Michael Jackson

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  Some observers who are sceptical of Michael Jackson’s innocence speculate that people in his life – his attorneys, publicists, accountants and even family members – believe in their heart of hearts that the man is guilty as sin. It is thought that such allies of his are merely exhibiting blind loyalty to him by publicly, and so vociferously, declaring his innocence. After all, they have jobs to do, or family allegiances to protect, it’s thought. However, it’s not true. If a person is around Michael Jackson long enough, he begins to believe in him. Michael is such an unconventional, curious person, the only way to truly fathom him and his world is to actually be in his presence, experience it and take it all in. While he welcomes the support of his inner circle, he does not appreciate it when they try to explain to him why outsiders are suspect of him and his behaviour.

  ‘He doesn’t want to hear it,’ his former close friend Uri Geller has explained. ‘I tried to tell him, “Michael, I know you are innocent but you have to understand why there are others who do not believe that. You have to stop with the children in people’s faces. You have to try to understand the public. It’s not just you. You are in the world.” He becomes sad, and his eyes glaze over. Then he becomes angry. No one can talk to him these days, not really. So I think that people in his life go about the business of defending him, and don’t bring up anything with him that really matters or addresses the problem.’

  Ten years ago, Elizabeth Taylor and Lisa Marie Presley stepped into Michael Jackson’s world and attempted to bring some sense and wisdom to it. They were not paid to do so, they did it out of love. If not for them, who knows how the Jordie Chandler matter would have worked out for Michael.

  Sadly, Michael no longer has allies such as Elizabeth and Lisa.

  Elizabeth is too advanced in years and upset by the melodrama in her friend’s world to be recruited for such hard duty.

  For her part, Lisa simply can’t become immersed in Michael’s problems again. It was tough on her, last time. When she ended it with Michael, she suffered physical problems, a myriad of ailments, because she had been so anxious for so long about him. In order to protect herself, she now keeps her distance. Some have indicated that she is more concerned about her new recording career with Capitol Records than she is about Michael, and won’t align herself with him because of her fear of bad public relations… as if Lisa Marie Presley has ever cared what the public thinks about her. Rather, she is taking care of herself, say her friends, the way she used to take care of Michael.

  Today, Michael Jackson’s best and most reliable support comes from people who are compensated by tremendous amounts of money to shield him from the ugly truth of his world – and then explain away his deep sadness and pain by acting as if it doesn’t exist. It’s not as if they have any choice. It’s the way he wants it.

  Michael’s Latest Accuser

  How credible are the present charges against Michael Jackson?

  While Michael is most certainly guilty of creating the appearance of impropriety where his current accuser, Gavin Arvizo, is concerned, such wrong-minded choices about socializing with children – and making sure everyone knows about it – obviously don’t make him a child-molester. As of this writing, the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s evidence against Michael is sealed. Therefore, a firm opinion of his guilt or innocence is premature. Understandably, loyal friends and family members believe he is innocent based on little more than… their personally held beliefs about him. However, critical-minded people who have no emotional attachment to him have good reason for prudent scepticism. Still, the presumption of innocence is on Michael’s side. That stated, the criminal case against him seems very weak, even at this early stage.

  In the year 2002 and into 2003, Gavin Arvizo and members of his family had enjoyed being with Michael at Neverland Ranch on several occasions. The Hispanic boy with dark hair and dark brown eyes from East Los Angeles is a comedy aficionado who aspires to a career in that arena. At the age of ten he had been diagnosed with cancer so he was quite ill. He’d had an eight-pound cancerous tumour on his left kidney; doctors were forced to remove that kidney as well as his spleen.

  While he was sick, the youngster was asked by a comedy club owner in Los Angeles what would make him happy. He said he wanted to meet certain celebrities – one of them being Michael Jackson. (Actually, Michael was third on the list, behind comedians Adam Sandler and Chris Tucker.) Unfortunately, Michael has always been a sucker for young kids who want to meet him. After the comedy club owner made quick arrangements with Michael’s ‘people’, one thing led to another, and before anyone knew what was happening, Gavin and both his parents, younger brother and older sister were guests of Michael’s at his Neverland ranch. It’s a bit startling, actually, when one considers how easy it is to gain entrée into the King of Pop’s castle.

  Just as in the case of Jordie Chandler and his family, Michael became engrossed in the personal, complicated and troubled life of the youngster. He not only began paying the boy’s medical expenses, and provided transportation for Gavin to get to and from chemotherapy, he took him, his mother Janet Ventura-Arvizo and two siblings, Daveline and Star Arvizo, into his confidence, into his secret world. He also extended his generosity to people they knew; for instance, he leased an apartment for the mother’s boyfriend. He pushed and pushed until he was fully enveloped in their lives, exactly as he had with Jordie.

  Caught up in the security of Michael Jackson’s cushy lifestyle, the family settled in. Compared to their lower-middle-class existence in East LA, Neverland was… well… Neverland. They had safety and security – and the excitement of knowing a big star and trafficking in his exciting and privileged world. Janet encouraged the children to call Michael ‘Daddy’. That was fine with Michael, but the immediate and inappropriate familiarity suggested by the new moniker was disconcerting to observers in his camp. Didn’t he have three children calling him daddy, already – his own?

  ‘It was too much,’ recalled someone close to the situation. ‘It was Michael not remembering what had happened with Jordie Chandler and his old man [Evan Chandler, his father], and then letting these new kids and their mom into his world, no holds barred. Whatever they wanted, man, they got. Money. Trips. Gifts. Toys. The whole Michael Jackson package. 360 degrees of everything… and way too much alone time with the one boy [Gavin]. People in his [Jackson’s] camp were worried about it, but there had been a lot of kids and a lot of families between Jordie and this new family, and Michael had let them all into his life too, with no consequences. You can’t reason with him… he takes his chances. The questions for me have always been, when does this guy have time for his career, how’d he even get to be the King of Pop when he’s so preoccupied with other people’s lives… and how the hell does he keep track of all of these kids?’

  When Gavin’s health took a turn for the better, everyone was elated. Why, it was as if Michael was some kind of miracle worker! In just a few months, the youngster was born again. Of course, the fact that he was finally eating well and now able to afford the best medications in the world – thanks to Michael’s largesse – didn’t hurt.

  The story might have had a truly happy ending if everyone had then gone their separate ways. Gavin and his family might have exited Neverland never to be seen again – with all being well that ended well.

  However, at this same time, Michael was involved in the making of the Martin Bashir documentary. Bashir had heard about the youngster and the transformation he had undergone as a result of his connection to Jackson, and wanted to include his story in the documentary. Because it seemed like a good idea – he hoped people would finally understand his relationship with children if they were to see the footage – Michael agreed to it. When the documentary was first broadcast in the UK, and finally in the USA, Michael was seen holding hands with Gavin while giggling and discussing sleeping arrangements with him. He also made it clear that he saw nothing wrong with sharing his bed with children.

  After the document
ary aired on 3 February in the UK, and three days later in the USA, tongues began to wag about his odd interaction with Gavin Arvizo. It was then that Gavin’s mother, Janet, complained publicly that Martin Bashir had allowed her son to appear on the show without her permission. Of course, Michael did not secure her permission, either. However, at that time, the family was still friendly with Michael and did not point out his lapse in judgement.

  In truth, Michael Jackson isn’t used to asking anyone permission for anything. He reasoned that, considering all that he had done for Gavin and his family, Janet wouldn’t mind seeing her son featured on his show. After she complained about it, it was thought that she would simply have to get over it. However, Gavin was being ridiculed in public, other youngsters coming up to him and taunting him for being ‘Michael Jackson’s boyfriend’. It is understandable that Janet was upset. However, Michael had other problems, having to do with ‘damage control’. There had been outrage about the Martin Bashir programme, and Michael charged Bashir with having taken statements and scenes out of context. ‘That damn Martin Bashir show didn’t work out as well as I hoped,’ he told one of his staff members.

  To set the record straight, Michael Jackson wanted to produce his own special and give his side of the story. He also wanted to press Gavin into service: would he be interviewed for the new documentary and confirm that Michael’s behaviour toward him had always been innocent? Yes, of course he would, and this time with his mother’s permission. Michael dispatched his so-called ‘video-grapher’, Christian Robinson, to tape an interview with the family. It seems unlikely that Michael Jackson would have charged Robinson with such a task if he thought the Arvizo family would ever allege he was a child-molester.

  Denials All Around

  Christian Robinson, who had been documenting Michael’s experiences on the road and at home on video tape for about two years, sat down with mother and son at a private home to ask questions about the star’s relationship with them. He asked if there had ever been any inappropriate behaviour on Michael’s part. ‘They [Gavin, his sister Daveline, brother Star and mother Janet] answered and were very upfront and said “absolutely not”,’ he later maintained. ‘And during this interview, I told them to speak truthfully probably more than thirty times. I kept reminding them, I want you to tell the truth, tell your story.’

  ‘They all felt that a miracle had taken place,’ Robinson recalled when speaking of Gavin’s recovery. ‘He says that Gavin and Star insisted to him that whenever they slept in the same room with Michael, they slept on the bed and he slept on the floor. They were so resolute in their answers, almost as if they were getting mad at me. “Why are you asking me this? Michael is innocent.”’ He says that ‘the family was not coached’, and ‘the family was incredibly passionate, talking about Jesus and God and Michael as the ultimate father figure.’

  As mentioned earlier in this text, Michael’s rebuttal was finally broadcast – the awkwardly titled, The Michael Jackson Interview – The Footage You Were Never Meant to See – but it didn’t change the way people thought about him. His supporters still believed in him, and his detractors remained critical of him.

  The footage of Michael’s accuser in the documentary is unsettling, especially in light of the new charges. Gavin is bald, a result of chemotherapy, and, according to the documentary, should have been dead by that time but was alive thanks to his association with Michael Jackson. There is footage of the youngster in his hospital bed, of him being pushed in a wheelchair with Michael at his side. There is more footage of him walking with Michael through Neverland, Gavin in a yellow baseball jersey and the superstar in head-to-toe black and holding an umbrella as a shield from the sun. The two are cocooned within the pleasant, familiar surroundings of Neverland, lost in conversation, in their own… world.

  Camaraderie was evident between Michael and Gavin, the kind that springs from shared experiences and genuine affection. However, anyone who knows Michael and has a memory for the past could look at the footage – and also the scenes of the two in the Bashir documentary – and sense that, once again, Michael had gone way too far with this kid. As he did with Jordie, he gave himself over to the youngster. He has no boundaries with anyone under the age of fourteen. Michael Jackson puts himself right out there – no walls of defence, no safety zone, maybe, it might be argued, no sense, either. He simply hopes that the boy, and his family, will have the best intentions for him, just as he feels he has for them. In some ways, it’s commendable. For a star of his magnitude to be so naive is somehow refreshing. However, there’s still a dysfunction attached to such bonding with children who are not his own, and it’s something that should be addressed in his life because, obviously, it can lead to big trouble for him – and also for the youngster. As a result of the footage, Gavin’s entire world changed.

  ‘Since Mr Bashir’s documentary aired, [Gavin] and his mother have gone into seclusion, after being bombarded for requests for interviews from tabloids around the world,’ intoned Maury Povich, the documentary’s narrator. He also read a statement from Janet Ventura-Arvizo: ‘I’m appalled at the way my son has been exploited by Martin Bashir. The relationship that Michael has with my children is a beautiful, loving, father-sons-and-daughter one. To my children and me, Michael is a part of my family.’ In addition, concluded Povich, Janet was considering legal action against Martin Bashir for including her son in the special without her consent.

  In truth, the boy should not have been on either show – Martin Bashir’s or Michael Jackson’s – and both are equally guilty of having exploited him for their own purposes. Some might argue that Janet doesn’t acquit herself, either. However, parental guidance and direction in matters having to do with children at Neverland is always a big part of the mystery surrounding sleep-overs at the ranch.

  Michael’s documentary aired, and people quickly forgot about it. It was the Martin Bashir programme, however, that continued to pose a problem, especially when concerned mental-health professionals began to lodge complaints about it.

  A number of psychologists, psychiatrists and other child advocates, including Dr Carole Lieberman of Beverly Hills, wrote letters of concern to the Santa Barbara Child Protective Services and the Los Angeles Child Welfare department. ‘I felt that enough was enough,’ said Dr Lieberman, who lodged her official complaint on 11 February 2003. ‘I couldn’t believe that the world was standing by and letting these children be potentially harmed.’ Others, like school teachers in Los Angeles county, also voiced concern. One contacted the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) saying that she felt what was seen in the Bashir documentary between Michael and Gavin Arvizo looked strange and inappropriate. Not only did the teacher feel that the relationship between the two should be investigated, she also raised questions as to what kind of mother would allow her child to be seen in such circumstances.

  After receiving a few letters himself, Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon took the position that what appeared on screen ‘was no substitute for credible cooperative victims’. He didn’t seem interested in pursuing Michael Jackson again. However, he actually was interested; he just didn’t want to tip his hand in the matter, at least not yet.

  On 14 February 2003, the DSCS began its investigation.

  Four days later, on 18 February, the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s department began its own investigation, in secret.

  Michael and his camp did not know about the Sheriff department’s inquiry. However, they found out about the DCFS’s immediately, because Janet Ventura-Arvizo telephoned as soon as she was contacted. Michael was perplexed. ‘What the hell?’ he asked one of his representatives. ‘Someone can call out of the blue, and they start an investigation?’ When told that such was the case, Michael decided he wanted to know as much as he could about the questions that would be asked by the officials… and the answers provided by Gavin and his mother.

  Shortly thereafter, DCFS representatives arranged that two social workers meet with the f
amily at the Los Angeles apartment of Janet’s boyfriend. At the same time, Michael arranged to have his own representation present at the meeting – an investigator and, also, the fiancé of comedian Chris Tucker. (Tucker’s future wife is a mutual friend of Janet’s and Michael’s.)

  When the case workers arrived for the interview, the three children were sitting in front of a television, mesmerized by a video of Michael. According to the tape recordings made that day by Michael’s camp, Janet said that she was unaware of the nature of the allegations that had been made against Michael. She said she wanted to be present for the interview with each of her children and wondered, ‘What are my rights? What are their rights?’ She seemed scared.

  The social workers told her that their agenda would be made clear to her during the course of questioning. They also insisted that the Jackson representatives leave the room. A frightened Janet asked for a moment alone with the Jackson investigator. The two then discussed how to tape-record the interview with the DCFS in a manner, the Jackson representative told her, that ‘won’t be suspicious. You don’t have to do nothing,’ he told her, according to the tape recording. On the tape, it sounds as if he was some how affixing a microphone to her clothing. ‘It’s working,’ he assured her.

  The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has, on file, details of the interview between the Arvizo family and the DCFS. ‘Michael is like a father to me,’ Gavin told the social workers. ‘He’s never done anything to me sexually.’ Gavin said he ‘never slept in bed with Michael.’

  Furthermore, Janet said that she was ‘always aware of what goes on at Neverland’. She elaborated, ‘Michael is like a father to my children. He loves them and I trust my children with him.’ She said that Michael was ‘kind and misunderstood’. She described him as ‘an important part of [her son’s] recovery from cancer.’ She said that there were times when her children ‘would be on Michael’s bed, watching TV and eating Smors. But for the allegations that they share a bed, it is no.’ She insisted that her children ‘were never alone with Jackson… there’s always someone around.’ She concluded that Michael had ‘never been anything but wonderful. My children have never felt uncomfortable in his presence. Michael has been a blessing.’