Michael Jackson

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Fan base is shrinking steadily

If he were to find musical inspiration again, Jackson might have a chance. Legal trouble alone, it seems, isn't enough to derail a career. So far, R. Kelly hasn't been damaged commercially by his legal problems. In February, his Chocolate Factory entered Billboard at No. 1 with 532,000 copies. In October, his The R. in R&B Collection Volume 1 landed in fourth place on the chart with 251,000 copies.

Child molestation may be a taboo even hard-core fans can't tolerate. Will they leave him? Or will they give him one more chance? That jury is still out.

Even if they do, his fan base might not be large enough to sustain him. It has been eroding for more than a decade, and he has been eclipsed as a youth magnet by such upstarts as Justin Timberlake and Clay Aiken, not to mention a stampede of hip-hop sensations.

'He's the car wreck'

If he has been dethroned, the self-proclaimed King of Pop isn't acknowledging it.

"Unfortunately, Jackson is the last one to realize that his huge base audience no longer exists," Vickers says. "For most people, he's the car wreck we slow down to look at. People have a ghoulish fascination that has little to do with his singing or dancing abilities and everything to do with his freakish looks and behavior."

Jackson doesn't get paid for making salacious headlines, and consumers aren't in the market for his entertainment, Vickers says. A shrinking core of devotees may continue buying his music, but that can't sustain Jackson's lavish lifestyle.

"As far as the mainstream's interest in Michael Jackson as an artist," he adds, "I'd say it's over."

Muntz

Bila Michael Jackson kena tuduh child porn, org tu nak defend pulak.. tapi bila R. Kelly buat camtu, ader org tue kata kita nie low taste pasal minat org camtu.. aper punya double standard punya pemikiran lah!! :agr:

fly_in_d_sky

Originally posted by Muntz at 27-11-2003 01:30 AM:
Bila Michael Jackson kena tuduh child porn, org tu nak defend pulak.. tapi bila R. Kelly buat camtu, ader org tue kata kita nie low taste pasal minat org camtu.. aper punya double standard punya pe ...

hmm sabar2 Mutnz, jgn marah2 .. tgh musim Raya nih ...
...

fly_in_d_sky

CAUGHT ON TAPE
Speaking of Michael Jackson, a Superior Court judge Tuesday issued a temporary order barring Santa Monica-based XtraJet from releasing secret videotape of the self-proclaimed King of Pop conferring with attorney Mark Geragos as they flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara for his surrender. The video

fly_in_d_sky

(CNN) -- The mother and boy behind allegations that Michael Jackson molested the child praised the pop star in February, calling him a "father figure" and saying God had "blessed" them by bringing Jackson into their lives, according to an audiotape played for CNN.

Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, a San Francisco assistant district attorney on leave and a legal contributor to CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" program, said Wednesday a source close to Jackson's defense played her an audiotape in which the mother, the alleged victim and his brother say Jackson "never acted inappropriately."

CNN cannot independently confirm that the voices on the tape are those of the mother, the alleged victim and his brother.

"The whole time the mother and the alleged victim are very effusive in their praise for Michael Jackson, saying they are blessed to have him as part of their life, that he was a father figure, the mother saying that Jackson treated her son as his own son," Newsom said on "Anderson Cooper 360."

The tape was recorded by a private investigator on Jackson's behalf, Newsom said. It lasts a little more than 20 minutes, she said.

It was played for her in Las Vegas, she added, and she was not given a copy to keep.

"It wasn't a lot of questions, it was more just dialogue, talking," Newsom said.

"At no time does it appear this statement is coerced, that there is any kind of duress or any undue influence being exercised over any of the parties," she added.

Newsom said the mother and child also allegedly signed an affidavit a month after the tape was recorded, saying Jackson never abused the child. Newsom never saw the affidavit; she was only told about it.

If the tape and affidavit are genuine, Newsom said, they could be potentially damaging to the prosecution's case. The prosecution would have to show that the alleged abuse was uncovered after the tape was recorded and affidavit signed.

The defense argues that Jackson is innocent and that the accusers are out for personal gain.

Newsom said that if the case goes to trial and the boy testifies, the tape and affidavit could be introduced, raising questions about the credibility of the claims.

The time of the alleged incident is not known.

The tape was made after a documentary about Jackson was shot. The widely seen program showed the alleged victim, then 12, holding hands with Jackson. A cancer survivor, he said he stayed overnight at Jackson's Neverland ranch. (Full story)

A few months later, in June, the boy's family retained the services of an attorney who took the boy to see a therapist and then referred the case to the Santa Barbara district attorney's office.

Meanwhile, the FBI is looking into whether federal laws were broken when Jackson and his attorney were secretly videotaped aboard a private jet last week.

Jackson attorney Mark Geragos obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent release of the tapes, made last week as Jackson flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara, where the singer surrendered to authorities to face child molestation charges and was released on $3 million bail.

As federal authorities began investigating the taping incident aboard the charter jet, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe issued a restraining order prohibiting XtraJet, the airline Geragos said placed the cameras aboard the plane, from releasing the tapes until a hearing in December on a permanent injunction, according to a statement from Jackson spokesman Stuart Backerman.

Geragos told reporters he also had filed a civil suit against XtraJet and reserved the right to sue anyone connected with making or trying to sell the tapes.

"The videotaping of my client conferring with me was illegal and outrageous, as was the aircraft company's attempt to sell that tape for profit," Geragos said. "We will be absolutely relentless in our pursuit of any and all extortionists, regardless of how they try to gift wrap their lies in the cloak of justice. Michael is not going to be a pi馻ta for every money-hungry publicity seeker to strike in the hopes of hitting it rich."

Backerman, meanwhile, issued a statement saying: "New lows are being hit every day in the case."

"Motivated parties are taking obscene measures to injure Michael with false allegations," Backerman said in the statement. "We will aggressively challenge the rogue's gallery of grifters who are seeking dividends from Michael's ordeal."

XtraJet said Wednesday it had no comment on the matter.

Geragos says Jackson, 45, is innocent, and argues that his accusers are motivated by greed. "This entire case is about cash, and anyone who believes differently is living in their own Neverland," he said.

But prosecutors in Santa Barbara have said the accuser in this case does not plan to file a civil lawsuit against Jackson, and they say they have evidence to support claims that Jackson molested a boy.

Jackson was investigated in 1993 after allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 13-year-old boy. He settled that case out of court -- a move that prosecutors now say prevented them from charging him because the accuser would not testify.

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The mother of Michael Jackson's accuser signed an affidavit clearing the pop star of wrongdoing - but now says she was confused and coerced, says a newspaper report.

the New York Daily News quoted a source close to the boy's family on Wednesday who said: "They made her sign papers but she didn't know what she was signing."

Jackson's handlers prepared the affidavit in February - after the broadcast of an explosive documentary in which he admitted he sleeps in the same bed with young boys.

The 12-year-old cancer patient was teased by schoolmates after the film aired, the source said. When his mother took the family to Neverland to complain to Jackson, the singer became alarmed. "Michael got them passports and they were trying to send them out of the country," the insider said. "They told them they had to stay [at Neverland]. They didn't feel they could leave."

Ultimately, an investigator working for Jackson taped the boy and his mother praising the star, even calling him a "father figure". That is also when the affidavit saying Jackson never mistreated the boy was signed.

Details about the boy's family have also emerged, including two cases that involved abuse allegations: a lawsuit in which the family said they were battered by shopping centre security guards, and a divorce fight in which the father pleaded no contest to spousal abuse and child cruelty.

Meanwhile the prosecutor in charge of the latest inquiry apologised for his comments when the warrant for Jackson's arrest was announced. The Santa Barbara District Attorney, Tom Sneddon, apologised for joking about Jackson's music and "Wacko Jacko" nickname.

Mr Sneddon said he would file a formal criminal complaint with a court in Santa Barbara in the week of December 15-18.

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Jermaine Jackson has lent support to tainted brother Michael Jackson and said that he has been victimized.

"This is a modern-day lynching. My brother has become a threat like Christ became a threat, like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi became a threat. My brother's consciousness has become a threat because he is a person who cares about people," Jermaine was quoted as saying in an interview to 'The Mirror'.

His is one of the voices that used to croon with Michael's in the heyday of The Jackson 5, when the brothers - Michael, the youngest and Jermaine, the fourth child of seven - harmonised together.

Jermaine is voicing concerns about his brother's integrity and believes that he is innocent.

"My brother is innocent. We are behind him 1,000 per cent," Jermaine said, addressing charges that Jackson sexually abused 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo.

Apparently, he has spoken to his brother every day since Michael, who has been bailed for 1million dollars, was arrested for oral sex, mutual masturbation and inappropriate sexual touching.

Now his father Joe, his sisters Janet and La Toya and his brothers Tito, Jackie and Marlon, are joining forces.

"This is a family who grew up in a house no bigger than a two-car garage. The love is there," he said.

Jermaine denies his brother's fragility might lead him to suicide as his fans fear and feels that he will be able to come out of it unscathed.

British radio channels ban Jacko

Following the levelling of child molestation charges against him, pop superstar Michael Jackson's new single "One More Chance" has been banned by as many as 19 British radio stations.

According to rate the music.com, BBC's leading radio channel BBC Radio One has stopped playing Jackson's new track.

However, BBC TV chart show "Top Of The Pops" will still broadcast Jackson's video when it airs on November 28, said the website.

Currently, Jackson is out on bail after being arrested and charged with molesting 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo last week.

There appeared more than one reason for banning the pop stars video. A "Radio One" spokesperson on Wednesday maintained that the move was based on music.

"Jackson's not as relevant to our young audience as he once was. It is not about his personal life," she said.

But other UK stations were quite straightforward in mentioning that they had banned his music because of the scandal.

Media company EMAP spokesperson said:"We have had some complaints, so we have decided to take him off air."

EMAP owns 18 regional stations nationwide.

vixen

Wonder who can post a pic of the boy,Gavin Arvizo?

Darsita?

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - A man who identified himself as a news and photo agency reporter was arrested after allegedly climbing aboard Michael Jackson's private jet while the pop star surrendered to authorities on a child-molestation warrant, police said.

The revelation Wednesday followed news that Jackson and his attorney were secretly videotaped aboard the plane, triggering an FBI investigation and a lawsuit by Jackson against the charter jet company.

The possibility of a connection between the alleged trespass and the videotapes was under investigation, but no connection had been made, Santa Barbara police Sgt. Dave Gonzalez said Wednesday.

Lee Kevin Madden, 27, was arrested Nov. 20 after Jackson's security staff discovered him aboard the plane and held him for Santa Barbara police, Gonzalez said.

At that time, Jackson was being booked by sheriff's investigators at the county jail.

Madden, of Los Angeles, had a video camera, digital camera, notepad and metal clipboard, and claimed to be a reporter with the Splash news and picture agency, Gonzalez said.

Madden was booked for investigation of misdemeanor trespassing and released.

A message left by The Associated Press seeking comment from the Marina del Rey offices of Splash was not immediately returned, as well as a message left at a number listed under Madden's name.

Splash identifies itself on its Web site as an independent entertainment news and picture agency, with corporate headquarters in London.

The Web site displayed photos showing interior shots of an airplane cabin with a black fedora identified as Jackson's hat atop a seat, and an exterior shot of the aircraft in a hangar with someone identified as Jackson descending its stairs to surrender.

The discovery of the videotapes came to light this week when the charter company, XtraJet, of Santa Monica, showed them to news organizations.

Jackson attorney Mark Geragos immediately alleged violation of attorney-client privilege and sued XtraJet. A judge barred the company from releasing the tapes and doing anything with the jet until Jackson's attorneys can inspect it.

vixen

THE VILE SEX CHARGES FILED AGAINST MICHAEL JACKSON

SORDID details of the child sex charges against Michael Jackson have been revealed to the Daily Mirror.

It is also claimed the star tried to buy off the family of his accuser, 12-year-old cancer victim Gavin Arvizo, and that videos found at his home could identify hundreds of boys who stayed with him.

Jackson, 45, is accused of oral sex, mutual masturbation and inappropriate sexual touching.

The charges mirror claims made 10 years ago by 13-year-old Jordy Chandler who refused to testify after Jackson paid him

vixen

DragonLady82

korang rasa betul ker Michael buat semua tu????

fly_in_d_sky

tak mungkin ....
tak percaya ...
takkan la MJ nak buat ...
karut lah ...
bukti ada ker? kalau ada bukti yg terang n sahih .. then takleh kata per dah ...
yg buat accused mak budak tuh ... budak yg kene tu ada ckp ker?

Aku rasa dorang nak kan duit Michael aja lah.....

fly_in_d_sky

Originally posted by OrangeBoyz at 28-11-2003 04:58 PM:
Aku rasa dorang nak kan duit Michael aja lah.....

bukan takat duit .. tapi nak jatuhkan MJ ...
nak bankrapkan MJ ...

nf: nf: nf:

fly_in_d_sky

The cancer-stricken boy who was allegedly molested by Michael Jackson is in poor health with his remaining kidney failing, claimed a comedy club owner who introduced the singer to the boy.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Jamie Masada, owner of The Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, said he brought Jackson and the child together about two years ago, soon after doctors gave the boy three weeks to live.

He said the boy had expressed an interest in meeting Jackson and Masada made "a few phone calls."

"The kid is not doing very good," Masada said at a Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless that he holds at the club each year.

Masada said doctors removed a large tumor from the boy's stomach some time ago, and at the same time took out one of his kidneys. He said the boy's remaining kidney is failing, and that he needs a transplant.

It was unclear what effect the boy's condition could have on the case against Jackson.

Stuart Backerman, Jackson's spokesman, declined to comment on Masada's account, but said he hoped the boy's condition would improve.

Jacko's accuser praised him as "father figure"!

Attorneys for Michael Jackson have said they have evidence that could damage the credibility of the boy accusing the superstar of molestation.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, an audiocassette of the boy and his mother, praising the pop star as a father figure, has emerged in the United States.

In the recording, they also said, "God had blessed them", by bringing them into contact with Jackson. The cassette was recorded in February.

Jackson's accusers and the 12-year-old's brother emphasize on tape that the 45-year-old had, "never acted inappropriately", in their presence.

The boy's mother had also signed an affidavit a month after the recording in which she had confirmed that Jackson had never molested her child.

The material could damage the Santa Barbara district attorney's case. If the tape proves to be genuine, the district attorney would have to establish that the alleged sexual abuse actually took place after the recording in February.

fly_in_d_sky

LOS ANGELES - When he surrendered to the Santa Barbara, Calif., sheriff last week, Michael Jackson resembled an aging Joan Crawford, pale, frail and weighing 120 pounds.

His financial well-being appears equally fragile. With each successive record costing more and earning less than the last, he is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

By any measure, Jackson, 45, must be considered wealthy. But according to his close advisers, industry friends and court records, he is also an extravagant spender whose wealth is being consumed by an appetite for monkeys, Ferris wheels and surgery.

A lawsuit against Jackson said he is tethered to a boulder of debt, totaling near $200 million, which comes due in several years. Moreover, there are at least four liens on his 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch, and even the state of California laid claim to the property to force Jackson to pay his taxes. Most of his assets are from his half ownership of the Beatles catalog, valued conservatively at $272 million, which he has used to secure some loans.

The pop star has at times mortgaged the royalties to other songs he owns to raise cash. And he is also the subject of hundreds of lawsuits. Defending himself against charges that he molested a 12-year-old boy, which he has called "big lies," could cost him millions.

So troubled are his finances, his advisers tried to limit his spending to $1 million a month this summer, said a person apprised of Jackson's situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. It is unclear whether Jackson himself paid the $3 million bail when he was booked last week on charges that could send him to prison for 10 years or more.

Nevertheless, Jackson is convinced, people who know him say, that the next record will earn enough to pay off his creditors and rescue his ragged reputation.

"He wants to be as relevant now as he was when he was 5 years old, as he was when he was 20," said Bobby Colomby, the former drummer of the rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears who has known Jackson since he was a young performer and was an executive producer of the Jackson family's Destiny album. "But in the process, he got lost," Colomby said. "He probably thinks, 'This press is good. I'll go to court and win and be on top again.' "

In Living with Michael Jackson, a documentary broadcast this year, Jackson told interviewer Martin Bashir he was worth more than $1 billion. As if to prove his point, the singer is shown in the documentary spending an estimated $6 million on garish furnishings and paintings during a shopping spree.

But according to the person apprised of Jackson's finances, Jackson returned the merchandise days later. Management at the shop, Regis Gallerie, declined to comment. Stuart Backerman, Jackson's spokesman, called the story fantasy.

According to court records, some of Jackson's expenditures in 2000 include $200,000 for "Neverland Rides," $15,000 to a dermatologist, Arnold Klein, $380,728 for insurance and, in 2001, $75.62 to maintain a Slurpee machine.

Jackson was looking to put Neverland on the market this year, said a real estate agent familiar with the deal. He was asking for $50 million but there were no takers. "A Ferris wheel," said the real estate agent, "it's very difficult to put a replacement value on that."

Liens are held against the house by both Sony Music, in connection with a loan, and by a German concert promoter, who claims Jackson reneged on a string of charity concerts. The state of California dropped its lien in February after Jackson paid back taxes, according to the secretary of state.

Then there are the lawsuits. In 1993 he settled for millions with a 13-year-old boy who claimed Jackson sexually molested him. This January, the art auction house Sotheby's sued Jackson for $1.6 million for backing out on the purchase of two 19th-century French paintings.

In March, he was ordered to pay $5.3 million to a concert promoter who said Jackson had reneged on a deal to perform at charity concerts. And three months later Jackson settled for an undisclosed sum with his former financial adviser, Myung-Ho Lee, who said he had not been paid for his services.

"We could get in line for Neverland, but there is a long line ahead of us," said Pierce O'Donnell, who represented Lee and agreed to the settlement fearing Jackson would be bankrupt in 18 months.

fly_in_d_sky

kalau betul MJ bersalah .. abis ler harta dia, karier dia .. n segala benda yg ada pada dia ...
....

vixen

Michael Jackson's Accuser Needs Kidney
Boy Reportedly Needs Kidney Transplant

The man who said he introduced Michael Jackson to the boy accusing him of molestation said the child is very ill.

Comedy club owner Jamie Masada said the boy needs a kidney transplant.

Masada said he introduced Jackson to the child two years ago. The boy had cancer and at the time, doctors were only giving him three weeks to live.

Masada said he saw the boy earlier this week, and his one remaining kidney was failing.

It's not clear what effect the boy's condition could have on the case against Jackson.

Stuart Backerman, a Jackson family spokesman, declined to comment on Masada's account but said he hopes the boy's condition improves.

[ Last edited by vixen on 29-11-2003 at 02:50 AM ]

vixen

[ Last edited by vixen on 29-11-2003 at 02:51 AM ]