Perry Sanders, Katherine Jackson’s lawyer, met with her today. “I am pleased to report that she is fine, and she laughed at the widely publicized report that she had suffered a stroke.” Sanders said their meeting was “long and productive.” Well, that’s good news. But the news of her “stroke” came from a letter signed by five of her children–Randy, Jermaine, Janet, Rebbie and Tito. The latter later recanted. But the others have stuck to that story. The so called “mini-stroke” that was in the letter from those adult children to Michael Jackson’s executors was widely distributed right after Mrs. Jackson was hurried away to Miraval Spa in Tucson. When her grandchildren saw the letter, they freaked out because they knew no stroke had occurred. And that’s how the chain of events was initiated, with a frightened 14 year old girl demanding to see her grandmother–and calling her uncle Randy a “liar.” Now Mrs. Jackson has lost her guardianship, and Janet Jackson has done ridiculous things in public to harm her image of being “normal.”
Madonna (Remember Her?) Does YouTube Show For Smallish Audience
It’s hard to say how many people watched Madonna’s live YouTube show from Paris. Right now, at 8:45pm, there are only 6,000 people logged in. I think that means around the world. The announcement of the broadcast did bring in 100,000 people. The show played Live in New York at 4:15pm, and 1:15pm in Los Angeles–not prime time. It could be that 337,000 people were watching around the world during the first cycle.
Now, when people are home on both coasts, it doesn’t seem like it’s getting much attraction. The video is below in our video player. The music sounds mostly pre-recorded. And Madonna points a gun at the audience in her James Bond segment. The show cuts out around 45 minutes (I guess Madonna went on to play to the audience at the Olympia Theater at that point). But everyone sounds like they’re having fun, Madonna has banked millions from the tour, and Yankee Stadium is still a month away.
There are now about 4,600 people sitting in front of nothing, waiting for the loop to start again. They are the hard core fans. Meantime, Marshall Crenshaw is playing to 300 devoted fans down at City Winery despite tornado warnings. He’s singing and playing Live. Tomorrow night, Ronnie Spector will be there playing to a full, full house.
Paris Jackson to Brother Prince’s Rescue: “We Were Hacked”
Paris Jackson has just confirmed that her brother Prince–Michael Jr.’s–Tweet from last night was removed against his will. She says they were hacked. “the thing my brother tweeted last night was the last true thing he tweeted.. he was hacked saying what we tweeted was false..” Paris adds “prince will repost the image of the text”–which he’s done–and–“if you continue with your lies , i will continue with the truth” prince wanted me to tell you guys that okay . please know its US tweeting.”
Can you imagine these kids, in that rambling large estate, at war with various people coming and going? They were up until the middle of the night. Somehow, after they finally went to sleep, Prince’s message was removed from Twitter. Now, it’s back. But it’s probably time Prince and Paris spoke directly to Judge Mitchell Beckloff and told him what’s going on. They’re bright, articulate kids. Michael Jackson did a great job with them. He’s no doubt proud that they’re standing up for themselves.
Jackson Update: Prince Signs His Tweet Michael Jackson, Jr.
UPDATE: It must be pretty lively in the Jackson house. Prince’s Tweet has been restored along with the picture of Janet’s text message. The entire tweet runs below, and now Prince asks that it be re-Tweeted so it doesn’t get lost again. He’s also signed it “Michael Jackson, Jr.,” as his mother Debbie Rowe intended. After this post, that’s how we’ll refer to him.
Prince Jackson’s amazing Tweet was deleted from his Twitter page today. But we still have it. A source tells me that Janet, Randy and Jermaine were on a conference call with their mother this morning that went on for three hours. “They were furious,” my source says. Now the posting is down, but it’s clear that Janet was the one who prevented the kids from speaking with their grandmother while she was away. Currently at the house are the kids, Mrs. Jackson, and her grandchildren TJ–the new guardian–and Terrell, his brother. Also speaking with Mrs. Jackson this afternoon is Marlon, who may be able to talk some sense into her. Meanwhile. I’m told La Toya Jackson’s silence is the result of a huge fight with Jermaine. Apparently he bad mouthed her to Prince to the point that she’s been in tears. “She’s afraid of Jermaine now,” my source says.
Prince’s post is here: www.twitlonger.com/show/ihrprh
“I would first like to start off this tweet by thanking the fans that have always stood by me and my family, my dad really appreciated your support and I still treasure it to this day. As I am sure everyone is well aware of the events that have been going on. I have not been backing up my sister and her tweets avidly because I was waiting for the time to reveal my side. As long as I can remember my dad had repeatedly warned me of certain people and their ways. Although I am happy my grandma was returned, after speaking with her I realized how misguided and how badly she was lied to. I’m really angry and hurt. The following image is of a group chat I had started to several family members. This group text message I had initially sent was replied to but they didn’t know that I could see the responses. For this whole time, we were denied contact to our grandmother. “If you continue with your lies I will continue with the truth”
-Michael Jackson Jr.
please RT this so it doesn’t leave twitter as well as the attached image
More importantly, Prince and Paris now know exactly what their father was talking about when it came to his family. In case you missed it, here’s the infamous text message from Janet that accidentally went to Prince’s phone:
Forget Trayvon Martin: “The Watch” Among Worst Reviewed Films of the Year
UPDATE “The Watch” is down to 11% on rottentomatoes.com.
This column was the first to report that “Neighborhood Watch” would have to change its name and pull its ads, etc because of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman tragedy. Now it’s coming tomorrow under the name “The Watch” and the reviews are scathing. Rottentomatoes.com has it around 13%, which is very low. There have been a few lower this year, but not many. Fox held the reviews until today, and as they appear they get worse and worse. Ben Stiller seemed very unenthusiastic on Jimmy Kimmel the other night, too. In his New Yorker profile, Stiller frets about his work and how he’s viewed. I thought in Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg,” and on Broadway in “The House of Blue Leaves,” Stiller was exceptional. (I also love “Tropic Thunder,” and I can’t explain why. Just goofy great.) Stiller is capable of so much more than something like “The Watch” ( which I haven’t seen, to be fair). Let’s hope he goes in another direction. But between “The Watch” and its current events crisis, and “The Dark Knight Rises” with its own tragedy, this part of the summer is turning into p.r. disaster. Look for “The Watch” to tank over the weekend. Fox has better stuff coming, anyway.
TMZ: Wake Up, And Give Credit: We Reported the Jackson-Miraval Story YESTERDAY Exclusively
And this is the link: http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/07/25/someones-lying-about-katherine-jackson-miraval-spa-allows-cell-phones-and-has-landlines-in-every-room Dear Harvey Levin: I actually picked up the phone DURING the press conference, called the hotel, and put the story out. That was 24 HOURS ago. Just FYI.
Exclusive: Janet Jackson Kept Kids From Speaking with Grandmother
Prince Michael Jackson, 15, has posted on Twitter a direct message he sent to family members demanding to speak to his grandmother. Janet Jackson responded to the message: “Don’t let them please.” Prince had texted Rebbie, her son Austin and Janet Jackson: “This is enough. So I am texting you for the simply fact that WE DEMAND TO SPEAK TO MY GRANDMA NOW!!!”http://www.twitlonger.com/show/ihrprh
Prince Jackson, Michael’s Son, Tweets “How Badly” Grandmother “Was Lied To”
Prince Jackson, 15, just Tweeted: “I would first like to start off this tweet by thanking the fans that have always stood by me and my family, my dad really appreciated your support and I still treasure it to this day. As I am sure everyone is well aware of the events that have been going on. I have been holding off on backing up my sister and her tweets avidly because I was waiting for the time to reveal my side. As long as I can remember my dad had repeatedly warned me of certain people and their ways. Although I am happy my grandma was returned, after speaking with her I realized how misguided and how badly she was lied to. I’m really angry and hurt. The following image is of a group chat I had started to several family members. This group text message I had started was replied to but they didn’t know that I could see the responses. For this whole time, they denied us contact to our grandmother. “If you continue with your lies I will continue with the truth”
Prince also Tweeted a picture of a direct message in which Janet Jackson told her other family members not to let him speak to Katherine, his guardian: https://twitter.com/princemjjjaxon/status/228452630400225280/photo/1
Will Katherine Jackson Understand What Happened? The Family Lives in Denial
Now that Katherine Jackson is home, will she understand what really happened? That she was lured out of her home for concerts and wound up in a spa, isolated from the world? That because of this she lost custody of her grandchildren, who were frightened? That her grown children are trying to unseat Michael Jackson’s executors in order to get their hands on his money? And that the two usually most vocal Jacksons–La Toya and father Joseph– have been conspicuous in their silence?
Maybe not. Katherine has lived a life in denial. “Ignorance is bliss” has been her motto. Well documented: how Joseph beat and tortured her children over the years. She did nothing to stop it. Michael spoke about it often. It informed his life.
Jermaine, now part of the cabal that brought Katherine away from the grandchildren, wrote this in his autobiography last year: “over time, Randy and Janet got to know what the belt felt like, mainly for disobedience…There is no denying that Michael was terrified of our father.”
But Jermaine also lives in denial. He wrote: “If he [Joseph] had truly abused us, we wouldn’t still be speaking to him…”
Joseph himself told me about his abuse on September 10, 2001. I wrote in my old column, Fox411:
We did not ask Joe Jackson about allegations in the past from his children, specifically LaToya, about abuse in their household when they were growing up. I did ask him though about his parental philosophy. “You have to be strict with kids,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with punishment as long as you know how to punish.”
What would be a typical punishment? “Beat his back,” Joe Jackson replied before I could even get the question out.
If Katherine Jackson let all that go on for more than twenty years, how she will now, at 82, rationalize the behavior of the last ten days?
Katherine Jackson Arrives Home: 82 Year old Driven 516 Miles Overnight
It seems like Katherine Jackson finally was returned to her home in Calabasas, California, a Los Angeles suburb, sometime in the middle of the night. Granddaughter Paris, 14, Tweeted at approximately at 3:30am Pacific Time: “grandma’s here ! #thankyougod <33″ She added in subsequent Tweets: “time to #hibernate” and ” 5 hours of sleep last night , been awake for 23 haha goodnight everybody<33.” Earlier, she’d written: they promised my grandmother would be home YESTERDAY . why isn’t she home ?”
Good question. For some reason, after insisting that Katherine fly to Tucson, Jermaine, Janet and Randy sent their mother home by car. They could have put her on a commercial flight or chartered a plane right back to Burbank Airport. Instead, they sent their 82 year old mother on an arduous road trip of seven hours or more.
She could have flown home with the “Nightline” crew.
Also last night, after seeing “Nightline,” Marlon Jackson Tweeted: “Hello everyone Thank you for your support. I’m tired of not knowing where my mom is. I did speak with her last night but she didn’t sound like herself. I was told by Janet, Randy and Jermaine that I could not see my mom. Doctor’s order. But I see them on television with her. How come they could not call me so I could be with her as well.”
Katherine had been at Miraval Spa in Tucson for more than a week, cut off from her family and the world. Someone–either Jermaine, Randy, Janet, Rebbie or all of them–or assistant Janice Smith–took her cell phone and laptop from her. Evidently the phone in her room was removed, too, as Miraval says it has phones in every room.
Her apparent abandonment of her custodial grandchildren and her absence caused Mrs. Jackson to lose temporary guardianship of Paris, Prince, and Blanket. Judge Mitchell Beckloff noted that Mrs. Jackson lost it as her absence was the cause of “third parties.” Beckloff is not stupid, knows what’s going on, and may not be so quick to restore Mrs. Jackson.
Marlon, Tito, and Jackie Jackson may also now take more of an interest in their mother’s well being. Marlon and Tito have never asked for Michael Jackson’s money. And Jackie works for Michael’s estate. Tito, father of TJ, who’s now the temporary guardian of the children, works as a jazz musician full time.