Part 39 (1/2)

'Are you kidding?' Justin said when asked by Wade if he'd be interested in meeting Michael. 'h.e.l.l, yeah. Who wouldn't want to meet Michael Jackson? He's my idol.' The meeting would take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.

At the appointed hour, Wade, his girlfriend Mayte Garcia (ex wife of Prince), and Justin showed up in the hotel lobby... with Justin's then-girlfriend, Britney Spears. Britney, who is a big admirer of Michael's, simply couldn't resist tagging along.

'Oh no,' Michael said when told that Justin had brought Britney. 'I didn't invite her. Why'd he have to bring her? her?'

'Well, she's his girlfriend, Mike,' said one of his advisers.

'Oh man, you gotta be kidding me?' Michael remarked. 'He brought his girlfriend? girlfriend? d.a.m.n. I just wanted to see Justin. Maybe she should wait downstairs, or something?' d.a.m.n. I just wanted to see Justin. Maybe she should wait downstairs, or something?'

The notion that Britney Spears might wait in the lobby while Michael entertained Justin, Wade and Mayte was not an idea his a.s.sociates felt they could suggest. 'Mike, look. You can't keep her waiting in the lobby,' said one of them. 'How's that gonna look? She's one of the biggest stars in show business, Mike. Come on!'

'Oh, man,' Michael protested again, chagrined by the turn of events. 'd.a.m.n. She's just gonna be in the way.'

On and on went the discussions. Finally, Michael agreed to allow them both up to his suite.

Once they got up there, however, Michael was enchanted by both Justin and Britney. They were so thrilled to meet him, the two lavished more praise upon him than he'd probably gotten in about a week.

'How about when you did the moonwalk on that Motown show?' Justin said, according to one recollection. 'Man, that was so f.u.c.king cool. You are the coolest, Michael. I can't believe I am standing here with Michael f.u.c.king Jackson Michael f.u.c.king Jackson.'

'And how about that ”Thriller” video?' Britney enthused. 'That was the best. You revolutionized videos, dude. You are the f.u.c.king best best.'

His indelible influence on modern pop is so far-reaching and entrenched, it's probably not surprising that Justin and Britney were dazzled to be in his presence. Michael beamed; as far as the top teen stars of the day were concerned, he was still the man. * *

'Everyone wants to be crazy'

Michael Jackson has earned an estimated $500 million dollars in his lifetime, about $100 million from 1982's Thriller Thriller alone. A report by the business magazine alone. A report by the business magazine Forbes Forbes last year estimated his net worth at $300 million but warned that he had incurred big debts and that his spending seemed to be out of control. last year estimated his net worth at $300 million but warned that he had incurred big debts and that his spending seemed to be out of control.

Though Michael has made some canny investments, he has experienced financial difficulties in recent years because of his high overheads. He spends money like mad, as demonstrated when he appeared to sh.e.l.l out about six million dollars in minutes on baroque vases and urns, with Martin Bas.h.i.+r's cameras rolling in Las Vegas. 'I want that one,' he exclaimed, 'and that one and that one and... yoo-hoo? yoo-hoo? How much is How much is that that one!' (However, he did return much of that merchandise after the programme was broadcast buyer's remorse, perhaps... or maybe just a reconsideration of his taste in furnis.h.i.+ngs.) one!' (However, he did return much of that merchandise after the programme was broadcast buyer's remorse, perhaps... or maybe just a reconsideration of his taste in furnis.h.i.+ngs.) His staff of 120 people costs him about $300,000 a month. More than once, the company that leases much of the amus.e.m.e.nt park equipment has threatened to repossess it; Michael has had to come up with emergency payments, thereby not being able to compensate certain employees. Neverland's monthly expenditures amount to about $1.2 million.

A couple of years ago, Michael used his one-half share of the Sony/ATV music catalogue as collateral to borrow $200 million. (Michael bought ATV in 1985 for $47.5 million. Ten years later, in 1995, he sold 50 per cent of ATV to Sony for about $90 million. Sony/ATV, of course, owns the publis.h.i.+ng rights to hundreds of Beatles songs, as well as more than 400,000 other songs, including some of Elvis's and even Madonna's.) Sony guaranteed the $200 loan for Michael. However, if he defaults, the company can then move to claim his share of ATV.

'He's a ticking financial time bomb waiting to explode,' claimed the attorney of Myung Ho Lee, his former financial manager from 1998 to 2001 who sued him for back payment. (The suit was settled in June 2003.) More than likely, in order to meet the loan, Michael will borrow $200 million from someone else, pay back the original lender, and then owe the money to a new one. He's never going to be sensible when it comes to finances; yet he will always live like a king. According to different legal filings along the way, he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to attorneys, publicists and even to limousine companies; people apparently work for him, and then wait to be paid, because it's worth it just to be able to be affiliated to him. He even still owes money to the contractor who built Neverland! Those who predict his financial downfall forget that he's a person with whom powerful people want to rub shoulders, no matter what, a famous man who traffics with the international elite. There will always be someone, somewhere, willing to bail him out, if it becomes necessary to do so, even if he's viewed as a poor risk. Why? Because he's Michael Jackson Michael Jackson.

Besides, the $200 million isn't due until 2006. In Michael's world, that's a lifetime away. There are times when he's simply trying to get through the week; his eye certainly isn't on what will happen in three years. Also, he can take comfort in knowing that he can eradicate the entire matter by doing the one thing he most doesn't want to do: tour. A couple of unsuccessful CDs, videos and bad judgement calls can still not dim the glory that has been Michael Jackson's performing career for decades. His 1997 HIStory HIStory tour was a monumental success for him, setting attendance records at each stop along the way. The public might not be as supportive of his music as it was before the allegations, but Michael still sold out concert halls after the scandal. tour was a monumental success for him, setting attendance records at each stop along the way. The public might not be as supportive of his music as it was before the allegations, but Michael still sold out concert halls after the scandal.

For instance, he feared that he would have problems performing in the United States, and was particularly nervous about two January 1997 dates in Hawaii, his first American shows since the scandal (and his first US Tour stop since 1989). However, the two concerts (4 and 5 January 1997, in Honolulu) were hugely successful for him. While no other musical act had ever sold out the stadium, Michael's shows sold out in less than a day. Hawaii promoter, Tom Moffatt enthused, 'I've never seen anything like it... there's been nothing even close to this the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Julio Iglesias, the Eagles.' Evan Chandler may have thought he would 'ruin' Michael Jackson... and maybe he did do him significant damage where record sales are concerned, but not when it comes to his ability to draw concert goers.

In 2001, he was offered ten million dollars simply to perform two nights in Las Vegas. He also had $100 million guaranteed for a national tour. Imagine what he might command for a world world tour? He could earn enough to handle his responsibility with the bank loan plus whatever he may require to cover his annual Toys 'R' Us budget. 'But it takes too much out of me,' he told me of touring, back in 1995. 'It's like a two-hour marathon, every show. I swear, I must lose ten pounds a concert. The expectations are too high. It's hard.' tour? He could earn enough to handle his responsibility with the bank loan plus whatever he may require to cover his annual Toys 'R' Us budget. 'But it takes too much out of me,' he told me of touring, back in 1995. 'It's like a two-hour marathon, every show. I swear, I must lose ten pounds a concert. The expectations are too high. It's hard.'

Michael also spends a fortune on presents for children around the world, some of whom he knows but many of whom he doesn't and who are connected to him through various charities. Also, of course, he splurges on himself: for instance, in June 1999 he paid $1.54 million at a Sotheby's auction to own David O. Selznick's Best Picture Oscar for Gone With the Wind Gone With the Wind. Moreover, he gives generously to friends such as Elizabeth Taylor, who is accustomed to receiving expensive baubles from Michael on a regular basis, and he doesn't disappoint. He recently spent $10,000 in Las Vegas, on perfume for her.

Unfortunately, making his life more complex is the fact Michael is always involved in lawsuits from people with whom he's done business in the past: former promoters, producers, managers, accountants, investment bankers, employees have all come after him for tens of millions of dollars. It seems that the lawsuits never stop coming. Brian Oxman, who has represented Michael and some of his siblings for more than ten years, says that Michael has given about 500 depositions in his lifetime and, amazingly, been involved in more than 1,500 lawsuits. If one figures that Michael didn't start becoming involved in litigation until he was a professional entertainer of about ten years of age, and it's unlikely that the suits started that early, it would amount to thirty-five years of lawsuits or an average of forty lawsuits a year.

Michael, of course, is not the only one giving depositions all of the litigants are required to do so, as well. Such interrogations then become public record and, often, the foundation for interesting a.s.sertions. Earlier this year, as a result of depositions given during a lawsuit filed against Michael, it was reported by Vanity Fair Vanity Fair that he hired a witch doctor named, Baba, to sacrifice forty-two cows in order to curse David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and dozens of others on a Hate List. Sure, it's preposterous, but in Michael's world one in which he whisks his baby out of a hospital, 'with all the placenta and everything all over her' it could be argued that anything goes. that he hired a witch doctor named, Baba, to sacrifice forty-two cows in order to curse David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and dozens of others on a Hate List. Sure, it's preposterous, but in Michael's world one in which he whisks his baby out of a hospital, 'with all the placenta and everything all over her' it could be argued that anything goes.

In Michael's song 'Tabloid Junkie' he wrote, 'Just because you read it in a magazine or see it on a TV screen don't make it factual.' He might have added,'... or read it in a deposition.'

Michael becomes anxious about each lawsuit filed against him, but often not until it involves his personal partic.i.p.ation which is usually at the time of deposition. 'He has, on some occasions in the past, not eaten when he should,' says Oxman. 'He can become very concerned and nervous at depositions. He doesn't like lawsuits, and it makes him ill to have to cope with litigation that people heap on him. He is tired of being sued. But this is the kind of life that Michael leads. No one wants to be reasonable. Everyone wants to be crazy.'

Fathers and Sons.

Perhaps it's not surprising that one person more moved by Martin Bas.h.i.+r's Living With Michael Jackson Living With Michael Jackson doc.u.mentary than maybe anyone else in the Jackson family was Michael's father, Joseph. Every time he sees Michael on television describing how he was beaten as a child, Joseph can't help but cringe. doc.u.mentary than maybe anyone else in the Jackson family was Michael's father, Joseph. Every time he sees Michael on television describing how he was beaten as a child, Joseph can't help but cringe.

Today, Joseph regrets many of his actions, wishes he had made different choices as a parent even if he does put up a tough front. Michael first spoke about his view of his father in a 1993 interview by Oprah Winfrey. 'There were times when he'd come to see me, I'd get sick,' Michael said. 'I'd start to regurgitate. He's never heard me say this,' Michael added. 'I'm sorry,' he said, looking into the camera. 'Please don't be mad at me.' He hastened to add, 'But I do love him.' Afterwards, a visibly hurt Joseph went on television and said, 'I didn't know he was 'gurgitatin', [sic] but if he did 'gurgitate, he 'gurgitated all the way to the bank.' True to the nature of their conflicted relations.h.i.+p, Michael then felt so badly about his words to Oprah that, to show his deep regret, he bought Joseph a new automobile.

'I was tough on him,' Joseph told me of Michael, a few years before Oprah's interview. At the time, he and Michael weren't even speaking; the subject of their disagreement was not known to me. 'See, the thing is that I wanted him to know that the world was not a nice place,' Joseph went on. 'He was so d.a.m.n sensitive, more than the other kids, I was worried about him. Me and Katie both were. So, yeah, I admit it,' he said, a bit defensively. 'I was hard on him. Maybe too much, huh?' His eyes searched my face for an answer. 'Maybe I should have backed off, do you think? I don't know. I do know this. I would do it differently, today.' He shook his head, sadly and concluded, 'What father doesn't wish he had the chance to go back and do it... differently?'

By February 2003, Joseph's son, Michael, was four years older than Joseph had been on the day he took his talented boys to Motown to audition for the company. Then, Joseph was vigorous and full of fight, arguing with Berry Gordy and Ewart Abner, playing around behind his wife's back and ordering his boys about in his own inimitable way. Now, he's slowed down. He sometimes finds it difficult to rise from a chair.

Those who know him best say that seventy-three-year-old Joseph Jackson has become, in his senior years, sentimental and even sad about the past. He wishes his relations.h.i.+p with his wife and children had been better, more satisfying. Somehow, he has managed to set it straight with Katherine, especially in the last ten years. Despite all that has happened to their family the in-fighting, family politics, hurt, anger, betrayal and disappointment Joseph and Katherine, seventy-two, remain united as husband and wife. They have been married for more than fifty years. The names of the women who have come and gone from their lives have been relegated to the distant past. 'Now, what was that girl's name?' Katherine recently asked him in front of a family member. They were speaking of Gina Sprague, from almost twenty-five years ago. Joseph thought for a moment, and had to smile. 'I swear to G.o.d,' he said, 'I can't remember.' Katherine looked perplexed for a moment, then exclaimed, 'My goodness, Joseph. Neither can I. Oh, well...'

Given all the evidence, it could be said that what should have been the story of a family's transcendence and triumph over poverty turned out, instead, to be a tale of tragedy and disappointment. However, maybe that's a cynical view of the Jacksons' story. What if Joseph hadn't been so driven to transform the lives of his family? What if they'd never left Gary, Indiana? Would they have been better off there? It's doubtful. They've had a remarkable, thrilling life in Los Angeles, even with all of the intense, and often hurtful, melodrama.

'At the root of it, we love each other,' Joseph has explained, 'and I guess that's what has kept us together all these years. Even when it got bad,' he said, before correcting himself with a smile, 'even when I got bad and I did didget bad, that woman loved me, and my kids loved me, I like to think. You don't see that in this world so much. I'm a lucky man.'

Joseph and Katherine were both upset about the Martin Bas.h.i.+r doc.u.mentary. They know how easy it is to paint a sensational picture of their most famous son. They felt that Bas.h.i.+r had exploited his obvious eccentricities, and were incensed by his machinations. They were also moved by Michael's recollection of his childhood. It was obvious from his demeanour that he was still in such pain.

When Joseph telephoned Michael early the next morning, he found him crying. Michael said he felt wretched about the way the doc.u.mentary had turned out and, according to a family member, he told his father, 'I just hope that, in twenty years, my kids don't see it. What will they think of me, Joseph?'

Joseph said that he and Katherine wanted to visit him as soon as possible at Neverland. It had been some time since they'd been to the ranch. Michael was suspicious. In the past, whenever Joseph wanted to meet with him it had to do with a scheme to reunite him with his brothers. Michael didn't have the energy to turn him down again. 'I promise you, Michael, it's not about the brothers,' Joseph said. 'It's about us, you and me and Katherine. Plus,' he said, 'we want to see the kids. Please.' (He was referring to his grandchildren.) 'They're as important to us as they are to you, Michael.'

Michael must have been moved. Whereas show business was once paramount in his life, it's true that his children are, today, his primary concern, his great pa.s.sion. Ironically, the allegations of s.e.xual abuse levelled against him a decade ago, those charges that practically laid ruin to his life and career, had a surprising consequence: they were the catalyst for change. Evan Chandler, father of Jordie, had promised to ruin Michael. 'You're going down,' he told him. 'You are going down down.' It was a terrible threat, one no person would ever want to hear. In an effort to reprioritize his world, Michael then reached within to learn what might truly matter to him. He wanted to be vitally involved in something meaningful, not just in show business, and he decided that it would be in the raising of his own children that he would find the most satisfaction. So, he had children not in a conventional manner, but what else could one expect of Michael Jackson?

Katherine and Joseph arrived at Neverland a few days after the United States broadcast of the Martin Bas.h.i.+r programme. They would then spend the next five days with Michael and his children. Mornings would begin with the ritual of Katherine and Michael having breakfast together on one of the patios, the air thick with the mingled scent of the wildflowers Katherine has said she so enjoys. They would then feed the children in the expansive kitchen.

Meanwhile, Joseph would sleep late in one of the guest quarters. When he awakened, a personal butler, on staff at Neverland, would a.s.sist him with his morning needs. Joseph would then spend afternoons with Michael, taking in the well-manicured vistas of Neverland, talking privately. From all accounts, they looked happy to be together. One of the few a.s.sociates of Michael's also present that week at Neverland recalled the afternoon father and son were seen having a picnic with Prince Michael I on one of Neverland's verdant lawns. Katherine and Paris were off with a staff member to a Toys 'R' Us store in nearby San Maria. (The baby spent the afternoon, sleeping.) Because it had rained earlier in the day, dampness lingered into the chilly February afternoon. Still, as they ate a fried chicken meal prepared by Michael's personal chef, the bright sun shone down upon them, three generations of Jackson men, laying on a blanket... talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company. 'I love him,' Michael later said of his father, 'and I totally, totally forgive him.'

Joseph and Katherine were delighted to check in on their grandchildren and see how Michael was progressing with them. They found that Prince Michael I and Paris are bright, confident, affectionate and considerate. They pray before meals. They are polite, thoughtful and funny. Michael becomes angry when they swear, as they sometimes do since most of their friends are adults. He never spanks them, however; he would never lay a hand on them, but as he puts it, 'No means no no.' He doesn't raise his voice in anger, and doesn't seem to have to do so they are generally well behaved. If one does act up, he or she has to endure a 'time out', which means standing in a corner, alone, to cool off.

Michael explained that he rations the youngsters' toys and sends presents they receive as Christmas gifts from his fans to orphanages around the world, allowing the children to keep just one. He has taught them not to refer to any of their toys as 'mine', when friends are over to visit; he wants them to learn to share. It's telling, maybe, that he doesn't like seeing his children stare into a mirror for too long when getting ready for the day. 'I look great,' young Prince once said, as he combed his hair. 'No, you look okay,' Michael said, correcting him. Though Michael has always been frightened of dogs (since being bitten as a child), he got over his fear in order to buy the children a much-wanted Golden Retriever. If they have a question (and children always have questions), Michael will not give them an answer unless he is sure it is accurate. He makes use of his expansive library to look up factual responses to even the most innocuous questions asked by his children.

Michael and his governesses dress Prince up as if he were little Lord Fauntleroy, whereas Paris wears dainty, lacy and velvet dresses. The baby, Prince Michael II, seems happy and well-adjusted. All three openly adore their father. Once a year, he dresses up in full clown regalia, and thrills them. 'If I could spend all my time with Daddy, I would do it,' Prince Michael I told Katherine. 'I think he's the best daddy in the whole world.' Michael scooped the boy up into his arms. 'And you're the best little Prince, ever,' Michael said, kissing his face. 'I love you,' said the child. 'I love you, more,' Michael responded.

While Michael was recording tracks for Invincible Invincible at The Hit Factory Criteria studio in North Miami, Prince Michael I spilled some popcorn on the floor. A producer was about to bend over to clean it up when Michael intervened. 'No, let me,' he said, apologetically. 'He's my kid. I'll clean up after him.' Then, according to the producer, 'I look down and there's Michael Jackson on his hands and knees picking up his son's popcorn. I'm not sure you would see Madonna doing that.' at The Hit Factory Criteria studio in North Miami, Prince Michael I spilled some popcorn on the floor. A producer was about to bend over to clean it up when Michael intervened. 'No, let me,' he said, apologetically. 'He's my kid. I'll clean up after him.' Then, according to the producer, 'I look down and there's Michael Jackson on his hands and knees picking up his son's popcorn. I'm not sure you would see Madonna doing that.'

Of course, there could be problems for his family in the future. The day may come when his three progeny will wonder why their mothers have decided to play such a small part in their lives. They could feel abandoned. Might they one day lament their childhoods, just as their father does his? Though there are never any guarantees in child rearing only time will tell how these three will turn out Michael Jackson's family is unique in almost every way. His children face challenges in life perhaps even greater than those faced by their famous father.

Their being made to wear brightly coloured gauze scarves that resemble burkas, and other kinds of disguises, in public is disturbing. The two older ones must watch television and movies and realize that they are the only kids on the planet earth wearing masks when it's not Halloween. Certainly, being forced to hide their faces in public puts the two Prince Michaels and Paris at risk of becoming antisocial, paranoid adults.

In the summer of 2003, Michael and his two oldest children went shopping in a Santa Monica store. He had on a red-and-white baseball cap, and a lavender surgical mask. Prince, then six, wore smart little slacks, a vest. Paris, then five, had on a red sweater and plaid skirt, with ruby-coloured shoes that resembled Dorothy's from The Wizard of Oz The Wizard of Oz. Both children had on red-and-black Spider Man masks, which covered them from the neck up. Father and children were followed by LaToya, in a straw hat. What a scene.

Why does Michael think his children must be protected in such unprecedented ways from kidnappers? Again, using Jackie Kennedy Ona.s.sis as an example, no woman was ever more famous than she was, nor more protective of her and the President's children. Yet, she would never have thought to make them wear masks in public. In fact, no celebrity in recent memory if ever has seen fit to disguise his or her children in such an outlandish way. Even after Frank Sinatra's son, Frank, Jr., was was kidnapped in 1963, Sinatra didn't make him wear a disguise to prevent future abductions! It begs the question of whether such costumes are for the children's sake, or a way for Michael to distinguish himself as the most prominent, sought-after man in the world, thus his offspring the most prominent, sought-after progeny? At the very least, he seems to be imposing his own fears on to them. However, they're his children, it could be argued, and he can therefore raise them anyway he sees fit, as long as he doesn't abuse them. (Also, Debbie Rowe has said it was kidnapped in 1963, Sinatra didn't make him wear a disguise to prevent future abductions! It begs the question of whether such costumes are for the children's sake, or a way for Michael to distinguish himself as the most prominent, sought-after man in the world, thus his offspring the most prominent, sought-after progeny? At the very least, he seems to be imposing his own fears on to them. However, they're his children, it could be argued, and he can therefore raise them anyway he sees fit, as long as he doesn't abuse them. (Also, Debbie Rowe has said it was her her idea that the children wear masks and scarves. However, given Michael's ages-old habit of wearing disguises in public, that explanation doesn't seem likely.) idea that the children wear masks and scarves. However, given Michael's ages-old habit of wearing disguises in public, that explanation doesn't seem likely.) The weird ways he disguises his children aside, has Michael Jackson finally found happiness as a father?