Michael Jackson’s longtime nanny and employee, Grace Rwaramba, did indeed sell out to vulture-like celebrity interviewer Daphne Barak.
Barak has posted a clip from the interview on her website and on YouTube as a teaser.’ The intention is to sell it somewhere. Barak routinely gets her “scoops” by paying her interview subjects, according to sources.
Today Barak started e-mailing the clip around to various Jackson insiders hoping to get them to jump on her bandwagon.
Rwaramba has denied doing the interview. But the clip speaks for itself. She tells Barak how she was fired last spring on a Sunday morning by telephone. The nanny says “the guy”’presumably Tohme Tohme’”terminated” her by offering her a “ridiculous” salary.
“Were you surprised?” Barak asked her. “Not really,” Grace replied. “It had happened before.”
The minute-long clip is interesting because Rwaramba will be offered as an important person in the lives of Jackson’s children when their grandmother, Katherine, goes to court next Monday to establish custody rights. The Jacksons seem unaware that Rwaramba’who was well compensated by Jackson’would turn on him, and for money.
Also, the nanny seems to indicate to Barak that she was “laid off” because she refused to take a low salary. That would certainly bring into question her selfless devotion to the children.
Ironically, Barak now is the common thread between Rwaramba and Michael’s parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson. Back in 2005, Barak interviewed the Jacksons, then sold the interview to CBS. Sources told me then that Barak kicked back a fee to the Jacksons. In 2005 I reported that both Joe Jackson and Daphne Barak were secretly in business with a man named Charles Coupet, who also served as a literary agent for Macaulay Culkin’s father, Kit. ‘A year earlier, in 2004, Barak called this reporter and said, “I have Joseph Jackson on the phone and we want to talk to you about a project.” I passed.

“Bruno”: there appeared to be a problem with Sacha Baron Cohen’s new film when it was kept away from New York reviewers and columnists until the last minute. Don’t the studios know this is a dead giveaway? Showing a film only in Los Angeles means there’s trouble. Eventually, the truth will come out.
A lot of familiar faces from the world of Michael Jackson were missing yesterday at the memorial service: Liz, Liza, Macaulay, etc.
As anyone who watched the program knows, two Jacksons stole the show: Michael’s 11-year-old daughter, Paris Michael Katherine, and his brother Jermaine. Brother Marlon acquitted himself well.