Posted by Money Trouble, NOI Rumors Slapped Down MJEOL Bullet #63 Jim Avila (NBC) was one of two reporters who were given partial access to members of Jacksons team during their closed door meetings at the Beverly Hills Hotel (Jan 12). The media were not invited, but camped out anyway in hopes they would get any kind of statement from any of the participants. Jackson reportedly took part in the all-day meetings via conference calls. Avila reports Jacksons advisors told him that there is no financial crisis and no balloon payment due, contrary to what hack-journalists at Fox news and others have been reporting recently. Maybe their articles had already gone to press before they could stop the run-away train of nonsense and speculation concerning Jacksons finances. However, it escapes some observers understanding as to why Jacksons finances are any of the publics business anyway. Avila makes it clear Jacksons advisors were there to make sure Jacksons businesses continue to be successful while he is going through the motions of this ordeal in Santa Barbara. In fact, according to Charles Koppleman, Jacksons senior business advisor, business meetings similar to these are routine. Given the current spotlight on even the most miniscule Jackson-related news, the media was destined to make a big deal out of this meeting and its purpose. Koppleman also appeared on NBCs The Today Show(Jan 14) to slap down the money crisis lie. Koppleman flatly denied the rumor that Jackson made a $70M payment to Bank of America and denied that Jackson took out a $350M loan:
Matt Lauer: So, he made a $70M payment? Charles Koppleman: No, no! There was no $70M payment due. He Lauer: Does he have a $350 M loan with Bank of America? Koppleman: Absolutely not.
-Transcript of the conversation is coming. You can hear audio of the conversation replayed on MSNBC in the MJEOL Downloads section! Avila also says he spoke to Leonard Muhammad, Jacksons security advisor, at length about why so much has been made about his presence. Muhammad is a member of the Nation of Islam (NOI). Avila reports:
Muhammad made it clear to me that he is not operating with Michael Jackson as a member of that religion. That the religion has nothing to do with it. And in fact he says hes offended by the fact that every time hes mentioned, his religion is mentioned while no one else at that table [during the meeting] was questioned about their religious beliefs.
-[url=http://forum.mjeol.com/index.php?showtopic=13029]Transcript of Avilas report[/url] Why is so much made of Muhammads religion while no other member of Jacksons team is even questioned about their religious affiliation? Two reasons: to distract the public from the prosecutions non-existent case and to divide-and-conquer the MJ fan community. It appears to be nothing but a complete diversion from the fact that the district attorneys timeline is laughable and the accusing family has a history of changing their story over and over again (see Attorney for Accusers Father Releases Damaging Docs Bullet #59). The Nation of Islam story has been officially dead for at least a week. Yet some so-called journalists–like Celebrity Justices team of sensationalistic losers–have continued their unsuccessful attempts to try to push the story by spreading more unfounded so-called news. For example, they and those of their kind, continue to report that Muhammad was seated at the head of the table obviously implying he has more control over Jackson than he actually does. In fact, it was Charles Koppleman who was seated at the head of the table and running the meetings throughout the day. Muhammad is by far not the only person who has noticed his religion being maliciously used to rake Jackson over the proverbial coals by the media. Many fans have weighed in on the issue as well. One fan says, I knew that NOI story was suspicious, since it came totally out of nowherethey just want to make Michael look worse and get his fans to lose faith in him. Another fan says Its ridiculous that the media is playing this like this is the most damning thing that MJ could ever be tied to. Ridiculous indeed. Stay tuned. Fan quotes courtesy of MJEOL forum members. -MJEOL