RUMOR MILL SLAP DOWN: According to “sources” a former bodyguard claims Michael Jackson was taking up to 100 Xanax a day, then down to 30-40 Xanax a day, then moved down to 10 a day.
Red flag 1 : 100 pills a day? 30-40 pills a day? In a guy who, some say, weighed less than 130 pounds? Nah. I’m not buying that. If he were as heavy as Rush Limbaugh, maybe (or maybe not), but not in someone who some claimed was anywhere from 112-125 pounds.
Dr. Arnold Klein, the dermatologist treating Michael Jackson, has confirmed that Jackson not only had vitiligo but he also had a difficult disorder called Lupus.
Klein appeared on ABC and later Larry King Live to discuss a number of issues. He flat-out slapped down the rumor that Jackson was bleaching his skin and even laid a bombshell about former Jackson “friend” Uri Geller’s connection to Martin Bashir. More on that one in the days to come.
The doctor’s revelations come after he became the target of tabloids (glorified tabloids and otherwise) looking for reasons (real or not) to fuel speculation about Jackson’s death.
Among other things, Klein told King he diagnosed Jackson with Lupus after a friend of Jackson’s recommended him.
“I said ‘you have Lupus erythematosus’, ” Klein said. “Lupus yet. He had a butterfly rash and he also had severe crusting on the anterior portion of his scalp.”
Michael Jackson was eulogized in words and music Tuesday by some of the most recognizable people in America.
But a brief, sob-tinged statement by the singer’s rarely seen 11-year-old daughter proved to be the most indelible moment to emerge from the widely televised memorial.
“Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine,” said Paris Katherine Jackson, choking out the words as members of Michael’s extended family gathered around her. “And I just want to say I love him so much.”
Paris was the last person to address the crowd at the Staples Center, and by that point, millions of viewers across the planet were surely gazing at their TV screens through a veil of tears.
Sometimes you wish the figurative ‘foot in mouth’ expression was literal. If his foot were in his mouth maybe Congressman Peter King wouldn’t have committed such an embarrassing act of slander against the late Michael Jackson.
King said Jackson engaged in “deviant” behavior, called him a “pervert” and “child molester”. He apparently has no respect for the rule of law or the democratic legal process in this country.
One can ask why King is being so vocal about this now. Often times in politics the loudest mouths are hiding situations of their own. Just ask John Ensign and Mark Sanford about that.
In the midst or retrospectives and tributes, I find myself still a bit too bitter to cry over some of these public Michael Jackson tributes.
Maybe it’s just me but my concern is two-fold. Stars and regular folk alike are publicly expressing their love for Michael Jackson’s music now. Media are also paying a modicum of attention to things of which they so thoroughly ignored for at least the past 15 years.
What is drawing my ire is the larger scale of what’s going on now after Michael Jackson’s death with the increased interest in his music and skyrocketing music sales.
As fans, observers and/or social commentators, he knew we existed before he died. He knew we loved, adored, cared, and/or supported him BEFORE he left this world.
Apparently people are beginning to remember how brilliant Michael Jackson’s music is after he has passed on. Just in the nick of time, huh? Excuse the snark.
Retailers can’t keep Jackson’s albums on the shelves and continue to report sellouts of everything Michael Jackson related. Many report it’s not Jackson’s generation that’s driving sales, but rather, the younger crowd are snatching up Jackson merchandise left and right.
Breaking records even now, at Billboard Jackson has the top 3 best selling albums in the country with “Thriller” being #1, “The Essential Michael Jackson” at #2, and “Number Ones” coming in at #3 this week.
It is the first time in history, according to Billboard, an older album outsold the number one new album in the country.
As of 5:50PM EST, CNN is reporting that over 1.2 million people have registered to get tickets to the memorial for Michael Jackson which will be held on July 7 2009.
Yesterday, MSNBC reported 524,000 people so far have registered to be put into a drawing to get tickets to his memorial service. And that was the count at 5:30pm Friday. Only 17,000 people will be able to get free tickets, though.
Organizers say the site received half a billion (that’s billion with a ‘B’) hits in the first hour after the announcement.
The past week has been filled with breathless rumors and revelations from supposed intimates of Michael Jackson. Hyper-competitive news outlets are lapping up supposedly inside information from a motley cast of supporting characters, including Deepak Chopra, Lou Ferrigno and Al Sharpton, as well as many lesser lights.
A top publicist hired by the dead singer’s family has lashed back at the extensive and error-prone media coverage.
“People should be embarrassed when they print, blog or say things on the air that are proven to be entirely untrue or partially untrue,” said Ken Sunshine, a veteran PR consultant retained Wednesday by the Jackson family. “And there should be a shame in it.
In the wake of Michael Jackson’s passing, there is talk about Debbie Rowe possibly seeking custody of Prince and Paris Jackson. But damaging words out of her own mouth may put a wrench in her plans.
No matter what she says now, Rowe has already repeatedly gone on record talking about what a wonderful father Michael Jackson was and how she didn’t want to be a mother.
On Oct 17 2001, Rowe and her lawyer Iris Finsilver appeared at a hearing to officially terminate her parental rights. This following is taken from a motion initiated by Rowe through her attorney. Because of a procedural problem — a technicality, really — the termination of her parental rights was overturned.
Damaging documents from Debbie Rowe’s Parental Rights termination hearing were found and posted years ago by the now defunct entertainment show Celebrity Justice.
The documents are a transcript of the hearing where Rowe has some very damning things to say about her relationship – or lack thereof – with Prince Michael Jackson and Paris Jackson.
At the Oct 17 2001 hearing when Rowe was represented by attorney Iris Finsilver, she said the last time she had even seen the children was almost a year before the hearing. She also testified that she never had so much as a desire to call them over the phone.