to meet with him. He alluded to having a “plan” that would begin “after 8:36 tomorrow. It’s all been automatically set in motion.” Evan also revealed that others were involved in his plan, stating, “I paid them to do it. They’re doing their job. I gotta just go ahead and follow through on the time zone.”
As for the purpose of the plan, Evan explained that he was targeting “Michael Jackson’s career, Dave. This man is gonna be humiliated beyond belief. You’ll not believe it. He will not believe what’s going to happen to him.” The recording reveals much about Evan’s motivations:
Evan: That’s why I was willing to talk. I have nothing to gain by talking. If I go through with this, I win big time. There’s no way that I lose. I’ve checked that out inside out.
David: But when you say “winning,” what are you talking about, “winning”?
Evan: I will get everything I want, and they will be totally—they will be destroyed forever. They will be destroyed. June is going to lose Jordie. She will have no right to ever see him again. Michael — the career will be over.
David: Does that help Jordie?
Evan: That’s irrelevant.
When David offered to serve as a mediator at the family meeting the following day, Evan declined. He also told David that he had “been rehearsed” and didn’t want to say anything during the meeting that would be used against him.
The transcript of the telephone call is full of grandiose statements and blatant threats. This type of language is in line with the widespread theory that Evan suffered from bipolar disorder. Throughout the years, it has been asserted that Evan was receiving medical care for the mental illness but wasn’t always very compliant with the treatment. Even journalist Diane Dimond, a well-known Michael Jackson detractor, is among those who have made this claim.
Evan doesn’t deny on the tapes that he is threatening Michael but claims he isn’t threatening “them physically in any way,” adding, “I didn’t say I was going to kill them.” But then later on he tells Schwartz, “My instructions were to kill and destroy [tape irregularity], I’m telling you. I mean, and by killing and destroying, I’m going to torture them, Dave.”
When talking about his wife Nathalie he also says he would kill her if he ever learned that she had cheated on him without first telling him: “She’s going to go away to Cannes Film Festival next year… right? Do you know what that’s like? That Film Festival’s a fucking sex party. Next year, without me, okay? Now, if I didn’t have a chance to talk to her about my fears, my [tape irregularity], probably shoot her, or I’d divorce her. […] And you want to know what I told her? I told her this. I said June… [Evan accidentally called his current wife by his ex-wife’s name] “Nathalie,” I said, “if you ever want to sleep with somebody else or if you don’t love me anymore, if you come to me and you tell me that [tape irregularity] out of the house and fuck his brains out, I’ll love you forever, I’ll support you and wish you well. But if it’s the other way around, you fuck him first and then you [tape irregularity], I’ll kill you, period.” I said, “Those are the rules. If you want to stay with me, you gotta understand that’s the only way I can survive. That’s how I live.”
Surprisingly it was Evan’s brother Ray who would reveal that these threats weren’t without merit stating that “when asked in a 1994 deposition about Evan’s violence, June said that in January of 1992 she had heard of an argument between Evan and his then wife Nathalie that became physical.” Nathalie would have been approximately three months pregnant with their daughter Emmanuelle at the time.
The following day, Evan arrived at June’s home, anticipating the meeting he had hoped for with Jackson. But David was the only one in the house willing to speak to him. Once again, David tried to reason with Evan and restore peace within the family. Infuriated, Evan left, which forced David and June to visit him at his home shortly thereafter. There, the men began to argue, and David claimed that Evan pushed him to the ground and repeatedly struck him—a charge that Evan denied. “Mr. Schwartz asserted that on July 9, 1993, at Dr. Chandler’s house in Brentwood, Dr. Chandler approached him in a menacing manner with a closed fist and threatened to strike him with his hands and feet. He stated that Dr. Chandler wrestled him to the ground and began to kick him and spat on him.”
June later stated that she felt her ex-husband was just looking for money and to make trouble by making the allegations against Jackson. After all, he threatened to “go to the press” rather than the police department; a truly concerned parent would be more likely to contact the authorities than journalists if he suspected his son was the victim of ongoing molestation.
David and June quickly got in touch with Michael, informing him of the contents of the taped conversation between David and Evan. Upon playing the tape, it was clear to them that Evan was planning extortion. Michael was understandably upset, and turned the recordings over to his attorney Bert Fields. Fields said he advised Jackson not to attend the meeting the next day with Chandler. Instead Fields contacted Pellicano to tell him that the father was accusing Michael of molesting his son Jordan. They then reportedly got on a conference call with June and David. On the very first call, Fields says, David Schwartz told him that he thought the father just “wants money.”June would say Michael had told her of Pellicano, “He can find out anything. He’s really good at this. He’s really good at investigating. If you’re having a problem, he’ll get to the bottom of it.” Bert Fields later said he was very concerned after hearing the tape because it sounded like extortion. Jackson, who had previously heard the recording, was angered and stated, “Tell Evan that Michael Jackson said he can go to hell.”
Concerned, June and David met with Anthony Pellicano and apprised him of the situation. In her 2005 testimony June admitted that she’d met with Anthony Pellicano “three or four times” but claimed she had no recollection of what went on during those meetings. Mesereau asked her if she recalled telling Pellicano that “Evan wanted money,” or if she’d told him that “Evan’s concerns could only be about money.” June would claim she didn’t recall making either statement.
The following day David, June, and Jordan would sit down with Anthony Pellicano at Michael’s Los Angeles Condominium without Michael being present. Pellicano asked to speak to Jordan alone during the meeting. He was alone with Jordan for 45 minutes and asked him very specific questions about whether he had ever been molested or inappropriately touched by Jackson. The boy’s answer to each and every question was that nothing inappropriate has ever been done to him by Jackson, and that his father just wanted money. Pellicano said: “I asked Jordan point-blank whether Michael molested him and he replied ‘Never’.” Pellicano said, “I asked him if he had ever seen Michael naked and he said: ‘No, Michael was too shy.” Jordan said that the closest he ever got to see Michael naked was the time Michael had once lifted his shirt to show him the blotches on his skin. Jordan had told Pellicano, “When [Jordan] went to bed, he had pajamas on, and sweats, and Michael had sweats and pajamas on. Michael goes to bed with his hat on. I’m serious.” Jordan would actually take a photo of Jackson in his bedroom; he is seen wearing pajamas, a white undershirt, and yes, wearing a black hat.
The hat Jackson would wear, even to bed, served another purpose: to disguise the saline balloon that had been inserted into his scalp to grow out the scar tissue, an issue that would not be publicly revealed until the 2013 AEG lawsuit. Jackson’s dermatologist Klein would say that he had to wear the hat all the time while the balloon was there and that without it, “he had a big raised ball on the top of his head because of this device.” As Jackson’s artist friend David Nordahl said when he saw Jackson during this period, “He let me feel it. It was a huge mound. As the skin got stretched, they cut it out and stitched the scalp. He was in excruciating pain.” The Chandler’s, including Jordan, have never spoken about knowing of the existence of this balloon or the procedures Jackson had been undergoing. It would seem that far from even removing his clothes around them, Jackson had never even removed his hat.
Globe editor Jim Mitteager would speak to Pellicano privately over a year later in September of 1994, and he privately taped their conversation without Pellicano’s knowledge. Mitteager asked Pellicano about the allegations against Jackson and, although he no longer worked for him, Pellicano maintained his defense and described what had happened in this meeting with Jordan:
If you sat this kid [Jordan] down like I did, as a matter of fact, he couldn’t wait to get up and go play video games. I said, “You don’t understand how serious this is. Your dad is going to accuse Michael of sexual molestation. He’s going to say all kinds of stuff.” [Jordan] says, “Yeah, my dad’s trying to get money.” As a matter of fact, I [unintelligible] for forty-five minutes. Then I tried tricking him. I mean, I want you to know, I’m a vegetarian. I picked this kid with a fine tooth comb. So we’re there [unintelligible] with this kid… and if you sat down and talked to this kid, there wouldn’t be any doubt in your mind either. And I said Michael is all upset. We went over and over. I tried to get him to sit down and he wants to play video games while I’m sitting there. I’m sitting there with the kid’s mother, and David Schwartz walks in and [unintelligible] what’s this all about? And [Barry] Rothman [unintelligible] asking questions. There is no question that Rothman [unintelligible] what this is all about.
Evan was clearly infuriated with a situation which he had been unable to control. Jackson had not attended his meeting, and phone calls of his threats had been taped. If the people he had placed in certain positions had received their further instructions as per Evan’s orders is unclear, but one thing was certain, if any of this could now go ahead he needed immediate custody of his 13-year old son. As Evan had revealed he needed contact with Jordan and June was his barrier to this. Therefore at this point Evan demanded that June let him have custody of Jordan for one week, beginning on July 12,1993. Rothman promised her that Jordan could be picked up at Evan’s home on the evening of July 18th and returned to her custody. June didn’t trust her former husband and was reluctant to honor his request. Only after Rothman had given his word to Fields, as a fellow attorney, that Chandler would live up to his commitment did June allow Evan to have custody of their son for the week.
June was reportedly satisfied with Jordan’s answers and assumed that Jackson’s attorneys and private investigator could handle the situation. However, June changed her mind. Instead of delivering Jordan to Evan on the assigned date, she took Jordan and Lily to stay with Michael at Neverland Ranch. Michael and June didn’t trust Evan and felt nervous about permitting Jordan to visit him as promised. After a legal uproar and several heated phone calls, June relented. She went back to Los Angeles and took Jordan to his father.
Evan promptly demanded that June sign a shocking stipulation: she would not move Jordan outside of Los Angeles, she would not let him see Michael Jackson again, she would only be allowed two days of visitation with Jordan per week, all child support obligations from Evan were to be considered paid in full, and Evan would owe no further child support because he maintained custody of Jordan. Astonishingly, June agreed to sign the document. She later claimed that she only did so because Evan had threatened that he would not return Jordan to her otherwise. June also asserted that she was questioning Michael’s relationship with her son at that point. Stunned and betrayed by June’s actions, Michael decided that he could no longer speak to June or accept Evan Chandler’s request for a meeting.
All that was missing was testimony from Jordan. Coincidentally in early August (July 16th according to Chandler) Just prior to returning his son to his ex-wife, Evan Chandler claimed he used anesthesia to extract a baby tooth from his son’s mouth, and with this tooth, he claims, came a confession. On May 3, 1994, KCBS-TV news reported that Chandler claimed the drug sodium amytal was used for tooth extraction and that the allegations came out while Jordan was under the influence of the drug.Sodium amytal is a barbiturate that puts people in a hypnotic state when injected intravenously. Studies done in 1952 debunked the drug as a truth serum and demonstrated it enabled false memories to be easily implanted. Chandler, who was licensed for sedation, once again enlisted the help of his anesthesiologist friend Torbiner.
Chandler would later change his story–claim a different drug was used. And according to Diane Dimond of Hard Copy, Torbiner’s records show that Robinul and Vistarol was administered instead of sodium amytal. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was investigating Torbiner’s administration of drugs in house calls, where he mostly gave patients morphine and Demerol.
Later during an interview with a psychiatrist, Jordan Chandler would state:“[My father] had to pull my tooth out one time, like, while I was there. And I don’t like pain, so I said could you put me to sleep? And he said sure. So his friend put me to sleep; he’s an anesthesiologist. And um, when I woke up my tooth was out, and I was alright — a little out of it but conscious. And my Dad said — and his friend was gone, it was just him and me — and my dad said, ‘I just want you to let me know, did anything happen between you and Michael?’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ and he gave me a big hug and that was it.”
Torbiner,who was supposedly present and administered the drug, left before his patient fully recovered from sedation —was reluctant to speak about that day, saying only the confusing “If I used it, it was for dental purposes.” to GQ magazine. In the Chandler’s book they contradict this account slightly and claim that as Jordan emerged from sedation Evan started trying to coerce him into a confession. By Evan’s own admission, after telling Jordan he bugged his bedroom and trying to trick him into admitting something, he then threatened him: “I’m going to give you one last chance to save Michael. If you lie to me, then I’m going to take him down in front of the whole world, and it’ll be all your fault because you’re the one person who could have saved him.” He claims he then told his son, “I know about the kissing and the jerking off, so you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. This isn’t about me finding anything out. It’s about lying. And you know what’s going to happen if you lie. So I’m going to make it very easy for you. I’m going to ask you one question. All you have to do is say yes or no. That’s it. Lie and Michael goes down. Tell me the truth and you save him.” It was at this point that he claims he asked Jordan, “Did Michael touch your penis?” and then claims, “Jordie hesitated. Then, almost inaudibly, he whispered, ‘Yes.’” This was how the Chandlers themselves told their story.
At this point Evan claimed he didn’t ask his son anymore questions about his relationship with Michael and that he and his son never spoke about the issue again. Realistically even if Jordan had been molested it would seem that most parents would want to ask their child more questions about it in order to get an understanding about what had happened, or to at least present themselves as someone their child could confide in. However, it is important to note that legally speaking, admitting to such a thing would open Evan up to possibly being accused of coaching his son.
Even though June signed Evan’s stipulation, he refused to give their son back to her on July 18, as promised. A source would later claim, “Evan refused to let the mother talk to him except for one occasion when he was there. The kid seems fearful that he couldn’t say anything about all of this unless his father was there.”
Evan and his attorney were notified that an ex parte hearing would be held on August 17, 1993—a few weeks later—for the return of Jordan Chandler to his mother’s custody. That gave Evan plenty of time to work on his “plan.”
Evan quickly began gathering ammunition for his case. Barry Rothman, Evan’s attorney, called psychiatrist Mathis Abrams and presented him with a hypothetical incident involving sexual abuse, asking for his assessment of the likelihood that such abuse had taken place given those “facts.” The psychiatrist never met with or even spoke to any of the parties involved, but gave his opinion based merely on the wording of the hypothetical scenario. Using the scenario that Barry Rothman provided, Abrams sent the attorney a letter on July 15, 1993, stating that “reasonable suspicion exists that sexual abuse may have occurred.”
Two days later Barry Rothman met June and David in the attorney’s office. The Abrams letter was shown to them and it was demanded that they sign a document that would transfer the custody of Jordan from June to Evan. As Geraldine Hughes reported, “It appeared as if Dr. Chandler was holding his 13-year old son hostage from his mother when he presented her with the stipulation.” June refused to sign it and according to Ray Chandler, Evan’s fear was that they might have seen Dr. Abrams’ name and address on the letter and that they could contact him themselves and tell him their side of the story: “It was Evan’s idea to white out the psychiatrist’s name, address and phone number. He feared Dave and June might contact Dr. Abrams and tell him a different story, in which case Evan would be forced to take Jordan in to verify his side. That would trigger a report to the authorities, a catastrophe for everyone.”
At that meeting there was no mention of Jordan’s alleged confession; the negotiations solely revolved around Dr. Abrams’ letter. Evan would later bizarrely claim that although the entire basis of his actions consisted concerns of the possible sexual abuse of his son, he had not wanted to betray Jordan’s trust by telling others about his confession.
On July 27, Geraldine Hughes, Rothman’s legal secretary said, “I typed a letter to Dr. Chandler from Mr. Rothman advising him how to report child abuse through a third party without liability to the parent.” They had made sure that Evan could not be sued in any way later if the allegations proved to be false. According to Ray Chandler’s book, Rothman warned Pellicano that Evan could not be sued even if the allegations were not true:
But Barry was not intimidated. He informed Pellicano that Evan had made no public statements of defamatory remarks about Michael in any way. And further, that Evan, as a dentist, was a mandatory reporter governed by the same requirements as any licensed health professional. Not only was he required to report his suspicions to the proper authorities, but he could not be sued for doing so even if they turned out to be incorrect.
And yet he did not report his suspicions. It’s interesting Rothman noted that Evan had not made any remarks publicly yet, considering the phone calls that had been made to the National Enquirer tipline. The person making the calls had asked for no money, so they could not be traced. It seems Chandler and Rothman were trying to find other methods of making their story public without having to suffer any setbacks.
As Evan had mentioned during his taped conversation with David earlier that month, he was making sure to cover all of his bases: “There is no way I can lose. I’ve checked that inside out.”
Carrie Fisher would have her last encounter with Evan Chandler. Saying, “Then one night some months later [after their April conversations about Jordan and Michael’s friendship], Dr. Chandler came up to my house again and told me that he and his wife were going to sue Michael.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because,” he explained rationally, “Michael is sleeping in the same bed with my boy.”
Now, I know for a fact that when this first started happening, the good doctor saw no problem with this odd bunking! Excuse me, he had been creepy enough to have allowed all this to happen, and now he’s suddenly shocked—shocked!—virtually consumed with moral indignation! “Can you believe it? I think Michael may have even put his hand on my child’s privates.” Well, what was this man thinking in the first place? Why did he encourage him to sleep in the same bed as Michael Jackson to begin with?”
If this conversation took place before Jordan’s alleged confession it reflected the fact that Evan intended to sue Jackson regardless of what Jordan would say, and if it took place after, it reflected that Evan Chandler was still only suing Jackson for the possibility his son could have been abused in this scenario.
As Fisher stated, “[Evan] did it because he knew, somewhere, he would eventually be able to say, “Oh, my God! I suddenly realize that this thing between Michael and my son is weird. I’m horrified. My son may have been damaged! And the only thing that can repair this damage is many millions of dollars! Then he’ll be okay! And we’re not going to buy anything for ourselves with that money! It’s all going toward our son being okay!!!” This was around the time that I knew I had to find another dentist. No drug can hide the fact that one’s skin is crawling.”
Know Who Your Friends Are
Throughout all of this Michael had not been coping. Having undergone two serious scalp operations in a short space of time and needing pain relief in order to cope with that, he had begun to depend upon it even more for solace.
In late July Debbie Rowe would later reveal that she had practically moved in with him at his condo in LA in order to help him cope with this increasing reliance on pain medication.
Debbie said Michael trusted doctors to prescribe pain medication to him.“Michael respected doctors immensely, that they went to school, that they studied and to do no harm,” Rowe said. “Unfortunately, some of the doctors decided that when Michael was in pain or something that they would try to outbid on who could give him the better drug and so he listened to those doctors.
“Michael had a very low pain tolerance and his fear of pain was incredible,” Rowe said. “I think the doctors took advantage of him that way.” She said she was with Jackson when he received treatments from his longtime dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein and from plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Hoefflin. The two doctors would try to out-do each other in the pain medications they gave the singer, she said. His doctors “couldn’t get a grip of the pain” and that two doctors “were having a pissing contest over who gave him the better drug.” She said,“These idiots (Hoefflin & Klein) were going back and forth the whole time not caring about him.”
“Klein was not doing what was best for Michael,” she added. Rowe said she told another one of Jackson’s doctors, Allan Metzger, that she was concerned that Klein and Hoefflin were giving the singer too many medications. “The only physician who ever did anything, the only physician who cared for Michael was Allan Metzger,” Rowe would say, fighting back tears.
Rowe described efforts to wean Jackson off the painkiller Demerol. She said Metzger devised a plan to treat Jackson’s pain with different medications before he went on a leg of his Dangerous tour. Rowe lived with Jackson for three weeks to ensure he stayed on the regimen.
“At that point we were friends,” Rowe said of Michael. “He wasn’t a patient.”
She said Jackson knew he couldn’t take pain medications forever but needed a strong voice to get him off the drugs. “I’m probably one of the only people who said no to him,” Rowe said. Michael’s relationship with Lisa Marie had also continued in the background, and her feelings for him were about to put to the test. Lisa Marie explained that Michael had been honest with her as this was happening, feeling he had nothing to hide and had turned to her for support during the scandal, and that instead of scaring her away, it brought them closer together. “I was in on the beginning of the molestation stuff, and I was getting the phone calls,” – reportedly five that first week of the allegations surfacing– “and he was quick to call me and tell me what his side of the story was, it looked like an extortion situation.” she remembered. “I was already friends with him, there was already some romantic stuff going on a little bit before [the allegations] happened.” She said of his calls, “He was freaking out. I believe that he didn’t do anything wrong, that he was being wrongly accused and yes, I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it.” Regarding the allegations she later said that as a mother of two: “I didn’t see anything that would ever allude to that ever. Otherwise I would have been the first one out there going, ‘You motherfucker.’ I’ve got children. But I never saw anything like that. He had an amazing connection to kids, whether it be a small baby or a two-year-old girl or a four-year-old — children really responded to him.”
Kit Culkin, Macaulay’s father, also remembered Michael wanting to let him know about what was coming. “I want you to know,” Kit said Michael had told him on a visit to the ranch around then, “that there are some bad people out there who are going to be saying some bad things about me.” Kit hadn’t inquired further as to what these things would be, and says that he had simply nodded before Michael had continued with emphasis, “I just want you to know that they aren’t true.”. Kit would later go on to refute any suggestion Michael had acted improperly with any of his children, and would say that he had never noticed Jackson showing any preference for male children as would be reported later, stating that his two daughters Quin and Dakota would also be involved in all the activities with Michael at Neverland.
Macaulay testified that Michael had contacted him personally to warn him about it, “Michael had called me about a month or so, or maybe a couple of weeks before the allegations hit the press. And he let me know that some people were going to be saying something, and they were absolutely untrue, and, Don’t worry about it. I just need you to be my friend right now. And I said, Absolutely.”
“I think we understand each other in a way that most people can’t understand either of us,” Culkin said of Michael Jackson.“Michael and I had an understanding about my father,” he told the British newspaper, The Guardian. “He knew what that was all about. He’d lived it.”
Culkin said he regretted not defending Jackson when the singer was accused of child molestation in 1993, a case in which no charges were ever filed. Santa Barbara prosecutors decided not to pursue the 1993 case after they said the alleged victim refused to testify.
The actor said he didn’t speak up for his friend because his father wouldn’t allow it. “I would have liked to say something in his defense, I still wish I had.”
I’m going to ruin you
Michael Jackson and his private investigator Anthony Pellicano began negotiations with Evan Chandler in August 1993. Curiously, Jordan accompanied his father to the meeting at the Westwood Marquis Hotel. Even more shockingly, Evan tried to give Michael a hug and exchange pleasantries with him. Evan’s brother Ray has confirmed this attempted embrace, trying to justify it by saying that Evan felt that “Michael genuinely cared for Jordie and hadn’t done anything intentional to hurt him.” Chandler even had the audacity to ask for the computer that Michael had purchased for Jordan. As usual, his interest in what Jackson could offer him appeared to eclipse his concern about his son.
Evan’s display of affection for Michael, however, was short-lived, and the parties began to argue. According to Pellicano, after some heated words Evan pulled out the psychologist’s letter (the one based on Rothman’s hypothetical scenario) and read passages from it. Pellicano recalled that when Evan got to the parts about child molestation, Jordan “put his head down and then looked up at Jackson with a surprised expression, as if to say ‘I didn’t say that.’” Before leaving, Evan pointed his finger at Michael and threatened, “I’m going to ruin you.”
Later that day, Pellicano met with Evan in Barry Rothman’s office, where Evan and his attorney demanded $20 million to settle the case. According to Ray Chandler, Evan pointed out that he was required by law to report child molestation since he worked in the healthcare field. If Jackson didn’t want him to contact the authorities, Evan argued, he would have to close his practice and relocate to a state that didn’t require psychotherapists to make such reports to the authorities, and he needed $20 million to make that move. In other words, Chandler was willing to turn a blind eye to his legal obligation as a health professional to protect children from molestation—including the abuse of his own son—for the right price.
Michael didn’t want to pay the man a dime but reluctantly offered Evan a screenplay deal instead.
According to the Chandler’s on August 9 Pellicano came back to them with a counter offer of $1 million for three screenplays written by Evan and Jordan. Pellicano stated he offered the money as bait to catch the father on an extortion charge; catching the Chandler side being prepared to negotiate over their son’s alleged child abuse.Evan turned it down. Later on, Bert Fields would testify that Pellicano had offered this screenwriting deal only under the pretext that the money be placed in a trust fund for Jordan, but that Evan had refused saying that he wanted it for himself.
Then on August 13 Pellicano’s next offer shocked Rothman and Evan: just $350.000. Chandler rejected the offer. Rothman made a counter demand — a deal for three screenplays or nothing — which was spurned.
As Evan expressed of what he felt was a “game” between them: “[Rothman] couldn’t believe his ears. Pellicano was completely ignoring the rules of the game. Barry started at twenty million, Pellicano had countered with one million, surely the next number should be somewhere in between. And strange as it was that Pellicano had lowered his million dollar offer, it was even crazier that he refused to reinstate it when Barry told him that he had “busted [his] hump for three days… getting Evan to hopefully agree.”
They couldn’t understand why Pellicano had done this. Pellicano would reveal that he’d only started making offers to the Chandler’s in order to catch them in the act of extortion. By placing the amount so low he wanted to force the Chandler’s in to having to explain why they wanted more, and get them to explicitly state the nature of their demands.
At this point Jackson had plenty of opportunities to pay-off the Chandlers had he really wanted to before the case went public or to the authorities. The fact that he chose not to baffled Evan, as the Chandler’s reported: “Fields and Pellicano already knew Evan was willing to negotiate. Why not pay him off and nip the nightmare in the bud while you’ve got the opportunity? Especially when you know your man is guilty of sleeping with little boys, at least. Not only do you avoid a civil suit, but also, more important, you buy your way around authorities by removing their star witness. Ten, twenty, thirty million? Money’s no object. The deal could be accomplished within hours. And if it doesn’t work, you can always come out swingin’ anyway.”
Evan refused the offer because it was not “enough,” and the negotiations eventually broke down. Evan’s own brother Ray Chandler has all but confirmed that Evan was guilty of extortion, by later stating that, “ “Had Michael paid the twenty million dollars demanded of him in August, rather than the following January, he might have spent the next ten years as the world’s most famous entertainer, instead of the world’s most infamous child molester.”
The ex parte hearing on custody occurred as scheduled on August 17, 1993. The hearing gave Evan Chandler the perfect opportunity to report to the judge his suspicions of child abuse, since June’s relationship with the alleged abuser would have been a vital issue in a custody hearing. Instead, Evan mentioned nothing about it. He was ordered to immediately return Jordan to June, and the stipulation that June had signed was overturned.
Evan disregarded the court order and instead of taking Jordan to June, took the child to see Dr. Abrams, the psychiatrist who had written the letter stating that sexual abuse had occurred based on Rothman’s hypothetical scenario. Following his consultation with Jordan, the doctor was obligated by law to report the allegations of molestation to the authorities. Dr. Abrams was not an expert in child abuse, and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) report indicates that he merely “thought” misconduct had taken place.
Schwartz’s tape shows Evan had planned for this and even planned for the cancellation of Jackson’s Dangerous tour:
Evan Chandler: By the way, they’re going on tour on August 15th. They’re going to be gone. They’re going to be out of the country – for four months.
David Schwartz: Is that bad?
Evan Chandler: Well, I’m not going to be able to communicate with them about this when they’re gone, am I?…By the way, they’re not going. They don’t know that yet, but they are not going. They’ll be lucky if Michael even — tour [inaudible] get canceled.
Dr. Abrams would later tell CBS News that he had not spent enough time with Jordan Chandler to conclude whether he was telling the truth or not: “I think that this [children changing their stories] is a possibility in both cases, that there could be coaching, but, again, I wasn’t given the opportunity in the initial one to even try to find out.”
Shortly thereafter, both the Los Angeles Police Department and the DCFS interviewed Jordan. The boy told the authorities that his relationship with Michael had become sexual during their trip to Monaco and gave graphic details about the alleged abuse. The DCFS report also confirmed Evan’s attempt to settle out of court: “Minor stated he and his father met with Michael Jackson and attorneys for father and Mr. Jackson and confronted him with allegations in an effort to make a settlement and avoid a court hearing.” The next day, the police department opened a criminal investigation of Michael Jackson.
Apparently, June Chandler had a “change of heart” after she and Michael Freeman, her attorney at the time, met with Barry Rothman, Evan’s lawyer. Freeman told CNN’s Larry King that June knew nothing about the allegations until the police informed her of them, stressing that she was not part of any extortion attempt. He added that she was shocked to hear the news of the charges. Freeman would later say that she met with police officers, who told her in a very grave manner that Jackson fit the “classic profile of a pedophile.”
At that point, June Chandler began to side with her ex-husband. According to a DCFS report dated August 19, 1993, June “stated that if Jordie had said it, it must be true.” Freeman also stated that June was afraid that Evan Chandler would accuse her of negligence if she didn’t comply with his strategy. On August 23, June, her estranged husband David Schwartz, and Michael Freeman met with Evan again at Barry Rothman’s office. Rothman’s secretary overheard Evan Chandler tell them, “I almost had a twenty million dollar deal.”
Eventually, Michael Freeman, June’s attorney, resigned in disgust, declaring, “The whole thing was such a mess. I felt uncomfortable with Evan. He isn’t a genuine person, and I sensed he wasn’t playing things straight.” He further stated that Chandler’s attorney, Barry Rothman, was “probably the worst character lawyer I ever meet.My recollection was that he [Evan]was not very interested in Jordie prior to the time that Jordie took up with Michael and as soon as Jordie took up with Michael Evan became the most interested parent in the world and wanted to spend time with Jordie because that meant that he spent time with Michael. I don’t think anyone would draw any conclusion about Evan other than what I drew. Basically to paraphrase it, he didn’t care about anything but getting a lot of money.”
Female Friends
“It’s funny people who think that Michael’s a diddler always assume that he bought off the families of the kids he molested. You hear it all the time. They say he must have just written a million dollar check to all the kids who threatened to come forward. But look at me, I was one of those kids he befriended at a young age. I may have spent more time with him than almost anybody else. I’ve seen all kinds of people publicly speculate that he abused me. But I think my family is actually richer than he is. So it would be quite the trick to buy me and my mother off. It’s ridiculous, no way is Mike a child abuser. Take it from me –I knew the kids he knew. I would have known if anything funny was going on. It wasn’t just boys you know there were girls around too and not just the sisters” said Sean Lennon.
Child actor Kelley Parker was cast alongside Sean Lennon in Jackson’s Smooth Criminal video in 1987. “ When Thriller came out I was only five years old. So [while I knew Michael’s music,] I was not a fan and really had no concept of who he was, “ said Parker. “ Honestly that probably is part of the reason why I got [the part]—I was so instantly at ease around him because I did not seem him as the megastar that he was. I saw him just as a fellow actor. He was also so much fun on set, pulling pranks and laughing with us.”
Kellie would describe her time working with Jackson as, “ the most incredible experience of my life.” And that, “Without a doubt, it changed the course of my life. Michael and I became great friends. He was always pushing me to be better and teaching me about the artistic process. To have someone of his creative genius take the time to teach you at the age of 10 is like getting the winning lotto ticket, and I have always known how fortunate I was to have had that experience. Michael never once treated me as a kid, always as an equal, and as a professional.”
“Michael was the kindest man I have ever met. I was so lucky to have not just worked with him, but worked with him for months and [go on to be] friends with him for years. He took the time to really get to know me. He was lighting in a bottle; the air was different when he was around. It’s hard to explain, but you could feel him before you saw him,” Parker said.
After Jackson’s death a fan would ask Parker on Twitter if Jackson ever explained his skin condition, Vitiligo. “He told me when I first met him which was before we did moonwalker. He told us what it was and the treatment he had to take,” said Parker. Reflecting the fact that Jackson was open to disguising the issue with those around him, particularly children whom he viewed as less judgmental.
The media and prosecutors would later attempt to claim that Jackson only let boys stay in his bedroom but this was not true, frequent visitors were Lionel Richie’s daughter, Nicole Richie who had stayed with Michael on many occasions. Nicole would later say, “You know, a group of us would all sleep in the same room. It was like, absolutely nothing more than just… an adult kind of wanting to be a kid again. Just, you know, enjoying the company of children. I grew up with him. I have spent many evenings there and many days there. I can only speak for myself that absolutely nothing went on.” Nicole also said that she wouldn’t have held her tongue had Jackson tried anything with her or if she’d witnessed it happening. “I’m not a quiet person,” she said. “If there was something going on, I’d be like, ‘Who are you?’… and I’d tell my parents. But my parents would never put me in hands that they thought were dangerous. I never had any complaints, and you know, I love him.” Brenda Richie, Nicole’s mother, would also share about how “hilarious” it was to see little Nicole “boss” Michael Jackson about.
Jackson’s hair stylist Carol LaMere would share with me that Michael seemed to like “mean kids” – kids who weren’t afraid to stand up to him. Other guests included Carol LaMere’s granddaughter, Sky Ferreira, who has said about him, “I’ve known Michael since I was born and he supported me about my singing and has helped my family very very much. He was probably the nicest and most giving person I’ve ever known.” Sky would sing in an all black gospel and, “Michael would cry …saying she had the same gift he did., “ said Carol. Who would go on to say, “ He was so nice and generous.” Her son would have yearly birthday parties at the Ranch . “He even offered to paid for my daughter’s surgery and I never asked him too. “
Another of Jackson’s hair stylists, Lottie Rose, would also admit to having let her daughter sleep in Jackson’s bed, “He would allow me to bring my daughter with me. She would stay the nights and slept in Michael’s bed. I would be working on him. At Neverland, because the drive was so long, I would stay and we would have our own little room.” Her daughter would share that sometimes Michael would call them up just to speak to her and ask her how school was, “MJ and I talked mostly about me and my friends, what we did for fun, where we liked to go, what it was like to go to the mall, favorite stores, amusement parks, favorite rides, going to the beach, movies and more.”
Others were fans like Lala Romero who had written him a letter at the age of 5 and Michael had responded and befriended, even inviting her to visit him on the set of The Way You Make Me Feel. Lala would say, “Even at that young age I was very aware of how gracious and kind he was with EVERYONE on set. Looking back now I remember he was sooooo excited that all of the extras were real ex bloods, crips, gang members from LA. I remember him being so excited about giving them a chance to shine and a new opportunity.”
Others still were people he contacted because they were sick and he wanted to help. Michael had been watching television in the mid 80s and had seen an interview with a little blind girl called Amanda Porter on “The Wonder of Sight Night” presented by Stevie Wonder. Amanda had been asked which celebrity she had most wanted to meet. She’d said “without a doubt, Michael Jackson.” Her mother said that after that interview aired they returned to their room at the Holiday Inn in Woodland Hills, California and a short while later the bell rang and the mother answered. There was Michael Jackson with his hands full of gifts to Amanda. Before contacting Amanda to speak to her on the phone her mother said that he had made sure with her that it was okay, “He talked to my husband and myself to gain permission.” In one note Michael had sent Amanda – he’d thanked her for a video she had sent him of her friends told her “you are indeed very special to me.” He would pay for some of Amanda’s medical bills and the family would say that Michael had been friends with them up until his death. Amanda also had a brother and at the time her mother was asked if she would also allow her son to spend time with Michael to which she responded, “I would trust Michael Jackson with my son’s life.”
Amy Agajanian was the young girl seen walking hand in hand with Michael during his Super Bowl performance and a close child friend of Michael’s in the early 90’s. She is a young woman now who over the years had kept up with the superstar. She, along with her family, is utterly devastated by Michael’s death.In 2009 her father, JC Agajanian would be a radio guest at the Haunted Saloon to give his account of the time his family spent with Michael:
I have three kids – JC, David and Amy. They were doing a commercial for LA Gear and they were on set when Michael was there to do a commercial. Frankly, the kids and Michael got along, there were a lot of other kids there that were going to be in the commercial. Of course, LA Gear makes adult and children’s shoes, so it was a natural set up. My wife Francie was the one who went to this commercial shoot and Michael said that sometime we had to come out to Neverland Valley.
He was very shy, when we first got up to Neverland he had his sunglasses on. He had on his hat and he was shy just seeing us again and eventually he warmed up to you. He put us in a golf cart, a special golf cart that was a long one and took us all around the ranch. When we up there we thought we were coming up to a ranch that was kind of like a cowboy ranch, dirt and corals and horses and so on. But it was, what we see on television now– there were rides and a movie theater and he took us all around. He took us to see all the records in his storage and he had a movie theater that was set up for children that were sick. That were terminally ill. It was, very lovely seats, rocking type of upholstered chairs, there were about 35-40 seats, a full size movie theater screen– just like in a regular large movie theater.
But at the back of the movie theater, behind the seats, there were two bedrooms. Those bedrooms were floor to ceiling glass. Those rooms were supplied with oxygen and a large hospital bed, that could tilt up, and any kids that came out to the ranch, whether it was the Make A Wish foundation or any of them, they were welcome to come in and see these first run movie that maybe they couldn’t see at a regular theater because they don’t have oxygen in a movie theater. Michael went through a lot of expense and a lot of trouble to have these two rooms that were for kids who were terminally ill to come and be at the ranch and see movies.
There’s just so many stories that never make the newspapers, never report about Michael. His generosity, how much he truly loved children and his inability to have a childhood. So part of him was child like because he never had that childhood. He envied the children who were outside playing in the park while he was outside rehearsing, while he was practicing his dance moves, while Joe was cracking the whip and I don’t mean that in a bad way but Joe worked at a steel mill in Indiana and he took these kids from nothing and right up to the top of the line. They were talented, but he bought instruments, he bought everything they needed and he gave of himself, he swatted the kids and I have to admit, JC and David have been swatted a couple of times too. It may not be politically correct but it was Armenian correct and that’s what we had to do.
So the place was just gorgeous, it was Disneyland, it was 2500 acres and most of it was manicured. It was really just a fun place to be. He was a very generous, generous person. The kids would run around, they’d have their jackets on or they’d throw them on the ground, or tennis shoes, throw them off and go get on the big giant trampoline that was on the same ground as the big giant swimming pool. That evening whatever was taken off was washed and magically folded and put back in their rooms. The staff there was just unbelievable. Water balloon fights, he had an Indian village that we were welcome to stay in overnight. We had dinner brought up to the Indian village, we ate in the tepees, there were heaters in there, it was just everything you could think of.
It was a beautiful Tudor house and it was four stories. He had a wonderful cook that cooked whatever and in fact before we got up to Neverland they were asking, what did the kids like to eat? They wanted to have whatever they liked on him. We were sitting there at the dinner table and of course we – I made a point of saying a prayer before dinner, Michael was a spiritual guy, nobody’s ever said anything like that, they don’t let you know, but we had a prayer at the dinner table before we started to eat dinner, and as we were eating we were talking about various things and believe me, Michael insisted that we ask any question that we have, if we saw something in the news, if we heard something about elephant man bones or if we heard sleeping in chambers, any of that – ask me, ask me whatever you want, and believe me, my wife Francie, did ask plenty of questions, but Michael looked at the kids that night at dinner, we were about two thirds of the way through and he said “Listen kids, I don’t necessarily want you to tell anyone about our friendship when you get back to your schools.” And they looked at each other puzzled and looked at Michael puzzled and said, “But Michael, why not?” And Michael looked at them and said, “There’s a lot of mean people out there and there’s a lot people who say mean things about me and I don’t want you to have to be put in a position to defend me.” So, I think so much of your kids that I don’t want them to have to defend me and get in fights and say, “No, Michael’s really a good guy and don’t say bad about him.” He was so thoughtful that he was asking the kids to keep our happy time and our friendship private and not share it and he was always selfless like that.
He appreciated wild life, he appreciated of course all the exotics that were there. They had wild horses walking around, they had giraffes, when we were there a little baby giraffe was born. But we were invited up to, and I won’t stretch this enough, we were invited up to Neverland, which we thought he was saying just to be nice and we spent quite a bit of time up there and he wanted us up there as parents and he really enjoyed, really, having the kids up there as well.
The kid loved to ride horses… When we went up to Neverland, Michael who had horses and wranglers who were full time there, asked the kids if they wanted to go riding. Of course they said yes and it was at the dinner table and he said, “Well, just call the person in charge, call the Head Wrangler, tell them what time you want to go out on the horses and they’ll have them ready for you,” and the kids said, “Let’s go tomorrow morning!” So they did that. Of course, I didn’t get up, Francie was the one who got them situated with the wranglers and the breakfast in the main house, our living quarters were just outside that main Tudor house that Michael lived in and we lived on a little lake when we were there.
But let me tell you something that came up about his bedroom, and the ‘secret room’ and all this stuff that went on. Francie and I were in his bedroom, my kids were in his bedroom, his bedroom was a play land, it had Disney things in there, it was like a living room. And when he said, “I invited kids in my bed” it’s… first of all, any kids that wanted to have a slumber party there, the ‘secret room’ that they referred to that was locked up and so on, that was where he went to sleep. When he said, “I’d be happy to give my bed to kids”… what he meant by that was, when he grew up, he didn’t have a bed. All the Jackson kids slept in one room. To be able to sleep in the bed was a big deal! And the people just didn’t understand that what he was saying was, when you give someone where you sleep and you leave and you go to another room to sleep, you’re giving them the bed, you’re sharing the most you have. It’s like sitting at the table and going, “Yeah, you could have this steak and go eat, I’ll eat the beans over here.” They just didn’t understand and his honesty in saying that got him in trouble.
He really enjoyed being around a family like the Agajanian family where it was just a mom, dad and kids that messed around and then we’d have to say, “Sit down” and “Don’t make so much noise” and correct them and he’d laugh, he just really enjoyed being around real people because he was surrounded by people who were either Yes Men or people who were seeking what they could get from him and we were neither.
Amy felt that she was Michael’s best friend , at least, until Lisa Marie came along. She accompanying the couple to a few outings and, “burned with jealousy,.” She said it was obvious they were, “in love, always holding hands and kissing.” So Michael started finding less and less time for her. But in the interest of fairness to Lisa Marie Presley. Amy said that Lisa was as sweet as could be to her and she did come to like her.
The Scandal Explodes
On August 19th two days after Jordan had been taken to the psychiatrist and an investigation had been launched, Jackson understood the gravity of the situation and with his dependency on medication spiraling, he attempted to pull out of the second leg of his Dangerous World Tour according to concert promoter Marcel Avram, less than one week before the first concert was scheduled to take place in Bangkok. But it was too late and Jackson was forced to go ahead with it.
Even though circumstances were unraveling, with both the allegations against him and his dependency on medication spiraling out of control, Michael had to leave for his second leg of his world tour.
His first stop on August 21st was Bangkok in Taiwan. He flew China Airlines, Instead of flying his own private jet to Bangkok, Michael set off for Bangkok a day earlier than planned, via San Francisco to Taipei for the connection flight to Bangkok. To avoid the unnecessary press attention, the schedule was kept confidential, it was only leaked to the Taiwanese press the next day by passengers who had recognized Michael, and later confirmed by the Airlines. On landing, head of the public relations Mr. Luo recalled that Michael kept praising the display of the hallway, walking back and forth a few times, excited like a big kid, and he seemed to be very happy to be on the island of Taiwan for the first time. Mr. Luo said he spent nearly an hour talking with Michael, and later spoke of his amazement at how child like, well mannered and easy going that he was. He would say that Michael’s long thick eyelashes and charming big brown eyes were the most memorable things about him.
At 20.30 before all other passengers, Michael boarded the next plane CI-065 heading to Bangkok, unknown to the cabin crew. As usual they were busy preparing for taking off, when they unexpectedly saw Michael, the whole crew were in complete disbelief! Michael who it was claimed owned 4 private jets of his own, recognized the plane that he was traveling in as the brand new MD-11!
However, the first crew members on the CI-003 included chief cabin Mr. Zhang, air attendance Ms. Zhu and Ms. Liu who had flown in with the pop icon via San Francisco, they felt exceptionally honored to meet Michael. All complimented him on his charm and good manners after spending time with him on the long haul flight.
Zhang recalled that after Michael boarded the plane, he expressed his wish to catch up on some sleep, as he had not slept the previous night due to various things to do with his tour. After the plane took off, he soon fell asleep for 5-6 hours. Zhang was surprised that a super star such as Michael Jackson, appeared to be so kind, pure and innocent, which was beyond his expectation. After Michael woke up, he went into the kitchen to check things out and chatted to everyone, he even got himself some children’s toys and stickers. There was no doubt that he really adored children, when he was asked to sign a photo of an air attendant’s two year old daughter, Michael took as long as 5 seconds looking at the photo before putting the pen down.
Zhu said that the crew were excited to meet Michael, but only herself alongside with colleague Liu were privileged to look after him. Michael chatted to them a lot, and often showed his appreciation for their work. Michael was not a big eater, he preferred vegetarian food, so he didn’t eat much on the flight. He mainly accepted almonds and peanut type snacks. Zhu said Michael wasn’t fussy about wine glasses, he had white wine in a coffee cup, and only had an apple and yogurt for breakfast. Drinking alcohol in disguise was something that would become an issue for him later, but seemed to be a habit he had picked up in order to keep it discreet from the media, and as airline stewardesses testified later, something he also did so that any children around wouldn’t see that he was drinking, as he believed it could be a negative influence in encouraging them to drink also. The crew also noted that when he woke up in the dark just before breakfast, he tried not to disturb other passengers while looking out of the window, and thoughtfully covered up his head and the window with a blanket to stop the light coming in.
Liu also recalled some memorable moments with Michael. She gave Michael orange juice after he asked for her recommendation, she also let Michael borrow her “Polo” fragrance to spray himself, and even gave Michael her China Airlines Eagle badge, pinning it on Michael’s shirt after he had shown his admiration for it. But for Liu, the most memorable moment with the King of Pop was when she was putting a blanket on him ready for sleep, and wished him a good dream, Michael was moved by the gesture, sincerely like a boy, and said to her “I love you”, which really warmed her heart….
Apart from a few hours sleep, the rest of the time Michael was actively chatting to the crew, looking through the window, playing poker with his agent and reading the airline magazine. He even bought a toy plane watch.
The plane journey went very smoothly, Michael didn’t forget to pay compliments to the chief pilot Mr. Cao. He cheered as soon as the plane landed, his childlike spirit was contagious, all the other passengers were soon cheering along with him!
Before getting off the plane, lots of passengers and the crew couldn’t resist asking Michael for his autograph which he was happy to give. Senior air attendants later commented about their years of experience in dealing with international stars, Michael was the most sincere and approachable, something they would never forget!
It was a very rare occasion for Michael to be on board a commercial flight. He was especially grateful for the excellent service he received from the flight attendants, and expressed that he would fly China Airlines again if the opportunity arose. In fact, his agent did just that the next day, by cancelling his original booking with other airlines and again flying with China Airlines back to the US!
Debbie Rowe said that she only learned that Michael had gone when she returned to his condo one day and all his stuff with gone. His assistant told her that Jackson had left to go on tour. Debbie Rowe stated that just prior,”we couldn’t get a grip of the pain, we couldn’t– he was saying — Sasaki had stepped away from managing the pain, it was left up to Klein and Hoefflin, and they were having a pissing contest over who gave the better drug.” Concerned Rowe called the only physician that she felt ever cared for Michael, Dr. Metzger, who, “ had laid out a plan to reduce the Demerol dosage and change the painkillers more Torbutrol, non-narcotic medication.” The treatment plan to lower the dosage of Jackson’s medication was working until he abruptly left to go on the second leg of the Dangerous tour.
She said Metzger then told her to deliver Jackson’s medications and his treatment plan to a Dr. Forecast, who was going on the tour with Jackson. But according to Rowe, Dr. Forecast didn’t listen to her while she tried to describe the treatment plan.Stating that she later learned that “the first thing” Forecast did was give Jackson Demerol on the tour. That led to more problems.
While Michael was in Bangkok for the third leg of his Dangerous World Tour in August of 1993, the police procured search warrants that enabled them to search Neverland Ranch, his Century City condo, and his hotel room at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Although they seized items from Jackson’s home, no incriminating evidence was found.
LA Times Reported: Although investigators have the statement of a 13-year-old who says he was molested by Jackson over a period of months, sources say their probe has been hampered by a shortage of physical or medical evidence linking Jackson to sexual molestation. Videotapes seized during the Aug. 21 searches of two homes belonging to Jackson did not produce evidence that would support a criminal filing against the entertainer, says a well-placed police source. Videotapes seized from homes belonging to Michael Jackson do not incriminate the entertainer, and the lack of physical evidence of alleged sexual molestation has left investigators “scrambling” to get statements from other potential victims, a high-ranking police source said Thursday. “There’s no medical evidence, no taped evidence,” the source said. “The search warrant didn’t result in anything that would support a criminal filing.”
The media frenzy heightened on August 25, when the illegally leaked copy of the DCFS report appeared on the tabloid show Hard Copy. In an upcoming lawsuit June Chandler would speak about the report stating in a declaration that Jordan’s Department Of Children’s Services statement had been leaked to Hard Copy within 24 hrs. She also accused her ex husband Evan of, “keeping alive the public’s interest,” in their lives. And that he had been, ‘providing the media with information,’ about the family. Within a couple of days, the first reports about the allegations hit the media, and chaos ensued. The news that Neverland had been searched and Michael had been accused of a crime was everywhere. In their rush to cover the story, the media outlets erroneously repeated the false rumor that June Chandler was the one who had accused Jackson and filed the report.
Don Ray, the freelance writer who broke the story, would later reveal that he got a call from a source inside the police department on August 22, 1993. The caller informed him about the search of Neverland, and he tracked down the locksmith who had accompanied the police. According to Ray, the locksmith told him he hoped they didn’t find what they were looking for. Don Ray would later say that he was embarrassed to be a journalist because of the way his colleagues had covered the case, lynching Michael Jackson in the court of public opinion before any actual facts came out, and that he felt bad for breaking the news.
Deanne Tilton-Durfee, Executive Director of Los Angeles Counties Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, attempted to insert a voice of reason into the commotion surrounding the accusations. She told the Los Angeles Times that she had seen many allegations made against high-profile entertainers that later proved to be unsubstantiated. She explained, “These kinds of investigations go on thousands of times a year. It is premature to attach much credibility to this yet. Celebrities are vulnerable to extortion.”
At approximately the same time Diane Dimond, the reporter for the television show Hard Copy, received an anonymous call from someone who claimed to know exactly what the raids were about. Twenty minutes later, Dimond was sitting across the table from the caller in a Santa Monica restaurant, her eyes glued on a copy of Ann Rosato’s DCFS report. “I’ll pay you for this,” Dimond told the stranger. Much to her surprise the tipster responded that he didn’t want money. The purpose was to have the truth come out and implored Dimond not to squash the story. A scenario that sounds eerily similar to the anonymous caller contacting the National Enquirer.
To keep up the momentum, and subsequent pressure on Jackson, within 2 weeks of the story breaking, the Chandler’s would do something which would seem absurd to many real victims and their families: they sold a story about their son’s alleged abuse to the National Enquirer. Though they would claim that they were living in fear of their lives because of media scrutiny, the Enquirer interviewed both Evan and Jordan directly for their story and included photos of documents of the case, revealing conclusively that they were the source of the leaks to their own stories.
The Enquirer story laid out the timeline of the abuse according to the Chandler’s, and included many elements which would contradict what would become known as their official story. Here they would claim that Jordan had been sexually abused by Jackson for 6 months, and not the May-mid July they would state in documents. They claimed Jackson and Jordan had been caught together in bed in March by June Chandler, and that at this point, Michael had then begged her to let them continue sharing a bed. They would claim that the abuse had became known because Jordan had of his own accord, “broke[n] down and told his story to his father”, and that after this Evan had then tried to contact Jackson’s lawyers to put a stop to it, then Evan claimed that it had been Jackson who immediately tried to give the Chandler’s money to keep quiet about it: “The father said when he confronted Michael’s attorneys about the allegations, he got the shock of his life. He insists that the Jackson lawyer’s solution was to negotiate for a quick cash settlement in exchange for him keeping quiet about Michael molesting his son. At that point, the father said he realized just how horrifying the problem really was. He was sickened by the thought that Michael Jackson actually believed he could buy his way out of the scandal!
August 25 1993 – Two days after the allegations became public. Evan Chandler is served with a $68,000 court judgment for unpaid child support. Evan’s brother, Ray Charmatz, would later admit in court that his brother had moved into his home to begin collaborating on a book they intended to sell, regarding Jordan Chandler’s alleged sexual abuse. In an interview with Dateline NBC Ray would admit his brother’s involvement, stating, “There were some conversations that we taped in order to preserve ideas, in order to preserve what had happened.”
By 1993, like Evan, Rothman and Gutierrez, Ray was suffering problems of his own, both personally and financially. He had already filed for divorce from his second wife Nancy, his marriage had been short-lived, and his contracting business was failing. Tax liens were placed on his property. He had been taken to civil court by Office Mart and had additional problems with the state of California for operating under an expired contractor’s bond and failing to maintain workers compensation insurance.
It was clear the Chandler’s intended to make sure they would profit from the story, one way or another, what would also become clear was that although they sought to make this story as high profile as possible, and wanted Jordan’s alleged sexual abuse circulated in book deals, they did appear to want a criminal trial.
Victor Gutierrez, the same man who had falsely named himself a police operative, had claimed to infiltrate NAMBLA, and had approached Joy Robson a year prior, would make his first public connection in association with the allegations against Jackson. On August 26th he would speak to police for two hours and then be interviewed again on the 27th. The LA Times would describe Gutierrez as, “a Southern California free-lance journalist who has been working on a book about Jackson for several years.” They reported, “He would not disclose what transpired during those sessions, but he told The Times that he has interviewed for his book some of the same youngsters being sought for questioning by the LAPD.”
It appeared he had not interviewed any of the children in question; save for the possibility of having interviewed the Chandler’s. Diane Dimond who had just released the DCFS report would later go on to claim Gutierrez was her “best source” and that, “I have never had a doubt about this person, ever.”
Victor Gutierrez met journalist Lydia Boyle at the police station during the aforementioned interviews and according to her, “The LAPD interviewed a lot of journalists to see what they knew .” But that she told police that whatever she knew was in her stories and she never heard anything damaging. She continued by saying,” Victor’s information, his story was unclear–NAMBLA–It didn’t add up.” Her initial take was that he had to have known or meet Jackson at some point because his persecution of him “was not normal.” He later told her one story about a wealthy family that he was friends with living in Westwood, CA. Victor claimed that Michael molested their child and the family came to him for help. Knowing that there was something amiss with his story Lydia asked ” Why don’t they go to the police since there’s an ongoing case?” He responded “They don’t want money their wealthy, they just want him exposed.” Victor must have sensed that Lydia questioned his story and in a strange twist asked her to drive with him past a local arcade . He specifically asked her not to stop as he pointed out what seemed to be a random child as they drove past. “I never understood his motivation,” she said and,”though it was strange.”
In an attempt to rehabilitate Michael’s image, Anthony Pellicano asked Brett Barnes and Wade Robson, other children who had formed friendships with Jackson, to make a statement. Both young men sided with Michael, but their discussion of sleepovers at the star’s home did not sit well with the public. Michael canceled his concert that night, citing dehydration. He was so distressed that Elizabeth Taylor flew to Bangkok to comfort him. Frank Dileo and John Branca defended Jackson by giving interviews to Rolling Stone Magazine.
Dileo said “I would trust my own children with him and have. He lived in my house in Encino for seven months. There is no way he did that; it’s not in his nature”. Dileo’s daughter, Belinda, would later share her father’s sentiments on social networks and confirmed the living arrangement, “it was the early 80’s we lived in Encino.” Before telling fans,” He did bring the snake to my brothers school once for show and tell!”
Pellicano continued investigating the situation during the next couple of days, while Evan and Jordan Chandler spent all of their time, day and night, hiding from the media in Barry Rothman’s office. On August 28, Pellicano met with Geraldine Hughes, Barry Rothman’s legal secretary, who had witnessed many of the events that took place in Rothman’s office.“He (Rothman) just had one of those characters that he was capable of doing just about anything” said Hughes Who was present when Evan Chandler had held meetings with Rothman, long before any allegations were made. “There was never any mention about I want justice.You have harmed my child. It was only– I want the money.”
Hughes offered to testify for the defense during the 1993 investigation, but the case never went to trial. Instead, she shared her story in her book Redemption: The Truth Behind the Michael Jackson Child Molestation Allegations, which gives an insider’s view of the unfolding allegations, complete with a chronological calendar of events. Neither Barry Rothman nor Evan Chandler has sued or challenged Hughes over her assertions in the book, even though they cast a negative light on both men.
The book contains accounts of numerous statements that Hughes claims to have overheard. For instance, she states that Chandler screamed, “It’s my ass that’s on the line and in danger of going to prison!” at Rothman after Pellicano told the public that Chandler’s accusations were mere extortion. In addition, she discusses hearing Rothman tell Evan over the phone that they had to “meet over the weekend” before speaking to the investigators in order to “make sure our stories are the same.” She also states that she heard Rothman explain to Chandler, “We just have to stick to the plan; we cannot deviate from the plan.”
The Los Angeles Times cast a new light on the allegations on August 28, 1993, writing, “Film industry sources have said that the boy’s father sought a $20-million movie production and financing deal with Jackson. Although the boy’s father has not commented publicly about that charge or any other aspect of the case, he has told friends that the extortion allegation is untrue.”
Michael quickly filed extortion charges against Barry Rothman and Evan Chandler. In late August, Rothman decided to quit representing Evan—at least, formally. According to Geraldine Hughes, however, “Dr. Chandler and Mr. Rothman continued to put their heads together as they very carefully planned their next moves. Dr. Chandler continued to call our office at least four to five times per day (on a light day) to speak with Mr. Rothman, and he continued to give Dr. Chandler advice concerning his every move.” The Chandlers replaced Rothman with well-known attorney Gloria Allred.
By the end of August, the Jackson family began rallying around Michael. Family members, including Joseph and Jermaine, gave a joint press conference to express their support of Michael and announce their upcoming “Jackson Family Honors” show. On the same night as the press conference, Michael collapsed backstage at one of his shows, reportedly suffering from migraines and severe dehydration. Katherine, Joseph, and Jermaine flew to Taiwan to be by his side in what appeared to be a show of support. Michael was clearly upset by the accusations and intense media speculation. Numerous reports had been circulating about his health, stating that he was no longer eating properly and was being given fluids intravenously. Yet Jermaine, at least, had an ulterior motive for going to see his brother that night. He had previously told reporters that Michael would be appearing on the “Jackson Family Honors” show, even though Michael had not actually agreed to do so. Jermaine brought a letter of intent with him to the scene of Michael’s collapse and seized the opportunity to persuade Michael to sign it and commit to joining the show.
“As far as what was going on with Jordy’s family, we only talked to Michael about it when he brought it up. When he did speak about it, it was often in a wistful one, and I could tell he was still trying to comprehend the fact that this horrible thing had occurred,” said Frank Casio.
“I did so much for his family,” Michael would say according to Casio. I would almost always respond with anger, saying things like, “I just don’t understand how he could do such a thing,” Frank would recall.
“You don’t understand,” Michael would reply. “I don’t blame Jordy. It’s not his fault. It’s his father’s fault.” Michael forgave Jordy. He knew that a child wouldn’t come at him and ruthlessly attack him of his own volition. He believed it all came from the father.
Frank describes the sleeping arrangements at the Hideout as this, “That night my brother, Jordy and I spread sleeping bags all over the floor, watched movies, and fell asleep.” He said, “Jordie was a likable kid who seemed a lot like me. I didn’t notice anything unusual or disturbing in his relationship with Michael.
“You can imagine how he feels,” said actress Elizabeth Taylor. “How would you feel if you had these allegations against you?” The actress arrived in Singapore during the weekend to comfort Jackson and help him during his 35th birthday that Sunday. “He’s a very sensitive, very vulnerable, very shy person,” she said on the syndicated TV show, “A Current Affair.” “I believe totally that Michael will be vindicated.” Considering Elizabeth Taylor’s precarious health, her insistence on joining Michael Jackson in Singapore was a bit foolhardy, but so typical of her devotion to those she loves. Her doctors looked askance at the 20 hour flight to Asia, but Liz insisted on going to her friend’s side. She declined to comment on Jackson’s legal troubles beyond declaring, “I am a friend of Michael Jackson’s… I love him like a son and I support him with all my heart.”
Others came forward to support Michael, as well. Jeanne White offered a particularly poignant defense of the singer. After her son Ryan had been diagnosed with AIDS due to a tainted blood treatment, Michael had befriended the boy. Ryan had visited Michael at Neverland Ranch several times, both with his mother and by himself. Jeanne stated that she had met Jordan at Neverland and did not believe the stories that Michael had molested him. She insisted that Jackson had been a good friend to her family and had dedicated the song “Gone Too Soon” from the Dangerous album to Ryan, who had passed away in 1990.
Brooke Shields issued a statement that read, “I know Michael extremely well,” said the actress. “He is a person for whom I have the highest respect and whose decency is unquestionable… I cannot believe the allegations that have inflicted pain and heartache on one of the kindest people I know.”
To bolster the credibility of Michael’s extortion defense, Anthony Pellicano released portions of the recorded telephone calls between Evan Chandler and David Schwartz. And on September 1st, Pellicano released a secretly taped phone discussion between Barry Rothman and himself. The 25-minute tape was dominated by heated and sometimes profanity-laced exchanges between Pellicano and Rothman over the terms of a movie deal between Jackson and Evan Chandler. On the tape it’s expressed that Evan was angry because he felt Jackson’s people had reneged on an earlier offer for a three-picture deal with him.
Pellicano repeatedly questions why the father has turned down his offer of a single movie development deal worth $350,000–money that Pellicano says would come “out of Michael’s pocket.” Pellicano had been attempting to get Rothman on the record explicitly making threats, but again, Rothman was careful not to say anything that could incriminate them. The closest either man comes to acknowledging that some accusatory undercurrent is at the heart of their conversation is when Pellicano says Michael “is innocent of any wrongdoing” and Rothman counters that his client “has a different opinion.” No evidence or proof is alluded to, only simply that, a difference of “opinion.”
Knowing that the call is being recorded, Pellicano works hard to provoke responses from Rothman. Pellicano is quoted as saying to Rothman: “I guess I’m correct in assuming your client has rejected the deal?”
“Your offer regarding the development deal for one project only is not acceptable, OK?”
Rothman says a single development deal would not be enough to satisfy his client because the boy’s father wanted to scale back his dental practice to concentrate on movie projects and spend more time with his son. If that deal falls through, Rothman says, the father would be left in the lurch, having “unwound” his dental practice. There is no mention of any need for money to take care of psychiatric issues for Jordan in that state or any other.
“He doesn’t have to unwind the practice,” Pellicano responds.
“He does to spend time with (his son),” Rothman says, “which is the essence of why this offer is being made.” Rothman says. “You know what I asked you to do and you can’t do it, so what can I tell you?” Later, Rothman adds: “Make me a better offer. . . . More than one project–that’s a better offer.”
Pellicano says, “Convince me that it would be better for me to give him more than one deal. Convince me.”
Rothman refuses to verbalize the threat, “That’s a given.”
Pellicano: “There’s no given there.”
Rothman: “I don’t have to state the obvious and I’m not prepared to do so in this conversation.” He cites concerns that whatever he says could end up as evidence against him in court.
“Listen,” Pellicano says at one point, “I’ve already told you that we think this is an extortion attempt from the beginning. I’ve already made those statements to you time and time again.”
Rothman answers: “You can say that, Anthony, but there’s a counterpoint to all of that.”
Rothman seemed almost desperate at this point and told Pellicano that Evan might be willing to take the original million dollar offer if Pellicano would be willing to renew it.
“It’s never going to happen,” the investigator had responded.
With nothing on the table for Evan, he was forced into either reporting the abuse to the authorities himself or handing Jordan over.
Geraldine Hughes said that on this day Jordan had spent several hours in Barry Rothman’s office alone with the lawyer behind closed doors. She would later state, “I really believe that the whole thing was plotted and planned and the words were given to him [Jordan Chandler] to say because I actually witnessed the 13 year old in my attorney’s office without any supervision of his parents and he was kind of snuck in there, it was like no one in the office knew he was in there. He was behind closed doors with my attorney for several hours, and I kind of believe that is where he was being told what to say. I can’t say that I actually witnessed him being told, but I did witness that there was a meeting between my attorney and the 13 year old accuser for several hours. Actually it was a meeting that nobody in the office was supposed to know even existed and the only reason that I found out (was because) I was on my way out of the office and we were under threats of death about just walking in his office without even knocking or without announcing, and I was just rushing so I opened up the door and when I opened up the door I saw the boy in his office and I was kind of shocked.
“I knew he was the Chandler boy because that was the only case, to my knowledge, that Mr Rothman was working on which involved a child. I was, however, very surprised to see the boy in Mr Rothman’s office unaccompanied by a parent. The boy, likewise, was surprised when I opened the door. Mr Rothman snapped at me for entering unannounced. I had not even seen the boy enter Mr Rothman’s office, nor did Mr Rothman announce he was meeting with a child.
It appeared as if the meeting between Mr Rothman and the boy was a secret. I glanced at the boy for a second and pretended as though everything was normal before leaving the office. The boy had a puzzled looked on his face when I walked into Mr Rothman’s office. That made me very suspicious of this meeting between Mr Rothman and the Chandler boy. This meeting took place just before the boy was taken to see the psychiatrist who later reported the sexual molestation charges against Michael Jackson.”
September 1st was also the day that Jordan Chandler gave his first description of Michael’s genitalia to Los Angeles District Attorney Lauren Weiss for law enforcement purposes. This account was later used by Detective Deborah Linden of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department during a strip search of Jackson’s body.
Gloria Allred, Evan’s new attorney, moved quickly to counter the extortion defense. On September 2, she gave a press conference where she stated that Jordan was willing to testify against Jackson in court. Yet it appears that her statement didn’t sit well with the Chandlers, or perhaps she decided that she could no longer represent Evan Chandler. For whatever reason, she withdrew from the case a few days later without further explanation.
Michael, who was reeling from the media onslaught as he arrived in Taiwan in Sept 1993 was still kind and generous to others. It was a fax message that leads to the friendship between Michael and the Ma Family. Mrs Ma and her husband had trouble obtaining tickets for their nine month old twin daughters for an upcoming Jackson’s concert, as ticket were not allowed to be sold to their 9 month old baby girl’s for safety concern. She decided to give it a try and send a fax message to the hotel that Michael was staying in. She directly address the fax message to ask him asking him to allow her twins to go to the concert. She didn’t really expect that Michael would see it, next thing she knew was that Michael did read it and responded to it. He immediately sent down VIP passes for the family to be able to come to the concert and to meet him personally in his hotel room after the concert.
When the family arrived at his Presidential Suite, Michael was already in his pajamas, ready to go to bed. They found the superstar,” very kind and approachable, Ma recalled that he was so fascinated by the twins, he wanted to know everything about bringing up babies. “The twin babies were crawling around in his room, at one point, one of the twins grabbed his CD player and started to bite it, Michael immediately went to pick up the baby and softly he said to her “Don’t bite it, it’ll hurt you.” Ma recalled that Michael was not yet a parent during that time but was very protective of children.
When they said goodbye, Michael personally escorted them off to the elevator and promised to invite them to come and visit him when he returned to America in his home Neverland. Ma family never took his words seriously, but Michael meant it.During the 17 years friendship Michael had with the Ma Family, the family had been able to visit 6 times as guests at his Neverland home, and even traveled with him to other parts of world. Every time they said goodbye, he would cuddle them with words like “I’ll always love you”. He would seemed just simply wanted to be loved.
Michael adored the twins, when he returned to Taiwan for the History tour in 1996, he invited the twins for an appearance to ” Heal the world ” Song with him on stage. He even invited the family to follow History tour with him. The twins were also featured in “Heal the world” in Durban, South Africa and it was said to be his last concert ever.
Michael had confided to Mrs. Ma things like his iconic sequins glove, was first used to hide his skin problem vitiligo that first appeared on his hand, and the glove had surprisingly become his signature trademark. Michael did often expressed his strong desire to perform in China. According to the Taiwanese concert organizer Mr. Yu, during both his Dangerous and History Tour in Taiwan in the 90’s, Michael asked for his help to perform in China, though Yu did his best, During that time China was not yet ready to open up to Western pop performers.
Lisa Marie left the number where she could be reached in Clearwater, Florida, where she was planning to spend time at the Scientology retreat. Somehow, she could always put a smile back on his face, even if it was just her raspy voice proclaiming, “Oh, fuck them!” He found her in Canoga Park.
Michael valued Lisa’s settling effect on him, so much so that during his phone conversation, he posed a question that surprised both of them. “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?” Was this a joke? A hypothetical? Or was it a dare for Lisa to take him seriously? If it was a dare, Lisa was the woman to take it – even though she was still married to Danny Keough. Without missing a beat, she replied, “I would do it.” Michael didn’t say a word, at first. He then said, “Hold on, I have to use the bathroom.”
When he finally did speak into the phone again, he was speaking to his new fiancée. “My love for you is real,” Michael told Lisa. “Please, believe me.” Jackson, who desperately wanted to be a father , greeted photographers stationed outside his Buenos Aires hotel balcony in October. Holding a copy of Child Magazine, featuring an article entitled “46 Fun Baby Games.”
In the meantime,back in Los Angeles Evan Chandler had found a new lawyer for his case against Michael Jackson after Gloria Allred’s abrupt withdrawal. Larry Feldman, a civil attorney, filed a $30 million civil lawsuit against Jackson on September 14, accusing him of sexual battery, battery, seduction and willful misconduct, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, and negligence.
After already seeing Dr. Abrams — who had not spent enough time with him to conclude whether he was telling the truth or not. On October 6, Chandler’s new attorney, Feldman, sent Jordan Chandler to visit Dr. Richard Gardner, were he and his parents were interviewed separately. Dr. Gardner’s expertise was in child abuse, false accusations in child abuse, Parental Alienation Syndrome and custody battles. Dr Gardner would state in his book, “True And False Allegations of Child Abuse,” published in October of 1993, that “Sex-abuse allegations made in the context of a custody/visitation dispute are more likely to be false. This is especially the case if the sex-abuse allegation arose after the onset of the dispute.”
In his Dr Gardner interview, at first Jordan claimed that the “sexual phase” began in “early February”, but then claims that he started sharing his bed only in “sort of later February”. He would then claim that “when it switched (to abuse)” was at Las Vegas at the Mirage hotel, which was in March, but then again later on states that the physical contact only started in early May with Jackson simply hugging him. Later on he would contradict that again and claim that on a trip to Florida, which took place in April, Jackson had already grabbed his butt and put his tongue in his ear.
Jordan claimed that the physical contact between them “increased gradually” as time went by. First just a hug, then a brief kiss on the cheek, “then graduated” to kissing on the lips, first briefly and then for a longer period of time, “then phase three would be sexual”, and that “every time he would graduate to a new sexual act, we’d continue that and graduate some more.“ In Dr Gardner’s book about child sexual abuse he would state that, “Children who provide false accusations may refer to the abuse in general terms and even utilize adult terminology.” The idea for “phases” had been something suggested by Gardner and later on in his December declaration, Jordan would take that, and use those terms as his own, stating in the declaration what happened, stage by stage, in sequence, as a mirror to this interview.
Throughout the interview there are 47 occasions where Jordan says, “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” “ask my mother.” Jordan alleged that he and Jackson had taken a bath together, while in Monaco in May, and that this was the first time they saw each other naked. There is no mention of Jackson’s scalp operation or the balloon he had inserted there. He claimed Jackson named certain child friends of his who masturbated in front of him. Though the names of these other child friends are changed in the transcript of the Gardner interview to protect their privacy, from the context it was possible to derive their alleged identities: Macaulay Culkin, Brett Barnes, Wade Robson, Jimmy Safechuck and perhaps Corey Feldman and Jackson’s cousins Elijah and Levon Jackson. All of these boys were interviewed by the police in 1993-94 and Culkin, Barnes and Robson testified at Jackson’s 2005 trial. All of them at the time denied that Jackson ever molested them or did anything inappropriate to them.
There are two documents from which we have gained insight into the basis of his allegations. One was a declaration by Jordan Chandler on December 28, 1993, and another was an interview of Jordan with Dr. Richard Gardner, conducted almost three months prior on October 6, 1993. Dr. Gardner’s expertise was in child abuse, false accusations in child abuse, and Parental Alienation Syndrome, a term he coined to describe when one parent attempts to turn a child against the other parent, often during custody battles. In his book, “True And False Allegations of Child Abuse,” published in October of 1993, Gardner wrote that “sex-abuse allegations made in the context of a custody/visitation dispute are more likely to be false. This is especially true in the case if the sex-abuse allegation arose after the onset of the dispute.”
In their interview together, Dr Gardner discusses the different “phases” of abuse that Jordan claims occurred. The idea for “phases” had been suggested by Gardner as a way to identify progressive acts of abuse. Showing a gradual increase in the level of abuse would be important for the Chandler’s case since many experts believe it is a common part of the grooming process as seen in child abuse cases. Ray Chandler would point this out in an interview when he explained why he included transcriptions from the doctor’s interview with Jordan, something many saw as a gross violation of doctor/patient confidentiality. “ I posted that report so that the public can see how step-by-step Michael seduced a young boy.” The Chandlers were very aware that in order to be believable they needed to show the abuse took place in increasing stages or steps and was consistent with other child abuse cases.
Throughout the interview Jordan used terminology like “stages” and “graduate” to identify the progressive phases of the alleged abuse. He talks about how the contact “increased gradually” from a hug to a brief kiss on the cheek and then “graduated” to kissing on the lips. “Then phase three would be sexual,” and “every time he would graduate to a new sexual act, we’d continue that and graduate some more.” At one point when the doctor asks what the next step was, Jordan responds, “Let’s see, I think the next step was, I had an erection and he rubbed up against me and that was it.”
Although Jordan seemed intent on laying out the abuse in “phases”, his timeline of when the phases took place wasn’t consistent. At first, Jordan claims the “sexual phase” began in early February, but then later he claims it was “sort of later February”. After that he states that “it switched (to abuse)” when they were at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas in March. And even later on in the interview he claims the physical contact didn’t start until May, with Michael simply hugging him. He would contradict that again by stating that Michael had grabbed his butt and put his tongue in his ear while on a trip to Florida, which took place in April. Throughout the interview there are 47 occasions where Jordan says “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” or “ask my mother.”
Jordan would contradict himself at other times in the interview. At one point he talks about how he told Michael he did not like it when he kissed him and put his tongue in his mouth. Jordan claims that Michael started to cry and told him, “there was nothing wrong with it,” and that “just because most people believe something is wrong, doesn’t make it so.” After being told no, Jordan claimed that Jackson never did it again. He also says he told Michael he didn’t like it when he put his tongue in his ear and grabbed his butt, and he added that, “by the way, he never did those either.”
At another point in the interview Jordan alleges that it was when they were in Monaco in May that he and Michael took a bath together, and that was the first time they saw each other naked. At this time Michael’s head would’ve had a noticeable bump from the scalp surgery he had just undergone. At no time in the interview does Jordan mention ever seeing or noticing this at all, even when he claims that he saw Michael completely naked.
Jordan stated that it was on this same trip that Michael first masturbated in front of him, but claims he didn’t watch, saying that he wasn’t sure in which room he was in as it happened, at one point claiming he may have been inside a closet, and that Michael’s door had been open and that was how he knew it was happening, not because Michael was doing it right in front of him.
Throughout the interview Jordan alleges that he and Michael engaged in acts of mutual masturbation and oral sex and said, “that was as far as it went.” When asked how many times these incidents occurred Jordan is uncertain and gives an estimate, but then he refers Dr. Gardner to his mother in order to find out how many times. On another occasion Dr Gardner asks if they did anything in EuroDisney and Jordan states: “I think we might have taken a bath together.” Asked if this was just once he responds, “I don’t know. It may have been one, it may have been not at all.”While he has trouble recollecting how many times each incident of abuse occurred, or even if the abuse occurred at all, he is quick to identify the specific locations where the incidents supposedly took place. This suggests that he was coached to be as specific as possible about where and when things happened in order to sound more believable.
Jordan said that Michael told him that he performed sexual acts with Brett Barnes and therefore it was okay for Jordan to do it too. Telling a child that this has been done before with another child is often considered a grooming tactic that child molesters use to make their victims feel more comfortable. Jordan mentions that Brett Barnes went on TV and denied that anything happened, and when Dr. Gardner asks him if he believed Brett was lying, Jordan said yes. When the doctor asked him why he thought Brett was lying he said, “Because Michael told me they did,” and he then contradicts himself saying, “I mean it could be that Michael could be lying to me.” A short time later in the interview the doctor asked again who Jordan thinks is lying, and Jordan says Brett. When asked why he thinks that, Jordan goes on to suggest that their friendship alone, and the way they acted together in public, was reason enough to suspect they were doing sexual things together. At no time does Jordan say that the reason he believes Michael performed sexual acts with Brett was because he had also performed sexual acts with Jordan.
Though the Chandler’s would later try to present these events as if Jordan had been complicit and was “in love” with his abuser, even disturbingly referring to them as “lovers”, Jordan expresses no such emotion for Jackson here. Asked about an occasion where he said Jackson had told him that he loved him, Dr. Gardner asked, “It wasn’t a romantic love?” Jordan definitively states, “No.” He claims throughout that they were “just friends.” Asked if he misses Jackson, he says, “No.” He describes Michael as being “selfish”, the way Evan had on the phone with David Schwartz. Jordan doesn’t claim to love Jackson, or to do anything out of any sense of wanting to make him happy, or to having any physical or sexual attraction to Jackson, and he doesn’t seem confused or upset by the experience, stating that he has no attraction to men. He even at one point excitedly talks about a girl that he is “chasing” at school.
The interview he gave to Dr. Gardner contains remarkable similarities to Evan’s taped telephone call with David months earlier. There Evan states the harm to Jordan is done because “Michael is using his age and experience and his money and his power to great advantage to Jordy. The problem is he’s also harming him, greatly harming him, for his own selfish reasons. He’s not the altruistic, kind human being that he appears to be.” When Jordan is asked by the doctor why he wanted to go on tour with Jackson despite all of this going on he responds, “Because I was having fun. At the time, the things Michael was doing to me, they didn’t affect me. Like, I didn’t think anything was totally wrong with what he was doing since he was my friend, and he kept on telling me that he would never hurt me. But presently I see that he was obviously lying.” Gardner later asks what Jordan saw was wrong with it, and Jordan does not respond referring to anything sexual, but echoes his father saying, “Because he’s a grown-up and he’s using his experience, of his age in manipulating and coercing younger people who don’t have as much experience as him, and don’t have the ability to say no to someone powerful like that.” Here Jordan parrots his father almost word-for-word: “He’s using his power, his experience, his age – his overwhelmingness – to get what he wants.“
When asked again what, in his opinion, was wrong with what allegedly was done to him or how it could hurt him, Jordan seemed incapable of answering on a personal level telling Gardner, “Everybody thinks what he was doing could hurt, otherwise it wouldn’t be a crime.” When pressed for why this is, he states that it could “make me depressed or something. I don’t know.” Dr Gardner asks, “Well, this is important. You say it’s a crime. Why is it a crime?” Again Jordan responds using his father’s words: “Because, like I said before, he’s using his experience, power, age – – ” In his conversation with David Schwartz Evan had also complained about how Jackson had “separated” Jordan from his family, and Jordan again parrots his father’s words here, saying that what Michael was doing was wrong because it could “separate” him from people.
Jordan contradicts himself when talking about the power Jackson allegedly had over him. He would claim that he had no problem telling Jackson to stop certain sexual behaviors like putting his tongue in his mouth, but would also claim he had allowed the abuse to continue to graduate, using his father’s words, “because he’s an adult, he’s overwhelming, he’s famous, he’s powerful.” Yet he never explains how he was capable of asserting himself in the prior situations if he had believed Jackson had this power over him. It would also seem a contradiction that Jackson would stop doing these other things after Jordan had told him no, only to then go much further with him than he had previously. Although Jordan would state what had been wrong involved Jackson being too powerful, famous and overwhelming, in the interview he would reveal that in reality, Jackson’s fame had little influence on him at all. Jordan would reveal he was not in awe of Jackson or under his “spell” and didn’t see him that way: “No. Actually when our relationship got closer and closer I thought less of that. Like most people think that, wow, he’s great, because he can dance and sing. But you know, he’s just like, a regular person.”
When Jordan is asked if Jackson had threatened him he sounds uncertain, claiming Jackson “may” have said “something like” he would go to juvenile hall if he had told anyone. He then says, “I don’t specifically remember” but that he was “almost positive” that Jackson had said something “about juvenile hall. I’m almost positive he said that.” He adds, “but I do indeed remember that he said that he would go to jail, and that, like, I wouldn’t get off Scot free.” Asked if he believed this threat, Jordan would again confirm that Jackson’s “money, power, age, influence” were not factors for him and that he had not believed it: “Well, I didn’t really believe it at the time, and I definitely don’t know. But at the time I didn’t really believe it but I said, okay, whatever, and just went along with it.” At no point does Jordie express he was ever afraid of Jackson.
Jordan would claim his parents first learned about the abuse after Jordan stayed at his father’s house. This was almost immediately after the Chandler’s claimed the first incident of abuse had taken place. Jordan claimed his father had learned about it not because of any sexual behaviors or any negative changes in him but because: “he observed Michael and I having almost the same personality, the same interests, the same way of speech.” Jordan would claim these were what made it an “unhealthy relationship.” These would be the main complaints Evan would relay to Schwartz about Jordan and Jackson’s relationship before he’d claimed any knowledge of abuse, and was in fact the main complaint Evan would cite about Jackson even after he’d learned of the alleged abuse.
Jordan claims his father had only asked him on one occasion if sexual abuse had occurred, and he admitted it immediately. This contradicts Evan who said that he’d asked Jordan directly on May 28th and that Jordan had denied it. Evan claimed he’d had to badger and coerce his son into admitting to it, after his son was under anesthesia. Interestingly Jordan tells Dr. Gardner that his father never saw any abuse take place, but Evan claimed that he had witnessed Jackson’s hand on his son’s crotch, and yet he still felt the need to badger his son into admitting to the abuse.
Jordie claimed he was happy when he told his father what had happened because it meant the “horrible things” had ended, and yet he would also state that he’d wanted to go on tour with Jackson even after the alleged abuse started because was having “fun” and that he “enjoyed” the time he spent with Michael and “didn’t see anything wrong with it.”
Gardner asked Jordan if he resented his mother for having allowed the abuse to happen, and he says no because he “guesses” she was “fooled” too, yet he still didn’t wish to have anything to do with her after his father gained custody. He claims this is because he had attempted to tell her about the abuse once and she had not believed him. June Chandler testified that Jordan had never attempted to tell her anything and that she had no knowledge of any of the abuse. When Jordan is asked he could remember when he had tried to tell June he responds that he can’t. He then states that his mother should have believed Evan’s suspicions alone. At the same time, Jordan never explains why he never attempted to confide in his father who was the one who had become obsessed with the idea of his son being sexually abused by Jackson. Jordan also never mentions in the interview with Gardner the occasion where Pellicano had spoken alone with him for forty-five minutes about whether or not Jackson had sexually abused him and he had denied it repeatedly and told him that his father had just wanted money. Evan would also not immediately tell June about Jordan’s confession, instead relying on Dr Abrams letter, claiming he hadn’t wanted to betray his son’s confidence. Yet according to Jordie, his mother was the first person he had wanted to tell.
Jordan is asked later on in the interview about girls and he makes the first visible expression of any emotion, as Dr Gardner notes his reaction: “I see you smiling. Do you have a girlfriend at this point (in October 1993)?” Jordan responds, “I’m sort of in the process of chasing after one.””So you got your eye on her?” “Yeah, I guess you could call it that.” Then asked, “Have you kissed anybody yet?” He says he has only “kissed this one girl.” The girlfriend in question was was Sonnet Simmons.
Outside of this, throughout the interview Jordan expresses no emotion, appearing neither upset or angry. Instead at times he seems assertive, even snapping, ‘I’m getting to that” when the doctor tries to steer the direction of the discussion. Sometimes he sounds flippant and disengaged, and he struggles repeatedly to articulate how the abuse affected him emotionally. When Dr. Gardner asks Jordan if he had any fears about the future, not understanding that Dr. Gardner had been referring to the type of fear that is common in children who had suffered sexual abuse, Jordan responds that he is only afraid of the cross-examination if the case went to trial.
It is not known what Dr. Gardner’s conclusion about the interview was because his conclusion was not mysteriously leaked—unlike the interview transcripts. It would seem however that Dr. Gardner reached a conclusion that damaged Evan’s case, since Feldman ignored his analysis and sent Jordan to yet another doctor for diagnosis instead. Dr. Stanley Katz, who was already acquainted with attorney Larry Feldman through his wife, a psychologist.
Katz was the director of training and professional education at Children’s Institute International (CII), which had played a prominent role in the infamous McMartin preschool trial. In that trial, CII had assessed 400 children and determined that 369 of them had been sexually molested. “My involvement with the McMartin case was — I did do assessments. I was asked by the Department of Children & Family Services to assess the children of the alleged perpetrators to see if they had been molested,” said Katz.
Members of the McMartin family, were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. Several hundred children were then interviewed by the CII. The interviewing techniques used during investigations of the allegations were reported as being highly suggestive, where they invited children to pretend or speculate about supposed events. Ultimately only 41 of the original 360 children testified during the grand jury and pre-trial hearings, and fewer than a dozen testified during the actual trial.
Videotapes of the interviews with children were reviewed by Dr. Michael Maloney, a British clinical psychologist and professor of psychiatry, as an expert witness regarding the interviewing of children. Maloney was highly critical of the interviewing techniques used, referring to them as improper, coercive, directive, problematic, adult-directed in a way that forced the children to follow a rigid script and that “many of the kids’ statements in the interviews were generated by the examiner.” The techniques used were contrary to the existing guidelines in California for the investigation of cases involving children and child witnesses.
Recordings of these interviews were instrumental in the jury’s refusal to convict. It was alleged that, in addition to having been sexually abused, they claimed they had seen witches fly, traveled in hot-air balloons, and were taken through underground tunnels. Other bizarre accounts involved public orgies, hidden tunnels, and children being flushed down toilets to secret rooms where the sexual abuse would take place before they were flushed back up the toilets. When shown a series of photographs by one of the McMartins’ lawyers, one child identified actor Chuck Norris as one of the abusers.
The stories turned out to be completely fabricated, and it was determined that the children had been highly coerced and manipulated in the interviews that CII conducted. During Katz’s time at CII, the institute was still using the same basic techniques used to obtain the false memories of sexual abuse during the McMartin case. Although Feldman has never admitted it, it appears likely that he chose Katz to interview Jordan Chandler based on the doctor’s ties to CII. After all, when Dr. Gardner’s report proved unhelpful to Evan’s case, Feldman needed to find someone who would provide an analysis that fit their accusations.
Michael Jackson’s attorney Bert Fields suspected that efforts were being made by the police department to produce false accusations against his client as well. On October 28, 1993, Fields wrote a letter to LAPD Police Chief Willie Williams complaining about the police department’s ongoing attempts to manipulate children into saying incriminating things about Jackson. The police had interviewed forty to sixty children (according to some sources, up to 100 children) who had spent time with Jackson or visited his Neverland Ranch. None of these children corroborated the Chandlers’ story. Instead, they insisted that Jackson had never engaged in any form of inappropriate or suspicious behavior with them. The Los Angeles Times obtained a copy of this letter, which Fields wrote based on complaints that he received from the parents of the children being interviewed. In it, Fields outlined the parents’ accounts of the interview procedures:
I am advised that your officers have told frightened youngsters outrageous lies, such as “We have nude photos of you,” in order to push them into making accusations against Mr. Jackson. There are of course no such photos of these youngsters, and they have no truthful accusations to make. But your officers appear ready to employ any device to generate potential evidence against Mr. Jackson.
On November 4th, Bert Fields filed a near $10 million suit against the tabloid Globe for an article claiming that Jackson offered to pay the families of allegedly abused children hush money. In February 1994 Judge Dickran Tevrizian dismissing the case based upon a settlement being reached between the parties.
Howard Weitzman, another Jackson attorney, added that the police were trying to trick people into making untrue accusations because they had no evidence of actual misconduct. Chief Williams answered that he was satisfied with his officers’ investigation, but the department’s interview techniques received a negative reaction from the international media.
Child actor Corey Feldman was interviewed in 1993 by Sgt. Deborah Linden and Detective Russ Birchim, and the tapes reveal the shameful behavior displayed by the police in Michael Jackson’s case. Although he completely denies any abuse by Jackson, they keep pressuring him. Feldman told investigators that he knew what abuse was because he had been a victim, and he knew the difference. He even named his abuser but since it was not Michael Jackson it seems the police investigators didn’t pursue it for whatever reason. “He is very specific. Just right past it. The cops didn’t care. They just went right back to Michael Jackson. And Corey Feldman brought this up several times. And, you know, it just was if, you know, fine, forget about him forget about him, let’s get back to Michael Jackson. It was really a stunning moment,” said journalist and attorney Harvey Levin.
Parts from his 1993 police interview from the tapes:
I myself was molested so I know what it’s like to go through those feelings, and believe me, the person who molested me, if this was him that did that to me, this would be a different story because I would be out there, up front, doing something immediately to have this man given what was due to him.
You don’t know how many times I have racked my brain and gone, “Is there something I’m forgetting? Is there something that, you know, I’m thinking didn’t happen but it really did?” If I could find something I would love to be able to tell you, but nothing happened.
“In the tape, he’s very clear that nothing untoward happened with Michael Jackson. I’m telling you, I’ve listened to this whole tape. And it is bad for the police. They are pushing and pushing and pushing” said Harvey Levin, who obtained the audio tapes of the interview. “Clearly, these cops went in with their minds made up. I mean from my ears, they went in with their minds made up. They were pushing him, explaining why there was no reason basically to think Michael Jackson didn’t do it, which is the opposite of the way you look at it. And it just feels loaded” said Levin before agreeing that it felt like a witch hunt.
Feldman detailed the sexual abuse he and late friend Corey Haim suffered at the hands of avaricious Hollywood sex predators during their childhood acting careers in his book Coreyography: A Memoir.“ People always ask me about life after childhood stardom. What would I say to parents of children in the industry? My only advice, honestly, is to get these kids out of Hollywood and let them lead normal lives,” Feldman wrote. One of Feldman’s greatest confidants at that time was Michael Jackson, who Feldman said never attempted anything inappropriate him.
“Michael Jackson’s world, crazy as it sounds, had become my happy place,” he said. “Being with Michael brought me back to my innocence. When I was with Michael, it was like being 10 years old again. We stayed up all night and talked and did stuff, and we prayed together before we went to sleep, and he was wearing pajamas, and I was wearing my pajamas” said Feldman.
When describing the sleeping arrangements in a hotel room Feldman said, “” There was one bed in the room and he asked for a cot to be brought up. He got the cot up there, we hung out, we talked for a little while until we got tired. And he insisted that I slept on the bed and he take the cot because he didn’t feel it was polite for him to take the bed.”
After Jackson’s death Feldman revealed that his friendship with the entertainer had been hard work.” You don’t understand the toll that it takes, having to be friends with somebody like Michael Jackson. Because you spend your whole life defending this friend. No, he’s not gay. No, he’s not a weirdo.”
On November 8, 1993, while Michael’s family was in Phoenix attending the funeral of his grandfather Samuel Jackson, a fourth search warrant was issued, this time for the Jackson family’s home on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino. Michael no longer lived at the residence but had retained ownership of it. The warrant coincided with the release of tabloid stories sold by disgruntled security guards who had once worked for the family. Dubbed “The Hayvenhurst 5,” they alleged to have witnessed improprieties and been fired because they “knew too much.”
Michael was on tour in Mexico at the time the warrant was issued. He gave his last performance there in November and cancelled the remainder of the tour due to his failing physical and emotional state. “I have the whole world thinking I’m a child molester. You don’t know what it feels like to be falsely accused, to be called ‘Wacko Jacko.’ Day in and day out, I have to get up on stage and perform, pretend everything is perfect. I give everything I have, I give the performance that everyone wants to see. Meanwhile, my character and reputation are under constant attack. When I step off that stage, people look at me as if I were a criminal,” Jackson was quoted as saying.
Debbie Rowe would describe Jackson as a, “hot mess” upon her arrival to Mexico city. “He was depressed and taking something” she said.” She continued by saying that his hoel suite was uncharacteristically messy. “He wasn’t making eye contact, he wasn’t speaking, he didn’t make sense when he did, and he said he was having problems with his scalp again. And we got into a fight.” Rowe felt that Dr. Forecast was yet, “another doctor that didn’t put him first as a patient, as a human being, as somebody who needed a doctor.” Telling Jackson that, “I’m not about to lose my best friend over something like this that –I realize you’re going through it, I’m not. I realize I can’t protect you, I can’t — I can’t make everything better, as much as I want to, so you have to do it.” And I reminded him how strong he was. I said, “It will pass.” I said, “You haven’t done anything, and you just need to be strong.”
Concerned, friends like Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, and Lisa Marie Presley decided to intervene. They urged Michael to seek treatment for his dependency on painkillers.
During a lengthy phone conversation, Michael shared his troubles with Presley. “‘You have to get some help,’ she told him,” said Lisa Marie’s friend Monica Pastelle. “‘You can’t let this go on any longer. You have to go to rehab. I care about you, Michael.’ He poured out his heart to her. Lisa Marie felt terrible for him. She believed he was innocent. ‘I know he can get past this,’ she said, ‘I don’t want Michael to end up like my father.’”
Michael discreetly checked into a rehab facility in London on November 12, 1993. It was later reported that he had become engaged to Lisa Marie that fall, and she confirmed that she was planning on joining him the following week in Puerto Rico.
Lisa Marie told her childhood friend Myrna Smith about her secret romance with Michael. Myrna perceived that Lisa felt sorry for Michael because of the sexual molestation charges and the devastating effect the scandal had had on his career and his image. Myrna also believed Lisa had sincere feelings for Michael. “Yes, she did, according to what she told me. She did. She’s like her father—they like the underdog … she did it for her own reasons, but she didn’t do it because Michael coerced her. She genuinely cared about him and she thought he cared for her.”
Myrna, a singer who knew a bit about Michael through her involvement in the music industry, warned Lisa Marie that she thought Jackson might be gay. “I could only tell what I thought, what a smart businessman he was, and that he was only pursuing her for what she could do for him, and that he wasn’t interested in women. And she told me he was.” Lisa did not reveal to Myrna whether she and Michael were having sex, although Brett-Livingstone Strong has expressed a belief that they were: “Yeah, sure, I think, because of what happened. I didn’t want to ask any questions. I could have asked Lisa the nitty-gritty.”
Rehab
On November 15, the day after Pepsi ended a sponsorship deal with Michael that had lasted for more than a decade, Jackson’s attorney Bert Fields held a press conference confirming that Jackson was undergoing treatment for a painkiller dependency. He said that the singer was “barely able to function on an intellectual level.” Fields refused to disclose Michael’s whereabouts but added that Jackson had “no intention of avoiding coming to the US.” Yet the media cast doubt on the dependency claim, suggesting that Jackson was in hiding from the law—even though he had not yet been charged with any crime, nor had an arrest warrant been issued against him. For that matter, an arrest warrant against Jackson would never be issued in this case. The police did, however, obtain a strip search warrant that allowed them to examine Michael’s body in order to verify Jordan’s description of the singer’s genitals.
Michael flew into London Luton Airport on a private jet shortly after midnight in November 1993. Steve Tarling, Jackson’s bodyguard during his stay in London, was waiting for him in a minibus with sheets draped across the windows. Elizabeth Taylor was there, as well, along with her husband Larry Fortensky. They entered the plane to find Jackson sitting alone, wrapped in a blanket, apparently asleep. When Taylor shook him awake, Steve Tarling was stunned by Jackson’s condition:
He was completely out of it, he was so drugged up he looked like a zombie. He just looked like a lost soul…. When his hat came off and I saw his face for the first time I was physically shocked. I had this image of Michael Jackson the performer in mind but the sight I saw was nothing like that, he looked terrible…. The original plan was for Larry and Liz to stay on the plane and fly to Switzerland to throw the media off the scent. But Liz insisted on staying with Jackson until he got to the clinic. But when Jackson tried to get up his legs collapsed, and I had to hold him up. It was a sad sight. I held onto him and someone pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and covered his face with his hat.
Steve found it easy to smuggle Jackson into the clinic. He arrived at around 5:00 AM and the few photographers still there were asleep in their cars. He drove through the rear entrance and took Jackson to the top floor which was sealed off; But the singer locked himself in his room and refused to come out. Steve say: He turned up his radio, the whole building seemed bare and uncomfortable, I knew he wouldn’t put up with it for long and I was right. I left one of Elizabeth Taylor’s bodyguards in charge while me and one of my ground men checked the ground floor. We went down stairs when the receptionist rang up saying “Quick, Michael Jackson’s trying to escape!”
The bodyguard had been lying on his bed while Jackson had left his room and jumped in the lift. He had pressed number 1 thinking it was the ground floor, the numbers are different than American lifts. Jackson had been wandering around, politely asking patients “ How do you get out of here”? I felt really sorry for him, you can tell he was determined to get out and was ready to walk the streets of London in the freezing cold .I told my men to guard the back while I rushed to the first floor. Jackson was getting more and more frustrated and was slapping his hand against the wall. He was saying in his high pitched voice “I wanna get out of here, I don’t like it here” The nurse and I got him into the lift, I held onto him and he started to calm down. Later that first morning Jackson agreed to meet some ex addicts. Nurses were ordered to search the star for drugs. The first session of therapy lasted about three hours but mainly concentrated on laying down the rules. I felt really bad when they searched Jackson’s personal things. He had an old yellow bag with a tape machine and diaries inside. The nurses emptied it and found 13 bottles of pills which they confiscated.
Michael Jackson went crazy with sleepless nights as he was weaned off his addiction to painkillers and sleeping pills. Night after night he was unable to sleep without being drugged up, so he spent hours trying to amuse himself at John Reid’s mansion where he was secretly undergoing therapy under Beechy Colclough. Steve Tarling, who protected Michael during his stay in Britain was forced to listen to Jackson’s melancholy singing. Often Jackson would wander down stairs for a chat and a drink.
“In the beginning he was withdrawn and nervous and hardly said a word. He was in his own world, but gradually, as he was weaned off the drugs he came out of himself; he started to relax and was more comfortable with everyone. He laughed a lot more and chatted with everyone. Before his treatment he was too messed up to be bothered. But afterwards you could have conversations with him,”said Tarling. Steve watched while the treatment went on in a mansion at Rickmansworth, Herts, owned by Elton John’s manager John Reid. He says, “ Jackson is actually a bright and intelligent person. He is very interested in our Royal family and he asked me lots of questions about them and said how much he likes Princess Diana. A lot has been said about him not being able to look people in the eye but that never happened as the treatment began to work.”
He would spend hours on the telephone also, a luxury he insisted upon. He would be on the phone for up to two hours and called all around the world. He would also come down to speak with me and my colleagues.Once he came down for a cup of tea, we got the impression he wanted us to make it for him but we said “sorry Michael, you’ll have to do it yourself, it’s all part of the therapy”. It was true, Beechy instructed everyone to look after themselves, there was to be no star treatment. It was odd watching someone like Jackson make himself a cup of tea. It was like a major exercise for him…you could tell he wasn’t used to it. “The tea he made looked disgusting, it was really weak, the color of chicken soup and he piled in 5 or 6 sugars…He also had a hankering for Hobnob biscuits, he had six or 7 and dunked them all in the tea. He didn’t appear to mind making the tea himself, he seemed quite normal at times, and he has a great sense of humor, he used to call Beechy ‘The mad professor’.
We all tried to do the Moonwalk but made a hash of it and Jackson was really giggling and said we had done okay, then he said “okay guys, I’m going to bed’. With that he spun around and glided out of the kitchen backwards in a perfect moonwalk. He was still giggling and had the drink in his hand while he did it….It looked brilliant, you could tell he got a kick out of doing it for us.
Once he went on his knees and started playing piano in the barn. He played a few notes then began singing. It was a love song and sounded really good and he had actually written it right there in front of me. It was amazing to watch, it took him about 6 minutes. When he got up I said did you just write that? He said “yeah, but I have forgotten it already” Then he started looking for something else to do. “No matter what his problems are, the man is a complete genius.”As Jackson’s condition improved, Steve was able to take Jackson out for the day to give him a change of scenery. They secretly went for a drive in the country to a friends house where Jackson played computer games with the young son of Steve’s friend. Steve says: It was an amazing house, very wealthy looking, but Jackson has all that and was more interested in playing racing-car games with the boy for hours.
“I was aware of the allegations against Jackson but the two behaved like two little kids having fun and it was all totally innocent. Jackson kept getting beaten…whenever he made a mistake he would shout ‘Jesus Christmas!’ Apart from that he never swore and was always well-mannered and polite….Near the end of Jackson’s first week his business advisors made a panic-ridden call to the star. They were scared stiff that public opinion was turning against him and that everyone thought he was hiding out to avoid charges brought by Jordan Chandler. They insisted that Jackson should be filmed at the house undergoing therapy to prove that he was sick and needed treatment.”
The Employee’s Jump on The Bandwagon
A few short weeks after selling fabricated stories to the tabloids, on November 22, 1993 five former bodyguards of Jackson family (Fred Hammond, Donald Starks, Leroy Thomas, Aaron White, and Morris Williams), dubbed the “The Hayvenhurst Five,” filed a civil lawsuit against Michael Jackson. It seems that they were no longer content to merely sell tabloid stories. In fact, this was their second lawsuit. They filed for the first time when they were terminated by the Jackson family, not Michael. When they were fired, Morris Williams had called journalist Florence Anthony (Michael Jackson’s friend) and asked for assistance in contacting Michael. He told her that he knew Michael didn’t know he had lost his job, and felt that he could help him get it back. Michael did help him get his job back, but then he was fired again.
That first case was dismissed, and there was no mention of any salacious recollections. Their second lawsuit took place after the 1993 allegations had been made public, and they seem to have affected their memory: this time they claimed that they were fired because they “knew too much.” The bodyguards, who were asking for monetary damages, didn’t work for Michael Jackson directly, but for his family in Hayvenhurst. The bodyguards received payments from the tabloid media for their stories (Hard Copy paid them $150,000).Williams was dismissed from the suit early, on the grounds that his release from employment was valid. In reality, the guards had been replaced by a security company that was less costly to the Jackson’s. The replacement company provided guards, paying for their vacations and insurance costs. The Jackson family discredited the claims of The Hayvenhurst Five, stating that they were lying to gain money and that Michael never had inappropriate behavior with anyone.
Security guard Leroy Thomas claimed that Michael asked him to go to his private bathroom and destroy a picture of a nude youngster. He asked people to actually believe that Jackson, who hadn’t lived in Encino for years, suddenly decided to trust one of them by giving him his key and creating a witness, instead of destroying the photo himself.
Leroy Thomas enjoyed seeing his face on TV so much that he made the mistake of taking a lie detector test on The Maury Povich Show. His failed the lie detector in his naked picture fairy-tale. His motivation became more obvious when he announced that he was working on a book about Michael Jackson. Raul Velasco, who worked as a security guard at Hayvenhurst, said he never saw improper behavior between Michael and young boys.
The guards gave the authorities a different story than they had given to the tabloids. When questioned, they said they had never witnessed inappropriate behavior. From Morris William’s 1994 deposition:
Michael Jackson’s attorney: So you don’t know anything about Mr. Jackson and [the boy], do you?
Morris Williams: All I know is from the sworn documents that other people have sworn to.
Attorney: But other than what someone else may have said, you have no firsthand knowledge about Mr. Jackson and [the boy], do you?
Williams: That’s correct.
Attorney: Have you spoken to a child who has ever told you that Mr. Jackson did anything improper with the child?
Williams: No.
When asked by Jackson’s attorney where he had gotten his impressions, Williams replied: “Just what I’ve been hearing in the media and what I’ve experienced with my own eyes.”
Attorney: Okay. That’s the point. You experienced nothing with your own eyes, did you?
Williams: That’s right, nothing.
Mark and Faye Quindoy worked at Neverland as a housekeeper and cook from 1989 until 1991. A year after they left Jackson’s employment, the couple had only good things to say about Michael during an appearance on The Geraldo Rivera Show. They would later claim that they left their employment being owed $500,000 dollars, and they filed a lawsuit for that reason. After the Chandler allegations received publicity, they changed their story and said they left because they “couldn’t stand what they were observing.” But when asked why they didn’t go to the police and why they decided to speak to tabloids, they defensively said, “We were just witnesses not victims!” Mark Quindoy, then in the Philippines, held a press conferences with his wife promoting their alleged “diary.” They were all smiles as they spoke to the media about the serious allegations and shopping for a good deal. After seeing them in the tabloids, detectives Sicard and Linden flew to Manila to interview the couple and found them worthless as witnesses. Their nephew, Glen Veneracion, came forward to discredit them. He said they were opportunists that would do anything for money. He also said that they had only had good things to say about Michael Jackson and they were simply jumping onto the bandwagon. He gave information about his aunt and uncle to Jackson’s lawyers and offered himself as a witness for Jackson. It later emerged that the Quindoy’s had been in contact with tabloids years prior and that ABC’s Primetime had previously sent producers to Manila to speak with them about doing an interview with Diane Sawyer. Although the Quindoy’s were discredited, their diary invention would give ideas to others later on.
Blanca Francia worked as a maid at Neverland until she was fired in 1991 for trying to steal a watch, rifling through Michael’s wallet, and for tardiness. After the 1993 scandal hit the airwaves, she was courted by Hard Copy’s Diane Dimond to do an exclusive, “tell-all” interview about her experiences at Neverland. She lied and said that she witnessed Jackson showering naked with young boys on a number of occasions and as a result “quit in disgust.” She was paid $20,000 by Hard Copy for her lies but was forced to recant them while under deposition by Michael’s defense team. Blanca admitted she had never seen Jackson shower with anyone nor seen him naked with boys in his Jacuzzi. They always had their swimming trunks on, she acknowledged. Her claim was also discredited by the alleged victim himself during Jackson’s 2005 trial.
Blanca’s son, Jason, often accompanied her to work at both Neverland Ranch and at Michael’s “Hideout” condo in Century City. Oftentimes, he and Michael would engage in tickling games and other forms of innocent horseplay. This horseplay would soon be exploited by aggressive police looking to force Jason into making an accusation.Other members of Michael’s staff would come to the singer’s defense. Former security guard Larry Glenn said that Jackson had never behaved improperly with anyone, and he never saw Jackson without his clothes on.
Meanwhile, two other former Neverland housekeepers came forward to discredit Francia’s allegations, telling CNN that the stories were made up. “I think it’s ridiculous,” declared Shanda Lujan, who worked at Neverland for almost a year. “I mean, there’s just no way that Michael could do that. Michael’s just not that type of person.” Francin Orosco worked for Jackson for two years and also said Jackson was incapable of the kind of behavior he was being accused of. ”I think it’s pure lies. I think it’s just pure lies. It’s disgusting what they – what they could accuse somebody of for, and I think it’s just all for money. Michael could never do something like that. Never, ever.”
Both Lujan and Orosco claimed that Francia had actually been fired because of a bad attitude and was obsessed with the pop superstar. “You could tell a lot that she had a little crush on him. And very jealous of the other housekeepers and didn’t want no one close to Michael. There was….there’s a lot of jealousy there,” said Orosco. “He was great with kids,” added Lujan. ”I mean, you know, if….I think he would be a very good father. I mean, he’s just wonderful with them.” The former maids said their ranch chores involved entering Jackson’s room at times, but that they had never seen anything suspicious. Most notable about their statements was that at the time of their interviews, neither of the two women were still on Jackson’s payroll and were not paid for their interviews, and therefore had no incentive to lie.
Francia was very much involved with the tabloids. She used a National Enquirer reporter, Lydia Encinas, as a translator during her police interview. Francia sold her story to the National Enquirer as well. The Mitteager tapes reveal an interesting conversation dated January 1994 between the tabloid’s editor David Perel and reporter Jim Mitteager about news on the Francia story from their reporter:
“No. Just hope the cops don’t freak out when they see the story.”
“They sort of know what’s coming,” Perel replied.
The Globe tabloid editor also spoke to Mitteager about the created stories:
Jim, when you go in on these deals, talk big money and don’t back off. I mean, talk fifty grand. We need Frank DiLeo telling all, at $100,000, if we can get him. We need all of Jacko’s celebrity pals. Anything they said. Every kid that has ever been with Jacko, we want to know who he is … where he’s coming from … any pictures available. We want to put big offers to any member of the family. We need to go with the big money. The big offers. It’s the biggest story since [Elvis] Presley‘s death.
Former Neverland employees Philippe and Stella LeMarque, who were fired in 1991, contacted former porn star Paul Baressi to help them sell their stories and make the negotiations for them. Stella had dated Baressi prior to her marriage and knew about his connections to tabloids.
They sold their story to a British tabloid for $100,000 but when they realized they could fetch more money for their tail– price became $500,000 and the story changed, becoming more salacious. At the time the LeMarques had a $455,000 debt. The child star Macaulay Culkin would later discredit them while defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 trial. They would also admit in court to selling stories. “Everybody was trying to sell our stories,” said Phillippe
LeMarque, saying the competition to cash in on Jackson’s fame divided the employees. “You couldn’t have friends. Everyone was spying on each other.”
The Civil Case
On November 16, 1993 Larry Feldman filed a Motion for Trial Preference, which is a special request to have the civil trial heard within 120 days after the motion is granted. The accuser’s side was working hard on getting the civil trial ahead of the criminal proceedings. A short time later there was increased friction within Jackson’s defense team when attorney Bert Fields told reporters that a criminal indictment against Jackson seemed imminent. This information turned out to be false. Jackson’s other attorney Howard Weitzman, who had joined Jackson’s team about two and a half months earlier, told reporters Fields just misspoke, which made Fields furious. Geraldine Hughes said, “Mr. Fields’ reason for making such a statement was due to the fact that according to California and federal laws, when a civil defendant faces the possibility of criminal prosecution for the same factual allegations, the defendant is entitled to a Stay of Discovery and Trial in civil proceedings until the statute of limitation has expired on the criminal case.” In other words, Jackson’s team was trying to have the civil trial delayed until after the criminal proceedings were completed because “The civil lawsuit allows hearsay and circumstantial evidence to be admitted, while the criminal case does not. Therefore, the premature filing of a civil lawsuit while the criminal investigation is ongoing can cause the defendant to be prejudiced or suffer self-incrimination if they are indicted in a criminal case.”
Jackson’s attorneys fought to have the criminal case first. If a civil trial took place after a criminal one, Mr. Feldman wouldn’t need to lay a finger on the case nor spend money to gather evidence because the government would have done it for him. Written and recorded depositions from the criminal proceedings could be used (so fading memories would not be an issue), and their only witness would not have to be physically present. Why did he fight against it? The criminal proceedings meant justice, and it was Jackson’s request. Why didn’t the Chandlers want that?
John Branca, one of Jackson’s long-time lawyers, informed Jackson about the media’s naïve reaction and recalled the scene for J. Randy Taraborelli:
Branca: I don’t want to start more trouble but you know people here think you are trying to delay the trial for six years.
Michael: Six years? What are you talking about Branca? I don’t want to delay the trial not even a day.
Then John Branca explained to him Bert Field’s motion and Michael answered, “No way Branca, that’s not what I want. I am not guilty. I want this over with. What’s Bert doing? No wonder everyone thinks I am running scared.”
In late November a judge denied a request by Jackson’s attorneys to postpone the civil lawsuit until the criminal proceedings were completed, and a civil trial date was set for March 21, 1994. The Chandlers’ attorney Larry Feldman argued that a delay of the civil trial could have an impact on Jordan’s memory. But Jordan Chandler never gave a deposition that could be used in a criminal proceeding or civil trial. He wouldn’t have had to even be physically present for a trial, so his memory was not an issue. The problem was that a deposition involves cross-examination and the threat of perjury.
After the ruling, Feldman gave a news conference outside the courthouse and, among other things, said that he wanted a medical examination of Jackson’s body and was in the process of requesting it. In the same news conference Howard Weitzman said that the Santa Barbara D.A. Tom Sneddon had not given him copies of the seized material, and that this was unusual. Sneddon would continue his unusual behavior in 2003-2005 as well. Mr. Fields stated in the news conference that based on the evidence, they were confident that they would prevail in the civil trial and in a potential criminal one. When questioned by reporters, Weitzman added that he was only aware of an investigation that was based on Chandler’s claims and nobody else’s. It had been reported in November 1993 that Jordan Chandler had given a description of the singer’s genitals, but Feldman declined to comment on that during this news conference.
Three days after the press conference, police raided the offices of Jackson’s dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein and plastic surgeon Dr.Steven Hoefflin to confiscate the medical records of the star. In early December a letter, signed by Jackson, was sent to Bert Fields ousting him as chief attorney for the civil case. On the 13th, Fields resigned and left the case completely. After Fields’ resignation, Jackson was represented by Howard Weitzman and Johnnie Cochran –- the latter had newly joined the star’s defense team. Private investigator Anthony Pellicano also left and publicly stated upon his resignation that he firmly believed in Jackson’s innocence and his leaving the case was no indication of anything different.
When Michael was at his lowest, his sister Latoya Jackson gave a shocking press conference in Israel with her husband/manager Jack Gordon by her side. She said, “I can no longer be a silent collaborator” to Michael’s “crimes against young innocent victims.” But on the Today Show she added that she was not able to provide any proof and that she had ever witnessed anything inappropriate. Jack Gordon kept scheduling TV appearances for which he and La Toya were highly paid. It was hard to believe that Latoya could know as much as she claimed considering the fact that she had been estranged from her family since her marriage to Gordon in 1989.
The tabloids didn’t pay much attention to Gordon and Latoya because they could create their own stories; they didn’t need the couple. Gordon desperately looked for a good deal, but the tabloids had already paid others to make up stories.
As the media feasted on the first child sex abuse allegation to be made against Michael Jackson, Oscar-winning actor Maximilian Schell sent a letter of support to the Hollywood Reporter and paid for it to be printed on the back page of every copy of the publication. It started off by saying:
DEAR MICHAEL,
I AM DEEPLY ASHAMED — FOR THE PRESS, FOR THE MEDIA, FOR THE WORLD
Music producer Teddy Riley stated, “I can only say for myself that it’s not true (the allegations) because I have met this little boy and he’s been with Michael along with my daughter, and I’ve never seen anything occur, such as something stupid like that. I think it’s a money thing.”
On December 10, 1993 MTV interviewed the popular Grunge band Nirvana:
Interviewer: Story of the moment, the only thing we’re covering is this Michael Jackson thing, what do you think is happening? What do you think?
Kurt Cobain: We have no right to even-
Interviewer: Not saying you should speculate on his guilt or innocence but what do you think of the uproar or the-
Krist Novoselic: I think it’s ridiculous.They need a story. The press needs a story. Doesn’t matter what the story is, it’s a story.
Band member off camera: Why don’t you ask Latoya, she’ll tell you.
Interviewer: What do you think of LaToya?
Kurt: How can LaToya pose naked with a snake and not have sexual relations with her sleazy Las Vegas husband?
Kurt: Are the authorities calling Michael back to the states? Is he actually breaking a law right now?
Interviewer: Not yet, because he hasn’t been charged with any criminally but he has a civil suit pending. Supposed to be here, I think, this weekend.
Kurt: So he’s not jumping–
Interviewer: He’s not a fugitive, not yet.
Kurt: Well, so, what’s the big deal? He has a right to-
Interviewer: Well, I think that they think he’s acting suspicious.
Kurt/Krist: Speculation.
Kurt: I just feel really sorry for him.
The Jackson family members immediately gave a joint interview and strongly denounced the couple’s claims. Joe Jackson accused Gordon of brainwashing his daughter. Katherine Jackson kept calling them liars, blaming Jack Gordon for the fictional story. Howard Weitzman made a public statement to discredit her as well.
When Latoya left Gordon in 1996, she revealed that it had all been her husband’s idea and he had forced her to make false allegations about her brother by giving her a script to memorize. She also said that Gordon forced her to shoot the Playboy photos and erotic videos and to write a tell-all book about her family. She talked about her abusive relationship in great detail in interviews and said that Gordon had threatened to kill her, Janet, and Michael if she didn’t comply with his wishes. She described how she was able to escape with the help of her brother Randy Jackson. Gordon’s abusive behavior towards Latoya had, in fact, made headlines in 1990, when the photos of her bruised face made rounds in the news. He also hit her in 1993, and his bodyguards didn’t let her contact her family. The FBI was interested in Gordon’s criminal behavior, and he was being investigated for Mafia connections. After the divorce he kept stalking and threatening Latoya. He even wrote a fictional book about the Jackson’s, and the entire family, including Latoya, discredited him. When he died in 2005, Laoya sent her bodyguards to check his funeral and verify that he was dead because he had faked his death before, and she was still afraid of him.
On December 10, 1993 Michael Jackson returned to the United States, proving the tabloids wrong once again. He was accompanied by the Cascio family, who would remain his friends until his dying day. Additionally, when Michael returned home Hard Copy falsely reported that the singer was selling Neverland Ranch, proving again that they didn’t research their stories. In reality it was a nearby property for sale that had nothing to do with Jackson.
Unbeknownst to even Michael’s attorneys, Lisa Marie Presley had encouraged him to settle with the Chandlers. A seasoned survivor of many publicity wars, she had long thought that Michael should end the matter with a cash payout. As she later put it, “Some things, like a good night’s sleep, are more important than public opinion.” Michael valued Lisa’s calming effect on him, so much so that during a phone conversation earlier that year, he posed a question that surprised them both: “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?” Even though she was still married to Danny Keough, without missing a beat she replied, “I would do it.” Michael didn’t say a word at first. He then said, “Hold on, I have to use the bathroom.” When he finally did speak into the phone again, he was speaking to his new fiancée. “My love for you is real,” Michael told Lisa. “Please, believe me.”
He wanted to get on with his life, Michael said, so that he could finally marry Lisa. Not much movement had occurred in their relationship since his initial proposal to her on the telephone, and he was afraid that she was becoming impatient with him. “The only thing I got out of therapy is that it’s my responsibility to have a good life,” he said, “and maybe I can have that with Lisa. I don’t want to lose her now.” By Christmas 1993, Lisa was discussing with Myrna the possibility of marrying Michael Jackson. “He told her,” said Myrna, “that she was the only woman he could see himself marrying. And I was like, ‘You gotta be kidding.’” Myrna recalled that Lisa responded, “Myrna, you don’t understand.’”
The Strip Search
There were multiple descriptions of Michael’s genitalia given by Jordan Chandler. The first one was given on September 1, 1993 to Assistant District Attorney Lauren Weiss. Another description dated October 24, 1993 was allegedly given by Jordan to his father Evan. Shockingly, the words “my theory” were written on the document which was supposed to be a description, not a theory. In Ray Chandler’s book All that Glitters he states that Jordan gave an additional description to attorney Larry Feldman on December 14, 1993. It’s interesting that the Chandlers acknowledge that there were additional descriptions given by Jordan.
After the police arrived at Neverland on December 20, it took lawyers an hour to persuade Jackson to leave his bedroom. He was warned that if he refused to cooperate, he’d be arrested and taken away in handcuffs. Michael reluctantly exited his bedroom wearing a robe and was strip searched. His genitalia and body was photographed and videotaped by authorities to compare them with the description Jordan gave of Jackson’s private parts. The singer was described as being angry and hostile over the humiliating search. One of the doctors produced a ruler, at which point Jackson’s doctor intervened. “That’s it,” he said firmly. “Mike, get dressed.”
Present at that search were: Jackson’s head of security Bill Bray, his lawyers Johnnie Cochran Jr. and Howard Weitzman, his personal physician from the Dangerous World Tour David Forecast, his dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, and his personal photographer Luis Swayne; for the authorities: Santa Barbara D.A. Tom Sneddon, Detective Russ Birchim (for the Santa Barbara Police Department), photographer Gary Spiegel, Detective Sicard (for the LAPD) and Dr. Richard Strick. The doctors, the photographers, and Jackson’s bodyguard were the only ones present during the actual search. Tom Sneddon, along with the two detectives, Dr. Forecast, and Jackson’s lawyers were in another room.
None of Jordan Chandler’s description matched, however. He had consistently said that Michael was circumcised, but he was wrong. Michael Jackson was not circumcised, as was determined by the doctors during the search and mentioned in his autopsy report in 2009. Jordan also incorrectly described the color and location of a spot on Michael’s skin. Michael Jackson had spoken about his skin disorder during his interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, and those close to him had already seen the marks on his skin. Jordan Chandler had made a wrong guess, and Tom Sneddon would later try to cover that mistake by talking about a light background with a dark spot. Jordan’s original description made to police woman Deborah Linden suddenly “disappeared” after the search. In addition, an article entitled “Telltale Splotch” on The Smoking Gun website mysteriously disappeared during the 2005 trial. To the dissatisfaction of Thomas Sneddon, the authorities had to leave Jackson’s house empty-handed after the search. The description didn’t match, and as a result they could not arrest him on probable cause.
According to screenwriter Paul Hernandez, he was associated with a high profile celebrity attorney who had seen evidence in the case. “He knew people working on the case, and they had made a list of things, everything they had taken out of there [Neverland] and he didn’t see the photos — he’d read the descriptions of it. But he knew some of the people that were actually raiding Santa Barbara because that’s where he lived. He [the attorney]told me because he knew I had met Michael and was always talking about him being innocent when it first started happening.”
But that attorney questioned Michael’s innocence, “trying to egg me on,” said Paul. The attorney was a “big blowhard kinda guy,” who would describe Michael as being “weird with suspicious motive for wanting to do what he does.” But after consistently razzing Paul and saying, “Your guy’s [Michael] going to jail,” the attorney’s opinion later miraculously changed. “We were at Bel-Air Country Club,” said Paul, who was seated with a family member, actor Johnny Yune, and the attorney. The attorney said, “I don’t think your guy did anything — the things don’t match up.” When Paul questioned why his opinion changed the attorney said, “I spent the weekend at my house and I talked to some friends of mine. None of the descriptions that that kid gave matched up. The kid said Michael was circumcised — he wasn’t circumcised — that he had certain spots and markings — those didn’t exist.” and he said they were worried — the police officers and them were actually concerned that Michael could actually sue them on good grounds because nothing matched.”
Two days later Michael Jackson released a statement from Neverland. Kamau Omowale, spokesman for Johnnie Cochran, informed the media and said, “I don’t know whether he is going to read the statement or whether he has memorized it, but it will definitely address the boy’s allegations.” The Los Angeles Times wrote, “The entertainer’s announcement was treated with the gravity of a presidential news conference,” and it was also described by Jim Moret of CNN as “demonstrating media power normally reserved for world leaders.” All seven Los Angeles broadcast stations interrupted their programming to carry the statement live, which was also shown worldwide.
At 3:00 PM EST, Michael Jackson, through this strong and visibly emotional statement, informed the audience about his health, vehemently denied and blasted the allegations (which he called “disgusting”), asked the public not to treat him like a criminal, angrily blasted the media coverage, and described the body search he had had to endure to prove his innocence. Michael Jackson was fighting back.
Michael Jackson’s lawyers (Cochran & Weitzman) appeared on Larry King Live right after the live Neverland statement and brought up the possibility that Jordan Chandler had been put up to making the allegations. They also revealed that at one point Jordan had recanted his allegations to an investigator. They said that the paid tabloid witnesses did not say anything incriminating in their depositions and had recanted their tabloid stories. They also appeared on the Today show the next morning and again disclosed that all the witnesses that had been questioned said that the singer never did anything improper.
Police sources told The Times:
- “There is no medical evidence, no taped evidence; the search warrant did not result in anything that would support a criminal filing”
Shortly after Jackson’s televised message from Neverland and his attorneys’ interviews, Larry Feldman tried to reduce the PR damage to the Chandlers’ case. He filed a declaration on Jordan’s behalf about the alleged molestation in addition to his already filed civil lawsuit. Remarkably, Jordan’s descriptions were missing, and the declaration was somehow leaked to the press. Few people noticed some important details: it was written in an official and adult language that did not come directly from Jordan Chandler. There was nothing new in the declaration – it was the DCFS report repeated. Tabloid reporters with limited understanding referred to this declaration as a “deposition.” Jordan Chandler never gave a deposition, and Johnnie Cochran had to call in to one of the shows to inform them about their mistake.
Malcolm Boyes, producer of the tabloid show Inside Edition, had this to say about the leak of this declaration: “The media ran with it, and it helped Feldman push the settlement.” Larry Feldman had to keep the unsubstantiated allegations in the public’s mind.
Larry Feldman asked to see Jackson’s financial records as well as the defense’s evidence for the civil case: “He is a millionaire hundreds of times over whose assets are tied up in intangibles. Plaintiff will need the three months remaining before the trial to be able to track down these assets and come up with an approximation of their worth.” These were characterized as unusual requests. Larry Feldman correctly assumed that Michael Jackson would not be amused. Jackson’s financial records would end up in tabloids like so many other court documents.
To keep the pressure on Michael and his defense team, on December 30, 1993 the Chandler’s attorney Larry Feldman filed a motion to compel Jackson to answer a list of questions for the civil suit. There were over a hundred questions asking for information about each person under the age of eighteen that Jackson has entertained since January 1, 1983.
The LAPD would not elaborate on the case because, as they said, “They didn’t want to feed any wild speculation.” There was no confirmed, accurate information or evidence. Yet, the tabloids would continue to create stories. The press kept repeating the unsubstantiated claims from the illegally obtained report and failed to mention the extortion description, which was in the very same document. Internationally criticized for their tactics, the world witnessed the mishandling of the case by police and media, as well as their undeniable effort to tarnish Jackson’s public image. Sadly, many of these tabloid reporters would later brag about their unprofessional and shameful behavior. Those very tabloid reporters whose coverage has been discredited countless times would continue to lie before an audience. People were cognitively disabled from the media coverage and to this day they continue to believe the false rumors.
Several newspapers attacked CBS This Morning anchor Paula Zahn for the decision to call tabloid reporter Diane Dimond of Hard Copy. Los Angeles Times television critic Howard Rosenberg said, “During all the coverage of Michael Jackson’s supposed molestation of this teenage boy, I turned on CBS This Morning and saw Diane Dimond being interviewed by Paula Zahn. And I remember thinking, ‘This is a seminal moment in the regression of TV journalism.’” Burt Kearns, who played a fundamental role in tabloid TV, would later reveal:
Here’s how it worked: Say someone in the office heard — or decided to start — a rumour that Michael Jackson was caught in flagrante with his llama. The assignment editor in New York would call the L.A. office to check it out. If the story turned out to be unconfirmable — or untrue — it wasn’t necessarily shot down or declared dead.
If the story was good enough, some tabloid vet in New York would then feed the deflated item to one of the many British tabloid newspaper journalists encamped in Los Angeles. The Brit would seize upon the rumour, pay someone as a supposed “unnamed source” to confirm it, then write the story as a gospel for one of the outrageous London tabloids.
The story would next be faxed from L.A. to London, published in England, then faxed back to A Current Affair office in New York, where the staff would do a quick day-of-air story on what they knew never happened in L.A. The story would include a shot of the British newspaper headline to show they were only reporting “what the world is talking about.” So a story that was generated in New York City, shot down in Los Angeles, concocted for England, published in London, and sent on its way back to New York City, would now air across America. The Fox lawyers would okay the story because it was attributed to the London papers.
Kearns added that it was no wonder why Jackson would need more of his prescribed pills and that tabloid TV treated its viewers like “fucking morons.” In the hysteria of that period of time in America, when everyone thought their neighbor was a child molester, anyone could be easily accused, and many were in child custody cases. In fact, during the ‘90s this issue had turned into an epidemic, leading to many false accusations.
The social workers on the case never interviewed Jordan’s mother, father, or siblings because LAPD sergeant Thomas Felix asked them to stop their investigation. Having found no incriminating evidence at all, police began interviewing everyone that was close to the singer, using phone numbers found in an address book they had seized from Michael’s Century City condo. A police source told the Los Angeles Times, “They are even interviewing friends of friends to see if they were told anything.” Again, this information was falsely presented by tabloid reporters to mean that more people had come forward. In reality, nobody came forward; the police tracked them down, asked them to be interviewed, and they all defended Jackson.
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro appeared on Geraldo, to say there was never a time when he felt uncomfortable with Michael Jackson. Ribeiro, at the age of twelve, had starred with Michael and the other Jacksons in a Pepsi commercial in 1984. Ribeiro felt like Michael was one of his buddies and felt the allegations were “preposterous”. He also disclosed that his own father was offered $100,000 by a tabloid to say anything negative about Michael Jackson.
But to keep the money-making story alive the National Enquirer tabloid offered $200,000 to Ronald Newt Sr. to lie and say that something happened between his children and Jackson. Mr. Newt met with the paper but refused their offer. He wrote “no good sucker” where his signature was supposed to go on the contract. Mr. Newt’s son was told at the meeting to “say he touched you — all you have to do is say it. But you might have to take the stand. You might have to go on Oprah in front of all these people. You have to be prepared for this thing. Just say it. And we’ll give you money.” Jim Mitteager brought them the contract, which had been signed by the tabloid’s editor David Perel.
Jim Mitteager taped the conversation, as usual, and it is included in the famous Mitteager tapes. These tapes prove how the tabloids created false stories about Jackson. Had Mr. Newt agreed to lie for money, we would have another tabloid story and another phantom victim for Michael Jackson. Johnnie Cochran referred to the incident in his April 1994 interview for Ebony. Many friends, doctors, relatives, and members of Jackson’s staff have publicly said that the media offered them money to lie about the singer throughout the years. They also said that publishers asked them to write salacious tales; otherwise there were not interested in publishing their books.
A Santa Barbara grand jury had been hearing witnesses in connection with the case since December 1993. However, when Harvey Levin of Los Angeles’s KCBS-TV first made a report about the grand jury, Howard Weitzman said he didn’t know anything about it. Santa Barbara officials didn’t confirm or deny its existence at that point, but it was later revealed that the report was correct. In all, two grand juries were convened.
Jackson’s 2005 defense attorney Thomas Mesereau told us, “After the [2005] trial, I was asked to speak to the Grand Jury Association of Southern California. It’s an association of former grand jurors, and I gave a talk at lunch about the case, and after it a woman came up to me. She said Mr. Mesereau, I want you to know I’m a very conservative person. I’m very pro-law-and-order, and I was on the grand jury in 1993 that investigated these Chandler allegations. And she said there were major problems with those witnesses. They were very suspicious of these claims — they didn’t seem credible.” Meseraeu continued by saying, “As you know there was no indictment in 93.” There were two grand juries, “Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. She was on the Los Angeles one.” We did ask Meseraeu his opinion about later claims that these were just investigative juries, and he felt that it “was a convenient way of trying to argue your way around” and that they were looking for an indictment.
Larry Feldman would later reveal how disturbed he was when he found out that one of his potential key witnesses had been paid $15,000 by Hard Copy. Witnesses that recanted their stories were paid by tabloids and ultimately disbelieved by the two grand juries. Mr. Feldman actually had to rely on these people, although the public thought that Jordan Chandler was his key witness. That admission was interesting to say the least.
Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that neither Michael Jackson nor Jordan Chandler had been called to testify. There was speculation at the time that while Los Angeles D.A. Gil Garcetti would not file charges without having any evidence to support his case, the Santa Barbara D.A. Tom Sneddon, who had the reputation of being aggressive, would proceed even with a weak case. Steve R. Balash, who worked with Sneddon, the “Mad Dog,” said about him: ”If you wanted to go to central casting to pick out a prosecutor, you’d pick Sneddon. He’s got a lot of power, and when he targets someone, it’s a battle.”
In early January 1994 Larry Feldman filed a motion in which he gave Jackson a multiple-choice request: Jackson could provide copies of the police photograph made of his body, submit to a second search, or the court may bar the photographs from the civil trial as evidence. The judge then postponed Jackson’s deposition (originally scheduled for January 18) to make time for two hearings to determine if Jackson should be compelled to answer the written questions submitted by Feldman and if Feldman was entitled to the photos of Jackson’s body search. The hearings were scheduled for January 25, and Jackson was ordered to give his deposition between January 25 and February 1.
On January 24, 1994 the prosecutor’s office announced that they declined to file charges against Evan Chandler for extortion. The investigation of the extortion charges was never given the same attention and effort by the authorities as the child molestation allegations against Jackson. They never subpoenaed any witnesses, although there were people who would have testified to the extortion, such as Barry Rothman’s legal secretary Geraldine Hughes. There were even taped phone conversations pointing to extortion, and Jordan Chandler had described the incident in the DCFS report to Ms. Rosato. Evan Chandler and Barry Rothman refused to be interviewed by the police for the extortion claim. Search warrants were never issued for Chandler and Rothman. The authorities left them alone when they refused to cooperate, and they didn’t call a grand jury hearing as they did for the molestation allegations.
In late January 1994 USA Today and Reuters cited law enforcement sources confirming that “photos of Michael Jackson’s genitalia do not match the description given by the boy who accused the singer of sexual misconduct.” Lisa l’Anson reported it for MTV News (MTV Europe). Though the news was reported internationally, it was paid little attention in the US.
On January 25, 1994, the civil lawsuit between Jackson and the Chandlers was settled out of court. The total amount paid by TIG Insurance, the Transamerica subsidiary that held Jackson’s personal liability policy, to the Chandlers was $15,331,25. Both sides stated – and it’s also stated in the settlement itself – that the settlement was in no way an admission of any guilt by Michael Jackson. Both sides pointed out that the criminal investigation was ongoing. Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti also maintained that the settlement did not affect the criminal investigation. The settlement also did not prevent Jordan from testifying in any criminal case. According to his Retainer Agreement, Larry Feldman was paid from this money (approximately $5 million). June and Evan Chandler were also paid from this amount 1.5 million each. This left Jordan the remainder to be paid in installments to a trust, and the first installment was paid in 1999.
I spoke to a journalist who covered the allegations as well as the OJ Simpson trial who said,“He didn’t want to settle, he didn’t want to settle. They convinced him that it was the right thing to do. That’s what the other lawyer wanted, Larry Feldman. He didn’t get involved in the case to get justice for anybody he wanted – he’s a plaintiff’s attorney specializing in getting big settlements for his clients. He was not used to going to court, he was not a litigator. So, he wanted to get a settlement for his client. He didn’t want to go to trial or get into a civil case with Michael Jackson, he wanted money. Then it played out – that that didn’t happen.That’s probably why Michael was such a mess and he didn’t want to settle.”
“He is an innocent man,” said Johnnie Cochran, “who does not intend to have his career and his life destroyed by rumor and innuendo. Throughout this ordeal he has been subjected to an unprecedented media feeding frenzy; especially by the tabloid press. The tabloid press has shown an insatiable thirst for anything negative and has paid huge sums of money to people who have little or no information and who barely knew Michael Jackson.”
Michael Freeman, June Chandler’s lawyer who had quit in disgust, said that he believed in Michael’s innocence and added, “I think he was wrongly accused. I think that Evan Chandler and Barry Rothman saw an opportunity and went for it. That’s my personal held opinion. I believe it was all about money and their strategy obviously worked.”
About a week after the settlement, Gil Garrett announced that he would seek to change the law in California. According to California law at the time, in sex crime cases the state could not compel testimony from juveniles. Eventually this law was changed, exactly because of the Chandlers, so later an accuser in a sexual assault case was compelled to ive testimony in a criminal trial and could not go for a civil lawsuit right away. The new law also forbade the civil trial to precede the criminal trial. This is why Jackson’s 2003 accuser had no choice but to have a criminal trial first.
Something to talk about
Weeks after Jackson impromptu proposal to Presley over the phone –“Lisa and I were in the living room [at Neverland] having a glass of wine. We had just finished watching All About Eve, starring the great Bette Davis. We both love that movie. I just walked over to her, reached into my pocket and pulled out this huge diamond ring,” said Jackson. Lisa marie recalled his proposal a bit more romantically by saying, “he pulled out this giant 10 carat diamond out of his pocket and put it on my finger. I think he got on his knees too and proposed.”
“So what do you think?” I asked her. “You want?” She screamed out, “Yes, yes yes.” As Michael remembered, laughing saying to Presley, “ You were really enthusiastic!”
On February 2, Michael invited Lisa Marie to a Temptations concert in Las Vegas.The next day, the two flew up to Vegas in a private plane. Otis Williams of The Temptations said, “Man, we were backstage after the show, and here comes Mike with this chick, and h’s all up in her face, kissing on her, and we were saying, Who the heck is this girl? Finally he introduced her: Lisa Marie Presley. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I said to the guys, Check this out. The King of Pop and the King’s daughter, together. It had to happen. They looked pretty cozy.”
The couple reportedly spent a week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach estate in February as well.When Trump invited Jackson to visit his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Michael asked, “Can I bring my love interest?” Trump graciously agreed saying that when Lisa Marie arrived, “Michael came running down to the living room, greeted her with a hug, and then took her off to look at the ocean. When they came back, holding hands and hugging, they seemed very much in love. I’m not saying that I was surprised at this, but there was never a doubt in my mind that they definitely had something going.”
“Apparently, Michael Jackson is a freak in bed. Lisa said he was amazing, and she’s been around. Everyone was saying, ‘No way, Lisa. It can’t be true. Michael Jackson? Are we talking about the Michael Jackson, the one with the glove?’ However, she wasn’t joking, and it wasn’t long before she didn’t think it was funny, either,” said Monica Pastelle.
Donald Trump recalled seeing Michael and Lisa walking hand in hand on the property, seeming lost in a mutual dream. “It was romantic,” Donald Trump recalled, “Later, I asked Michael how things were going and he said “Great. I just got to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world. I hope I’m worthy of her. I think I might marry her.”
“They made love at the Trump estate,” said another one of Lisa’s confidantes. “She said it was intense, it took her breath away. I have no idea what they were doing, or what he was doing to her, but since she gravitates toward the unconventional, she was out of her mind over this guy. Maybe it’s hard for some to believe,” she concluded “but true, just the same.”
“People often ask me whether or not the relationship was a sham and I give them an emphatic no. I was there, and the magic of Mar-a-Lago brought it out, because after they left, it didn’t work so well. I can tell you, for at least a period of time, these two folks were really getting it on,” said Trump.
Jackson spent the week with Lisa Marie and her two children, Benjamin, 21 months, and Danielle, 5. She and Michael stayed in separate bedrooms but were otherwise inseparable and affectionate. They spent nearly every evening in a part of the mansion called the Grand Tower, looking at the stars, and left the house together just once. “They walked down Worth Avenue,” says one witness, “and caused a big commotion and came right back.”
“The rest of the weekend was absolutely wild. Hundreds of cameras surrounded Mar-a-Lago and Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie were stationed in their love nest tower rising high above the house. The press didn’t bother them or me either, but it was quite a frenzy.”
Despite the frenzy, news of their relationship was seemingly kept under wraps by the media. Some merely reported that Jackson visited Palm Beach to look at potential East Coast retreats, including the blue-roofed Martino estate on North Ocean. And that, “Michael supposedly was the guest of Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, but since then a couple of sources claim he actually stayed several weeks at a home near those of Mollie Wilmot and the Kennedys. A Palm Beach resident claims to have seen Michael walking the beach at 7 am.”
The couple weren’t keeping the relationship a secret, and even though it wasn’t, most news outlets were dismissive. As Lisa recalls, “We were spending a lot of time together. I don’t know how it didn’t manage to get in the press, because we weren’t hiding it. I was in Las Vegas, we were in…everywhere… bookstores. We were not hiding it.”
Generating stories
December 1993 – January, 1994 – The law enforcement officials of Santa Barbara after months of investigation, interviewing dozens of children and still unable to find another victim are pressuring the son of Blanca Francia (the maid who, for $20,000 claimed on Hard Copy that she saw Jackson showering with a minor) to say something incriminating about Jackson. The boy, Jason Francia, is first interviewed in December then again in January. The police interviewed the 14 year old and made phone calls to him when his mother is not at home. The boy denied anything inappropriate had ever been done to him by Jackson. After much pressuring, leading questions and emotional blackmail (among others the police lying to him about other boys, such as Macaulay Culkin, being molested by Jackson and suggesting that they can only help them if Francia corroborates) the boy finally gives in and says what the prosecutors want to hear: he says Jackson tickled him three times while inappropriately touching his genitalia.
His 1993-1994 interviews would be shown and discussed in detail at Jackson’s 2005 trial where Francia testified. Blanca Francia had told the investigators in 1993 and 1994 that her son had repeatedly denied he was molested. She also complained because the sheriff’s deputies were calling her son Jason and having meetings with him while she was not present. She said it made her feel uncomfortable, and that she didn’t know what the deputies were talking about with her son. After her complaint the investigators arranged separate meetings for the maid and her son with a therapist, on taxpayers’ money of course. The D.A. was present during Jason’s sessions, something which is not allowed in therapy. The transcript from Jason Francia’s interview with police reveals that they lied to him, they asked leading questions, and that the other kids that complained about police behavior were correct:
Det. Neglia: I realize how hard this is. I realize how painful it is to think of these things you tried so hard not to think about but you are doing fine. And you are also helping the kid that he is bothering now.
Jason Francia: What do you mean he’s bothering?
Det. Birchim: He’s doing the same thing.
Jason Francia: Macaulay Culkin.
Det. Neglia: Only he’s getting a lot more into it. Like your mother pulled you out of there. Macaulay’s mother is not going to pull him out of there. They are feeding him.
et. Birchim: He’s doing worse stuff.
Det. Neglia: It’s much worse with him.
The police weren’t being truthful and Macaulay Culkin had discredited them repeatedly. Moreover, one officer, Federico Sicard, told attorney Michael Freeman (June Chandler’s lawyer) that he had lied to the children he’d interviewed and told them that he himself had been molested as a child.
Jason Francia, in his 1994 deposition under oath, said that the investigators pressured him to come up with stories. “They made me come out with a lot more stuff I didn’t want to say. They kept pushing. I wanted to get up and hit them in the head” said Jason Francia.
Police officers told The Times that they had a hard time controlling the information presented by the media because tabloids were paying people to come up with stories.
Hard Copy’s Diane Dimond stayed in touch with Blanca, and when she decided to pursue a settlement just as Chandler did, Dimond was there to offer her “assistance”. Francia seemed more than willing to make accusations against Jackson in exchange for financial compensation after the criminal case was closed in September 1994. Her attorney contacted Michael’s camp asking if a settlement could be reached prior to filing a civil claim. When Michael’s lawyers objected to any form of settlement, Diane Dimond aired a special report about the demands made by Blanca’s lawyers in December 1994 on Hard Copy in order to pressure Jackson’s team with the negative publicity. Sony, which was about to release Michael’s new album “HIStory”, intervened and compelled his lawyers to settle for a mere $2 million so as not to sabotage their multi-million dollar marketing campaign for “HIStory” with negative publicity, irrespective of the facts.
“I had a lot of statements he [Jason] had made that were contradictory,” said Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau.” When we asked Mesereau if he recalled a juror laughing during Francia’s 2005 testimony he stated, “I don’t recall that. I do recall some journalists claimed they heard one juror laughing about being tickled. I do recall that issue coming up. In other words — according to one reporter, one of the jurors was mocking the fact that Jason Francia claimed he had been tickled.”
“She (Blanca) was pursued relentlessly by Diane Dimond,” said a network journalist who interviewed the Francia’s during the 2005 trial. She told me herself, Blanca Francia, that she had regretted what she did that…she’s very Christian and apparently her whole church turned against her and told her that she doesn’t act Christian.”
Santa Barbara defense attorney Gary Dunlap gave an interview on MJJF Talk Radio, on January 2, 2004, Dunlap gave his opinion that “stacking charges” was a common practice of the Santa Barbara DA’s office, and claimed that this was a tactic used against him. Sneddon had charged and prosecuted Dunlap on twenty-two counts. After being acquitted on all counts, Dunlap sued Sneddon and others in the DA’s office for $10 million for malicious prosecution, and multiple other alleged offenses, including civil rights violations. Dunlap said, “I mean, it’s one thing to be charged with one crime and have a trial and be acquitted on it, but the district attorney in Santa Barbara has a policy that if they throw enough charges against you, the jury is bound to convict you on something.”
Thambiah Sundaram’s contentious relationship with Santa Barbara authorities began when he opened a non-profit dental clinic in the county and began to gain political status as a result. After unsuccessfully trying to have the clinic shut down. Authorities arrested Sundaram for grand theft, impersonating a doctor and malicious mischief. His wife was also arrested and an employee at the clinic was later charged with committing a drive-by shooting. All three were found not guilty by Judge Barbara Beck, who called the allegations against Sundaram “ridiculous”. Sundaram sued Sneddon and his employees for conspiracy, false imprisonment and several civil rights violations. He was awarded almost $300,000 in damages.
Sundaram further claimed he attended a private fundraising dinner in 1994 where District Attorney Tom Sneddon and other government officials discussed their plans to get rid of certain individuals in Santa Barbara who owned substantial amounts of land. Michael Jackson’s property was allegedly brought up during this meeting; According to Sundaram, other alleged vendettas were discussed as well, to the extent where he said it resembled a Mafia planning session. Sundaram also stated that authorities laughed and bragged about passing around pictures of Jackson’s genitalia taken during the strip search. These pictures were supposed to be sealed but even television host Geraldo Rivera admits that he has seen them. Tom Sneddon office has been accused of malicious prosecution, false allegations, personal vendettas and abuse of power by numerous other people. Michael Jackson would not be the first but he would be the most notable.
The Jackson family, with the exception of Latoya, taped The Jackson family honors at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Michael reluctantly attends the show with Lisa Marie Presley and Elizabeth Taylor by his side. He wanted little to do with some of his family members that coaxed him into the production when he was at his lowest. He opted to check into the nearby Mirage Hotel with Lisa Marie rather than at the same hotel as the family. Michael’s brother and executive producer, Jermaine Jackson, had been promising Michael’s participation in the show long before he even agreed to it. Because Michael’s photo had been featured prominently in ads for the show, many in the near-capacity crowd at the 13,000-seat MGM Grand Garden arena had hoped for more music from Michael.
Instead of performing a solo number, Michael only agreed to present awards to close friend Elizabeth Taylor and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. For month’s Michael had been crucified in the press and accused of heinous crimes. His spirit was crushed and had little desire to make public appearances. Let alone take the stage for a solo performance. Tension arose when Elizabeth Taylor tried to persuade him to take the stage for the sake of his fans in attendance. Protective of Michael, Lisa Marie was quick to shoot down her suggestion. His only musical contribution to the show was joining the family in a finale song written for the event.
Producer Gary Smith filed a lawsuit against Jackson family members charging fraud and breach of contract in connection with the financially troubled musical benefit. Claiming, in part that the shows financial problems stem from postponements corresponding with Michael’s treatment for drug addiction. It alleged that members of the Jackson entourage charged $69,000 in expenditures for wardrobe and room service at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas where the Feb. 19 musical benefit was taped to be aired three days later on NBC. “The Jacksons asked me to hire people to work on their show and now, six weeks later, they refuse to pay them. And frankly, they’ve been very arrogant about it. This is an extremely difficult step for me to take, but the Jacksons have left me no choice but to sue,” said Smith. Representatives for Michael and Janet Jackson said the two superstars had nothing to do with the event’s finances. Notably, neither Janet nor Michael stayed at the MGM Grand where the expenditures were charged.
On March 17, 1994 – Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury in Los Angeles. Jackson’s attorney, Howard Weitzman: “In all the years of my experience, I’ve never before seen the mother of the target of an investigation called before the grand jury. It’s just done in real poor taste. It borders on harassment.” Prosecutors seek information from Katherine about whether Michael Jackson changed the appearance of his genitalia – yet another strong indication that Jordan’s description did not match.
Both Grand Juries decided there was no case against Michael Jackson, and were disbanded in 1994 with no charges were ever brought; in fact, evidence was so scant that prosecutors did not even ask for an indictment. One juror told CNN in May 1994 that he didn’t hear any damaging testimony and the only thing Michael Jackson could be found guilty of was bad judgment. The same was repeated in the Santa Barbara News Press in March 2004 when the paper interviewed members of the 1994 Santa Barbara Grand Jury who said that there were never shown enough evidence to issue an indictment.
On April 11, 1994 – A request was made by Michael Jackson for the return of the photos taken during his body search was denied. Judge James M. Slater refused stating that they were safely stored in a local bank. So safely stored that according to reporter Geraldo Rivera, members of the Santa Barbara Police Department were shown footage of the strip search of Jackson’s genitalia. “I’ve got a videotape that was shown to every cop in Santa Barbara of Michael Jackson’s penis,” Rivera said. And a call made to the National Enquirer by someone who was trying to sell the photos for $3 million. The rumors that the tabloids had the photos had been circulating since January 1994, and Jackson’s fans in Europe had started a campaign by gathering signatures so the photos would not be published.
Band of Gold
By April of 1994 Michael and Lisa Marie had been seen together around New York City for at least six months. Lisa Marie, according to People magazine, was a regular visitor to Jackson’s duplex apartment in Trump Tower, just beneath Donald and Maria Trump’s triplex home. Jackson was spotted dining with his friends the Trumps at Manhattan’s Le Cirque restaurant. Apropos of nothing, Jackson suddenly said, “You know what? I’m in love. Her name is Lisa.”
On April 28th Michael accepts a Caring For Kids award. In a photograph taken that day, Lisa was elegantly dressed in a tailored, black silk dress that fell in fluid lines around her shapely figure. Michael was wearing a sharp, black suit, scarlet- colored shirt and a matching tie. At one point, he dropped to one knee and kissed her hand. She urged him to his feet; the two embrace. Michael gazed at her intensely, mesmerized by her face. They kissed. He pulled from his vest pocket a small, wrapped box. When she opened it, Lisa’s face lit up. Pearls.
The next day, Presley announced her separated from husband Danny Keough with their divorce becoming official on May 8, 1994. Michael and Lisa wasted little time, arriving at Casa de Campo in Dominican Republic on May 25th .The following day the happy couple both dressed in black, secretly marry in a private 12 minutes ceremony. Only attended by Eva Darling and Lisa’s ex brother in law, Thomas Keough (both Scientologists). Reportedly others from Michael’s side also attended but have never disclosed their presence. That night, Elizabeth was with friends at the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel. When a reporter asked her if she would confirm rumors of Michael’s marriage, she snapped at him, “I am not in the business of clarifying rumors. Now, be gone!”
Even though Lisa was in love with Michael, she – not he – was the one with certain goals she hoped to achieve as a result of the marriage; chief among them was the realization of her musical career. “Michael told Lisa that he would attempt to get her a record deal at Sony,” says her friend, Monica Pastelle. “Yes, she loved him. She didn’t marry him because of the offer to help her career, but it was on the table as something he was going to work on for her.”
Just days after their nuptials, the couple was spotted by the paparazzi at Disney world in Florida. The tabloids would hold off on publishing the shots until June 21, with the headline of the Globe reading, “Elvis must be spinning in his grave…Michael Jackson is madly in love with Lisa Marie!” The couple, with Michael in disguise consisting of a baseball cap, long wig and mustache, is photographed with Lisa Marie’s children Benjamin and Danielle. The tabloid never mentioned the marriage while using Neverland employee’s as sources for the story.
The media didn’t report news of the couple’s nuptials until weeks later, on July 11, 1994. People magazines July 25, 1994 issue stated that Dominican civil judge Hugo Francisco Alvarez Pérez had produced documents purportedly signed by Jackson and Presley. “Which Charles Hamilton, the handwriting expert who exposed the Hitler Diaries fraud in 1983, has told the press he examined and declared with 75 percent certainty to be authentic.” But it wouldn’t be long before the tabloid Daily Mirror started courting the judge. Claiming in their August issue that, “the wedding was a farce.”
Jackson‘s former maid and other employees admitted to using a media broker to sell stories to tabloids – including one claiming inside knowledge of the star’s sex life with wife Lisa Marie Presley. Maid Adrian McManus acknowledged that she signed agreements with the Star tabloid, Splash media and picture agency to sell purported secrets about Jackson’s life with Presley. It’s no wonder that “Lisa Marie didn’t like him talking to the staff,” as one Jackson employee later told us.
The false tabloid stories were ramped along with some speculating that their marriage was a, “public relations ploy aimed at restoring Jackson’s reputation, damaged by accusations of child molestation.” While others speculate that he has joined Presley’s faith, the Church of Scientology or absurdly – that Presley, who reported net worth was 100 million, simply married Jackson for financial gain.
Crazy Train
After the settlement, the prosecutors continued to meet with Jordan, and it was not until July 1994 that he informed them of his refusal to testify. Since the investigation had begun they had had plenty of time to file charges if they had any incriminating evidence. Gil Garcetti gracefully admitted that the eighteen-month investigation had not leaded to anything incriminating. Tom Sneddon, however, was too embarrassed to admit that the witch hunt, with six search warrants, two grand juries and hundreds of witnesses, had led to nothing.
By the time a settlement was reached with the Chandlers in the beginning of 1994, Evan’s brother, Raymond Charmatz, had already filed for divorce from his second wife Nancy. His marriage had been short-lived, and his contracting business was failing. Tax liens were placed on his property. He had been taken to civil court by Office Mart and had additional problems with the state of California for operating under an expired contractor’s bond and failing to maintain workers compensation insurance. Jordan’s uncle neglected to mention any of his financial problems when giving interviews about the case against Jackson. “When it first became public, it was August 17, 1993. About three or four days later, I got a call from my brother. He was crying” said Ray, who has also stated that Evan was beat up upon walking into the lobby of his dental office. According to Ray, he moved in with his brother Evan after that incident, and the family received numerous “death threats” and requested to be placed under witness protection.
But Ray’s behavior would contradict many of his statements. He would go on to legally change his surname from Charmatz to Chandler in December of 1997, the very last name receiving “death threats.” The very same tabloid, the National Enquirer, whose employee suspected the Chandlers of attempting to generate stories prior to any allegations being made in 1993, printed a story on September 7, 1993 quoting Evan Chandler as a source. Our source at the paper estimated Chandler monetary compensation for such a story at being between “20 grand – 30 grand if it was a big cover story. Back then you got good money.”
Jordan’s alleged description of Jackson’s body that was dated October 1993 and marked “theory” was shopped to television networks after the settlement by Victor Gutierrez. A network journalist told us that, “It was on a napkin and it was a picture of a penis with splotches on it. It was like you know a nice, higher quality type napkin. It had arrows pointing to the spots, it was a crude drawing. It was in Victor’s book.”
The truth may lie in Ray Chandler’s later testimony, in which he stated that he and his brother moved in together before the 1994 settlement to collaborate on a book with Evan about Jordan’s alleged sexual abuse. In an interview with Dateline NBC Ray admitted to taping conversations with his brother, stating, “There were some conversations that we taped in order to preserve ideas in order to preserve what had happened.” Ray and Evan’s actions were highly questionable considering that within days of the signing of the settlement agreement Ray began shopping a book. Publishers turned him down fearing legal ramifications, since the settlement stated that none of the parties were allowed to talk to the media about the allegations.
Publisher Judith Regan relayed her story to a Sirius XM radio audience, saying she had received a call from Ray Chandler. He said he would describe the allegations of molestation in detail because he was given the details from his brother Evan. He further stated that “he believed it was outside the bounds of the confidentiality agreement because he would be the author.” Judith Regan went on to say that she felt that “the Chandler‘s were brazen opportunists, and [she] found the entire proposal by the uncle distasteful. They enter a confidentiality agreement and before the ink is even dry, they are shopping a deal that violates that agreement.”
When Ray Chandler’s effort to publish a book didn’t succeed through normal channels, he claimed to have a diary written by his brother Evan. The diary was given to Hard Copy. On May 9 and 10, the tabloid show invited as guests (the paid tell all ex-employees) in an effort to exploit the story. Excerpts from Evan Chandler’s alleged diary were read on air. It was more than clear that Evan Chandler was still trying to cash in and was breaching the terms of the settlement. Evan seemingly confirmed the $20 million dollar extortion plan and admitted that when Jackson didn’t pay, he sent Jordan to Dr. Abrams, knowing that he would be obligated by law to inform the police. The New York Amsterdam News criticized the tabloid for not pointing out Evan and Ray’s manipulations and accused the show for lack of fairness and objectivity.
In June 1995, Ray Chandler gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly in which he said that the Chandlers love Michael and they bare him no ill will. He went on to say that there was no evidence against Jackson and that they only had Jordan’s words and nothing else. When he was asked why they settled, he answered “because they weren’t sure they would get any more money after a trial, and they wanted the ordeal to end.”
Randy Taraborrelli, author of Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, has stated that he “had lots of secret meetings with Evan Chandler, trying to get to the bottom of what was going on,” and that he thought Evan “was about as inconsistent as they come” and “was just a tad scary.” According to Taraborrelli, Evan was incensed when the author did not completely accept his version of the events:
He actually threatened me, and I thought…okay, pal, now I know who you really are. I wish it had all been handled differently. To be honest, I wish MJ had never settled, and I told Michael that several times. But…he felt he had to save his life, and I understood that, too. He really was in bad shape. However, I wish it had gone to trial so we could have had real evidence presented in a court of law—like the Arvizo nonsense—and then really been able to sort through it and come to some real decisions. It all seems so useless now, though, doesn’t it? And such a shame.
Taraborrelli also lamented his own inability to pierce through the duplicity that he sensed in Evan Chandler: “I was pretty young, sort of green and wish I had my present level of expertise to be able to have applied back then. I have stories about that guy that I have never even published.”
After settling the civil case with Jackson, Evan Chandler’s behavior appears to have become even more erratic, and the fighting within the family continued. In July 1994 David Schwartz filed a lawsuit against Chandler for damages—for brain damage, two counts for assault, and two counts of battery. Evan then filed a lawsuit against June Chandler and David Schwartz for invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy. Chandler’s complaint included the fact that David Schwartz recorded their telephone conversations and gave that recording to a third party (Anthony Pellicano), and that some of the recordings found their way to the news media.
June Chandler would answer Evan’s complaint by asserting that the action was brought in bad faith, without probable cause, and in an attempt to avoid payment of past-due child support. She further claimed that Evan had sued her in a deliberate bid to raise his celebrity status and in a cruel plan to gain control over Jordan’s assets by manipulating the child’s affection. June also asserted that Evan was behind in his child support payments by seventy thousand dollars. In her declaration she asks for a protective order, stating that Jordan’s Department Of Children’s Services statement was leaked to Hard Copy within only twenty-four hours. Accusing Evan of “keeping alive the public’s interest” in their lives and claimed he had been “providing the media with information” about the family. Interestingly, she mentions a book that was penned by Evan and his brother Raymond regarding their ordeal and said that “they agreed to refrain from publishing the book” and that somehow this manuscript “mysteriously disappeared” from Evan’s home. Ironically, a tenacious National Enquirer reporter would inform June that he had a copy of the manuscript.
This lawsuit touched upon the Jackson case in a number of ways. For instance, Evan’s complaint alleged that June had improperly cared for and/or failed to protect Jordan from sexual abuse. June’s defense to that claim was that she had not been aware of such abuse. Her filing also stated that Evan Chandler lacked standing to pursue his cause of action because he was not the victim of the sexual abuse and had not witnessed such events taking place. In the end, both cases were dismissed in January 1996.
Jordan’s stepfather David Schwartz then apparently decided that he had been left out of the game and that it was time for him to earn some money from the singer. Schwartz had been experiencing financial trouble for quite some time. He had even asked June, prior to the allegations, to persuade Michael Jackson to lend him four million dollars. Michael never lent David the money, and June denied asking Michael for the loan during her 2005 testimony. On August 16, 1994 Schwartz filed a lawsuit against Jackson for monetary compensation because he and his six-year-old daughter Lily were “very traumatized by the allegations.”
June Chandler,in her 2005 testimony, had a strangely difficult time recalling that everyone around her was desperate to profit from Michael Jackson, but the motivation of money was so obvious that they could do nothing to hide it. Howard Weitzman’s commented, “This lawsuit is frivolous and another attempt to take advantage of Mr. Jackson’s notoriety and fame in order to try to extract money from him.” David Schwartz was the one who had tried to alert Michael Jackson about Evan Chandler’s plan in 1993 and had accused Chandler of extortion. David and June divorced in 1994.
Evan’s home life became increasingly strained. According to court records he and his second wife Nathalie separated on September 6, 1994. Among other things, Nathalie was to receive the family home, which had been placed solely in her name in 1992. Evan was to receive the proceeds from an agreement between himself and his former dental partner, Dr. Mells, dated April 1, 1994 dealing with the sale of his dental practice. Evan would also maintain sole ownership of his literary works, a couple of which were scripts entitled “Six Inches From Heaven” and “The Sleazoids vs. The Schulmbergers.” Three months later the couple signed a dissolution of marriage agreement citing irreconcilable differences. Evan granted Nathalie, Jordan’s stepmother, reasonable visitation with Jordan, and the agreement outlined who would pay for his private schooling at Crossroads and his everyday expenses. At first glance one would wonder why these things would be included in the agreement if Jordan was living with his father. But, according to the records, Jordan had chosen to live with his stepmother and half-siblings, Emmanuelle and Nicholas, without his father for thirty-two months. So it was agreed that Evan would pay all of Jordan’s expenses while living in Nathalie’s home. At first their divorce seemed amicable, but that would not last for long.
Evan and Nathalie’s divorce judgment was finalized in early 1995, but because of the “pending or threatening litigation” involving Evan’s participation in the Chandler vs. Jackson case, Nathalie received $550,0000 from the settlement agreement and Evan was not required to pay child support at that time. The matter of child support would be held in abeyance — no child support would be ordered until needed. It was also widely reported in 1995 that Jordan Chandler had emancipated himself from his parents while living with his stepmother. But things would soon take a turn for the worst. According to Nathalie she had loaned Evan money in the past and had been repaid. So when Evan asked to borrow money again she loaned him “$441,500 in order to carry on various legal cases as a result of the Chandler v. Jackson matter.” Evan made the promise that if Nathalie needed funds prior to finalization of Evan’s legal matters, he would repay her immediately even if he had to borrow the money from Jordan — to which Jordan agreed.
Give In To Me
A contentious issue between Michael and Lisa seemed to lie in religion, specifically Scientology. Some sources within the controversial church say this was a big deal for Lisa.
According to posts made by former Scientologist, Skip Press, “Jackson’s involvement goes back to the early 1980’s when he was sleeping with a former drug dealer turned Division 6 ( Santa Barbara mission, public recruitment) person named Terry Fredericksen, who was a vivacious red headed lady of 17. She was later declared a Suppressive Person by the church, and her not recruiting Jackson might’ve had something to do with it. And before that, Scientologist Dick Zimmerman, a fashion photographer in Los Angeles, shot Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ cover.”
Former high-ranking member Amy Scobee claimed in her book, “Scientology: Abuse at the Top,” that Miscavige and other officials “snooped” in confidential confessional files. Scobee writes that she was in the office of top executive Marc Yager when Miscavige called to brief him on “the latest” about “a female celebrity connected with Michael Jackson.” The church denied the claim but another high ranking official, Jesse Prince, said, “When she [Lisa Marie] started in with Michael Jackson. David Miscavige just had an insane fascination for Michael Jackson. The whole crew had to listen to his music. We would have special showings, make sure you watch the Thriller video.”
Contrary to rumors, Michael is not taking courses in Scientology. “At least not yet,” said Terry Dangers, a former center employee. “But most people believe he will soon. For the last few months he and Lisa Marie have been so often they know everyone by first name. Michael is very open and friendly to the people there. He used to show up in disguise. Recently, he enrolled in a purification program which involves a lot of reading, studying and psychological testing. After the test, Lisa Marie hugged him and kissed him on the lips. She was so proud and happy. It certainly looked like they were a happy couple. Everyone knows it’s been Lisa Marie’s intention that Michael be exposed to Scientology and then make up his own mind about it. “She also believes that Scientology can help Michael with lupus,” he said.
“I never heard Michael described as unstable, just that he wasn’t very cooperative,” a source told us. “ I was told that during his audit (he only participated once) he wouldn’t answer the questions asked of him. During audits they ask everything, they want to know everything good and especially bad that happened in your life. They keep these audits on file – a record of everything a person tells them. From home life, sex, drugs, abuse.Anything a person does wrong they have to confess and they keep records of this to use as blackmail if someone decides to leave. He wouldn’t discuss the details of his life good or bad with them and didn’t really trust them.”
While Michael was participating in a church audit, “David would proudly announce how we just almost got Michael Jackson, we’re doing everything we can, and Lisa Marie, and. I guess it didn’t work out,” said Jesse Prince.
Jermaine spoke about their relationship, “Another uncomfortable factor for Michael was Lisa Marie’s beliefs as a Scientologist. She gave him lots of reading material about her religion and he devoured it all. At some point he discovered that Scientologists don’t necessarily rely on medication to treat a child’s sickness. Michael’s first port of call would be a pediatrician and he worried about what that might mean when they had children.” Considering Michael had himself vitiligo and discoid lupus and that these could be genetic, this must’ve been a concern for him.
Both Danny Keough and Michael Lockwood, the fathers of Lisa Marie’s children, have been Scientologists. Nicholas Cage, an engagement to John Oszajca and her marriage to Michael didn’t produce any children, and they all had not being Scientologists in common.
Rabbi Shmuley said that, “Michael always spoke with affection and respect for Lisa Marie Presley, with the one exception when he told me that she has wanted him to get involved with Scientology and got pushy. He had to tell her that he had no interest in becoming a Scientologist. Michael was dismissive of Scientology and spoke of how the practices of Scientologists that he had been exposed to were not sufficiently spiritual or substantive for him.”
Lisa later said: “The thing is that I would have never had children with somebody I didn’t think I could be connected to for the rest of my life. Somewhere along the line, I had enough sense to know that.” A relationship with a Scientologist would have ensured she would always be connected to them for the rest of her life – much the way her marriage with Danny had.
PLAYBOY: Did you and Michael discuss having kids?
PRESLEY: Yeah. [Laughs] I got out of that one. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now.” But I knew that’s what he wanted.
Three Stooges (Dimond, Gutierrez, and Allen)
In 1995 I was working for NBC News on the OJ Simpson story. “The murders were ‘94 and trial ‘95,” a network journalist told me. “Victor was in LA and used to visit the Burbank studios,” our source explained that shows like, “Hard Copy had deep pockets and the networks don’t pay.” Victor Gutierrez always used to come around with,” stuff on Michael and at that time nobody cared because OJ was the story. It was always some bodyguard or employee that came out of the woodwork.”
But the networks refusal to buy his stories didn’t deter Gutierrez– who admittedly made a bulk of his income selling stories on Jackson. All he needed was a sensational story to capture some attention, even if he invented one about a phantom video tape. “I know at the time he sold that story he (Victor) needed money. He never thought it would backfire like that because people had been saying horrible things for years and never got sued. Victor made the claim about Michael and his nephew. And I’m surprised that Splash news service didn’t come into play. I think he tried to sell that video tape to,” tabloid brokers as well. See nobody would touch it– so he went off the radar and the next I heard was Diane Dimond reported it,” our source said laughing.
Another journalist named Lisa Marlowe, who had previously worked with Diane Dimond on stories regarding Jackson, stated in court documents that Dimond approached her one day to ask whether she had heard a story about a video depicting Jackson with a little boy. Marlowe said that she had not heard about the story but said that it sounded like “BS.”
Marlowe then said, “Don’t tell me this came from Victor,” to which Dimond did not respond. Marlowe though that it sounded like a set-up and warned Dimond that “unless you’ve got it sitting in your office, I would leave it.” Dimond did not heed her warning however and on January 9, 1995, while using Victor Gutierrez as a source, reported a false story during an interview on “The Ken and Barkley Company” of KABC-AM radio. She said that a videotape existed of Michael Jackson engaging in unlawful conduct with a minor. She also said that Gutierrez had met with the child’s mother in a hotel room to view the tape. Dimond further stated that investigators were looking for the tape, and that the investigation on Jackson was reopened.
Right after the show, Jackson’s lawyer Howard Weitzman sent the following letter to Paramount Pictures:
I learned earlier today that Diane Dimond, one of Paramount’s Hard Copy reporters, was on KABC talk radio this morning and indicated that an untrue and defamatory story about an alleged videotape depicting Michael Jackson engaging in sexual relations with a minor was true, and that she believed such a tape existed. I understand that Ms. Dimond also made claims that the Los Angeles and/or Santa Barbara District Attorneys’ offices are reopening their criminal investigation of Mr. Jackson, based on the purported existence of this videotape. Please be informed that Ms. Dimond’s claims regarding the existence of such a videotape are untrue and defamatory, as are her claims regarding the reopening of any criminal investigation concerning Mr. Jackson.
Weitzman also called Hard Copy to warn them that they were repeating a false report. But Hard Copy ran with the false report the same night, and so did two British tabloids. After that, Howard Weitzman said, “This week several tabloid shows and magazines, along with certain individuals, publicly alleged a videotape existed of Michael Jackson engaging in unlawful conduct. No such tapes exist.”
Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, issued a statement after the false tabloid report: “We have not reopened the investigation. We have heard about the alleged tape. We have not seen it and we don’t have it. Prosecutors were not involved in a search for such a video.”
An AP article at the time stated, “Michael Jackson has ordered his lawyers to sue newspapers, TV shows and anyone else spreading ‘vicious lies and rumors’ claiming there was a videotaped sexual encounter between him and a 13-year-old boy.” But that did little to deter some of the tabloid media from running with the story.
The London Sun and Today newspapers carried reports about the purported 27-minute black-and-white video. The story was carried for two consecutive days on TV’s Hard Copy and other shows. The reports said one of the entertainer’s own security cameras captured a sexually explicit Christmas holiday encounter between Jackson and the teenager, whose name wasn’t disclosed. The reports were based on allegations by Victor Gutierrez, a freelance writer who says he saw the tape. He said it was given to the boy’s mother, who now wanted to sell it back to Jackson.
Radio Transcripts
Q: “It is an x-rated tape?”
Dimond: “It is . . . yes.”
Q: “Of Michael Jackson?”
Dimond: “Truly explicit.”
Q: “It’s what? Michael Jackson and little boy. Are you 100% sure that this tape exists?”
Dimond: “I am as sure as I can possibly be.“
Q: “You have not seen it?”
Dimond: “I have not seen it but one of my best sources on the Michael Jackson story has seen it.”
Q: “Who … you have no doubts about.”
Dimond: “I have never had a doubt about this person, ever. I know the District Attorneys’ Office is looking for it because they are calling up reporters saying ‘Have you seen it.’ . . . Do you know where we can get it?”
Dimond: “You know, I remember way back when, more than a year ago, we interviewed the head of the pedo[ph]ile unit at the FBI in Quantico, Virginia and he said you know the down fall of pedo[ph]iles is that they love to keep a memento of their victims. Or, they love to take pictures or take videos. We don’t know why, but they do this. It is for their own self gratification later but it always comes back to bite them.”
Dimond: “And, I have to tell you, if my source is correct, who has seen this tape, and again, he always has been. The acts that are being performed on that tape are exactly what the accuser a year ago said Michael Jackson did to him.”
“Enough is enough!” Jackson said in a statement. “I will no longer stand by and watch reckless members of the media try to destroy my reputation. I intend to protect myself and my family.” There was no reaction from the London tabloids, and Hard Copy senior correspondent Diane Dimond said she “stood by her reports.” Michael Jackson filed a $100 million lawsuit against everyone involved for slander on January 12, 1995. “The plaintiff is compelled to defend himself because Dimond, Hard Copy and the other defendants appear more concerned with their ratings than they are with the accuracy of their broadcast or the harm caused their victims.”
Interestingly, Dimond mentioned a trip to Quantico because according to defense attorney Thomas Mesereau “The prosecutors were traveling back and forth across the country. To Quantico Virginia and working with the FBI expert on pedophilia and child molestation. A well known expert, highly regarded in his field…I was prepared to cross examine him if he testified and they decided not to call him in the criminal trial in 2005.”
Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon, in an unusual move for a prosecutor, involved himself in the lawsuit to save his friend Dimond. Sneddon had nothing to do with this case because it was outside his jurisdiction. The case belonged to the Los Angeles District Attorney and LAPD, and Sandi Gibbons had already refuted the tabloid reporter. The following are excerpts from Tom Sneddon’s declaration:
In or about December 1994, I received information that a video tape existed depicting Michael Jackson engaged in sexual conduct with a minor child. The information received included the fact that the Victor Gutierrez, a journalist who I understand reports on Michael Jackson’s activities and who is writing a book about his life, has seen the video tape. Sometime during the month of December,Ms.Dimond contacted me to inquire about reports that our office was looking for the video tape or investigating new allegations of molestation against Mr. Jackson. I informed her that I was not at liberty to comment upon such reports.In response to the reports which we received regarding the video tape, I contacted deputy District Attorney Lauren Weis of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. We discussed steps to investigate whether or not the tape existed and since all of the players were in the Los Angeles County area, it was decided that Lauren would ask an LA District Attorney’s investigator to attempt to investigate the existence of the tape and procure it if possible. Ultimately, after some efforts by the investigator, I was informed that we could not locate the video tape or definitively prove its existence or the acts that it purported to depict. It is my recollection and believe that this did not occur until after the “Hard Copy” broadcast in question.
Diane Dimond was saved from the lawsuit because the court ruled that no malice was proved on her part. That she only stated her opinion and did not present the false story as a fact. She escaped justice by hiding behind the Shield Law, which allowed her to put the burden of responsibility onto the shoulders of her “best source,” Victor Gutierrez. Jackson appealed the judge’s ruling, but the California Court of Appeal affirmed the summary judgment, citing Sneddon’s declaration extensively in its November 1998 decision.
Jack Gonterman, an investigator working for the LA county DA’s office also gave a declaration. He stated that “shortly before January 5, 1995, Lauren Weis, Deputy District Attorney, instructed me to interview Victor Gutierrez regarding the possible existence of a videotape of Michael Jackson molesting a minor child. On January 5, 1995, I interviewed Victor Gutierrez regarding his knowledge, if any, of the alleged videotape. Shortly thereafter, I discontinued any further effort in the matter.”
Curiously, Sneddon’s declaration stated that he contacted the Los Angeles DA without discussing specifics with Dimond. The LA county investigator interviewed Dimond’s “best source” on January 5th for approximately an hour.. Gonterman interviewed another individual based on one of Victor’s answers, who knew absolutely nothing about a tape. The investigator quickly dismissed the story because it could not withstand any scrutiny. Even so, Hard Copy decided to run the story four days later on January 9th.
Victor Gutierrez made a personal appearance on Hard Copy and spoke of what he had supposedly seen on the tape. “Victor Gutierrez has reported on Michael Jackson for the last decade and has a book about to be published regarding the entertainer’s relationship with various boys,” said Dimond. “Gutierrez has talked with this young boy’s mother.” Gutierrez claimed the mother in his story was Margaret Maldonado, Jermaine Jackson’s ex-wife.
“The story was an outrageous lie,” said Maldonado. “Not one part of it was true. I’d never met the man. There was no tape. Michael never paid me for my silence. He had never molested Jeremy. Period.” She would also appear in court to discredit Gutierrez and say that when she was approached with the story, she told reporters it was untrue. Gutierrez had said that he met Maldonado and showed her the videotape in a room at the Century Plaza Hotel. He told the courts that he paid for the room with his personal credit card. But it was revealed in court that the Century Plaza had no record of Mr. Gutierrez ever being there, let alone presenting a credit card and charging a room.
Astonishingly, while the Jackson lawsuit was pending against her, Diane Dimond aired another story about a phantom victim on April 27, 1995. Hard Copy producers flew her to Canada for a story about a Canadian street kid that claimed he had been molested by Jackson. He was able to offer a detailed story and the detective that questioned him over the phone said he sounded believable.
The boy claimed he met Michael Jackson at a Canadian video arcade and that he was supposed to spend the weekend with a friend. But when Jackson invited him to visit Neverland instead, the boy decided to fly off in a private jet with the entertainer. The 15-year-old described in detail the people in Jackson’s entourage, the layout of the ranch, and even Jacksons’ family home at Encino. Later he would draw detailed maps of both Jackson’s homes. This could be another alleged victim of Michael Jackson’s equate to big ratings for the show. The new scandal could potentially wipe away Jackson’s case against them by channeling all his attention and financial resources into another direction.
Curiously, the child never appeared with his adult friend, fictitiously named John Templeton, who was assisting him throughout his communications with Hard Copy. The boy was ultimately brought to Canadian authorities for questioning. “We took it very seriously and contacted the sheriff’s department in county (Santa Barbara) because that’s where it allegedly happened,” Detective Campbell told me. Eventually, the child confessed that the allegation was an elaborate scam. He had been coached to lie by a man named Rodney Allen, who had sent multiple letters to Hard Copy making it seem as if different people were writing about being “victims.” The 15-year-old was arrested, and Rodney Allen was later arrested and convicted of pedophilia.
One has to wonder how Rodney Allen was able to coach the boy in identifying Michael’s employees and drawing detailed maps of both Neverland and Havenhurst without having meet these individuals or visiting these locations. “I assumed that Rodney spent time at site…I don’t know for sure but was going on the information that Dimond provided,” said detective Campbell. According to Campbell, Hard Copy “put a fair amount of money into it. And I suggested they do a story about how celebrities are sometimes falsely accused, this way they at least had a show.” The program didn’t have the international scandal that they were anticipating but the image of an objective journalist was something Dimond very much needed at the time. When the courts were looking into her motives of malice in the suit filed by Jackson. She needed a vivid illustration of how “unbiased” and “lacking malice” she and Hard Copy in general were towards Jackson.
During Michael’s 2005 trial defense attorney Susan Yu filed a motion asking the prosecution to provide the defense with all the documents enumerated in the evidence list with regard to the 1993 investigation. The list the prosecution turned over included a fax listed as item 8336 involving Rodney Allen at the time of the Chandler allegations. We do not know the contents of the fax but District Attorney Tom Sneddon stated during the 2005 trial that, “Rodney Allen will not be a part of THIS case.” Sneddon was likely annoyed at being repeatedly duped by Allen. “My information was that [Sneddon] traveled to Australia and Canada. That was in the Mid 90’s — and couldn’t find anyone,” said attorney Thomas Mesereau.
Dimond’s source, whom she “never had a doubt about.” Gutierrez had interviewed and sold stories on behalf of employees at Neverland, many of which appeared on Hard Copy or in tabloid print. It would stand to reason that he could easily obtain photos and other information from them.
It’s plausible that Gutierrez, a Chilean national living in California, and Allen, a Canadian pedophile, had interacted. Gutierrez openly admits to attending an international NAMBLA conference in 1986. Currently, Rodney Allen is serving a life sentence in Canada for pedophilia. In 1999, Allen met and became friendly with a group of five fourteen-year-old boys. These boys often came to Mr. Allen’s apartment because he let them drink alcohol and smoke. Mr. Allen told the boys that he was a member of the FBI, a fictitious claim that Victor Gutierrez had also made (along with his claim that he was employed by the LAPD). Subsequently, I called the LAPD to check on Victor’s claims and were told that, “you have to be a sworn officer to work for the LAPD,” and the personnel office checked saying that Victor Gutierrez, “was never employed by the LAPD.”
We must state that Rodney Allen is rumored to be mentally delayed and has a propensity to embellish stories. He wasn’t only contacting Hard Copy and the District Attorney’s office, he was also posting detailed information on public internet sites. Along with his detailed knowledge of Jackson’s home, which he relayed to the child in the center of the Hard Copy story. He posted various home addresses and phone numbers for members of the Chandler in the mid-90’s which I have confirmed.
I also wrote to Rodney Allen in prison and merely stated that a friend named “Victor” (no last name) encouraged the correspondence. Allen wrote back confirming that he knew Victor Gutierrez and even stated, “I would really like to hear from him. It is funny how he pops into my life every now and then and changes my life so much.” In his letter he sounded eager to regain contact with his old friend Gutierrez and stated that he had, “found out who really terminated Michael Jackson’s life,” as well as, “the new address for O.J. [Simpson] in Nevada.”
In future correspondence Allen warned me about “Victor and his scams to get my money –for his own personal use” calling Gutierrez sneaky and underhanded. Confirming a 1999 internet post that read in part “ I was to be paid a large amount of money when things settle down, I was promised by Victor Gutierrez and Evan Chandler that it would be paid. But they didn’t pay me. Michael never touched him [Jordan] and sexually hurt him. Michael paid out the money to close the chapter on this scandal.”
Allen went on to tell us that he stayed with Gutierrez in LA –paying the landlord 500 during his month long stay. “Victor owed his landlord 8 months back rent,” he said. Confirming the NBC journalist statement that Gutierrez was broke and, “needed money.” Allen also claimed that at Gutierrez’s request he removed, “ toy trains, book negatives” and paintings of Michael,” from Victor’s home and shipping them to Canada for safe keeping.
He further stated that he accompanied Victor to Chicago for a book exhibition in 1995 to help promote Gutierrez’s book. Without prompting, Allen openly stated that Victor faxed him a letter asking him to, “ send a hard copy to NAMBLA requesting that they list the book Michael Jackson was My Lover in their books.” Allen claimed Canadian authorities later confiscated this fax.
Gutierrez was accustomed to making up stories and perpetrating elaborate schemes, as became apparent in court documents filed in Jackson’s suit against him. A tabloid broker named Ken Wells availed himself to Michael’s legal team in 1997 claiming to have information relevant to another litigation then pending in Santa Maria, California involving Mr. Jackson and Evan Chandler. Wells had discussed, among other things, meeting Gutierrez during the course of his work as a broker. Specifically, Wells said that a source of his (whom he refused to identify) claimed to have explicit photos of Michael Jackson and a child. Mr. Wells then began negotiations, through a third party and Gutierrez, whereby Wells would obtain the supposed photographs and give them to Gutierrez to sell to various tabloid media publications.
When Wells’ source never produced the photographs, Wells ended his negotiations. But on July 2, 1997, Gutierrez and his attorney, Goldman, went to Wells’ home unannounced to discuss production of the phantom photos anyway. During their discussion Gutierrez bragged to Wells, telling him all about his connections in the tabloid business and that he had sold many stories, some of which had been “BS” and simply made up. According to Wells, Gutierrez said that money in the tabloid business was easy, even for false stories. Wells asked Gutierrez about the videotape at issue in this case. According to Wells, Gutierrez said that “the judge told me to produce the tape and I couldn’t produce it.” Wells asked Gutierrez whether he had ever had or seen the tape and, according to Wells, Gutierrez smiled and said, “Well, you know how that is. You know how these things are.” Wells stated that he believed Gutierrez was telling him, without saying so explicitly, that he had lied about the existence of the tape. Throughout the meeting Wells stated that Gutierrez and his attorney requested that he obtain the supposed photographs of Mr. Jackson, with Mr. Gutierrez saying that he needed the photographs to help him with this case, and even if the pictures were fake, he could still make money selling them—with the money being placed in a trust account handled by the attorney.
I contacted Ken Wells, who is no longer in the tabloid business, who stated “ I’ve seen what other people have done to capitalize on his name and a lot of false things have been said. The way I look at it, because of being in the tabloid business years ago is, if you don’t see proof it’s probably not there. People will say anything about a celebrity to make money. I don’t want to be involved in something that’s false. I’ve meet Michael Jackson a couple of times and the guy was not a child molester. I don’t care what anyone says and if they think he is they need to bring some kind of proof. Nobody has brought any kind of proof in all these years.”
In a further attempt to generate stories and pressure the singer into dropping the suit, Gutierrez’s attorney requested that Jackson:
“Identify the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all male persons who are not blood relatives who, when they were a minor, slept with you overnight in your bed at any time from January 1, 1984 through the present date…At a minimum, Victor Gutierrez, without even approaching the minor, may discover that the disclosed minor is the same minor who he allegedly saw in the videotape. He should be entitled to introduce this circumstantial evidence — sleeping with a minor tends to establish sexual conduct with a minor — and request that the decision maker draw any appropriate inferences there from. Alternatively, Victor Gutierrez may approach the disclosed minor, the minor may admit to sexual conduct with MJ, or to be naked with MJ, etc., and Victor Gutierrez may recognize the disclosed minor to be the same minor who he saw in the videotape. This case may then be over!”
So Gutierrez wanted to identify the child from the videotape he’d seen. Except he already claimed the minor was Jeremy Jackson and claimed Margaret Maldonado had shown him the videotape herself. Court TV media submitted a media request in 1997 with Victor favoring the request. But much to Gutierrez’s dismay, Jackson would not be making a personal appearance in court. In a declaration submitted by the entertainer he stated that he had not lived in California since 1993 and was currently on tour. He would, however, be submitting a videotaped deposition. Contradicting Gutierrez’s later claims of a face to face court showdown with the entertainer.
In actuality Gutierrez was asked in a 1996 deposition if he had ever met Michael Jackson in person. He replied,” yes, just once at Dr.Arnie Klein’s office.” He then admitted to attorney’s that he hadn’t been formally introduced to the superstar. He claimed to have seen the singer because, “I was following him,” in 1995. Speaking to Michael as he arrived, at the entrance to Dr.Klein’s office building. “I approached Michael, and I said — I took a picture first because I was interested in what he was going to do at the doctor’s office. With the Vitiligo. Or something like that.”
Jackson, “ entered the building and he [Jackson] said, ‘Gary, take the camera. Take his camera.” Gutierrez stated that this incident occurred when Jackson was without security and the presents of Jackson’s driver Gary Hearne, Debbie Rowe, other media photographers. He goes on to say, after Jackson singles him out amongst the other photographers present —before shouting, “Jordy wants to speak to you.”
Question: then what happened?
Answer: he said, “Gary, take his camera.” And Gary was — he didn’t know what to do. He just said “take it.” He said something like the F camera something like that.
Question: Michael said “take the F-ing camera,” is that what you’re saying?
Answer: yes
—————————————–
Question: Did Mr. Hearn threaten you in any way and the course of this conversation?
Answer: He tried to force to get the camera from me.
Question: when you say tried to force to get the camera from you, what did he do?
Answer: grabbed my hand trying to get the camera.
Question: then what happened?
Answer: when we were like forcing, and when he stood back, and Michael said, “Come on. Get the camera.” Then David came down and they took Michael up to Arnie Klein’s office.
Question: did you give up your camera?
Answer: no
Question: you didn’t lose the camera?
Answer: no
Question: did you call the police for any reason?
Answer: no
Many of Gutierrez’s motions mentioned the shield law and trade secrets. One even stated, “Victor Gutierrez has sold his stories about MJ to numerous television and print media. He is currently writing a book about MJ. He has continues to derive a substantial portion of his livelihood from writing about MJ.” But with Gutierrez unable to hide behind the shield law or his claims of trade secrets, he apparently became increasingly desperate; the following are portions of two declarations filed by Jackson’s attorneys:
During the course of this case I have often interacted with defendant Victor Gutierrez’s counsel, Robert Goldman, in connection with discovery matters and informal attempts at settlement. During one such conversation on September 11, 1997, Mr. Goldman stated if there is a trial in this case, there will be publicity adverse to Mr. Jackson. Mr. Goldman said that Mr. Gutierrez states that he intended to hold up next to his face a copy of his book entitled Michael Jackson Was My Lover every time Mr. Gutierrez is interviewed on television in connection with this case.
During the September 26 conference, Mr. Goldman’s said that his client, Mr. Gutierrez, had instructed him to give Mr. Jackson the “message” that he (Gutierrez) might attempt to exploit any press covering the trial by advertising his book on the 1993 allegations entitled Michael Jackson Was My Lover, The Secret Diary of Jordie Chandler. Mr. Goldman stated his client, Gutierrez, wanted to know my response to this possibility. I told Mr. Goldman that this “message” appeared to be a veiled threat designed to attempt to persuade Jackson not to proceed to trial. Mr. Goldman’s response was that the “message” was simply something that his client asked him to convey.
On the Friday before the trial was to begin, Gutierrez filed for bankruptcy. He sent notice to the courts on Monday, October 27, 1997, but his desperate efforts didn’t halt the court proceedings. His bankruptcy was not to be mentioned at trial. Gutierrez failed to appear in court, stating that he was living with family in his native Chile and couldn’t afford to buy a ticket back to the US to appear for trial.
I spoke to Michael’s private investigator, Eric Mason, who laughingly said at one point during the trial Gutierrez’s attorney took the stand and cross examined himself. One can only assume that he filed the following handwritten note with the courts in disgust.
Proposed instructions RE: Victor Gutierrez
Mr. Gutierrez is required to be here, but he has chosen not to be here, and you may draw whatever inference you may from his non-appearance.
In the end, the jury took less than two hours to render a verdict and Victor Gutierrez was ordered to pay $2.7 million to Michael Jackson for defamation. “Jurors told us that they not only wanted to compensate Mr. Jackson and punish Victor Gutierrez, but to send a message that they are tired of tabloids lying about celebrities for money,” Jackson’s attorney Zia Modabber told the Associated Press.
SCREAM
Sassy Magazine editor Jane Pratt appeared on Conan O’Brien in 1995 and discussed meeting Michael and Lisa Marie. “The truth is actually he’s very different from any perception that I’ve had of him before. He’s incredible. I mean, I defend him to anybody because he’s wonderful. He’s sweet, he’s nice, and he’s also incredibly macho. Now I know that’s not really a thing you think of but he is.” (Audience laughs; Conan gives the audience a look.) “I had the biggest crush on him,” said Jane. “I didn’t say anything,” replied Conan, “I just looked at my sympathy camera. Like seriously, he’s really macho? Moving a refrigerator a lot when he was there? Let me move that thing.” Pratt went on to defend Michael by saying, “Okay, he’s a flirt for one thing. Is Lisa Marie going to come and like deck me? He’s a flirt and he’s the kind of person who notices if your drink needs refilling or if you’re cold he’ll come and bring you a jacket.” The television host went on to say, “Well, alright he’s very macho, this is all very different.” Jane in agreement says, “Yeah, he’s very very different than anything I’ve ever heard around before and much more normal than anything that’s ever been portrayed.”
June 1995, Michael and Lisa Marie gave an interview to ABC’s Prime time live with Diane Sawyer. The couple confirmed that they dated for months prior to their engagement and were not hiding their relationship. They had taken trips to Las Vegas together and Lisa was a visitor to Neverland ranch. Diane Sawyer asked the couple if they had sex. Lisa Marie responded indignantly, “Yes, yes, yes.” When asked about the allegations Michael said he was catatonic and outraged. Sawyer went on to ask about the police photos, and Michael stated that nothing had matched and that there was not one iota of information to connect him to the claim. He also denied a song on his new album HIStory was anti-Semitic.
In this interview Sawyer asked the couple if they were expecting, and Lisa replied no, “we will be expecting but I can’t say when.” Sawyer also asked about adoption and if Michael would adopt Lisa’s children — clearly an unusual question. Nonetheless, Michael said he would and that he loved Lisa’s children and they loved him. The topic understandably appears to bother Lisa considering that the children’s biological father was a large part of their lives. Lisa would later state that her relationship with Michael had started to deteriorate after this interview.
Michael’s sister Janet and his father Joe were incredulous that someone could ask them such an intimate question on TV. It was a question intended for the headlines and for mockery. Janet at the time hit back, “For Diane Sawyer to ask all the other questions and then have someone else ask that – why? I’m sick of this whole stupid thing about, ‘Do they have sex?’ Somebody asked me that and I said, ‘No, they just sit there, look at each other and masturbate.’ I mean it’s STUPID. I wish people would shut the fuck up and leave him alone.” Joe agreed with her, “Can you imagine a reporter asking Paul McCartney the same question shortly after he married Linda? Would any reporter ever ask newlyweds if they have sex? Why else should two people marry – to not have sex? The question was an insult but Lisa the little jewel answered, ‘yes, yes, yes’ – I love her for that. And so does Michael.”
Lisa Marie’s mother on the other hand was embarrassed for her, saying later, “I know someone very different. I hope the public doesn’t judge her for that.” Much like Oprah’s earlier question about Michael’s virginity and Bashir later asking if Michael enjoyed climbing trees over having sex – Sawyer’s question about Michael and Lisa’s sex life was designed to emasculate and embarrass Michael. At the time the media heavily criticized Sawyer for not having been more critical of Michael, for not having asked more questions about the allegations. The fact is, Sawyer had been hard on him. Not only did she intentionally ask him loaded questions, Sawyer had spent three hours with the District Attorney going over the 1993-1994 case prepping for the interview; she didn’t intend to be gentle or easy on Michael.
This was Michael’s first televised interview since he spoke to Oprah in early 1993. For years journalists had been clamoring for an interview with the most well-known entertainer in the world. But when given the opportunity their professionalism would go out the window in their search for ratings, jumping on the same bandwagon as the rag magazines and turning Michael into a character to be ridiculed and scorned in a most inhumane way. After all, what other entertainer had been asked if they were a virgin, had consummated their marriage, or missed being black?
Michael’s music tended to be very autobiographical, so it was no surprise to fans when “Scream,” a duet with his younger sister Janet, was released. The single was cited as being an aggressive, retaliatory song directed at the tabloid media and their coverage of the child sex abuse allegations. In May 1995, Michael and Janet shot the video for Scream. Director Mark Romanek has said, “the other thing, Michael and Janet, I found they are very, very close but they haven’t seen each other a long time. And Janet was very shocked by the state of Michael’s entourage and found it very disturbing, the people he surrounded himself with, he surrounded himself with a lot of sycophants and not really good people and she was worried about that.” Lisa has since spoken about the conflicts that arise among employees when two celebrities get together in relationships, “It’s a strange thing, but the camps either work or they don’t. You have to deal with those people’s agendas, and if you’re a threat to them and what they are trying to do, those people will start to get in the other one’s ear and you have to be really hyper-perceptive to all of that.”
“ I have had so much fun working with my sister and working on the set every day. I haven’t seen her in quite some time and she is busy and I am as well and it’s like a reunion. I’m closest to Janet of all the family members. We were very emotional on the set. We laughed, we cried, we had a lot of fun. Everyday she’d come to me sad because of something in the press. I told her she’d just have to become resilient,” said Michael in an interview.
Flo Anthony: “One time when I was on the “Scream” video shoot, Lisa Marie kept calling Mike the whole time we were doing the video, and kept calling over there. He’s wonderful, that’s another person that’s very nice and very down to Earth.”
In June/July of 1995 Lisa Marie went on a two week holiday with her children, Danielle and Benjamin, aged six and two years. Rumors of separation between Michael Jackson and his wife arose when Lisa Marie invited her former husband, Danny Keough, to join them in Hawaii. Keough was repeatedly seen in the company of Lisa Marie and the children, which immediately led people to conclude that they were about to reconcile and form a family again, especially since Michael was not there.
The news came as a crushing blow to Michael, who had privately warned Lisa Marie to cool it with Danny. But publicly he has denied there was anything wrong with his wife wanting to spend time with her ex. In an interview in Women’s Day, Michael said he had no concerns over Lisa Marie’s trip to Hawaii with Danny and their children. “Lisa Marie went to Hawaii with Danny. That was okay with me,” he said. “In fact, I wanted her to go. Lisa Marie’s kids love their dad. They wanted to have a reunion with him.”
On July 12, 1995 Michael and Lisa Marie filmed the video for “You Are Not Alone” and appeared on the cover of Jet magazine. The video’s director said that Michael was “too shy” to ask Lisa to participate himself, but considering there was tension between them at the time. Lisa said, “I’d just come back from Hawaii” when she received the last minute call. Upon her arrival to the set she learned the details stating, “Then suddenly, like, ‘Oh by the way, you’re going to be naked.’”
“I had a lot of fun with Lisa Marie on the set. But when the director said, ‘Action,’ she became very shy. I was giving her a hard time too!” said Jackson. It took five days to complete shooting of the clip “You Are Not Alone” plus another five days to edit and create the special effects. Even though things were tense between them, the director Wayne Isham says, “The warmth displayed in the ‘You Are Not Alone’ video is for real. The shots in the last scene were done without Michael and Lisa Marie knowing it, literally off-camera. He was great to work with. When you actually talk to Michael he really is a normal guy; there’s just a lot of layers to go through. And Lisa’s got a great sense of humor. They’re both no-nonsense kind of people.”
Debbie Rowe’s friend, Tonya Watt’s took to her Myspace page in July of 1995 and posted the following:
So she took me to Gower Studio where he was shooting a music video. He works at night so we went around 11pm. I was so nervous (only he and Dolly would make me nervous)… We arrived and his bodyguards led us to a trailer. She went in and left me outside of the trailer for a while. Finally, she opened the door and called me in… She said “Michael this is Tonya, Tonya this is Michael”. He shook my hand… and I said the dumbest shit ever… “Should I faint now or later”
giggle giggle… He then said “listen to her laugh.” so I sat in the corner in a chair while she, Michael and the makeup artist all carry on while he is getting his makeup done… not many people can say they have done that.. He is very private about his makeup affairs ha ha
Off to the set we went… I was so shy and trailed behind… He stopped and waited on me… Such a gentleman… We did go in his personal trailer and there was candy all over the place. Just as I would have imagined. We soon had to leave cuz Lisa Marie was on her way. She was in that video and well, it was time to go…
Neverland….. I also got to go to Neverland with her. It was wild. He was not there but his spirit was and it was amazing. It was so surreal walking thru his home… with such an inviting staff treating us awesome…
Baby! Wow! One day she starts telling me she was planning on having him a baby! How did I find myself in Michael Jackson’s world (sort of) She told me this way before she was ever pregnant. I have to admit even still. I was not sure if she was telling the truth. This is just getting too far fetched… LOL! Your gonna have his baby and give it to him. Well, she was telling the truth. That’s exactly what she did two times. Funny thing is I have never told anyone this.. except me and my family laugh about it. I’m just saying:: I have a niece name PARIS.. She loved Paris’s name.. when my niece and nephew visited from Alabama. She arranged it with MJ for us to all go to Neverland..Well we always joke and say that’s where they got the name PARIS.. My lady friend did tell me that one time.. but who would believe me so never mind doesn’t matter anyway.
Late July-early August 1995, after an argument with Lisa Marie, Michael flies to Disneyland Paris with the Casio family to take a break. Lisa in turn is spotted in Hawaii with her ex-husband once again. Lisa had admitted in interviews that they did things to make one another jealous. They had argued constantly at times and the topic of conceiving children was consistently discussed. Lisa said she “called his bluff” when he told her that Debbie Rowe was willing to bear him children, if she wasn’t.
“I recall Lisa telling me that Michael was trying to make her believe he was interested in a white nurse who worked for his dermatologist. Lisa just laughed it off. She thought Michael was trying to make her jealous, just playing games. “But it was true, just the same: Michael was seeing Debbie Rowe while he was married to Lisa,’ says Monica Pastelle. ‘And Lisa knew it. At one point, she and Debbie had a tense telephone conversation during which Lisa said: “Look, nursey. I’m sorry that you’re in love with my husband. But he’s mine. So get lost”.
‘Afterwards, Lisa burst out laughing. She said: “Can you imagine? Me acting like the jealous little wife because Michael’s wet nurse -or whatever she is- is in love with him. What is this craziness?”
Lisa Marie appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2010 and discussed this trip saying, “I was very torn because I broke up my family. I left my husband for Michael. I was having a hard time trying to process that. I never could feel good about it. I felt like, how could I have done that to somebody and I have these two little ones.”
Danny was still very much part of my life. Michael didn’t quite know what to do with that sometimes. That made him uncomfortable and I understood that. Michael would wonder, “Why are you in Hawaii with Danny?” I’d take a vacation and Danny would go. Michael would get upset and “Where are you?” and he would disappear for a couple of weeks and I couldn’t find him. Things would make him uncomfortable and when I would do things that would make Michael uncomfortable, if he got uncomfortable or felt vulnerable, he would ice you out as a mechanism. He would push you away and ice you. It was like a shark sometimes in that way, he could just like that, if you’d done him wrong or whatever, you were out. We had some moments like that. But I have to say in retrospect that he honestly tried so hard and went through so much with me, and I know now when I look back at it, he’s never done that with any other female or anyone as much as we went through. We hit rough waters, we would fight, we would argue, three day arguments sometimes, taking a break to eat and sleep. I have to say that I really admire that he really gave it a good shot, you know, I didn’t appreciate it then and I wish I did. I did things that hurt him. I did stupid things too.
The Chandler Connection
In 1995, five former Neverland employees followed the example of the Hayvenhurst security guards. Dubbed the “Neverland 5,” Kassim Abdool, Ralph Chacon, Adrian McManus, Sandy Domz and Melanie Bagnall filed a $16 million lawsuit against Michael Jackson, with Michael P. Ring as their attorney. They alleged they were harassed and threatened by security and fired or forced to quit in 1994. Melanie Bagnall even alleged she was sexually harassed by a guard named Andrew Merritt (in the trial Merritt was not found liable of sexually harassing her). The judge refused Court TV’s request to televise the trial. The plaintiffs had sold their stories to the tabloids instead of going to the police. The civil case went to trial in September 1996, along with Michael Jackson’s cross-complaint. The singer’s counter suit said two of the former workers stole sketches, personal notes, hats, toys and candy from the ranch and sold some items to tabloids. Michael Ring was fined $28,350 for hiding evidence from Jackson’s lawyers during pre-trial fact-finding in March 1997. He was fined $10,000 previously for concealing facts. The trial lasted six months, and the plaintiffs were sanctioned approximately $66,000 for lying in court and contradicting their own testimony. Judge Zel Canter in one instance left the bench saying he was disgusted. On March 1, 1996, Michael Jackson was deposed for the case, and a three minute video was released by News of the World tabloid in 2009. On March 18, 1997, the jury rejected the wrongful termination lawsuit and awarded Jackson $60,000 in damages. The plaintiffs were also ordered to pay a $1.4 million judgment in attorney fees and court costs to Michael Jackson.
At least two of the employees declared bankruptcy, and when they later testified in the 2005 trial they admitted that their attorney advised them to sell salacious stories to tabloids by using a media broker so they could pay their legal expenses. Maid Adrian McManus admitted that she knew nothing about Jackson’s sex life with Presley but nevertheless signed contracts to sell fictional stories. Howard Weitzman said after the ruling: “Michael Jackson is thankful for the court’s ruling. He has consistently maintained that he has not engaged in wrongful conduct with any minors. The stories told by these guards on various tabloid shows, for which they were paid, were false.”
The Neverland employees downplayed their role in selling stories on the stand and disavowed Gutierrez, who stated during his deposition in the “Neverland 5” case that he was moving to Chile to start a new life. He also stated that he had just bought a home in Chile. When asked whether the home was nice, Mr. Gutierrez said, “The home has 21 bedrooms.” Notably, during Gutierrez‘s case with Jackson, which was running simultaneously, he cried poverty.
To show further malice in his suit against Gutierrez ,Michael had strategically selected four quotes from Victor’s book that did not refer or relate to the 1993 allegations. In August 1997, while being sued by Jackson, Gutierrez filed a motion to modify the scope of discovery to include discovery into the 1993 child molestation allegations against Michael Jackson in a thinly veiled attempt to generate more tabloid stories and publicity. Gutierrez stated that he believed that Evan Chandler and Jordan Chandler had knowledge about the subject matter of the foregoing quotes. In particular, Gutierrez sought to take the depositions of Evan and Jordan Chandler, parties to the 1993 public allegations. Gutierrez argued that the alleged truth of those 1993 allegations, and his reporting of them, tended to negate any inference of malice. Gutierrez stated that his book was “based on the diary written by Jordan and Evan Chandler, and upon my own independent investigation about Jordan Chandler’s relationship with Jackson.” This was the third time Gutierrez had changed his story about who had actually written the diary.
But the four quotes in question were malicious. Gutierrez attributed the following grotesque quotes to Kassim Abdool, Adrian McManus and Melanie Bagnall in his book:
Jackson’s personal guards used their pistols and automatic rifles to threaten other employees and guards and at times forced them to have sex. ~ Abdool
This female fan of Jackson’s had crossed the gate of the ranch. When I detained her, I did not have handcuffs to hold her until the police arrived, so I had to tie her hands with a telephone cord. ~Bagnall
The poor guy [Jackson] couldn’t make it to the bathroom, and it got to the point that he didn’t even care. If he had to go, he did it right there, wherever he was. Poor Adrian was the one who suffered, but at times we would help her pick up the dirtied clothes and clean the floor. Michael would put tampons in his ass to stop the diarrhea. ~ Abdool
I was talking with Michael about something not so important when he told me that he had to go to the bathroom. He didn’t take two steps when he defecated right there in front of me. It was diarrhea that ran down to his shoes. It was a shame. The guards that saw it went into another room to have a laugh.~McManus
Evan and Jordan Chandler did not give depositions in the case. They would both, however,submit declarations to the courts stating that they knew absolutely nothing about either the making of the quotes or their content. Evan stated that he didn’t know or recall ever speaking to Abdool, McManus or Bagnall. Jordan stated the same with the exception of McManus, with whom he only recalled exchanging pleasantries. Most notable about the Chandler’s declaration is what they didn’t say—they didn’t say they didn’t know or hadn’t spoken to Gutierrez.
Book reviews have described Gutierrez’s book as “a pedophile’s opus” or simply “disgusting” for its graphic detail and seemingly positive attitude towards the sexual abuse of minors. Victor said that his book was based on Jordan’s Chandlers diary that was given to him by someone within the Chandler’s home. Gutierrez has changed his story about the origins of the phantom diary several times. The more obvious questions one would ask are — is it likely that a child would write in such graphic detail? Using expressions like penetration, shit, excrement, anus, rubbing in Vaseline, penis, masturbation, dry semen, sheets stained with shit and blood? Furthermore, Jordan Chandler didn’t have a diary according to a source. He did have, “ a notebook that he wrote his film ideas and stories in since he was going to film school.” Based on the rumor of the existence of a diary, investigators in later years hunted that notebook down (not a diary), only to find out that the “stupid thing” as one such investigator we spoke to called it –had no value.
Gutierrez said in his book “For me it was confusing, not knowing whether to refer to the boys as victims or ex-lovers.” Victor also published the inaccurate description of Michael dated 10/24/93 clearly marked “theory.” Disturbingly, it also includes the description of another “cute” young boy and gives graphic details about sex games between the three — something that was never claimed by the Chandlers and was vehemently denied by the other child in court.
In an interview for the German paper Die Tageszeitung, Gutierrez said he had heard for the first time at a NAMBLA meeting that “Michael is one of us.” He says, “Jackson was treated like an idol there, as a hope for social acceptance.” He goes on to say, “In a hundred years maybe such relationships will be socially accepted.” The story reminds him of Oscar Wilde and his young lover Bosi,’ he says. As Gutierrez, a homosexual himself was looking for a publisher for his book in 1995 he heard people say he glamorizes pedophilia. He released a Spanish version of his book in Chile and shipped the English version to small book shops in LA himself. Michael Jackson never sued him for his book. His employees buy up all copies those they get hold of,” said Gutierrez.
But Jackson employees did not, “buy up,” copies of the book like Gutierrez claimed. In actuality in May 1999 the sheriff’s department confiscated all copies of the book pursuant to a court ordered levy.
She’s Out Of My Life
On September 7 1995, Michael opened the MTV video music awards in New York with a 20 minute medley. Television footage of the event showed Lisa Marie seated in the front row, looking rather uncomfortable. In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone magazine Lisa Marie says that after about a month without any contact, Michael’s people started calling, saying that it was important that she show up at the MTV Video Music Awards. She agreed to show up if she didn’t have to go down the red carpet; they consented, and then led her down it anyway. “I was pissed. I just felt like I was being used at that point.” She was then told that he was going to sing to her and that he had a surprise for her. “I remember my whole look was: ‘Don’t you come anywhere fucking near me — we haven’t spoken in a month.’ And he got it. He didn’t come over. I talked to him later and he said, ‘I saw the look on your face, and I knew that if I walked up to you, I didn’t know what you were going to do me.’ “
By the end of September Lisa Marie is seen walking ahead of him during a visit to the Memphis zoo and the relationship appears, “tense,” according to observer’s. “I wanted children and she didn’t .She felt she had her kids. She promised me before we married, that would be the first thing we’d do was have children. It disappointed me that she wouldn’t keep her promise to me,” said Michael.
In December 1995, Dr. William Alleyne was the critical care director at Beth Israel North Hospital, on the Upper East Side in New York City. When one of the nurses told him, “We have Michael Jackson coming here.” Michael had collapses while rehearsing at the Beacon theater for an upcoming HBO special and had been rushed to the hospital. “Mr. Jackson was in critical condition,” Alleyne said. “He was dehydrated, had electrolyte abnormalities. He had low blood pressure. He had a rapid heart rate. He was near death.”
Alleyne gave the order to have the defibrillator ready if needed to treat the abnormal heart rhythm of the most famous entertainer on Earth. After about an hour, Alleyne said he had Jackson stabilized with intravenous fluids and other treatment, and transferred Jackson to intensive care. Jackson’s entourage had muscled into intensive care. Alleyne had a brief showdown with one bodyguard who did not want to let Alleyne in the room — after the doctor had left briefly. Alleyne recalled saying to the bodyguard, “Your boss is dying in there, and I am going in there to save his life. You can be the one who has to say you wouldn’t let me in.”
But the crush of people inside wasn’t over. Soon to arrive was Janet Jackson’s entourage followed by Motown songbird Diana Ross. Who brought her two youngest sons to visit Michael, as bulging plastic bags of gifts and a huge statue were trundled into the star’s room. Lisa Marie arrived, “I think the same night. Either that night or the very next night, “ Alleyne told us trying to recall.
“Michael Jackson the least demanding guy you would ever want to meet. His biggest concern was could he perform” said Alleyne. But much to Jackson’s dismay doctors told the superstar he could he perform anytime soon and asked Jackson for permission to release information to his family. When asked if information was withheld from Lisa Marie, Alleyne responded “She was his wife and was given permission and information.” Alleyne stated that he would not give information to anybody, but those Jackson said to give it to.
Michael’s publicists and others realized they had to give a press conference after a few days. So Alleyne worked with Jackson’s people to go over what could be said, what to stay away from but still tell the truth. Alleyne said Jackson did not have any immune system problems because rumors about AIDS were swirling. He was blunt that Jackson had no drugs in his system. When we spoke to Alleyne he was quick to point out that, “there was an insurance policy on the concerts and a physician was sent to verify my findings.” Reiterating that he, “ found no evidence of drug use.”
Shockingly, “I found no indication of him having Lupus,” Dr.Alleyne told us. Stating that Jackson’s primary physician, Dr. Allan Metzger, “ flew out from LA and was there for a few days. Dr. Metzger could not make entries on his medical charts but could review them.” Stating that he spoke with Dr. Metzger regularly and felt that he would have made him aware of such a condition.
We asked several people within Jackson’s circle why the singer never went public with his diagnosis of Lupus? “I believe he thought it would prevent people from hiring him.” Flo Anthony said. Adversely affecting, “ different tours, contracts, recordings.” An associate told us that, “he had trouble getting insurance after rehab,” and that it was entirely, “possible that he wanted to keep it quiet.”
“After a couple of days, Mr. Jackson told me he needed to get his hair done,” Alleyne remembered. “I told him we had a barber at the hospital.” Jackson’s entourage laughed: A stylist traveled around the world with Jackson and would style those locks right there in intensive care. The makeup crew came in, too.”
Near the end of Jackson’s hospital stay, he asked Alleyne if he could visit other patients in intensive care. Jackson met one lady, gave her an autographed picture after he prayed with her, and the lady told Alleyne, “I can die now; I prayed with Michael Jackson.” Alleyne recalled, laughing: “I told Mr. Jackson maybe visiting with people who had suffered heart attacks or other serious problems wasn’t such a good idea.”
Lisa Marie later stated on Oprah that, “There was a bit of a showdown in the hospital, and I didn’t understand what was wrong with him. I didn’t know what he was up to. When I started asking too many questions about what was wrong, he asked me to leave. This is the real story. He said, ‘You’re causing trouble.’ The doctors wanted me to go. I freaked out, because it was all too familiar. When he got out, I called him and said, ‘I want out.’’
On January 18, 1996 Lisa Marie officially files for divorce. She later stated in an interview, “I was still very much in love with him when I left him. I left him to sort of stomp my foot in the ground and go…I was trying to take a stand and say, come with me don’t do this. That was a stupid move , because he didn’t . Were both stubborn you know. I didn’t feel appreciated. It may have hit him later because I never took or wanted anything.’
One person that Lisa was rumoured to have a conflict with was Jackson’s long time make-up artist Karen Faye. Another staffer told us that Faye, “ was out to get everybody fired she was jealous of everybody around Michael.” And that photo’s of some long time employee’s are rare, “ since Karen cropped us out of them. Everyone hated Karen and was scared of her… she was a troublemaker.”
According to our source, Faye even had a mannequin commissioned in her likeness as a gift to Jackson.“When I used to come over he would purposely take the clothes off her Mannequin and ask, do you think this looks like her? And I said she must have done it when she was 16. He would give plastic surgery as a bonus and I said nope, I don’t want it. I said I’ll take a piece of art and he told me she (Karen) was having her chin done because she looked really homely.”
In an attempt to make Lisa Marie jealous, Michael takes what the media described as a “Mystery blond” out to dinner in New York. “I am having a great time,” Jackson said, his first public words since Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce, ending a 19-month marriage that has often been described as a giant publicity stunt. The mystery blond turned out to be Karen Faye, his makeup artist. Lisa disliked Karen and the women hadn’t gotten along till recently. It has been rumored that the day after this PR date, Lisa Marie contacted Karen Faye and called her a bitch.
HiSTORY
On May 7, 1996 while Jackson was still fighting the Gutierrez and Neverland 5 suits, Evan Chandler filed a civil lawsuit against Michael Jackson, Lisa Marie Presley, Walt Disney Company, “ABC” Capital Cities Broadcasting, Diane Sawyer, Neverland Zoo Foundation and others. His suit was for slander, intentional emotional stress, negligence, conspiracy, unjust enrichment and breaching the confidentiality agreement from the 1994 settlement. Chandler claimed that the confidentiality agreement had been breached when Jackson maintained his innocence in the interview he and Lisa Marie gave Diane Sawyer on June 14, 1995. The lawsuit also claimed that in the lyrics of his 1995 album HIStory Jackson made “derogatory, harmful, malicious and fraudulent public statements” about the Chandlers, even though in none of the album’s lyrics are the Chandlers named (though there are songs criticizing greed the media’s conduct, and there is one song that criticizes District Attorney Tom Sneddon). Evan Chandler this time demanded $60 million from Jackson, attorney’s fees, a jury trial and a record deal so that he can release an album about the alleged sexual molestation of his son, titled EVANstory. According to the lawsuit, “This album will include such songs as: ‘D.A. Reprised,’ ‘You Have No Defense (For My Love),’ ‘Duck Butter Blues,’ ‘Truth,’ and other songs.”
Lisa Marie Presley was being sued by Chandler based on her alleged interference in the confidentiality agreement. However, Presley was not a party to the agreement nor did she have a copy of the agreement. Her attorneys filed a protective order and stated that if a deposition is ordered they request it be made at her current address in Florida rather than in California. (Numerous documents as well as tabloid articles are filed to call into question the legitimacy of the her residence and even her marriage to Jackson.)
Lisa Marie Presley’s attorney:
Based on speculative and unfounded “conspiracy” allegations, plaintiff Evan Chandler has improperly dragged defendant Lisa Marie Presley into this lawsuit that is really between Chandler and Presley’s former husband, defendant Michael Jackson alone. Chandler’s recent actions prove that his reason for improperly suing Presley is, pure and simple, publicity, for himself and his counsel. Two weeks ago, Chandler took Presley’s deposition, and secretly called the media to tell them when and where Ms. Presley would be deposed. When they arrived at the deposition, Ms. Presley and her council were unexpectedly besieged by the press. Chandler’s counsel also went on the air in a nationwide tabloid news program to publicize the Presley deposition. It would not be surprising if counsel had been paid for that. The deposition included questions about such private issues as Ms. Presley’s marriage to Jackson. Yet when asked to make the transcripts confidential, Chandler’s counsel refused, showing that Chandler intends – unless stopped by this court — to further improperly publicize Ms. Presley’s private life.
Evan Chandler often complained about the media coverage, stating that it caused his loss of employment and harassment by Jackson fans. But he was more than willing to contact the media for his own financial motives. Apparently, he only disliked the press when they had something negative to say about him. Chandler was trying to push for a public jury trial in a blatant attempt to humiliate Michael into settling the case. At approximately the same time the media was requesting coverage. Evan mysteriously regained custody of his son Jordan who had been living with his stepmother for nearly two years.
Over Evan Chandler’s objections the court ordered binding arbitration pursuant to the parties’ 1994 settlement agreement. The parties selected a three judge arbitration panel. However, in an apparent attempt to avoid the court’s ruling on arbitration Evan’s counsel filed another suit against Jackson on behalf of Jordan Chandler in a different county (Los Angeles County). Evan and Jordan’s suits were almost identical, except Jordan’s complaint included fewer causes of action. This prompted media speculation that Jordan would testify. Michael’s attorneys asked the courts to consolidate the arbitration’s.
The three arbitrators of the settlement document (retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bonnie Martin, retired state Supreme Court Justice Edward Panelli, and retired Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice John K. Trotter) determined that there was not a breach of the settlement agreement “because the complained-of activities involved Jackson’s own public image, his music and his new album, not the plaintiffs.” They also said that Jackson could not be deemed by the settlement agreement to be barred from proclaiming his innocence in a public forum such as a TV interview: “In the present case, the arbitrators’ finding of no wrongful conduct based on their interpretation of the agreement did not conflict with any explicit and mandatory term of the agreement.”
Michael’s attorney, Steve Cochran, filed a declaration in Jackson’s still unresolved suit against Gutierrez referencing Evan Chandler’s 1996 case against Jackson stating, “The [1996 Chandler] case basically alleges breach of contract. Portions of that action had been ordered to arbitration under the JAMS/Endispute Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures. Jackson has filed a cross-complaint in that action that alleges that Chandler and his son breached the same contract by divulging certain information to Victor Gutierrez.” There are certainly signs in Gutierrez’s book that lead one to believe he was in contact with the Chandlers. But Gutierrez had a different agenda than the Chandler’s. His story is not that of a victim. His story is a “love story” that was ruined by the “evil prejudice” of society and the greed of the parents. Gutierrez used the Chandlers and then went with his own agenda.
“The problem came in that lawsuit with the Chandlers when they cooperated with Gutierrez. That’s how Michael was able to sue because they had a nondisclosure and once Evan Chandler started cooperating with Victor Gutierrez that put him in violation of the nondisclosure.” said Ken Wells. “Because the father was still trying to get money. He wasn’t getting much money from the son or something. He was trying to get money…I can’t remember the timeline on that.”
At this point it must have been apparent to Chandler that his suit against Jackson wasn’t going well. Jackson filed a counter suit against him, he had been ordered to pay attorney’s fees and court costs to ABC/Sawyer as well as Lisa Marie Presley. According to a declaration made by Evan’s ex wife, Nathalie Chandler, Evan had been living in Santa Barbara, not working, and had moved abruptly without leaving a forwarding address.
In August 1998 Nathalie Chandler filed for modification of child support. She stated that “over three years later, respondent still has not offered to pay child support although he has been asked to contribute to the welfare of the minor children.” Since separating Nathalie had lent Evan approximately $441,500 for legal cases, paid a $21,952.57 IRS tax bill on his dental practice, and spent $27,788 on Jordan’s expenses while he lived with her from September 1994 to April 1997. Chandler failed to repay Nathalie and claimed he could not work, or as she stated in court documents he was “unwillingness to work” and had “chosen to live off of his older son Jordan.” She went on to call him a “slacker” who had not seen or spoken to his two minor children since July 1997, despite her and the children’s repeated pleas:
Jordan, who is now eighteen years of age, has come into a great deal of money and, apparently, is willing to support his father but chooses to ignore his siblings along with petitioner in spite of the fact that Jordan chose to live with petitioner and Emmanuelle and Nicholas without his father for thirty-two months after petitioner and respondent separated. Evan is unwilling to work and chooses live in the lap of luxury while ignoring his two minor children. The children keep asking why their father and brother Jordan do not love them anymore and refuse to see them or talk to them when they call. As a result of Evan’s cruel and deliberate abandonment of his two minor children, both children have been in therapy since September 1997, Nicholas openly stating that he didn’t want anything to do with his father and did not trust him.
Nathalie made numerous attempts to contact Evan. His brother Ray told her that Evan and Jordan had moved and were traveling in Europe for an indefinite period of time. Ray’s daughter, Fanny Windsong, who had been close to Jordan, had no knowledge of their whereabouts. Evan’s elderly mother, Beatrice Heitner, told Nathalie that she hadn’t spoken to Evan or Jordan since January 1998, following an argument she had with her son regarding his refusal to visit or support his two minor children. Nathalie stated that despite attempts to reestablish communication she had no idea where he was living. “Evan is not a person who has a lot of friends. Since he decided to live with and off his son Jordan, he has become either a nomad or a recluse. He does nothing to provide for his own living, or that of his minor children. He apparently is satisfied to allow his 18-year-old son to support him and purposefully cut himself off from any other family members who disagree with his behavior,” Nathalie stated.
Nathalie searched for her ex-husband but was unable to locate him. He was not working and there were no utilities placed in his name. He was essentially hiding. Chandler not only owed her a substantial amount of money, he owed ABC/Sawyer, Presley and Jackson as well. They all had won arbitration awards that Chandler could not or would not pay. According to deed records that Jordan filed when purchasing a home in New York in 1999, he had been living at his uncle’s home in Great Neck, New
Prozac and Wine
In the mid-90’s, Janet Arviso enrolled her children, Gavin, Star and Davellin, in a tap school owned by Arlene Kennedy. Jackson’s part time hairdresser, Carol LaMere, met the Arvizo family at the dance school on Olympic and Fairfax as her son Quai also attended the school. Gavin was “horrible! And my son hated him so much he hit him with his tap shoes,” LaMere told us. From the start, Lamere observed that Davelin was quiet, that “Star was weird,” and Gavin had “behavioral problems.” The children told her that they lived in a barn. They often told her sad stories about their life, many of which Lamere did not believe. Nonetheless, Janet had tried getting her husband David to ask LaMere for money without success.
Gavin’s behavioral problems were apparent in his school records as well. A likely answer might lie in his home life and an accusation of child abuse he claimed against his mother Janet – it’s unknown if this is a true or false allegation. But David Arviso described his wife Janet, whose maiden name is Ventura, as coming from an abused childhood and abusive parents. Stating that her parents would lock her behind a door and sit outside telling her stories that scared her, held her under water for periods of time and constantly told her “ugly things.”
A female second cousin of Janet’s, Chris Espejo confided in David that she had been sexually and physically abused by Janet, which he believes manifested from Janet having been abused by her parents. Chris is five years younger than Janet, and when she was between 8 and 10, Janet would “touch her”. Chris’ father, Joe Espejo is Maria Ventura’s first cousin and lived two doors away from the Ventura’s.
David described Gavin as a very intelligent boy, however he added that he has been kicked out of every school in the Mountain View School District where he attended while living in El Monte. David says he was removed for fighting, though it is David’s contention that these fights were with bullies taking on other people and that Gavin was their rescuer. When Gavin was eight and Star was seven, Gavin was held back a grade as he couldn’t even spell his name. Janet then ensured both kids would be in the same grade by altering Star’s birth certificate so that he could be in the same school year as his brother.
David would later describe Janet as determined. He said she develops an idea and will do whatever it takes to see it through. He described her as being controlling and manipulative and that she has never been forthcoming with her ability to tell the truth if it does not suit her purpose. Additionally he described her as “schizophrenic and delusional” and indicated that she heard voices. He cited several situations where she would say, “What’s that? Did you hear that?” when there was nothing there.
On August 27 1998, Janet Arvizo was inside of Oshman’s Sporting Goods store filling out paperwork for a job there in loss prevention, while David, Star, and Gavin were shopping inside JCPenney, which was next door. While in J.C. Penney, Gavin, who was 8 at the time, grabbed a handful of clothes and ran outside to the family van. David claims he and Star followed Gavin in order to make him return the stolen clothing, but they were all apprehended by security while in the parking lot, before they reached their vehicle. Janet, while exiting Oshman’s, saw David being apprehended by security, and ran outside to intervene by physically removing David from the security guards. David was eventually escorted back inside by security, where he claimed that he was trying to get the stolen merchandise back from Gavin, claiming that they had no intention of keeping the merchandise.
David later said he believed that Janet, having worked in the prevention unit for Von’s grocery store, was aware about certain protocol that would have created problems for the security persons, things like calling people “dumb Mexicans” and saying, “They were trained to steal.” David said that in accordance with Janet’s vindictive manner, she orchestrated a lawsuit against JCPenney’s with her knowledge of dos and don’ts of the loss prevention industry.
Janet initially accuses the department stores security officers of battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress. Claiming that the boys were only modeling clothes for Penney‘s, not stealing them, and that they were all then beaten brutally by store security guards for no reason. The public record of the case only briefly describes JCPenney‘s side of the story, that the boy were sent out of the store by his father with an arm full of shoplifted clothes and that the whole family was quickly detained with the mother starting a brief scuffle.
Paralegal Mary Holzer testified that Janet confided in her that after she got released from jail, she was beaten by David before going to the hospital. And of course they had photos taken weeks later and blamed it all on J.C. Penney and Tower Records’ employees to get money. Janet would later tell actor Chris Tucker’s girlfriend, Azja Pryor, that some white boys beat them up in the mall. And Mrs. Kennedy, from the dance studio, that black guys beat them up in an alley.
In the summer of 1999 the Arvizo children attend a summer comedy camp held at the laugh factory and commence a $3 million civil lawsuit against JCPenney’s for battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress.
Janet asked David and the boys to write out their version of events pertaining to the incident at JCPenney. Before typing up her own version of event that only included the best parts of everyone else’s. She then gave her fictitious typed version events to the boys in order for them to memorize and know what to say under oath. They were required to read and study this script on a daily basis for at least a year before they were deposed under oath, and Janet actively coached them in order to help them learn what to say and how to act. David claims to have kept copies of some of these drafts at home.
Additionally, Janet checked herself into an outpatient center for addicts and depression in order to demonstrate how the altercation with the JCPenney security guards negatively affected her mental health and brought stress to her life. Also, she never worked at Oshman’s (assuming that David Arvizo insinuated that a job offer was made to Janet by Oshman’s and Janet rejected it) in order to bolster her claim that she was physically unable to work due to the “injuries” she sustained in the altercation.
Mary Holzer was a paralegal for the law firm that represented the Arvizos in their lawsuit against JCPenney. Holzer had visited the Arvizo family at the studio apartment that they used to show people just how poor and to get welfare – and described it as really basic, with one mattress on the floor and a TV, no telephone, the stove didn’t work, and just a microwave and a small refrigerator and a little bathroom. Janet would intentionally keep it this way to give the impression they were poor.
Holzer stated that Janet’s kids seemed trained to tell grown ups around them that they loved them and were part of their family, and they would write her notes, “They would come into my office and they would sit on my lap, and write me notes, and stick them on my board, and you know, very huggy, very, very clinging, very affectionate,” the notes said things like, “We love you Mary” – “You know, just a, just very lovey dovey.”
Mary Holzer, describes Janet becoming hysterical and belligerent during one of the medical exams for JCPenney, and when her boss Thomas Rothstein got on the phone to speak to her, Holzer says Janet “threw herself on the ground in the middle of the driveway, screaming and crying, incoherently” and refused to speak to him, even though she held the phone to her ear. Holzer said Janet was “carrying on that the doctor was the devil, and the nurses were the devil, and they were all out to get her.” Holzer said they were asked to leave because Janet was causing such a scene.
She says during the psychiatric exams ordered by JCPennys for her and the kids, Janet was “protesting” and didn’t want her kids to write anything down and refused to let the kids be interviewed alone without her.
Holzer said, “She (Janet Arvizo) said she wasn’t worried. This was at the Independent Medical Examination for psychiatric of all three, Gavin, Star and Janet. And when we were at the doctor’s office, she was very concerned about them completing general forms, you know, like, “Generally do you feel happy?” “Generally do you feel sad?” You know, “What kind of days” — “How do you feel when you wake up?” Those kind of forms. And she refused to have the children fill them out. And then she wanted to participate in the medical examinations with the doctor and the children. And I asked her, you know, I said, you know, “It doesn’t work that way.” You know, “The doctor sees the children on their own.” You know, “You can’t go in there.” And she said, “Well, I’m pretty sure Gavin will get the story straight, but I’m not sure Star will remember what we practiced and what I told him to say.”
Holzer was confused as to why she was so adamant about this and says Janet confessed to her, “Well, I’ve had my boys and my daughter in the comedy school,” or some comedy store stuff, “taking stand up comedy lessons, acting lessons, and I can train them and teach them to say whatever I want them to say because they will do anything for me.”Holzer also said that two years into their acquaintance, Janet claimed that her husband David beat her daily, but says she’d never had any reason herself to suspect David of abusing Janet before this.
She says Janet told her that the bruises from the photos in the JCPenney case were not from the security guards, but were really the result of David beating her. Holzer was upset at hearing this and told Janet that she couldn’t do this to her and her firm, telling her, “How can you live with yourself?” and said Janet responded, “What’s done is done.” She told Janet that she’d have to tell her boss about this and then says Janet told her, “I, you know, I never said, you know, nothing happened. I just said David accused me of being at fault for everything, and after we were arrested and released, and when we went home, he you know, beat the heck out of me.” She says Janet then gave her a threat, “Don’t tell your boss, don’t tell your boss. Ah, David’s brother’s in the Mexican Mafia and he sells drugs between here and Las Vegas and he’s gonna come after you and your daughter and you’ll be dead and your daughter will be dead. And I’m worried about your safety” – Janet told her that she knew where she lived as she’d been to her house on several occasions, “I told David that I told you, and David said you better not say anything”, “I’m so scared for you, I’m so scared for your daughter.”
She proceeded to call Mary daily to give her these threats, saying she threatened her about 8 or 9 times, “She just said she was scared for me and my daughter; that she didn’t want to see anything bad happen to us, because she considered me her dear friend.” Holzer said she didn’t consider Janet a “dear friend” at all and was just trying to do her job.
Speaking with the investigators later, Holzer broke down crying talking about these threats, saying she had believed them and had been genuinely afraid and so did not tell anyone, saying, “at the time I was watching my rear view mirror every night on the way home because I was afraid somebody was following me.”
During this time young Gavin Arvizo is diagnosed with cancer. David claimed that his wife Janet refused to allow the hospital to use their blood for a transfusion because she wanted to have a “celebrity blood drive.” The family used their connections at the laugh factory to help plan benefits on their son Gavin’s behalf,
On June 29th, 2000 Janet amends her lawsuit against JCPenney, adding a new claim of sexual assault by a security officer in the JCPenney public parking lot. She claimed her breasts were fondled, her nipple was squeezed 10 to 20 times, she was punched with a closed fist by a JCPenney security guard, she was molested in her vaginal area, and that she was called racial slurs.
According to NBC News, who obtained more than 100 pages of documents not on the public record, including defense deposition excerpts and psychiatric reports and the documents give a far more detailed version of JCPenney case. That the psychiatrist hired by Penney‘s found the mother to be schizophrenic, delusional and severely depressed. “Sad over being a nobody,” Janet said, “a sad housewife -getting fat.” Her own therapist found her to be anxious and depressed after the incident, but not delusional.
Psychiatrist said she rehearsed her two sons to back up her far-fetched story in what sounded like scripted copies of her testimony that they and she had all suffered broken bones, in addition to her sexual assault. Penney‘s insist there was no evidence to back up any of the allegations.
The Arviso’s alleged battery, false imprisonment and infliction of emotional distress. Later, Janet Arviso amended the complaint to add sexual assault. JCPenney ultimately settles with the Arvison family for $152,000. But not before Janet Arviso files for divorce from her husband Davis. Claiming he physically abused her and sexual abuse against their daughter Davelline —he only receives $5,000 of the money from JCPenney lawsuit.
Witch Hunt
Under California law in 1994, abuse cases involving minors expired six years after the date of any alleged accusation, and in the Chandler case the statute of limitations would have expired in 1999. For years after the settlement was reached, Santa Barbara District attorney Tom Sneddon along with several of his employees made numerous statements to the press where they implied that there was indeed evidence to corroborate Jordan Chandler’s story. They failed to explain, however, why two grand juries did not indict Michael Jackson if such evidence did actually existed.
In 2001 Sneddon told the New York Daily News that the case against Jackson was never closed and it could be reopened at any time. Stating that the statute of limitations had not run out because Jackson was living outside of the US for extended periods of time. Defense attorney Gary Dunlap [who was falsely accused by Tom Sneddon and later acquitted] would later say, “I know he’s a very effective prosecutor. Tom Sneddon is not a lightweight”. “He lost his opportunity against Michael Jackson in 1993, and he doesn’t want to leave office without paying that score back.”
British journalist Martin Bashir was introduced to Michael Jackson by his then friend, illusionist Uri Geller. Bashir would also produce a letter of praise that he claimed was written after an interview he conducted with Princess Diana , a friend of Michael’s and a figure he had a great deal of reverence for. Even so, the Diana card did not work instantly: the Jackson program had been five years in the planning. It was not until 2001, when the singer came to Britain to speak at the Oxford Union and to be best man at the wedding of Uri Geller, that a breakthrough came. Geller, who had Jackson’s ear, put in a word for Bashir. The two men hyped Michael, telling him that it was his chance to tell his story and share himself with fans.
Targeting the vulnerable seems to be a trait of Bashir’s. Both the Princess and Jackson were at difficult stages in their lives, not knowing who to trust in the world of the media, but both wanting to reach out to the public. A similar interview was conducted with footballer George Best in 2003, who was suffering from alcoholism. Bashir had befriended Best’s then-wife, Alex, with a view to getting an interview, only to suggest later that her own drinking habits had a detrimental effect on Best’s recovery. Best is quoted as saying Bashir was only really interested in his own self-interests and kept telling Best what “a great operator” he was. “He made his reputation doing a puff piece for Princess Diana and has traded on it ever since,” former footballer George Best said.”I once stupidly let him film my wife Alex and me. He said: ‘I want to be your friend when you are better.’ What rubbish. No one I’ve spoken to has a good word to say about Bashir. He has got as much integrity as a paper bag.”
Jackson who rarely gave interviews and generally distrusted the press – would agree to the no-holds barred interview. Martin Bashir set up a series of meeting with Jackson over a span of eight months, from May 2002 to January 2003. Bashir visited Neverland and travel with the singer to Las Vegas, Miami and Berlin. As a safeguard Jackson also taped these interviews, enlisted the assistance of videographer, Hamid Moslehi, who was quick to say that his presents was never a “secret” and Bashir witnessed him setting up his cameras. Hamid would also explain a visit to a zoo in Berlin was pre-arranged and was supposed to be shut down for Jackson’s visit with his children. Jackson would never put his children in harm’s way as Bashir suggested in his documentary. The incident was due to a miscommunication with zoo officials made worse by someone who “tipped off” the press.
Jackson’s one time manager, Dieter Wiesner, claimed that during the trip to Berlin he observed Martin Bashir sneaking into Jackson’s hotel suite and rummaging through his luggage. He also states that Bashir chased Michael’s children with cameras when Jackson wasn’t present, despite agreeing not to film the children for the documentary. This would have been during the same trip to Berlin as the infamous, “baby dangling,” incident.
When the documentary entitled Living with Michael Jackson was set to air – the 1993 accuser, Jordan Chandler, was living in West Hampton Beach at this time. The documentary was first aired in the UK on February 3, 2003 and in the United States three days later on ABC. The US airing of the documentary coincided with Chandler’s 1993 declaration being leaked to the Smoking Gun, a Court TV affiliate’s website.
It appears that Jordan was tipped off to this unflattering documentary about Michael and the media storm that would in ensue. Jordan Chandler began quietly looking to sell his home and signing off on paperwork a day before it was to air in the UK, with the sale finalized on February 27, 2003 where he lists his new Manhattan address on deed records.
Jordan might have been avoiding the press but others in the Chandler family were willing to capitalize on the situation. Jordan’s uncle, Ray Chandler, was quick to give an interview to the National Enquirer printed on March 3, 2003. Saying that he’s been torn between telling what he knows about the scandal and protecting the privacy of his nephew. “For me personally, it’s always been a tug of war between letting the public know the truth and keeping everything under wraps for the sake of my nephew and my brother,” he tells the tabloid magazine. “Back in 1993 when this story first broke, my family would read The ENQUIRER every week to see what the paper was writing about the case.”We’d all be amazed at how accurate the stories were — and how The ENQUIRER had information nobody else had!” Ironic, given the fact that the family had previous contact with the tabloid.
The Arviso family met Jackson through his hairdresser Carol Lamere. The stylist insists she never wanted to bring the family around Jackson but finally broke since they were, “so insistent and felt bad,” for the gravely ill youngster. Further stating that the parents,Janet and Davis, allowed their daughter, Davellin, “ to moved in with her because the family didn’t have room. She was going to Hollywood High,” and lived with her for an extended period of time. Davellin, “ would tell me how Janet beat them with hangers, would force them to steal and tried running David down with the car. She hit David too and she was so nuts – they were scared of her,” said Lamere
Davellin went to,” visit Janet one day and came back happy,” Lamere explains. “ I said, Wow, that must have went well! Why are you so happy?” Davelline replied by saying that the family was, “ moving to a house in the Hollywood hills.” But when I asked, “ how can the family afford that? Davelline said, Michael…um, and then shut up.”said Lamere. Sensing that something was wrong, “ I warned,” people around Michael after Davellin’s visit with her mother.
“David called me one day and said, ‘their going to be on TV and are going to do something. I bet Gavin acts affectionate’–he knew that something was planned,” LaMere said. “ Janet was never at the hospital,” visiting Gavin while he was sick.. Rather, she was, “ having an affair and David left her.”
Bashir would describe Jackson’s interaction with Gavin as, “I the most disturbing moment of the past eight months.” Martin Bashir expressed his grave concerns for Michael’s children and painted Neverland as a dangerous place for children. Editing out Michael’s explanations and contorting situations into tabloid fodder. Additionally, he aired footage, without parental consent, of a young cancer survivor named Gavin Arvizo. Gavin is seen in the documentary with his head on Michael’s shoulder and holding his hand. Gavin tells Bashir that he asked to sleep in Michael’s bedroom one night — Jackson would say he insisted that the child took the bed and he slept on the floor. Jackson felt betrayed by Bashir and complained that the film gave a distorted picture of his behavior and conduct as a father. Michael filed complaints with UK’s independent Broadcasting Standards Commission and the British high court for breach of contract.
In an attempt to repair his image, Michael’s camp devised a rebuttal to Bashir’s documentary Entitled The Michael Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See hosted by Maury Povich. The broadcast heavily featured unseen footage of the interviews that Hamid Moslehi had taped on the singers behalf. In the film Bashir is heard describing Neverland as “ breathtaking and extraordinary.” He praised Michael’s parenting abilities and describes his interaction with his children as spectacularly loving, so much so it “almost makes him weep.” Jackson stated that Neverland costs him millions in operational costs but how he felt compelled to build Neverland. Not only to relive a childhood he was denied because of career obligations but to care for sick and disadvantaged children. Bashir would go on to describe Michael’s hospitality and interaction with bus loads of children visiting the ranch (from the make a wish foundation) as “nothing short of a spiritually kind thing.” It was abundantly clear that Mr.Bashir had misleading Jackson, categorizing other journalists negative editing practices as “disgusting” and assures Jackson that “we aren’t doing that here.” Following the broadcast several media outlets accused Bashir of yellow journalism. Deliberately doctoring the footage to paint Jackson in an unflattering light. As well as emphasizing the 1993 allegations. The New York Times called Bashir’s journalism style “callous self-interest masked as sympathy.”
It would later be revealed that Bashir send letters to Jackson’s assistant stated that he would like to film Jackson “With large groups of children, around 50, welcoming them and sharing with them his extraordinary home so that, for one day their lives can be enriched.” He even suggested filming Michael in Africa visiting sick children and including friend Macaulay Culkin in the interview. Bashir lead Jackson to believe that the film would highlight his charitable works, particularly his work involving children. Bashir repeatedly asked Michael about his desire for an “international children’s holiday” yet twisted the interview into something very sinister.
Michael Jackson wasn’t the only one to complain about Bashir. British papers would give more insight into claims alleged by Terry Venables, Princess Diana, George Best, Bishop of St Albans and Farooq Yusef. All of whom would state one or more of the following; forged signature and/or documents, complaint that the interview was manipulative-self serving, mislead about nature of interview. In court Bashir, who admittedly never studied journalism, would acknowledge that several claims were filed against him. He would, however, deny that any claim of document forgery were made. Even with overwhelming evidence to support that.
“For a while I think they thought they were going to get me too,” LaMere said. Explaining that early on the Arviso’s, “always hung around me … and the little boy Star always had a crush on me.” Later when Davelline moved into my home. “I supported her, I bought her cloths,” Lamere said. “ Dee [Davellin] would never bathe. She would merely, “turn the water on and pretend she was bathing” and “ I and had to talk to her about personal hygiene.” Davelline never “cleaned” as Janet later stated in court.“Yeah, she had to do house work same as my kids did.” She would spend most of her time, “swimming at my house and she rarely went to Neverland.”
But Davelline, who is seen in the Bashir interview, had ultimately begun to spending more time at Jackson’s Neverland ranch. And for a short time dated Neverland kitchen staffer Angel Vivanco. Who confirmed that Davelin did in fact confided in him. Telling him that her mother Janet was planning something “huge” concerning Jackson and that Davelin wanted no part in it. That something “huge” it seems- turned out to be a accusation of child molestation against Jackson.
“The day after the Bashir interview aired I got a call from ABC to come out to LA and was hired immediately,” our media source said. “Everyone knew that Sneddon never closed the original case so that’s why the media mobilized and moved quickly.” In a rush to get media coverage even the most unsavory of journalists became an option, “a producer friend asked my opinion about hiring Victor (Gutierrez) but I reminded them of the Hard Copy suit. At the time they were negotiating with me they were negotiating with Diane Dimond. They were assembling a team and Diane Dimond wanted to bring in Victor.” Ultimately, Dimond was hired by Court TV and Martin Bashir was, “ immediately hired by ABC because of the documentary and was able to form his own group — he brought Victor in. They paid Victor a lot of money and even paid for his visa,” to return to the United States from Chile.
Subsequently Victor Gutierrez had given interviews to foreign markets. Telling interviewers that he was hired as a consultant for American networks and stating “Now I can negotiate the movie rights to my book, negotiations which were on hold,” and, ” of course programs all around the world are calling me to sell them information and even photos which I have of him [Jordan] when he was a child.”
Victor indeed attended the 2005 trial and was hired by ABC. Victor and Bashir were a part from the other network journalists and seemed to be working within the “same secretive group” according to a journalist working for the same network.
She went on to say that, “The networks have a ‘case database’ and that during the beginning stages of the trial Evan and Jordan were listed at the same apartment in Manhattan and everyone was trying to contact them but Jordan wouldn’t talk.”
In 2003, ABC filed an Abstract Of Judgement showing that the judgement against Evan Chandler, the losing defendant in the 1996 Sawyer case, owed in excess of 32 thousand to the broadcasting giant. The purpose of an abstract of judgment is to create a public record and create a lien or claim if necessary on any real estate property owned or later acquired by the defendant located in the county in which the abstract of judgment is recorded.
Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon, led the prosecution against Jackson in a new round of child molestation charges. After Jackson’s death, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the FBI helped Santa Barbara prosecutors with “interview strategies for a victim who alleged that Michael Jackson had abused him in 1993.” The FBI and Santa Barbara officials met in 2004 with Jordan Chandler but were unsuccessful in getting his cooperation. Once again Chandler refused to testify against Jackson, something he was never barred from doing in the settlement agreement reached in 1994.
On November 18, 2003, more than 70 investigators from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant upon Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The search has been criticized as having involved an excessively large number of law enforcement personnel. Notably, a press release was issued and Diane Dimond, “was the only media representative aloud, I believe. She was the only one that they permitted. I think that was one of her claims to fame, “ defense attorney Thomas Mesereau told us. “She and Sneddon had a good relationship as I recall. One-time Susan Yu had to call (prosecutor) Gordon Auchincloss about a particular matter and he answered the phone, ‘Hi Diane!’ — She said no…It’s not Diane, its Susan Yu.”
Days later, Diane Dimond told Larry King, “There is new and breaking information that will come out tomorrow, and that’ll come from the district attorney himself and the local sheriff. They’re going to have a news conference about 11:00 a.m., but I have learned something very important and I will pass it on to you, in that there was not just a search warrant out there today at Neverland. There was also an arrest warrant. And had Michael Jackson been there, they would have put handcuffs on him and taken him to jail.” During the press conference announcing the accusations against Michael Jackson, Tom Sneddon laughed and made several jokes at the entertainers expense. Tom Sneddon would also agree to yet another interview with Diane Dimond where he called Michael “ Wacko Jacko”
But Sneddon wouldn’t be the only prosecutor with a questionable relationship. Louise Palanker met the Arviso family at the laugh factory where she was the children’s mentor for a summer comedy camp. It was revealed in court that she wrote two checks to the family totaling twenty thousand dollars among other gifts. On January 7th, 2005, sheriffs interviewed Palanker who said “This family can be as whacky as they want to be” and when referring to the children’s mother Janet, said she, “ believed the kids were collaborating in what she (Janet) was saying.”
Palanker went on to tell the Santa Barbara sheriffs that Janet wanted to move — take her kids and move into her home. “ I know that Janet’s unbalanced. I think she’s totally bipolar”.
“Janet would sell them at the benefits, then sell them at the hospital, and David was never at The Laugh Factory when the children were coming.”
“It was always David or it was the children being coached to ask me for a laptop. Being coached to tell me that they hadn’t gotten any Christmas presents.”
“Janet always put him up to it, and he had to do what she told him to do”.“These people are teaching their kids to lie”. She further complained to law enforcement about the family by saying,“The behavior from the children – from the family was so over the top all the time.You don’t just get one letter from them. You get five letters from them. You don’t get one phone call. You get five phone calls. A message from Janet on your answering machine can last five minutes.” Palanka said, as she goes on to mimics types of messages she received on her phone to the sheriffs.
Palanka, however, would paint a very different picture in court when she testified for the prosecution. Under cross examination by the defense she would attempt to explain away her earlier statements by saying, “ I was exaggerating.” Her testimony would ultimately fall apart when it was revealed her police interviews were recorded. To which she exclaimed,”I didn’t know I was being taped.”
On June 14, 2005, a day after the verdict and the gag order was lifted, Palanka took to her blog, Weezy and The Swish. Writing about her various interviews and stating,“My heart belongs to D.A. Ron Zonen.” The prosecutor would become a frequent guest on her radio show and the couple would eventually marry in 2011. Palanker would also host a radio program with Diane Dimond entitled Talk It Over Radio. Given this revelation – one has to wonder about Ms.Palanka’s true motives for claiming her statements to law enforcement were “exaggerated” during her testimony.
British journalist and court reporter, Charles Thomson, spoke with Ryan Michaels from Reason Bound podcast. In the episode entitled Pirates In Neverland: The Michael Jackson Allegations Thompson said, “I’ve spoken to various journalists that were at the trial. And there were a few who sort of despaired at the way the press, at large, was covering the case. One of them was Linda Deutsch who I spoke to and she like the grand dam in America of court reporting. She’s been at every major trial in America since (Charles) Manson and she said it was the worst experience of her life covering a trial because the press was so bias, so unethical and so immature. Like bullies essentially – She said it was like hanging around with a pack of school bullies for four months in Santa Maria.”
Thomson goes on to say, “I Spoke to a witness in the case, who was a prosecution witness, in the trial.” And “they told me that they were – the media- was so involved – in the trial, in the prosecution’s case. That they took that witness shopping and picked their outfit for them before they went to testified.” This unnamed witness also went on to tell Thompson that, “ every prosecution witness that they knew was selling stories to the press.” Thompson not only noted that this was illegal but that a gag order in place. They were getting around it , “they were selling interviews but they were invoicing it as photo shoots. The media was totally inserting itself into the prosecution’s case.”
During the trial, he defense made the case that Janet Arviso was a grifter with a history of using her children to try to extract cash from celebrities. She denied it, but clearly wasn’t the best witness for herself or her children. She interrupted lawyers, gave rambling, confusing answers, and scolded jurors. One juror later said: “I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us.” The Juror recalled thinking, “Don’t snap your fingers at me, lady.”
Defence attorney Thomas Mesereau told us “I knew she would be an absolute disaster remember we had a pretrial hearing. On this question of whether or not the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s should have broken into prior council’s investigators office and I had a belief that Janet would be disaster for a number of reasons. But it almost didn’t happen because of some incompetent Lawyers who were associated with Michael Jackson. When I started learning about her. I quickly realized that she had committed what looked like welfare fraud and perjury because she settled a case with JC Penney which was based on lies, as you well know. Then filed an emergency application for welfare assistance not long after that. And did not include that settlement in her application which she was asked to do because the applications asks —have you receive any money through lawsuits or settlements – blah, blah, blah.
So, I wanted to make sure she took the stand. There were some very poor lawyers around Michael Jackson and believe me I can probably can guess who they were. But nevertheless, who wanted to be heroes and had very limited mentalities and I instructed these people, do not report her to the authorities because if you report her to the authorities she may not testify. Under California law you can insert your Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and not testify if you think you’re being criminally investigated or might be criminally charged. But these dumb ass lawyers wanted to be heroes for Michael Jackson and they reported her thinking the case will go away if we report her. Which is just insanity and for a while I found out she refused to testify because of what these other attorneys had done. These are people with limited mentalities limited scope and just um, there were some repercussions to that. You may recall I was not allowed to examine her from her perjured welfare applications where she lied repeatedly–Because of what these lawyers had done and one was fired immediately –and the other person I had a talking too and really got a piece of my mind because my lawyer partner Susan Yu who was the most important lawyer in the case as far as I’m concerned. We were the ones really looking through the evidence and figuring out how to win the case and we knew we wanted her on the witness stand. We didn’t want anything done that would discourage her. Now, she ended up taking the witness stand but I was not allowed to examine her from those perjured welfare applications because of what these other idiots did. She was allowed to assert her Fifth Amendment rights on those issues. The judge told the jury’s she wasn’t going to answer certain questions on issues like that, which didn’t look good either. But nevertheless it wasn’t nearly as damaging as it would’ve been had I been able to cross examine her from her fraudulent welfare applications.”
It was revealed in court that the Arviso family contact to two civil attorneys rather than going to the authorities.Gavin admitted that he had told his school administrator that Jackson had not molested him and first alleged that Jackson molested him prior to the Bashir documentary. But when Jackson could prove he was not in California on those dates – the complaint was changed. Shockingly, the family now claimed that it was after Living with Michael Jackson aired, when the press was mobilized against him and the authorities were investigating, that Jackson had begun serving him and his younger brother wine and began to sexually assault him. Gavin came across as ”surly and combative” to court observers.
“Every witness they had was a disaster – Practically every day I would go home saying –my God these witnesses are ridiculous,” said Mesereau. But that didn’t stop the media from making either false and/or unethical reports about the case. Making jokes at Jackson’s expense – as if the topic of child molestation is a joking matter. And even giving commentary about the defenses performance, “when they weren’t even present in the courtroom.” In the search for ratings, the most notable was the false stories of child pornography found in the singers home.
Jackson was not charged with possessing child pornography and had an extensive library of over 10,000 books in his home. A handful of these book, readily available on Amazon and in the Library of Congress, might be of questionable taste but not illegal. Some were even gifted to the singer.Santa Barbara assistant DA, Ron Zonan said. “They weren’t children engaged in sexual activity, and there was no child pornography. There were no videos involving children. There were videos that were seized, but they were conventional adult sexually graphic material. No children involved.” The prosecutor told the Washington Times.
This, however, did not stop the district attorney from parading all of Michael’s heterosexual pornographic magazines into court. Claiming Jackson showed adult pornographic magazines to Gavin Arviso in order to sexually arouse the young man. The idea that showing a male photos of nude woman, would somehow make him desire an adult male. The premise in of itself seemed flawed.
“There was a very unexpected surprise raid of Neverland while I was representing Michael,” said Jackson’s defense attorney Thomas Mesereau. Michael’s younger brother, “Randy called me and I had to jump on a helicopter and go right to Neverland and they were looking for DNA.” Additionally, they had, “an accident reconstruction expert in his bedroom doing all sorts of measurements and calculations and they also had a computer graphics expert doing some investigation as well. I think they were trying to find any evidence that would suggest that –if Star (Arviso) was walking up the stairway that he could see what was going on in Michael’s bedroom. I think you looking for anything that might help their case. And they never called either of those experts at the trial either.”
“There was no DNA evidence at all. That was one of the arguments we made in our closing — closing argument they have no forensic evidence whatsoever including no DNA evidence. They never tried any DNA into any sexual acts– they didn’t. They had no forensic because I argued no hair, no fibers, no prints, no DNA, no semen, no fluids they find anything of a forensic nature.”
When speaking of the media’s apparent bias Mesereau would state, “ People aren’t willing to admit they were wrong either. Have you talked to Maureen Orth?”
Orth being a journalist from Vanity Fair magazine who famously wrote an article claiming Jackson hired a voodoo chief to ritualistically sacrificed 42 cows. In order to put a curse on David Geffen, Steven Spielberg, and dozens of others on Jackson’s enemies list. The article read more like tabloid fodder, rather than a legitimate article from a noted journalist. Not unlike Diane Dimond, Maureen Orth appeared to have questionable sources and a possible financial motive for a guilty verdict. One journalist even alleged that the two woman loudly proclaimed, prior to the commencement of the trial, “We all know he’s guilty, right!.” According to Defence attorney Thomas Mesereau Orth and Dimond, “ used to sit together all the time. There was a sketch artist who sat with them a couple times– who told me that every time I got up to cross examine. Maureen Orth would go,” I hate him, I hate him!”
On June 13, 2005 the verdict was read, Michael Jackson was found not guilty on all charges. When asked about the lack of accurate reporting and public perception of Jackson, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau said, “ It’s very sad, because a reputation is worth its weight in gold and you can’t put a price on a good reputation. This was the closest thing to full vindication that you can find in the American justice system this was 14 not guilty, 10 felony and four a lesser included misdemeanors. Meaning they wouldn’t even convict him on a misdemeanor count. So you can’t get a stronger declaration of innocence in the American justice system than he got. It’s very sad that a lot of people refuse to take into account the evidence or lack thereof than these jury verdicts. This was a very conviction oriented part of California in this courthouse the conviction rate is overwhelming. You get very conservative jurors, a lot of them from the neighboring Air Force Base and they went not guilty 14 times,” said Mesereau.
Karma
On July 6, 2005 the young man at the heart of the 1993 allegations, Jordan Chandler, accused his father Evan of attacking him with a 12.5 pound dumbbell, choking him and spraying him in the face with Mace. According to the press, father and son were both residents of Liberty Towers—a luxury high rise located in New Jersey. But upon further investigation, they were not living in the same condominium as widely reported. At least not according to Jordan, who on June 20th purchased a condo in New York and listing a address different than his father’s.
Evan was originally charged with two counts of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of weapons for unlawful purposes.The charges were later dropped to two counts of simple assault, harassment and improper behavior.
Evan Chandler’s brother Ray had stated that his brother was “penniless” in his book and his former wife accused him of being a mooch – happy to live off his son. Given those assertions it’s ironic that the senor Chandler requested a court appointed attorney. Jordan was issued a restraining order against his father and deposition date for this action was set for September 29, 2009. It’s unknown if Jordan did indeed give a deposition in this case and all charges were later dismissed.
Evan was so disenchanted with his son that apparently assaulting him clearly wasn’t enough. He later opted to file an action against him. Evan Chandler v. Jordan Chandler HUD-C-149-05. According to the chancellor’s office in Jersey City, Evan filed the case on July 24, 2005 concerning a constructive trust, presumably the settlement money. The case was dismissed with prejudice on March 21, 2007 and sealed.
Evan chandler, who was receiving intravenous drugs used in the treatment of hypercalcemia and bone metastases (cancer). Died on November 5, 2009 from a self inflicted gunshot wound. His body was found by staff at Liberty towers apartment complex in Jersey city, New Jersey. According to his last will and testament:
“I direct that I be cremated and that no family or next of kin be advised of my death until well after my funeral arrangements have been completed and my remains have been disposed.”
“I also have two siblings and other next of kin and I purposefully make no provision for any of them in this my Last Will and Testament. I further direct that no next of kin be granted or given any power over my estate or remains.”
Names friend Alan Margulies as Executor of his estate leaving him any and all assets. Along with and all awards and/or settlements received by his estate. Chandler specifically names two lawsuits involving Novartis pharmaceutical and his physicians who prescribed him the cancer treatment drug Zometa/Aredia, for which he suffered side effects.
“For reasons best known between us, I purposefully make no provisions in this, my last will and testament, for any of my children or their issue.” He makes no provision for any family members and specifically states that, “no next of kin be granted or given any powers over my estate or my remains.”
“I have three children: Jordan Chandler, Nicholas Chandler and Emmanuelle Chandler. For reasons best known between us, I purposefully make no provisions in this, my Last Will and Testament, for any of my children or their issue.”
According to Chandlers will his brother, Raymond Chandler, wouldn’t have been notified of Evans death until well after the fact. One has to wonder how close the brothers were during this time and the intimate details that Ray was really privy too. Yet he deemed it appropriate to grant an interview to the tabloid Daily Mail dated November 20, 2009. Stating that Evan suffered from an incurable genetic illness called Gaucher’s disease and contributed it to his suicide.
Sadly, Chandler listed the address for his youngest children Nicholas and Emmanuelle as “unknown.”
You can donate to Taj Jackson’s documentary here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/untitled-michael-jackson-documentary-series?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
- Sources
- Jackson Family Values — Margaret Maldonado Jackson
- You Are Not Alone Michael: Through A Brother’s Eyes — Jermaine Jackson
- All That Glitters — Raymond Chandler
- Video Slut — Sharon Oreck
- Michael Jackson: The Magic,The Madness, The Whole Story– J. Randy Taroborrelli
- Lost Boy –Kit Culkin (Macaulay’s father)
- Madonna – Andrew Morton
- The Michael Jackson tapes — Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
- Redemption – Geraldine Hughes Joe Jackson’s autobiography ( Die Jacksons- German), 2004
- Child Bride – Suzanne Finstad
- Michael Jackson Was My Lover — Victor Gutierrez
- Trump: The Art Of The Comeback — Donald Trump
- The Glenda tapes
- Legal Documents
- 2005 court transcripts
- Court documents from Santa Maria, Los Angeles, Jersey City and New York.
- Deed record from New York
- Evan Chandler’s Will from surrogate’s court Hudson county, NJ
- Los Angeles Times – November 7, 1991
- People Magazine March 25 & April 15, 1991
- Newsday — April 18, 1991
- Xtravaganza’s RX for Michael, Apr 21, 1991
- Madonna, The Advocate, May 7, 1991
- ST Louis Post, May 9, 1991
- Chicago Tribune, May 14, 1991
- Madonna, US Magazine, June 13, 1991
- Rocky Mountain News, Sep 12, 1991
- Chicago Sun Times, Nov 15, 1992
- MTV Awards, September 1994 and 1995
- Herald Journal, Nov 19, 1994
- Orlando Sentinel, Nov 25, 1994
- The Spectator, Jan 25, 1996
- Janet/Madonna feud, MTVE news, May 2, 2001
- Friend of Michael’s, Ahmad Elatab, New York Post, November 22, 2003
- The Mail online September 17, 2011
- Los Angeles Times – February 20, 1994, April 1, 1994
- Los Angeles Times — August 28, 1993
- GQ Magazine – 1994 “Was Michael Jackson Framed?”
- The National Enquirer
- Life Magazine – 1993
- USA Today – January, 1994
- Reuters- January, 1994
- Q Magazine – 1995 ( Great Britain)
- The London Mirror- September, 1994
- The Associated Press- January 1995
- Entertainment Weekly – June 1995
- Women’s Day Magazine – 1995 ( July?)
- Rolling Stone Magazine – 2003
- The Globe – July 4, 1995
- Playboy Magazine –
- The Herald – July 8, 2009
- The Spectator – January 1996
- Die Tageszeitung ( Germany) –
- The Daily News- March 16, 2005
- News Of The World – May 24, 1992
- Michael Jackson preservation Project ( Flo Anthony) January 22, 2012
- reflections on the dance.com interview with David Nordahl
- Princess Stephanie — French Interview on Radio Monaco , July 15,2009
- Klen and Barkley show of KABC-AM radio – January 1995
- Social media: Myspace, twitter, Facebook
- The Glenda Tapes
- MJJF Talk Radio
- vindicatemj.wordpress.com
- MJJ-777. com
- SIRIUS XM:Radio — Judith Regan
- thesilencedtruth.com
- Extra TV 7/7/2009
- Billboard blog.com
- Au paradis avec Michael Jackson by Gonzague Saint Bris
- Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees aired Feb. 11, 2005
- IMDB
- damiensheilds.com
- rhythmofthetide.com
- floacist.wordpress.com
- The Chattanooga Times, August 19, 1995
- The Inside Story on life in Michael Jackson’s shadow (1995 On the Show web page December 9, 2012
- Lermanet.com
- The Washington Times – Thursday, June 23, 2016 Ken Sheperd
- Vanity Fair magazine archives
- Female first webpage January 25,2005
- ABC News, Latoya defends Michael January 20,2005
- The Washington Post June 7, 1990
- The Daily Mail (on line) September 17, 2011
- Life Style (on line) September 2011
- Maury Povich show – 1993
- Larry King Live
- Oprah Winfrey – February 1993, 2003, 2010
- Diane Sawyer for ABC’s Primetime Live on June 14, 1995
- Hard Copy
- CNN –December 1993, May, 1994
- CBS News
- CNN.com/transcripts
- The Joan River Show — Jamie Foster
- The Geraldo Rivera show — Mike Walker
- George Nelson interview — NYPL.org.
- MTV
- Living with Michael Jackson — Martin Bashir 2003
- Television footage of The World Music Awards 1993
- Late Night with Conan O’Brien — 1995
- Inside Edition
- BET awards
- Interviews with:
- Unnamed sources in investigation and in media
- Detective Darryl Campbell (Canadian law enforcement)
- Dr. William Alleyne
- Paul Hernandez
- Thomas Johanson
- Phil Cody
- Marion Spence
- Howard Bloom
- Ken Wells
- Facebook and personal emails — Flo Anthony
- Personal conversation with Thomas Mesereau – July 2012, October 2012, May 2013
- Carol Lamere, Meet with in LA March 2013
- JD Shapiro, by email
- Rodney Allen , By mail
Turning the Table on the Chandler Allegations 