I vividly remember trying to express my total disgust back in 2003 as I watched Martin Bashir lace his infamous Living with Michael Jackson "documentary" with innuendo, speculation, personal insults, and unfounded critiques.

Imagine my repulsion as I watched him on ABC's site proclaiming to be "deeply saddened" by Michael Jackson's passing and being "excited" about the upcoming performances in London.

He owes the chair he's sitting in to Michael Jackson. Would ABC have given a second thought to some obscure British reporter for a spot at the famed Nightline? He rode Jackson's coattails from one continent to another and into the spotlight at ABC.

He threw Michael Jackson under the bus after pretending to be someone he could trust. He chopped up video footage of his time with Jackson specifically to be as sensational as possible. He knew what would draw attention and what wouldn't, and he used it to get his footing in the U.S.

When called to account for his actions in a court of law in 2005 (under oath), apparently the cat caught his tongue. He refused to answer for his shady actions and hid behind a California law designed to protect real journalists.

In the video message after Jackson's death, Bashir readily admits Jackson was acquitted of all wrongdoing and that he never saw any untoward behavior when he was around the King of Pop. Interesting, because he allowed harmful indirect intimations concerning Jackson and "young boys" to fester back in 2003.

While not making any direct allegations, he all but flat out called Jackson a suspicious kook, deserving of the public's undying ridicule along with their never-ending questions about his relationship to children.

Now Bashir says:

 

"A bit unorthodox"? Why the hell didn't he just say that much back in 2003 and leave the subject as it was? Instead of being the $hit-starter he turned out to be, why not step back from it and allow Jackson to tell his own story? Unfettered? Unhindered? It wouldn't have gotten him a cozy job at a major American network, I suppose.

Instead of playing into the media's fervor to convict, why not just say he didn't think Michael Jackson was a criminal and leave it at that?

Now that Jackson's spirit has left his body, it's a mystery how Bashir can even fix his mouth to praise him. (slang. read as: "...even form the words to praise Jackson")

At every turn, every time Jackson attempted to let us (the public) into his personal life, he's gotten his wings torn off like a trapped, rare butterfly in the hands of a heinous sociopath.

That sociopath is represented by a media who covered Michael Jackson's life in a schizophrenic manner. Their coverage of him truly "characterized by the coexistence of contradictory and incompatible elements" (dictionary.com). 

I remember when the media claimed Jackson was out of control and didn't listen to those around him. No one could "help" him because he allegedly didn't allow anyone to "help" him, or so they said. Simultaneously, they claimed he was being controlled by the Nation of Islam... or "enablers"... or "yes-men"... ... or Grace the nanny... or whomever they chose to single out at a given time. Remember that?

This collective 'they' declared Jackson a weird loon who couldn't be compared to (treated like) any other normal human being. That is, right before they compared him to any other normal human being while searching for arguments to substantiate unfounded suspicions of guilt. Remember that "What 45 year old man would ever..." blah blah blah argument?

In this atmosphere, Bashir's career flourished at the expense of the guy he now praises as "the greatest dancer and musician the world has ever seen."

I figuratively spit at those comments coming out of that head at this point in time. They mean absolutely nothing now. The sadness, whether feigned or real, comes 6 years too late for a man who took Bashir into his life and trusted him completely.

You want to know why Michael Jackson had 'people' problems? Because of 'people' like Martin Bashir whose singular purpose was, say some observers, to use him to get what they want... by almost any means necessary.



__Who said what now?__
The Bashir "documentary" was rebroadcast by NBC recently. NBC was itself the author of a base, hateful hit-piece full of people speculating about Michael Jackson's face.

Never one to let a dollar slip by, they rebroadcast the ill-named Living with Michael Jackson "documentary" after Jackson's passing, without broadcasting Jackson's rebuttal documentary, "Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See".

The "Take Two..." doc showed actual footage taken behind the scenes of Bashir/Jackson interactions when Bashir's cameras were off. Or rather, Bashir thought he was off-camera.

In the "Take Two..." documentary, Bashir is seen being effusive in his support of Jackson off camera, but would later add disturbing voiceovers inside the version of the "documentary" that aired in the UK; inviting viewers to take the most sinister interpretation of Jackson's behavior.

Hardly any American knew who the hell Bashir was before that interview. He would later be criticized for his questionable journalistic ethics especially after Jackson's behind the scenes footage was broadcast by the Fox network (not Fox News).

As reported earlier in an MJEOL Bullet way back in Dec 2005, Bashir didn't simply seek to put Michael Jackson at ease with his many off-camera behind the scenes compliments.

There were clear instances where he either lied to Jackson's face or lied to the public when hyping the initial airing of the "documentary.

At one point he's caught on camera telling Jackson that his relationship with his children is "spectacular".  Later, he would tell the public he was "disturbed" at the way Jackson's children were "made to suffer".

That's a straight lie, not an attempt to put someone at ease during an interview.

He was also caught on tape acting like a sycophant-groupie -- as courtroom observers reported during Bashir's testimony at the 2005 false child molestation trial. Only, later he told the public that other people around Jackson were 'yes-men' who only told him what he wanted to hear.

As Thomas Mesereau, Jackson's former attorney so succinctly put it, Michael Jackson was a brilliant person surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.

That sea of mediocrity, I say, also included thieves, parasites, usurpers, pilferers, hypocrites and phonies who made it their business not to protect Michael Jackson from the scoundrels and grifters who sought to get their hands into his pockets too.

This, all while scores of tabloid-bred sharks jumped at every chance they got to take advantage of making a name for themselves while ruining Jackson's.

One such shark was Bashir. He, along with Diane Dimond, Maureen Orth, Mike Walker, Page Six (or Page $hit as it became known by many fans), etc. all attempted to make Jackson's life miserable.

The only difference is that with Dimond, Orth and their ilk, Jackson knew where those harpies stood. Bashir got right past his already failing radar and I'm sure it hurt Jackson like hell.

Michael Jackson may have been mentally tough, but that big heart of his was being figuratively beaten to death. And yes, Bashir got in more than a few blows.

No amount of sadness (fake or not) will ease whatever small pangs of remorse he may be secretly feeling now.

What would Jackson have given to have Bashir be a man, pick up a telephone and confess to gaining in some way by using Jackson? We'll never know now.

And so after watching video of a serious Bashir admitting the obvious in no uncertain terms, without innuendo or inviting the public to think the absolute worst of Jackson, I say too little, too late.

F-ck you, Martin Bashir.

Seriously.


-MJEOL

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