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It's Getting Even Weirder
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The plastic surgeon who built Michael's noses may be the most dubious character in the entire Jackson saga. Diane Dimond on the doctor whose bizarre behavior—like providing goodie bags of syringes filled with Demerol for celebrity patients; climbing a tree with a pellet gun; claiming to work undercover for the DEA and the Secret Service; and filing as a candidate for president—has attracted police attention, including a mental evaluation by the LAPD last year. But that hasn't stopped him from serving as the Jackson family's authorized medical representative, advising them on how to handle lawsuits, doctors, insurance, and the singer's promoter, AEG.
Dr. Steven Hoefflin seems perfectly suited to his role as the authorized medical representative for Michael Jackson’s grieving family, assisting them as they contemplate wrongful-death lawsuits against several doctors, insurance companies, and maybe even the singer’s promoter, AEG. The King of Pop’s personal plastic surgeon says he is making media appearances on behalf of the family and co-writing a book with Michael’s mother Katherine, tentatively titled 1,000 Wonderful Things About Michael Jackson That the Public Doesn’t Know About. Hoefflin also says he helped the family plan and carry out a drug intervention for his “good friend” in 2002.
“Were some of those things a little nutsy? Yeah. But my wife was being threatened, I was being threatened.”
But recent history has shown that in the Jackson drama, nothing is what it appears, and that seems true in the case of Hoefflin. Since last year, and continuing through Jackson’s death, Hoefflin, the immediate past president of the Los Angeles Society of Plastic Surgeons, has engaged in a pattern of behavior so “delusional,” as a Los Angeles Police Department report terms it, that the LAPD’s Threat Assessment Unit has been monitoring him. Two police sources familiar with Hoefflin say the LAPD took him into custody for a mental evaluation following a 2008 incident in which officers observed him in a tree, clutching a pellet gun and babbling about assassination attempts.
Other incidents include various written statements from Hoefflin that he’s either an agent for, or a target of, the FBI, the CIA, the KGB and the Secret Service. He says he has received death threats from those tied to John McCain’s presidential campaign, apparently due to Hoefflin’s decision to run for president, a campaign that he thought he would win.
Michael Jackson began seeing Hoefflin in 1978. A “plastic surgeon to the stars,” Hoefflin told me that he’s treated 700 celebrity patients. His client roster has reportedly included Elizabeth Taylor, Donald and Ivana Trump, Joan Rivers, Don Johnson, Nancy Sinatra, Phyllis Diller, Sly Stallone, and Angie Everhart. The doctor began the work that would create the most infamous nose in the world, admitting to the first two of Jackson’s nose jobs.
But it was in 1984, after a pyrotechnic display set Michael Jackson’s hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, that the world fully met a dynamic young surgeon named Steven Hoefflin. After the emergency surgery, Hoefflin stepped before the cameras, still wearing his blue surgical scrubs, to explain how he’d rebuilt the King of Pop’s scalded scalp. With his mop of trendy curly brown hair, moustache, and one rakishly raised eyebrow, Hoefflin seemed to relish the news-conference spotlight and to delight in his own momentary importance.
Hoefflin said he continued to be Jackson’s plastic surgeon until 2002, when he refused to treat him after a failed drug intervention. They remained personal friends, he said, right up to the end.
In a 90-minute interview Tuesday, Hoefflin, 63, said he was one of the few people near the Jackson family who have their interests at heart. When I asked him about his recent bizarre behavior, however, his response at three different points was: “I have a genius IQ."
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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Investigative journalist and syndicated columnist Diane Dimond has covered the Michael Jackson story since 1993 when she first broke the news that the King of Pop was under investigation for child molestation. She is author of the book, Be Careful Who You Love—Inside the Michael Jackson Case. She lives in New York with her husband, broadcast journalist Michael Schoen.
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Investigative journalist and syndicated columnist Diane Dimond has covered the Michael Jackson story since 1993 when she first broke the news that the King of Pop was under investigation for child molestation. She is author of the book, Be Careful Who You Love—Inside the Michael Jackson Case. She lives in New York with her husband, broadcast journalist Michael Schoen.
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Investigative journalist and syndicated columnist Diane Dimond has covered the Michael Jackson story since 1993 when she first broke the news that the King of Pop was under investigation for child molestation. She is author of the book, Be Careful Who You Love—Inside the Michael Jackson Case. She lives in New York with her husband, broadcast journalist Michael Schoen.
StellaRay
My God. This is all just so----well, the dictionary doesn't have the words for it. I think Ms. Dimond has done a good job of proving her case here. And it's very scary.
The fact that Dr. Hoefflin is still free to practice is gobsmacking. For all the talk and argument about health care reform it seems so unbelievable that a man like this rides above it all.
Who is to blame? The AMA for not policing its own, the police who have not moved against this nut, the community of shallowness and foregivness that is Hollywood?
There is so much wrong here on every level. MJ is dead, the abuses that Hoefflin perpetrated on Jackson, with his full consent, are buried in MJ's casket.
But people, really, is this guy someone who should still be out there practicing?
I'm thankful that I've never had the money, the status or the desire to get mixed up with the likes of Dr. Hoefflin.
Hushy77
I wanted to thank Diane Diamond for excellent work on her recent article on Michael Jackson and his plastic surgeon Dr. Hoefflin. People on the inside know how truly crazy and completely ridiculous Dr. Hoefflin is and his behavior is disgusting. He continues to leach of off this family. I'm sure if you continue to follow this "relationship", everyone will be shocked.
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n--Y--charles116aspiecelia
Is this guy still practicing medicine? Sounds like he needs some kind of intervention. Is he on drugs or does he have a mental illness, or both. Clearly he is very disturbed.
sparknut
When doctors complain about spiraling malpractice rates, they should look at people like "Dr." Hoefflin. His license to practice medicine should have been revoked long ago. But states are very slow to remove the whack jobs from medical practice.
BrawkSamson
Catch-22
"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me."
:D
MurrayAbraham
Obviously plenty of vultures were, and are, circling.
Southpaw
And people let this weirdo get near them with scalpel? Oy.
RTL212
From reading all of the recent detail about Jackson, his advisers, doctors, family etc...it may seem impolite to say, but Jackson truly died of stupidity.
People don't get access to your money, your kids, your body without your consent. There are literally thousands of highly competent doctors and financial advisers within 5 miles of where he lived, then and recently. He chose fools to be clsoe to him because he was comfortable with fools - they were his peeps.
I guess this shows that if you're dumb enough and rich enough you can try to live outside the boundaires of a real life, but eventually stupidity can kill you.
Were the hangers on corrupt? I guess. But what do you do when an idiot wants to give you tons of money to do stupid things?
The doctors should of course lose their licenses, but it is very difficult to feel sympathy for a fool, evne one who could sing and dance well. His money could have gone to terrific causes, but he chose to indulge himse;lf and his final indulgence killed him.
leadfoot66
First of all you didn't know Michael , second you can't be calling him names and saying he used his money for him self , he gave millions to the world to help helpless familys and kids , and aides , so how dare you say this . I can't stand it when people have no clue who or what Michael was about , so what he did some pills , to sleep or for pain , there are so many other illegal drugs out there he could of done but he didn't . It happened and we lost him , now he is in a better place than earth , and with the goverment telling how to raise our families and what , where , how to live our lives ,and this dumb war that is making people lose everything why go after someone who is gone , why not focus on the goverment and leave the dead alone .In fact leave Michael Jackson alone .
pclayton
I totally agree. Yes, there are incompetent bizarre 'professionals' out there (law, medicine, business) and it is up to us as adults, creative/famous or not, to protect ourselves from being taken in by them. Michael Jackson wasn't able to do that, nor did he have anyone around him, apparently, whose advice he would take to keep him out of harm's way so he met his demise, despite his wealth. From all accounts it appears that Jackson would befriend anyone who had access to drugs, even allowed them to mutilate his face. Yes, this kook Hoefflin belongs in a hospital for the criminally insane as a patient but it amazes me that anyone--anyone--would allow him to perform surgery. Just look at the results of Jackson's nose; I mean, does anyone think that probiscus is the work of plastic surgeon with a genius IQ? Is that what Jackson really wanted to look like: a grown man with a nose designed for a Kewpie doll? I can't determine who was nuttier.
revcat
It's a well known fact that MJ donated MILLIONS of dollars to charity which refutes part of your post. And as for calling MJ a stupid idiot, that's just your opinion and more than a little harsh, however I do think MJ had some type of mental problem(s). This doesn't mean he was crazy, but, for example, his plastic surgery went way too far. He must have been very unhappy with his image to mutilate himself like that and the doctor is partially responsible as he should not have cooperated. MJ had other problems too, but he's gone now and I hope he is resting in peace. The media dehumanized him, but he was a human being with flaws just like the rest of us.
aperturemad
This is not journalism. This is silly gossip of the most sordid and pointless kind. LA is bursting with marginal or border-line leeches . This man is ill. This "journalist" has offered nothing of value. Shame on you Ms. Dimond.
keemia
This was a very good and detailed article about the way medicine is practiced for the super rich, and a crazy man who continues to do so.
BabySnooks
The Jacksons are merely the bigger of the fish that attract the pirahnas in the pond of fame and fortune. Pirahnas of course are cannibalistic and if the food supply dwindles, they begin to eat their own. Which sums up life in Los Angeles. This man shouldn't be practicing medicine. But then quite a few shouldn't be. But it's Los Angeles. The pirahnas protect themselves. Mainly because from time to time the food supply dwindles.
kscr14
Classic mental illness. This is exactly why medical privacy is in place. Shame on Diane Dimond. Mental illness is a very tragic health issue to deal with.Let alone in a forum like this,written so dirty. Many people have these symptoms managed.It can happen .Public humiliation can only make it worse.
eeyore5662
What's really sad -- anyone blaming the journalist for her article!! Also, anyone who could look at Jackson and honestly believe him to be of sound mind and body, now that's really said. They would rather worship this self-proclaimed idol because he could sing and dance than they would to face the truth about him. I was totally upset that they gave his mother custody of his children. Three more lives thrown into the pit for the vultures to pick at and possibly destroy as they did him. You may not like what the journalist wrote, but, hey, don't shoot the messenger. As far as privacy, seems to me the doctor took care of that issue himself.
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revcat
Well, I sort of agree with you in this case, but Diane Dimond is a vulture who has made most of her living off of Michael Jackson and her career is now revived a bit as she has his corpse to pick at. Many of the "posters" are aware of this and may be reacting to her in general as opposed to this specific article.
mdreader
So if doctors abuse or take advantage of the mentally ill, no one should report on it, according to you.
I don't agree.
Veronicaxy
So kscr14, you want someone who wields a knife and a state sanctioned MD degree, who apparently is very mentally ill, to not be exposed to you and the rest of the public?
It's critical for the public to know the truth about this individual to protect themselves.
It's more important for all of us to understand that the system that is supposed to protect us from unstable medical professionals is clearly not working.
Why in the world are you busy shooting the messenger and not paying attention to the message?
OffenbachStutz
I sincerely hope he recovers in time to enter GOP presidential primaries in 2012.
camfield
Good one!
naomaf
Jackson is dead. CAN WE MOVE ON????
revcat
Move on, nobody is stopping you, are they? It's simple, don't read it and turn the dial on the TV.
citivas
I couldn't disagree more with the posters who are mad at the reporter and say this guy is mentally ill so leave him alone. He's still walking free without any self-awareness or treatment for his illness. More importantly, he is still a close friend and advisor of new legal guardian of Michael's children. What does that say about her fitness as a guardian that she has not realized this man is mentally unfit and to the contrary is engaged in projects with him? Showing just how unbalanced some of those still close to the Jackson family are is high relevant to the only part of this whole sordid affair that really matters, the kids...
jhub32
Exactly!
BabySnooks
At least he hasn't intimated that he's the father of the children the way Arnie Klein has.
enfinlily
I agree with RTL212. Maybe not stupid, but definately uneducated. But what can you expect from a child who was exploited his entire life and never received even the most elementary of educations. Most of us make a bad decision now and then but we learn from them. He didn't know how to do that.
pclayton
And this "child" who could not make responsible decisions for himself decided to procure and raise other children? My goodness.
jenny4hill
People do it all the time.
Annie57
Oh, my God. All these years, as Michael's appearence became more and more bizarre, I kept thinking, why would these plastic surgeons keep operating on Michael Jackson when their efforts are making him look strange and otherworldly instead of better. It disturbed me to think that doctors, who are put on a sort of a pedestal in our society, would be so crass as to take money to do something that wasn't only not benficial, but instead detrimental to the appearence and well being of the patient. Now we find out that this particular doctor is not only probably greedy for fame and fortune, but crazy as well. It's really scary that a guy like this has a license to practice medicine and prescribe drugs.
I think Diane Diamond should keep up the good work. This piece was compulsively readable and fascinating, although in a tragic way.
shle896
As always, Diane Diamond provides excellent reporting, proving that in Hollywierd, even the people surrounding Michael Jackson, are every bit as strange as he was!
You can't make this stuff up!
conservative4life
Can you say, delusions of grandeur?!
karente
You hit the nail exactly on the head, I was thinking the same thing.
Thank you.
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