The new Michael Jackson book excerpted in Vanity Fair looks like a clip job. As well, author Randall Sullivan seems to have depended on the most questionable of the Jackson so called “insiders” as his sources. They include Brian Oxman, who was never Michael’s lawyer, was fired by Tom Mesereau during the 2005 criminal case, and is now disbarred finally after many sanctions by the California Bar Association; Howard Mann, a Toronto online gaming entrepreneur who recently lost a major case to the Jackson estate; and Tohme Tohme, Michael’s short-lived manager currently being sued by the estate.
No one I’ve talked to associated with the Jackson estate, or the real “inner circle” has spoken to Sullivan. His book is being published by Grove Press, which sold the rights to Vanity Fair. The magazine can’t know that Sullivan’s sources are highly suspect, or that much of the material they’ve got from him comes other sources including this column. Sullivan never covered Jackson during his life, wasn’t around during his trial or its aftermath, but now pitches himself as an expert.
Sullivan also seems to be, at least in the Vanity Fair excerpt, on the side of the Will-doubters. This is the group that thinks Michael Jackson’s Will was forged or invented. I liken them to the Obama birthers.
Sullivan cites this column toward the end of his excerpt in the new Vanity Fair, but really–most of the stuff in this story comes from other places. It’s a clip job. I suspect his book will be much the same. Look for the fingerprints of other disgruntled ex-Jacksonians.
Anyway, here are some links to stories I wrote where Sullivan may have found inspiration:
http://www.showbiz411.com/2009/06/26/20090626michael-jacksons-last-will-was-completed-in-2002
http://www.showbiz411.com/2009/06/28/20090628jackson-family-where-theres-a-will-theres-a-way
http://www.showbiz411.com/2009/06/27/20090627michael-jackson-burial-neverland-ranch\
