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The Jackson-Liz Drug Link
Jackson was twice warned by a good friend that his relationship with Taylor was toxic because she unwittingly fed his addiction—she would never encourage him to straighten out as she had the same problem. In each instance, the normally nonconfrontational Jackson abruptly cut off any discussion. “He would hear none of it,” says the friend.
This shared relationship—Jackson, Taylor and Klein—continued all the way to the days before Jackson’s death. I spoke to Ben Evenstad, the 29-year-old founder of The National Photo Group, which had Michael Jackson as its primary subject for the past few years whenever he was in Los Angeles. Evenstad assigned a photographer to Jackson six to seven days a week since he returned to Los Angeles, from Las Vegas, in September 2008.
Two to three times a week, the photographers trailed Jackson to the Beverly Hills building where Dr. Klein has his office. He’d stay there anywhere from 30 minutes to five hours. The only other person the pop star regularly visited, says Evenstad, was Elizabeth Taylor. He saw her four to five times a week, usually spending hours there, until the pace slowed up when his rehearsals started in February.
Three days before Michael Jackson died, Elizabeth Taylor, who has a Twitter account as “Dame Elizabeth” (an honorary title bestowed on her by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1999), Tweeted the following: “I will never be able to thank my dear friend, Dr. Arnold Klein enough for the stunning drawing by Matisse.”
A Los Angeles Police spokesman refused to confirm or deny whether Dr. Klein was one of the five physicians reportedly the subject of their Jackson investigation. Neither Dr. Klein nor his attorney would comment. When asked about the shared dependencies of Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson, Taylor’s spokesman, Dick Guttman, said, “I have no knowledge of any of that.”
Gerald Posner is the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism (www.posner.com). Posner lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Murder or Miscarriage?
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
Her Majesty's Secrets Revealed
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
Left Off Holder's List
Gerald Posner is The Daily Beast's Chief Investigative Reporter. He's the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism. His latest book, Miami Babylon: Crime, Wealth and Power—A Dispatch from the Beach, was published in October. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
"we love dirty laundry" - Don Henley
kick 'em when there up !
kick 'em when there down !
kick 'em all around !
>>> never hit a man when he is down... it's much easier to kick them..."
One thing about Liz: She's a tough old broad. She's outlived all her husbands and Michael. Right about now she must be feeling guilty, to think that all her "men" have died before she did.
Well, all except John Warner and Larry Fortensky.
Do people who overdo on cosmetic surgery have easier access to prescription pills?
No they have more money than God to pay people to give them EVERYTHING and ANYTHING they want.
And they don't worry about their health insurance plans not covering their prescriptions.
Who cares about all this? I agree with Rep. King on this subject...Jackson was a pedophile. The fact he was not convicted is meaningless. Look at the O.J. Simpson trial. He was found not guilty, also, even tho' the evidence for his guilt was overwhelming. Thank God, this over=reaction to his death will soon be over.
Actually, the fact that he was not convicted does have meaning. We are a nation ruled by laws, after all. Whether we agree with the outcome or not, he was found not guilty.
Which does not mean, as we know, that he was indeed not guilty. Remember how hard it is to convict celebrities in Los Angeles (O.J., Robert Blake, et cetera).
His acquittal means that he was judged to be not guilty of the charges brought up against him. His acquittal does not mean that he is not a pedophile. And whether or not he was even a pedophile, he directly testified in a television interview to spending time in bed with children -- behavior which certainly justifies many people's view that he is a creep.
There are many things which are not criminal which still cause many people to be repulsed by public officials. Certainly the image of J. Edgar Hoover dressing in women's clothing is as repulsive as anything most of us can imagine.
So for Jackson fans who are in a tiff because many people view him as a creep, unworthy of status as a cultural icon, get a grip. There are surely many people whose personal lives, although perfectly legal, are repulsive to those same people.
For many of us Jackson is simply a stunning entertainer -- and a creep.
1) The OJ Simpson trial was on television. The public saw the evidence against him, which was profound and left no doubt of his guilt;
2) Jackson's trial was not televised, and far as I know, no evidence from that trial has been made public;
3) The Simpson charges did not lend themselves to being a possible means of extortion. The Jackson charges certainly did (and in fact I'd read that that kid's mother had in the past tried to extort celebrities);
4) There is as much reason to believe that Jackson was a target of extortionists and false charges as there is to believe he is guilty, or not, of the charges;
5) Being falsely accused of such a heinous crime is as heinous as the crime of child molestation;
What is your evidence?
There is every reason to believe the Jackson shared his bed with some of his young guests. He admitted it in an interview on national television. I don't much care what he did with or to these young people. Many people (as is their right) consider this to be inappropriate behavior. Very few people would allow their children to be placed in such a situation. You may not consider this to be inappropriate -- so be it. But other people, also entitled to their opinions, are not unreasonable in deciding for themselves that Jackson is a creep.
You may have a perfectly good justification for this behavior, but I can assure you that anyone else, in a position of public trust, would be fired immediately if it was determined that they "slept" with a child who was placed in their custody.
You are absolutely correct in you observation that Jackson was acquitted and that, after all, he was a likely target for extortion. The same can be said for many priests who are put in the same position -- and condemned for the acts of others.
Any adult who climbs into a bed with a child placed into his custody by others (like Jackson or like many other adults) should expect to be branded as a creep when those activities are publicly revealed -- even if no case can be made for out and out pedophilia.
So Jackson may not be a pedophile. His behavior around children is unquestionably disgusting. And the idiocy of parents who entrusted their children to his custody is beyond despicable.
You make some good points - I believe during the infamous Jackson trial, he was accused of 10 different crimes. You would think the prosecution could have proven at least one of the counts? That is, if he were guilty. BTW during the pre-trial investigation Santa Barbara police called in and questioned many boys who had spent time at Neverland (not counting the accuser) and not one of them had any allegations whatsoever.
newswoman:
Michael Jackson was never proven guilty of paedophilia or molestation of children. Peter King on the other hand is guilty of being a supporter of terrorism and is a shill for the fund-raising of terrorists.
Thank You.
My thoughts are with the children he was never proven guilty of molesting.
Someone who calls herself "newswoman" ought to be more objective with information and better at processing it.
@newswoman,
By your logic - "the fact he was not convicted is meaningless. Look at the O.J. Simpson trial. He was found not guilty, also, even tho' the evidence for his guilt was overwhelming" - there is no such thing as innocence as long as someone is accused.
You're an idiot.
I would be careful about linking myself with other people and their thoughts. If you people are so concerned about pedophiles why are you not crusading for all those poor boys who continue to be molested by priest. Until you clean that up, you don't even have the right to attack MJ
Thank you for pointing this out Nessa. The world is full of hypocrites.
Why are you reading about this, after all its "meaningless"! Rep King is a media whore using Michael's death to get media hits. Oh and he pretends to hate the media too.
Throughout my life, I never understood Liz Taylor's status as an icon. She hadn't done a movie in many years, and it seemed to me she was still riding on the coat tails of her past. Why, I wondered, did everyone look up to a woman who was so obviously troubled, so blatantly addicted to drugs and alcohol?
MJ surrounded himself with enablers and it doesn't surprise me that Taylor was on his roster of close friends. Theh had two great things in common: neither one could create a reality they could live with and both used substances to escape that truth. It was common ground for their relationship and sadly, it appeared to play a part in Jackson's death.
.
Liz Taylor couldn't act either
Dr. Klein is a fame whore. Elvis had the same type of people glomming after him. I hope to God they throw them in jail.
if the black race needs someone to look up to they sure picked a dud here,,, a freak of nature and I also agree with Rep King... Its weird how all the freaks,,, sharpton, jackson, etc all the leaches come out to get their face on tv, and maybe suck up some of the money, thats all he was good for was generating money for others. All this hoop la is as ridiculous as the life he led! Time to stop all this nonsense and look at the real MJ.
"...the black race..."?
Say no more. We know where you're at.
Uh Hello, I'm black. Thanks for telling me how to see the world and who I should consider worthy " to look up to".
I know this may be past your limited scope , but making these sort of broad statements about a race of people, comes across as a tad racist, just a tad.
Wonderful thing about the free world , if you're not a fan , you don't have to listen to his music.
Here's another NEWS FLASH, you can turn off your TV as well.
You can also stop over generalizing and supposing and assuming , cause you know about people who assume don't cha?
Who cares about people who can't take the heat and don't have the courage to get out of the kitchen. Maybe what Sarah Palin did, might not be as dumb as thought!
Sarah Palin won't stay out of the kitchen, we haven't seen the last of her. Sarah Palin is addicted to Sarah Palin.
Did Michael Jackson have any black friends?I'm just curious.
Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, his nanny was black, his publicist until he fired her was black....yes, he had a lot of black friends, but they weren't "close" to him like his white friends Dr. Klein and Liz Taylor.
Madonna became his friend, but only after
he looked like a white girl needing plastic surgery.
After MJ moved to Hollywood, he got the "fever" (IMO) that is; he saw how all the beautiful successful movie stars looked (thin, white, straight hair) and he wanted to be like them. Hollywood got MJ first and then the addictions.
If you all just look back at his body of work, you'll see and hear there wasn't "nobody no blacker" than Michael Jackson.
Where are the professional physicians?? Another field totally corrupted by money (and in some cases, fame or rubbing elbows with fame).
Octomom doctor should lose his license. Doctors who feed celebrities their drug habits instead of treating them for them should lose their licenses. Why are physicians hanging out socially with patients?
It's like the press in Washington socializing with the pols they're supposed to cover.
Everyone is after celebrity and wealth in this country now, and it's corrupted the very people the rest of us are supposed to count on to be professional.
So long as we remain a nation of laws [thanks scott1607!] wherein access to that law [and representation before same] is controlled by money then we are stuck in an interesting [to say the least] situation where 2 sets of laws govern private behavior AND public perception regarding the validity of legal process... velly velly strange.
Danbury,everything you said is so true.But,when they are addicts, they manipulate you,use you,and they will get what they need thru their own chanels.They are such manipulators.But everything you said is true,very,very true.Alot of people are very upset,with the press.(not me yet)
The rich and/or famous so often end this way. Surrounded by their doctors and patch-up artists as their best friends. As their world.
Another great investigative revealing article by Mr. Posner who is an expert at his craft! These series of events read like a plot of a movie script except they are real. All the weekly visits to Dr. Klen and Ms. Taylor certainly were very frequent.
The autopsy as well as the DEA, FBI, LA police, CA attorney general's office investigations will certainly reveal the truth or at the very least many tantalizing clues as to Michael's untimely demise.
Tina please have the notification system fixed. I follow this author and have received only one notification for all the articles Mr. Posner has written on the MJ story. This reader is counting on you!
I agree. I enjoy reading Posner. In time, the truth will come out. I predict accidental OD....like Heath Ledger....sleep deprivation and addiction to drugs.
Once and for all - Michael Jackson was found not guilty, also if you had actually read the facts of the trial you would realize that the charges were very ridiculous!!! And for those of you who judge so quickly without truly knowing - You had better hope and pray that you are not ever accused and put on trial for something you did not do!! As the bible says: Judge not lest ye be judged - this is exactly the kind of situation that statement applies too.
The theme of the event was to make the world a better place, not a perfect place, so why don't we start by giving, to make the world better for you and me.
Which means smile even when your heart is aching.
What a beautiful service.
I guess the answer to who killed Jackson is Taylor - huh. No wonder she didn't dare show her face today at the al star promotion - oops - memorial in LA.
so true
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I had to click on this story just to say:
Any journalist who writes an article like this is a piece of sh*t and should go overdose on his wife's prick. Yes, I have "uncovered more details" about Gerald Posner's "exclusive" addiction to his wife jamming a strap-on up his rectum!!!
Mr. Tucker if you ever let this journalist post another article on yout Daily Beast I'm going to kick your ass. Or better yet, I'll tell Bubba to do it for me! Such trash, please let a gentle, kind, gifted man, beaten horribly by his father, rest in peace.
You mean to tell me that people in the entertainment business do drugs for recreational purposes? And because of their wealth and status unscrupulous doctors are willing to give them to them?
I'm shocked and outraged!
Um, not recreational. Can't you read and process info correctly?
If I had to write a two page article about Michael Jackson, it would probably take me a year at least, because I'd fall asleep before I finished a single paragraph.
I really think you have to have a high tolerance for hackery to write articles like this.
Okay - let me spell this out for your one last time:
Poor People have: a: Drug Dealers, b. Medi-Cal c: no-cost dry out programs that often work because they scare you so badly being around "those" people, you'll never touch another drop for fear of seeing them again!
Rich people have:a: Pharmacists b: Personal Physicians c: Promises in Malibu or Betty Ford if you're really desperate and your fav room at Promises isn't available or you don't want to blow another 70k for a month in Malibu (The Ford Center is cheaper by half.)
VERY RICH AND FAMOUS PEOPLE have: a. A live in personal physician who's on payroll at $300k per year plus expenses and knows damed well s/he had better keep you happy if they want their job. Functional, but happy. b: a compounding pharmacy that stocks various IV supplies and will take a call for an emergency delivery at 3AM once in a while. Also, they offer nurses to come to the house and get your 'hooked up' properly. No nasty messy missing a vein when you can have a catheter put in for easy access. c: Hotel based 72 hour Detox Programs using Suboxone and it's equivalents. One day you're a screaming addict who couldn't dance a step or sing a note. Three days later you're clean if not sober and you've avoided the worst of withdrawal symptoms, too. Maybe not 100%, but vastly better than three or four days back. With enough make-up and decent lighting you can appear on an award show, present something, make a speech and be charming, and still have everyone comment on "how great s/he looks for his/her age.) After the event you can go back on your drug of choice and then get off it again a few days or months later if need be and you actually get a role in a film or a Broadway gig one more time. If you've got a few weeks for a trainer and rehearsals you may actually remember your lines and show up on time for a change!
Hurray for Hollywood!
Doctors who are invited into a "star's" inner circle quickly forget that the doctors own net worth would not pay the taxes on the stars income in a BAD year when they're not working! The doc thought he was "making it" when he got his Platinum Amex. Then he saw the celeb pull out the "black card" and he knew he wasn't even registering on the board as a 'player' and never would. So better to have one generous and well paying patient than put up with an office full of sniveling patients, hideous overhead, malpractice premiums in the six figure range, and insurance companies that don't pay no matter what you bill for. So what if your "treatments" are a bit unorthodox. It certainly pays the bills and the lease on the Bentley was a great bonus last year...
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I feel badly for the people who are not aware of what really goes on in the lives of those with money and power and unnatural desires. It must be a shock and a let-down to discover how weak their idols rally are. Among the celebs - are the losers, winners, addicts and angels - just like in the real world. Except that their world is NOT real. I was able to get a tinyl glimpse of this life, half-a-lifetime ago. I felt those moments of immortality. I felt what it was like to be high and receive adoration and fly with it. It's addictive. I'm so glad I had people around me who kept me grounded and that my dabble into the other world was a fleeting side show. I've watched too many people abuse drugs, be incoherent and eventually die. Elizabeth Taylor has come close to dying so many times it's incredulous. She is a drug user and abuser. The tie she had with MJ was their lost youth and ultimately, doctors and drugs. They become tolerant and thus need more and stronger ways of escaping their inner pain and turmoil. Their need to be accepted and heir own insecurities combine in a caustic way, that provides the impetus to seek what they deem they need, to be someone they believe their public wants. Their bodies learn to produce pain to get the drugs they're addicted to. If you look at Liz Taylor's face today - you can see the years of drug and alcohol abuse. You can see the plastic surgery and lumps in her face from those injectables that Dr. Klein refers to. She was so beautiful - now she's not only quite unattractive, she's too stoned to show her face and utter a word for her close friend who died. There's no doubt she is kept medically tranquilized by some co-dependent well paid person. I, for one, am grateful that the tragedy of Michael Jackson has put a spotlight on the era of buying doctor's for personal pleasure.
Thank you.
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