I don't buy it. This is a man so full of ego that practically everything he does is for the benefit of people liking him. I don't think this was human at all, but a sociopath emulating what he believed human behavior to look like. He wanted the people in the room to like him.
@Jestermeister: You try being trained like a machine since the age of 5 to be a performer (and beaten if you didn't) and never having any kind of normal life - ever - and then trying to come out "normal." Please. 45 of his 50 years have been on stage for the entire world to see.
The most important stuff we learned about playing nice with people, we learned in grade school. He was on national TV while we were at recess. Sociopath? Doubt it. Lonely, hurting individual? Yeah.
@shorty63136: I'd say probably the biggest problem he had in that regard was that he was always the star of the Jackson Five, even from the very start. The other four brothers all pretty much fell by the wayside once Michael went solo, so they learned pretty early on that they _weren't_ stars. Michael, on the other hand, went from being "star of the group" to "star of the industry", so now he's presented with the possibility that being part of a group act was simply holding him back. What he didn't realize was going on is that he shifted from a pop group to a pop solo act, and the two got treated as separate entities in an industry that survives on the idea that both the pop stars and the pop fans are 100% disposable. And he completely missed the fact that the Jackson Five, as a whole, was kicked to the curb because _he_ found a new career on his own. Once the Jackson One had also overstayed its welcome, the idea that he was no longer king of the industry was probably just more than his emotionally stunted mind could take, and his mind just packed up and walked out of the house.
So now that Jackson is dead, why does everyone suddenly feel compelled to show "the side of Michael we never knew"? Give me a break. I'm sick of reading all of the "we'll miss you MJ!" and "The world will never forget you! RIP" messages all over the blogosphere. The man touched little boys. He was a deeply disturbed individual. Let's not try to turn him into some hero in death just make ourselves feel good. Death is just a part of the life cycle and it doesn't magically erase the path that people have left behind them. There's no honor in Jackson's legacy. His contributions to the entertainment industry don't outweigh the damaging impact that he's had on the lives of the children involved in his many scandals, let alone the children that he's fathered.
Shame on you Gizmodo for jumping into the mindless celebrity parade and posting this irrelevant story that only serves to bump your Digg hits.
Forgive me if I come across as harsh, but I'm dealing with M.J. news overload today and this was just the last straw.
@icegnome: He paid off the first one who refused to testify after getting paid millions. The evidence in that case was a SLAM DUNK and why he paid the family off.
So you were there to witness the child touching then? I hate it when people bring this up, since he is my favorite artist. He was never convicted of touching children, which means prosecutors found no evidence to substantiate these claims. If I could have gotten money from a civil suit from michael jackson, hell yeah i would have claimed he touched me. No doubt about it, the guy was a disturbed, to the point where he would violate kids? i doubt that. He gave us heal the world for goodness sake.
@max11221: You have to ask yourself if you were in the same situation, and you had enough money to pay someone off and avoid going to trial, would you go with the trial or pay them off? If I had enough money I would pay them off rather than go to court.
I wasn't a witness, but as I said in another reply, I've watch interviews with the man and I could tell that he wasn't running on all 8 cylinders. I think he was totally capable of doing the things he was accused of. This is the guy who, in 2002, was asked about his relationships with young boys at his home and said, "The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone. It's a beautiful thing. It's very right. It's very loving. Because what's wrong with sharing a love?"
That's a far cry from saying something like "I'm disgusted that anyone would even think that I would take a child into my bed in a sexual way." Sorry, but he tried to justify his sickness as far as I'm concerned.
@Josh Dill: So, because he was screwed up, he's capable of lusting after and wanting to abuse children?
As opposed to say, he's so screwed up from the abuse he suffered as a child that he is emotionally stuck at the age of say, 12, and to him having kids over to "sleep over" in his bed was just as innocent in his head as if he were a child himself? What 12 year-old kids didn't show each other their dad's porn collection?
Seriously?
He was a sick man with emotional and physical issues. He was physically and emotionally abused by his father as a child. He had addiction problems with prescription medications. He had a lot of sleazy people taking advantage of him.
His behaviors, while unhealthy, aren't unheard of or evil.
And perhaps you should do some research about his so called victims before jumping to conclusions.
Here's something from his most recent trial mental health evaluation...
"During the investigation, Jackson's profile was examined by mental health professional Dr. Stan Katz; the doctor spent several hours with the accuser too. The assessment made by Katz was that Jackson had become a regressed 10-year-old and did not fit the profile of a pedophile."
@Josh Dill: I'm not entirely convinced he was actually violating the kids. It's entirely possible that he really was just stuck in an eternally childlike mindset, and just wanted to play-play with kids. The latter possibility is disturbing enough in its own right, and while not at all illegal, runs close enough to the former in enough minds that there would be a real possibility of being convicted without any proof. It, therefore, is possible that he was instructed to pay them off just to make the first case go away, which only added fuel to the fire and gave any future claimants a giant opening.
All that being said, dude needed to be living on the set of Silence of the Lambs, not Hook.
@Purple Dave: Everyone is thinking the evidence from the 2005 CIVIL trial was the same type of evidence from the 1993 CRIMINAL charges. HE paid the 1993 family off to NOT TESTIFY...because the evidence was overwhelming that ACTUAL sexual contact was going on...not "childlike behavior".
Even the publicity available evidence was damming...let alone what was not released.
He certainly did not change his ways...just modified it...but after the 1993 case any "parent" putting their kid with him was looking for a payday I agree.
But please people stop ignoring the 1993 CRIMINAL case and applying the 2005 circumstances to it. They were as different as night and day...or Black and White.....
@max11221: I never said I was convinced that he _hadn't_ stepped over the line either. Mostly it came down to the fact that I really didn't care to dig that deep into his !@#$ed up life.
06/26/09
You know, all, Heee hee! Cham-wow!!!!!
06/26/09
06/26/09
The most important stuff we learned about playing nice with people, we learned in grade school. He was on national TV while we were at recess. Sociopath? Doubt it. Lonely, hurting individual? Yeah.
06/29/09
I'd say probably the biggest problem he had in that regard was that he was always the star of the Jackson Five, even from the very start. The other four brothers all pretty much fell by the wayside once Michael went solo, so they learned pretty early on that they _weren't_ stars. Michael, on the other hand, went from being "star of the group" to "star of the industry", so now he's presented with the possibility that being part of a group act was simply holding him back. What he didn't realize was going on is that he shifted from a pop group to a pop solo act, and the two got treated as separate entities in an industry that survives on the idea that both the pop stars and the pop fans are 100% disposable. And he completely missed the fact that the Jackson Five, as a whole, was kicked to the curb because _he_ found a new career on his own. Once the Jackson One had also overstayed its welcome, the idea that he was no longer king of the industry was probably just more than his emotionally stunted mind could take, and his mind just packed up and walked out of the house.
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
Shame on you Gizmodo for jumping into the mindless celebrity parade and posting this irrelevant story that only serves to bump your Digg hits.
Forgive me if I come across as harsh, but I'm dealing with M.J. news overload today and this was just the last straw.
06/26/09
a) He was never convicted.
b) You're just mad there wasn't an iPhone reference. If there was an iPhone reference you would love it... wouldn't you... you know you would....
06/26/09
He WAS a pedophile (.)
06/26/09
So you were there to witness the child touching then? I hate it when people bring this up, since he is my favorite artist. He was never convicted of touching children, which means prosecutors found no evidence to substantiate these claims. If I could have gotten money from a civil suit from michael jackson, hell yeah i would have claimed he touched me. No doubt about it, the guy was a disturbed, to the point where he would violate kids? i doubt that. He gave us heal the world for goodness sake.
06/26/09
06/26/09
I wasn't a witness, but as I said in another reply, I've watch interviews with the man and I could tell that he wasn't running on all 8 cylinders. I think he was totally capable of doing the things he was accused of. This is the guy who, in 2002, was asked about his relationships with young boys at his home and said, "The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone. It's a beautiful thing. It's very right. It's very loving. Because what's wrong with sharing a love?"
That's a far cry from saying something like "I'm disgusted that anyone would even think that I would take a child into my bed in a sexual way." Sorry, but he tried to justify his sickness as far as I'm concerned.
06/26/09
As opposed to say, he's so screwed up from the abuse he suffered as a child that he is emotionally stuck at the age of say, 12, and to him having kids over to "sleep over" in his bed was just as innocent in his head as if he were a child himself? What 12 year-old kids didn't show each other their dad's porn collection?
Seriously?
He was a sick man with emotional and physical issues. He was physically and emotionally abused by his father as a child. He had addiction problems with prescription medications. He had a lot of sleazy people taking advantage of him.
His behaviors, while unhealthy, aren't unheard of or evil.
And perhaps you should do some research about his so called victims before jumping to conclusions.
Here's something from his most recent trial mental health evaluation...
"During the investigation, Jackson's profile was examined by mental health professional Dr. Stan Katz; the doctor spent several hours with the accuser too. The assessment made by Katz was that Jackson had become a regressed 10-year-old and did not fit the profile of a pedophile."
06/26/09
I'm an MJ fan for life. Turn off your Internet if you're tired of reading about it because it's really not going away any time soon.
06/27/09
I'm not entirely convinced he was actually violating the kids. It's entirely possible that he really was just stuck in an eternally childlike mindset, and just wanted to play-play with kids. The latter possibility is disturbing enough in its own right, and while not at all illegal, runs close enough to the former in enough minds that there would be a real possibility of being convicted without any proof. It, therefore, is possible that he was instructed to pay them off just to make the first case go away, which only added fuel to the fire and gave any future claimants a giant opening.
All that being said, dude needed to be living on the set of Silence of the Lambs, not Hook.
06/27/09
Even the publicity available evidence was damming...let alone what was not released.
He certainly did not change his ways...just modified it...but after the 1993 case any "parent" putting their kid with him was looking for a payday I agree.
But please people stop ignoring the 1993 CRIMINAL case and applying the 2005 circumstances to it. They were as different as night and day...or Black and White.....
06/28/09
I never said I was convinced that he _hadn't_ stepped over the line either. Mostly it came down to the fact that I really didn't care to dig that deep into his !@#$ed up life.
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09