Cheat Sheet
Is the world ready for little Jacksons to take the stage? The family has been mourning Michael for only two weeks, but Joe Jackson may already be scouting his grandchildren's talent. The stage father—who allegedly abused his own children—told Good Morning America that he thinks Michael’s children pack their own star power. “I keep watching Paris. She maybe wants to do something,” he said. “And Blanket, he can really dance.” Jackson's children were notably sheltered from the spotlight while their father was alive.
As Michael Jackson's family squabble over what to do with his brain-less remains, they have stashed the King of Pop's body in a crypt owned by Motown record label founder Berry Gordon, the New York Post reports. At least, the gold-plated casket is in a nice neighborhood—the Gordon family crypt is located in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills. Next door to Jackson's temporary digs is the grave of actress Sandra Dee. Bette Davis and Liberace can be found nearby as well. Half of Jackson's family wants to bury the singer in Neverland, hoping to recreate a Graceland-like resting place for the star. The other half wants to follow his wishes to never to return to the ranch after Jackson was acquitted of child-molestation charges.
One of Michael Jackson's most well known assets, the Beatles music catalogue, will not be left to its rightful owner. Paul McCartney has posted on his website that he will not receive rights to the songs. This contradicts rumors that said otherwise. McCartney also debunked the idea that he was upset at not regaining his creations. He said the notion of his inclusion in Jackson's will was completely media-fabricated and "something I didn't believe for a second." Jackson gained ownership of the catalogue after placing the winning bid—$47.5 million—to buy it from British mogul Sir Lew Grade in 1985.
Though the number of people who tuned into watch Michael Jackson's memorial is stunning—31.1 million—what may be even more significant is the amount of people who watched it online: roughly 30 million more. The numbers serve as a clear indicator that how people get their news has changed. Still, the ratings are behind other major funerals, such as Princess Diana's and Ronald Reagan's. Meanwhile, Jackson is expected to be buried wearing one of his signature gloves, and AEG Live, the company that was putting on the concerts in London, has begun hawking Jackson merchandise online.
It may be the biggest send-off ever, but as Michael Jackson is memorialized at the Staples Center Tuesday, the questions of his death are far from answered. With rumors swirling about Jackson’s prescription drug use, The Daily Beast’s Gerald Posner says in an exclusive report that Jackson’s addiction may have been influenced by an unlikely person: Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor, a close friend of Jackson's, was a loyal patient of Dr. Arnold Klein, a cosmetic dermatologist who Jackson soon began to consult. Despite warnings from friends that his relationship with Taylor was “toxic,” Jackson began seeing Klein for vitiligo, a patchiness of the skin—just after Taylor was sent to rehab. Though police won’t confirm that Klein is one of the five physicians under investigation in the Jackson case, Ben Evenstad, founder of the National Photo Group, who sent paparazzi to trail Jackson in Los Angeles, said that his photographers followed Jackson to Dr. Klein’s office two to three times a week, where he would stay anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours.
As more than 1.6 million fans prepare to attend Michael Jackson’s funeral at the Staples Center on Tuesday, the people who knew him best may have already had their chance to say goodbye. Last night, at Forest Lawn Cemetery, members of the Jackson family paid their respects to Jackson in a private service, where a casket wrapped in a blue cloth was seen being unloaded and reloaded into a hearse. But the public sendoff will be a much bigger affair: Usher, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, and Mariah Carey along with Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie are all set to perform at Tuesday's public service. Also expected are Jackson’s long-time friend (and once-rumored fling) Brooke Shields, Martin Luther King Jr. III, Reverend Al Sharpton, as well as Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, the latter of whom appeared in Jackson’s music video for “Remember the Time.”
Sadly, this does not mean Diana Ross will be in charge: Katherine Jackson has been removed as the temporary administrator of her son’s estate and been replaced by two men who were named as co-executors in Michael’s 2002 will. Katherine Jackson’s lawyers asked that she be allowed to serve as co-administrator with the new executors, John Branca, a lawyer, and John McClain, a music executive, but was denied.
Despite earlier reports, Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe will not be attending his memorial on Tuesday. In a statement, Rowe's attorney said: "Although Debbie had originally planned to attend tomorrow's Staples Center memorial service, we have concluded with Debbie that she will not be attending. The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael's legacy. Debbie will continue to celebrate Michael's memory privately." The massive event, which will be broadcast on some of the broadcast networks, will include a performance by Mariah Carey.
The saga continues: The Associated Press reported today that contrary to previous statements from his parents, a will has surfaced for debt-ridden Michael Jackson, and that he had a net worth of $237 million in recent years. The existence of the will was announced just a day after Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, petitioned to become the administrator of his estate. "If there is a will and if the will is a valid will, the whole petition to be named administrator will just fall away,” said an estate lawyer and partner at a New York law firm. Meanwhile, documents dated March 31, 2007 reveal Jackson’s lofty net worth—-and the fact that only $700,000 of that amount was in cash. While his assets totaled $567.6 million, including a 750-song catalog worth $390.6 million, the five-page report claimed that Jackson owed $331 million in debt. A Jackson family lawyer said that Jacko’s advisers are currently looking for additional documents.
Pop icon Michael Jackson's autopsy results won't be back for several weeks, but Los Angeles Police are already looking closely at the star's personal doctors who treated or prescribed medicine to the deceased. The authorities removed "medical evidence" from Jackson's mansion, revealing that he took large amounts of prescription drugs. The police already interviewed cardiologist Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with Jackson when he died Saturday, but are planning on interrogating other physicians who treated Jackson. Police don't yet know whether prescription drugs caused the star's death.
Talk about a quick transformation: Sunday night’s BET Awards went from a traditional ceremony to an all-star tribute to the life of Michael Jackson in less than a day, as a lineup of luminaries paid their respects to the late pop icon. On an extra-long red carpet, swarmed with fans and media, Chaka Khan choked up when she talked about Jackson, and Sean “Diddy” Combs said the King of Pop “made me believe in magic.” A surprise guest was Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson, who accepted condolences. Performances by Beyonce, Ne-Yo and others were changed to feature musical tributes to Jackson—including a medley of Jackson 5 hits performed by a reunited New Edition, again featuring troubled singer Bobby Brown. “Overnight, literally, it changed,” the show’s producer Ron Weisner, told Billboard. “The show was completely rewritten... We’re trying to address a very unfortunate situation.”
We may not have heard the last from Michael Jackson: The Wrap reports that “Michael Jackson’s last rehearsal at the Staples Center on Wednesday, the eve of his death, was recorded in multi-camera, high-definition video and multi-track audio, and could be released as the performer’s last album.” Meanwhile, Jackson’s nanny, Grace Rwaramba, tells the Times of London about his drug abuse, saying, “I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it.”
Michael Jackson may be gone, but his confusing balance sheet will keep creditors busy for years. “It’s all a mess,” one executive involved in sorting out Jackson's finances told the New York Times. “No one really knows what is going on, but these are early days.” Jackson's most notable assets include an estimated $1 billion in publishing rights. At the center of his collection are the rights to the entire Beatles catalog, which he bought in 1985 for $47.5 million, causing a split with his then-friend Paul McCartney. But after wracking up millions in debt, Jackson needed a last-second $24.5 million loan last year just to keep creditors from liquidating his lavish Neverland Ranch in California. “He never kept track of what he was spending," a former adviser, Alvin Malnik, told the Times. "He would indiscriminately charter jets. He would buy paintings for $1.5 million. You couldn’t do that every other week and expect your books to balance.”
Police say they will question Michael Jackson’s cardiologist about whether drugs were to blame for the star’s death, after 911 tapes released Friday afternoon revealed the doctor was present at the time of Jackson’s collapse. Dr. Conrad Murray, who briefly disappeared Thursday after the singer was pronounced dead, was hired months ago to treat Jackson ahead of his upcoming tour. Investigators later briefly interviewed Murray and towed a car registered to Murray’s sister near Jackson’s home in the hopes that it may contain medication or other clues. LAPD Officer Robert French stressed that Murray is not the target of a criminal investigation, but said he may provide important information before Jackson’s toxicology results are returned. Jackson’s addiction to prescription drugs has led to suspicions about whether they were to blame for his untimely death.
As the initial shock of the King of Pop's death yesterday slowly wears off, concerned fans and people alike wonder what will become of Michael Jackson's three young children: Prince Michael Jr., 12 and Paris Katherine, 11--both of whom were born via artificial insemination to Debbie Rowe, his ex-wife--and Prince "Blanket" Michael II, who was born to a surrogate mother in 2001. Michael's mother, Katherine, reportedly wants the kids. (She and Michael's dad, Joe, had offered to adopt the children in 2005, should MJ lose custody of them during his molestation trials.) But others say that MJ wanted Grace Rwaramba, the 42-year-old nanny who worked for him for almost two decades, to have custody. There is also the possibility that Rowe--whose 1998 divorce gave Jackson full custody--will try to win custody over her two biological children, although it is still too early to tell, as her rep will only say, "Debbie is absolutely inconsolable." According to US Weekly, the children are currently with their grandmother and "are doing fine."
An artist’s stock traditionally soars posthumously, so it’s no surprise that Michael Jackson has dominated the charts in the past 24 hours. But his sales are still huge: Two hours after his death Thursday afternoon, the Thriller album reached No. 1 on iTunes. As of Friday evening, his CDs were nine of the top 10 most popular albums on the site and a quarter of the top 100 songs are either by Jackson or The Jackson Five. On Amazon, every one of the top 15 albums is Jackson’s. Additionally, items once owned by the King of Pop will be auctioned off, some valued at thousands of dollars. Let’s hope these sales can serve to “make a change” in his massive pile of debt, rumored at $400 million.
Michael Jackson spent the last night of his life doing what he did best: singing and dancing. According to his manager, Frank DiLeo, he rehearsed for his upcoming show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Wednessday night. “The show at the Staples Center was amazing,” DiLeo said. “Michael rehearsed10 or 11 songs. He sang and danced, not always at full power, but the way you do for a run-through. When the show was over, he called me, but I was in the back getting something. He found me, and said, ‘Frank, I am so happy. He said he was just so happy. He said, This is really our time. He put his arm around me.”
The latest in the Michael Jackson saga: The chilling, frantic phone call to 911 has been released to the public. In the tape, released by the Los Angeles Fire Department, an unidentified male caller can be heard pleading with the operator to send an ambulance, not identifying Jackson by name, only saying, “There is a 50-year-old in his bed who is being given CPR by his personal physician. He’s pumping his chest and he’s not responding to anything.” When the operator tries to ask the doctor via the caller if he saw what happened, there is a muffled voice, followed by the caller’s even more urgent plea, “Sir, if you could please…” The operator reassures caller that paramedics are on their way. And though EMTs arrived within minutes of the phone call, their attempts to revive Jackson failed; he was transported to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.
The cause of Michael Jackson’s premature death will remain a mystery for six to eight weeks: At a press conference Friday afternoon, a Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman said determining the cause will require further tests. Authorities have already conducted an autopsy and said there were no signs of foul play or trauma to the body. Many suspect that prescription painkillers played a role in Jackson’s death, and the spokesman said the star was taking unspecified medications. A former attorney of his said, "I said one day, we're going to have this experience. And when Anna Nicole Smith passed away, I said we cannot have this kind of thing with Michael Jackson. The result was, I warned everyone, and lo and behold, here we are. I don't know what caused his death. But I feared this day, and here we are." In 2007, Jackson settled a lawsuit with a Beverly Hills pharmacy that claimed he owed more than $100,000 for prescription drugs purchased over a two-year period.
How do Michael Jackson’s peers in the top echelon of celebrity feel about his death? Salon has rounded up celebrity reactions to the sad news. “I can’t stop crying over the sad news,” Madonna said. Justin Timberlake said, “We have lost a genius and a true ambassador of not only Pop music but of all music.” Paul McCartney said, “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul.” Steven Spielberg said, “Just as there will never be another Fred Astaire or chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, there will never anyone comparable to Michael Jackson.”
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