Part 25 (1/2)

Apparently, Michael didn't want anyone to know what he was up to, lest they all gang up on him to talk him out of it which they definitely would have done. The next day, Michael instructed certain employees of his to go to the Encino home and take from it the possessions he now wanted at Neverland. 'I was waiting for Michael to come to us and say something,' Joseph said, sadly. 'But he never did.'

A few weeks later, Michael hosted a housewarming party for his relatives, but he did not invite Joseph or Katherine. 'That hurt us both,' Joseph recalled. 'We'd seen a lot from that boy, but this was really something we couldn't figure out. I don't know why he would be so hurtful to us, and especially to Kate. I couldn't understand it,' he said.

As it happened, Michael's name was not on the original purchase agreement for the estate. Rather, the agreement was signed by his lawyer, John Branca, and his accountant, Marshall Gelfand, all at Michael's instruction. He had told them that he didn't want anyone to be able to check public records of property owners.h.i.+p and figure out where he lived. Marshall suggested that a trust be set up with himself and John as trustees. Michael owned the trust and could fire both men at any time. The two could do nothing with the property without his permission. To Michael, it was a good idea... but only for a couple of days. He's too insecure, and maybe too paranoid, to allow such a situation to exist very long. It was Bill Bray who had a talk with Michael about the property, stoking the fires. 'Man, you don't own this place, they do,' said Bill, being completely unreasonable and naive. 'You need to check this out, Michael. What's gonna happen if they decide to kick your a.s.s out. What'chu gonna do then, Michael? Huh?'

The next day, Michael called Marshall and demanded to know why he didn't own his own property.

'But you do do own it,' Marshall explained. 'It's set up as a trust, Michael. It's what you asked for.' own it,' Marshall explained. 'It's set up as a trust, Michael. It's what you asked for.'

'Well, I don't like it,' Michael said, curtly. 'I think it sounds fishy. Change it. I didn't spend all of this time working on this negotiation to now not own the place. It's my my house.' house.'

'Fine, we'll terminate the trust,' Gelfand responded. 'It's done. Terminated.'

On 11 April 1988, John Branca and Marshall Gelfand signed individual grant deeds turning over the property to Michael Jackson, thereby dissolving the trust.

Michael hoped for a serene lifestyle in his new, palatial estate. He said he needed s.p.a.ce, a place to think, time off after the Bad tour. However, his family now felt that he'd distanced himself from them geographically, as well as emotionally. As much as they missed him, they were also worried about their futures without him. What could the Jacksons do without Michael? Not much. Joseph, Katherine and the brothers were thinking about another reunion tour, and it would only be a matter of time before they approached Michael with the idea. As it would happen, the Victory tour fiasco of 1984 would pale in comparison to what they now had in mind. However, this time Michael would not be quite as accommodating.

PART EIGHT.

Enter the Moonies.

In the spring of 1988, Jerome Howard, the thirty-five-year-old president of business affairs for Joseph and Katherine Jackson's many entertainment corporations, received a telephone call from someone named Kenneth Choi, a Korean businessman who desperately wanted to arrange a meeting with Joseph. Kenneth, who had already been booted out of Michael Jackson's office as well as the offices of his accountant, Marshall Gelfand, and attorney, John Branca told Jerome that he was from a wealthy family interested in spending millions to organize and promote a Jackson family concert tour in Korea. Realizing, of course, that just such a reunion was always on Joseph's and Katherine's minds, Jerome arranged a meeting between Kenneth and Joseph.

'Millions of dollars were offered at that meeting,' Jerome remembered. 'The guy was talking ten to fifteen million. Whatever it would take to get the Jackson brothers to come together for these concerts, that's what he and his family wanted to spend. Joseph was excited. Choi invited us to go to Korea to check things out. We didn't know what was happening; all we knew was that the guy had a lot of money and he wanted to give it to us.'

Joseph, Katherine, Jerome and Kenneth took a four-day trip to Korea, paid for by Kenneth. They were wined and dined and introduced to several wealthy and influential business people, celebrities and politicians. They also met a gentleman who could not speak English, named 'Mr Lee', who was introduced as Choi's brother. They were told that Lee, who owned a s.h.i.+pping company, would be the primary backer of the proposed Jacksons concerts, along with the Segye Times, Segye Times, a Korean newspaper. Through his interpreter-secretary, Mr Lee said that if the concerts were successfully organized, he would also invest two million dollars in a record company for Joseph. Of course, Joseph was intrigued and eager to move forward with the deal. a Korean newspaper. Through his interpreter-secretary, Mr Lee said that if the concerts were successfully organized, he would also invest two million dollars in a record company for Joseph. Of course, Joseph was intrigued and eager to move forward with the deal.

'These people knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Jackson family,' Jerome Howard recalled. 'They knew that Joseph was interested in getting money for his company, and for himself. They understood that Katherine's interest was for her family. She wanted to make money for her children. They seemed to know everything about the Jacksons, and they knew how to play all the angles.'

In the course of meetings, Jerome soon discovered that the Segye Times Segye Times is owned by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. The so-called Moonies, as it turned out, were actually to be the ones primarily backing the tour. is owned by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. The so-called Moonies, as it turned out, were actually to be the ones primarily backing the tour.

Although many people have joked over the years about being ha.s.sled for small change by young Moonies in airports, Moon's followers have actually raised a lot of money, which Moon has invested in a number of diversified enterprises, including banks, restaurants, fisheries and the media. However, the Unification Church has been a lightning rod for controversy: Christian fundamentalist groups have charged that the Church is not Christian; liberal groups have accused them of being too right-wing; parents have hired deprogrammers to kidnap their children who are living in Moonie compounds. Although members.h.i.+p has rapidly declined, the Unification Church is still wealthy.

What Moon craved most for his church was respectability. If he could align himself with Michael Jackson (the biggest-selling and most clean-cut pop artist of all time) and the Jackson family (still perceived by many as being one of the most wholesome families in the United States), Moon would benefit, greatly. The price would be high, but the prestige would be well worth the cost.

When Jerome told Joseph and Katherine that the Reverend Sun Myung Moon was involved in the proposed Jackson deal, Joseph was fascinated; he had heard that Moon was wealthy. However, Katherine was upset. 'I don't want to have anything to do with anything religious,' she said. 'Business is business, but I don't even want to know anything about the religious ties.' Katherine did not tell Jerome to stop the negotiations. She just didn't want to know the details.

From the beginning, Jerome was suspicious of the people working on Moon's behalf. 'They always spoke Korean behind your back,' he said. 'They'd say something in English and then turn to someone and say something in Korean, and who knows what they were saying? I worried that we were missing out on important information. It would be my job to protect the Jacksons as best I could in these sorts of circ.u.mstances.'

It was a job Jerome often performed admirably. At about this time, Katherine and Joseph purchased a six-bedroom house in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they eventually plan to retire. The house was being offered for $570,000. The Jacksons brought Jerome Howard to Las Vegas with them to negotiate a deal. Before they went to meet the sellers, Jerome told Katherine and Joseph to strip off all their jewellery probably a quarter of a million dollars' worth and put it in the glove compartment of the car. Then, Jerome brought them into the home to meet the owners. Katherine and Joseph acted like 'everyday folks', never mentioned their famous history, and must have done a fairly convincing job of acting because, in the end, they bought the house for only $292,000.

Of the cost of the home, $200,000 came from money that Michael had given Katherine. She then mortgaged the balance.

A month after their first visit to Korea, Joseph, Katherine, Rebbie and Jerome returned for more meetings. They attended a meeting with a Reverend Dr Chung Hwan Kwak, president of the Segye Times. Segye Times. A large, framed picture of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon hung in his office; Katherine tried to ignore it. Kwak told Jerome to put together a proposal, '”and whatever my son wants to do, we'll do it.” He kept saying ”my son” throughout the whole meeting, and we were under the impression that Choi was his son [he wasn't],' Howard recalled. Kwak may of course have meant the reference in a spiritual, rather than strictly familial, way. A large, framed picture of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon hung in his office; Katherine tried to ignore it. Kwak told Jerome to put together a proposal, '”and whatever my son wants to do, we'll do it.” He kept saying ”my son” throughout the whole meeting, and we were under the impression that Choi was his son [he wasn't],' Howard recalled. Kwak may of course have meant the reference in a spiritual, rather than strictly familial, way.

Katherine and Joseph then met privately with Reverend Kwak in their suite. They had a sumptuous breakfast and exchanged gifts; Katherine gave him autographed pictures of her family members. After that meeting, Katherine and Joseph went shopping in Etaewon with a tour guide, all to keep them busy while Jerome started talking 'real business'.

Working with Kwak's special a.s.sistant David Hose, Jerome Howard began structuring a deal at the Amba.s.sador Hotel. Joseph, Katherine and Jerome agreed that the way to structure it was to make the Moonies the sponsors of the show and Katherine and Joseph the promoters. Katherine and Joseph would establish a company for this purpose, which they would call Jackson Family Concerts International. Reverend Kwak's representatives then took what Jerome had outlined, left the hotel, and brought the papers to their lawyers. They returned three and a half hours later.

'They came back with a contract that was so wild I couldn't believe it,' Jerome said. 'They wanted Michael to begin the show by singing the Korean national anthem and then perform three Korean numbers in Korean costumes. I looked at that contract and thought, Oh, man, this is ridiculous. Michael is not going to learn any Korean songs, and he is certainly not about to wear any Korean wardrobe onstage! When I showed the deal to Joseph and Katherine, they busted up laughing and were almost rolling on the floor. ”I want to see Michael sing in Korean,” Joseph said. ”Now, that is too much! It's gonna be hard enough to convince him to go along with this, but wait'll we tell him he has to learn Korean.”'

Jerome negotiated an outstanding deal. The Jacksons would perform for four nights, one two-hour show each night, at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, for which they would be paid $7.5 million. There would also be a $1.5 million production budget; whatever was not spent of that budget would go to the Jacksons. One hundred per cent of the profits from broadcasting rights outside of Korea and 50 per cent of the merchandising profits would also belong to the family. However, the Moonies would hold broadcasting and video rights in Korea, as well as 100 per cent of the ticket sales. The clauses about the Korean songs and costumes were deleted from the contract. There was further talk that the Moonies hoped to send Michael and his brothers to Russia and China, and would offer them up to thirty million dollars in advance for those tours. Joseph, Jerome and Kwak signed the contract. Katherine didn't sign; she doesn't sign anything, which is why she is the one with good credit, and not Joseph.

'The Jackson Moonie Project,' which is what it became known as among the family members, had become a major, multimillion-dollar proposition for the family. As it happened, most of them needed the money.

Janet and LaToya were not approached because the Koreans only wanted the brothers, plus Janet was immersed in the recording of a new alb.u.m for A&M and would never have toured with the family at this stage of her life. Jackie, t.i.to, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy would not be a problem, or at least that's what Joseph and Katherine speculated. Rebbie had consented to appear but, again, this tour was only for the brothers. Of course, the entire deal was contingent upon getting Michael, who was in Europe on the Bad tour at the time, to agree to it.

'How will we get Michael to do this?' Jerome asked Joseph.

Joseph turned to Katherine with a smile. 'The question,' he said, 'is how will she she get Michael to do this?' get Michael to do this?'

'But what about Michael?'

In September 1988, Michael telephoned Katherine and Joseph from Liverpool. He was lonely, and missed his family. His tone was weary. 'I need a break. I've been thinking about all of us. The family is falling apart, do you know that?'

Katherine told Michael she agreed with him. 'What can I do, Michael?' she asked.

Michael let out a long sigh. 'I'll talk to you and Joseph when I get back,' he offered.

He asked to speak to Joseph. Michael then apologized to his father for some of the material written in his autobiography, Moonwalk, Moonwalk, which had eventually been published by Doubleday. He explained that he hadn't written the book himself, and that the critical portions were written by 'someone else'. Whenever Michael is publicly critical of Joseph, he feels badly. which had eventually been published by Doubleday. He explained that he hadn't written the book himself, and that the critical portions were written by 'someone else'. Whenever Michael is publicly critical of Joseph, he feels badly.

Joseph wanted to know if Michael was planning to rejoin his brothers after the Bad tour. Why, one might wonder, would he try to push that sensitive issue when Michael was clearly reaching out to him? Michael was firm about it; he told him he didn't want to rejoin the brothers, 'and please don't push me about it.' Joseph then told Michael that anything he had ever heard about him wanting to exploit him or profit from his success was simply not true. 'I don't want to be involved in your business, Michael,' Joseph said, according to Katherine's memory. 'I have money problems, yeah. But all I want is for us to be a family again. Don't you want that?'

'I do want that,' Michael said. 'I really do, Joseph.'

The conversation ended on a hopeful note. Katherine and Joseph felt optimistic that they would soon have their son back. For Joseph, the timing couldn't have been better. He was in serious financial trouble after having lost $700,000 in bad oil well investments, and over $250,000 in his JoCola beverage company. Plus, a judgement had been entered against him. Three years earlier he had entered into an agreement with real estate developer and entrepreneur Gary Berwin to purchase the Berwin Entertainment Center complex in Hollywood for $7.1 million. 'Joseph indicated that money was not a problem,' said Gary. 'I had no reason to doubt him. Michael had just bought The Beatles' catalogue for forty-seven million dollars, so I believed that the family had access to money. In fact, Joseph laughed when I brought up the question of finances. ”With the kind of family I've got, money's no object,” he said.'

Gary and Joseph entered into a deal by which Gary would own 15 per cent of the real estate, Joseph the other 85 per cent. The two would be equal partners in a recording studio, nightclub and private club in the building. Joseph shamelessly bandied about the notion that Michael would somehow be involved. 'He told me that Michael would come and visit the club often, and that his presence alone would make the place a success,' Gary said. 'He said that Michael could come in through the guard gates, take the private elevator, and no one would know when he was coming or going, which Michael would like. He said that access to the recording studio would be secretive, which was also good for Michael.'

'What makes you so sure that Michael is going to want to be involved in this?' Gary asked.

'Look, if I'm involved, then it's a known fact Michael Jackson will be involved,' Joe answered, confidentially. 'You can bank on it. If I'm here and Katherine's here, Michael's here.'

Joseph decided to pay for the building in cash, rather than attempt to secure a mortgage with his poor credit. He wrote a cheque for the full $7.1 million and gave it to Gary, telling him not to deposit it 'until Friday'. On Friday, he called and told him to 'wait until Monday'. On Monday, he called and said 'wait until Friday'. This went on for a few weeks until, finally, Gary deposited the cheque which was promptly returned for lack of funds.

A year later, the matter was resolved in court; it was ruled that Joseph had to either buy the property or be responsible for damages incurred by his having stalled the sale to another buyer. He could not afford to buy it. Gary said, 'We finally got Michael served to find out if and how he had led his father into thinking he would help out. He was in a limousine at the time, and somebody walked up to him and handed him a paper. He went to sign it, thinking the person wanted an autograph. It was a summons.' One can only imagine Michael's annoyance, to be served a summons in a bad business deal involving his father. It certainly wasn't the first time, nor was it the last. He ignored the demand to appear for a deposition.

In October 1988, damages to Gary Berwin had been a.s.sessed at three million dollars. Since Joseph did not have the money, Gary obtained a judgement against him. To this day, he has not collected on it. 'It was a debacle,' he said, 'and all because I got myself into this Jackson family mess. It was the sorriest thing I'd ever done in my life.

'I couldn't imagine that Michael Jackson, who earns all of these millions, could not give his father the money. I couldn't believe that he would let his father go down like that. This building would have put Joseph on his feet once and for all, and independently of the family. He would never have had to deal with the kids any more, professionally. I tried to appeal not only to Michael but also to the other kids, all of whom are isolated by hard-nosed lawyers. Not one of them cared about Joseph's security. As much as I grew to dislike Joseph, I also felt sorry for him.'