Untouchable
Page 81
December 20, 1993 Johnnie Cochran replaces Bert Fields on Michael’s legal team; that same day Michael submits to a strip search and examination of his genitals at Neverland Ranch
January 24, 1993 The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announces that it does not have enough evidence to charge Evan Chandler with extortion
January 25, 1993 Larry Feldman, Carl Douglas, Howard Weitzman, and
Johnnie Cochran strike a deal to settle the civil case
February 1994 District Attorneys Gil Garcetti and Tom Sneddon each initiate grand jury proceedings to investigate criminal charges of child molestation against Michael Jackson
Late February 1994 Michael checks into the Trump Tower in New York City, where he will begin recording the HIStory album at the Hit Factory Studio
May 25–26, 1994 Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley arrive at the Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic, where they are married in a secret ceremony
September 24, 1994 Tom Sneddon and Gil Garcetti announce that, due to Jordan Chandler’s refusal to testify, they have not been able to present enough evidence to convince
the grand juries in either Los Angeles or Santa Barbara counties to indict Michael Jackson for child molestation
June 14, 1995 Michael and Lisa Marie are interviewed by Diane Sawyer for Primetime Live
June 15, 1995 HIStory is released amid the fanfare of huge Michael Jackson statues going on display in European cities
November 1995 Michael and Sony merge their song catalogs, which are estimated to be worth $600 million
December 6, 1995 Michael collapses while rehearsing for the HBO concert special and is rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center in New York
January 18, 1996 Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce
February 19, 1996 Michael’s performance of “Earth Song” at the Brit Awards in London is interrupted by Jarvis Cocker
May 1996 Debbie Rowe becomes pregnant with Michael Joseph Jackson Jr.
November 14, 1996 Immediately after a concert in Sydney, Michael marries Debbie Rowe
February 13, 1997 Debbie Rowe gives birth to Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. in Los Angeles
November 25, 1997 Debbie Rowe announces she is pregnant with a girl, who will be born Paris Michael Katherine Jackson
April 3, 1998 Debbie Rowe gives birth to Paris Michael Katherine Jackson at the Spalding Pain Medical Clinic in Los Angeles
August 29, 1999 On his forty-first birthday, Michael cancels the Millennium concerts scheduled to take place on December 31 in Seoul and Honolulu
June 23, 2000 Marcel Avram files a lawsuit against Michael for cancelling the Millennium concerts
August 27, 2000 Gavin Arvizo pays his first visit to Neverland Ranch
March 6, 2001 Michael delivers his speech at Oxford
June 2001 Michael and Marc Schaffel meet at Dr. Arnold Klein’s home
September 7 & 10, 2001 Michael performs at his “30th Anniversary” concerts at Madison Square Garden
September 16, 2001 Michael announces that “What More Can I Give?” will be released as a charity record to benefit the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with Marc Schaffel producing
October 15, 2001 Michael completes the recording of “What More Can I Give?”
October 17, 2001 Debbie Rowe is in Family Court in Los Angeles to surrender her parental rights to Prince and Paris
October 30, 2001 Michael Jackson’s Invincible released
February 21, 2002 Michael’s youngest child, Prince Michael Jackson II, aka Blanket, is born to an unidentified surrogate mother at the Grossmont Hospital in San Diego
June 11, 2002 At dinner in London, Uri Geller introduces Martin Bashir to Michael Jackson
July 6, 2002 Michael arrives riding atop a double-decker bus at Sony’s New York headquarters, where his fans are demonstrating
July 7, 2002 Apparently, Michael is in Los Angeles to sign the will that names John Branca, John McClain and Barry Siegel as his executors
June 6, 8, 9, 2002 Michael is photographed in New York City
July 30–31 Martin Bashir arrives at Neverland Ranch to begin shooting the documentary that will be Living with Michael Jackson
November 19, 2002 Michael arrives in Berlin with Dieter Wiesner, Marc Schaffel, Grace Rwaramba, and his children to accept his Bambi Award; he creates international outrage by dangling Blanket from the balcony of his hotel
February 3, 2003 Bashir’s Living with Michael Jackson premieres on ITV in Britain to huge ratings
Michael fires John Branca as his attorney
February 4, 2003 Michael fires Barry Siegel as his accountant
February 5, 2003 Janet Arvizo and her three children arrive in Miami aboard a private jet with Chris Tucker, check into the Turnberry Isle resort where Michael and his entourage are staying
February 6, 2003 Jordan Chandler’s 1993 sworn statement describing his alleged sexual abuse by Michael Jackson is leaked to the Smoking Gun Web site
Living with Michael Jackson airs in America on ABC
February 7, 2003 Mark Geragos is hired as Michael’s attorney
February 14, 2003 The Los Angeles County Department of Family and Children’s Services opens an investigation into Michael’s relationship with Gavin Arvizo
February 18, 2003 The Santa Barbara sheriff’s department opens an investigation into Michael’s relationship with Gavin Arvizo based on complaints by Gloria Allred and Carol Lieberman
February 20, 2003 Take Two: The Footage You Were Not Meant to See airs on Fox
March 2003 Michael Jackson reportedly signs a will naming Al Malnik as his executor
March 14, 2003 A jury awards Marcel Avram $5.3 million in his lawsuit against Michael Jackson
April 16, 2003 The Santa Barbara sheriff’s department reports that it does not have probable cause to arrest Michael Jackson
The Arvizo family meets with Larry Feldman
May 15–29, 2003 At Larry Feldman’s behest, the Arvizo children meet with Dr. Stan Katz
June 13, 2003 Larry Feldman and Stan Katz report the allegations of child molestation made against Michael Jackson by Gavin and Star Arvizo to the Santa Barbara County authorities
August 26, 2003 Barry Siegel sends letter removing himself as an executor of Michael Jackson’s estate
August 29, 2003 Michael’s forty-fifth birthday celebration party in downtown Los Angeles
October 24, 2003 Michael arrives in Las Vegas with Dieter Wiesner, Marc Schaffel, and Stuart Backerman to promote “What More Can I Give?” and is given the key to the city by Mayor Oscar Goodman
November 18, 2003 Number Ones is released
The search warrant raid on Neverland Ranch is executed
November 19, 2003 Tom Sneddon and Santa Barbara County sheriff Jim Anderson announce that an arrest warrant for Michael Jackson has been issued
Early/mid December The Nation of Islam takes over Michael’s security,
2003 and all contact with Wiesner and Schaffel is cut off
December 18, 2003 Prosecutors formally charge Michael Jackson with seven counts of committing lewd acts against a child
Late December 2003 Michael abandons Neverland to move into a rented home in Beverly Hills
December 31, 2003 Debbie Rowe files to reinstate her visitation rights to the children
January 15, 2004 Gloria Allred asks the Department of Child and Family Services to remove all of Michael’s children from his care
January 16, 2004 Michael is arraigned at the courthouse in Santa Maria and enters a plea of not guilty
February 1, 2004 Michael is at Ron Burkle’s house in La Jolla, where he watches Janet’s “Nipplegate” halftime performance at the Super Bowl
February 7, 2004 Michael hires Raymone Bain to replace Stuart Backerman, who has resigned
March 19, 2004 The DCFS announces that it has no cause to remove Michael Jackson’s children from his care
March 25, 2004 A grand jury is empanelled in Santa Barbara County to hear
evidence against Michael Jackson
April 21, 2004 Michael is in Orlando when he learns that he has been indicted by the grand jury in Santa Barbara
April 25, 2004 Michael fires Geragos as his attorney and replaces him with Tom Mesereau
September 13, 2004 Ray Chandler’s All That Glitters published
November 4, 2004 Joseph Bartucci files his sex abuse lawsuit against Michael in New Orleans
November 16, 2004 Howard King files a civil complaint on behalf of Marc Schaffel in Los Angeles
January 31, 2005 Jury selection in People v. Michael Joseph Jackson begins
February 28, 2005 Tom Sneddon makes his opening statement
March 1, 2005 Tom Mesereau makes his opening statement
June 2–3, 2005 Ron Zonen and Tom Mesereau deliver their closing arguments
June 14, 2005 Michael Jackson is acquitted on all counts
June 29, 2005 Michael, Grace, and the kids fly to Bahrain
July 11, 2005 Prescient Acquisitions sues Michael Jackson for $48 million
September 23, 2005 Michael arrives at the Dorchester Hotel in London for his deposition in the Schaffel case
October 27, 2005 Michael files a countersuit against Marc Schaffel
November 12, 2005 Michael is escorted by police after a scene in the ladies room in the Egyptian Court of the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai
December 9, 2005 National Enquirer reports that Michael is in critical condition after overdosing on prescription drugs and alcohol
January 15–22, 2006 Michael travels to Orlando, Florida, meets with Lou Pearlman
January 26, 2006 Michael, Grace, and the children fly to Hamburg, settle in at the Schleiter home
February 15, 2006 The California Court of Appeals rules that Debbie Rowe’s parental rights were not terminated by an earlier ruling and that she can seek custody of Prince and Paris
Late March/ Michael and his children work with Tony
early April 2006 Buzan; Michael’s “aide” is stopped with a suitcase full of OxyContin at the airport in Manama
April 13, 2006 A statement is issued that Michael Jackson has restructured his finances in a deal with Fortress Investments
April 17, 2006 The Bartucci lawsuit is dismissed
April 19, 2006 Michael meets with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at Safriya Palace
May 20–21, 2006 Sheikh Abdullah sees Michael for the last time
May 22–23, 2006 Michael arrives in London for the second deposition in the Schaffel case
May 24, 2006 The California Supreme Court refuses to hear Michael’s appeal in the Debbie Rowe case
May 26, 2006 Michael, Grace, and the kids arrive in Tokyo for the MTV Japan Awards
June 14–22, 2006 Michael and his party are at the New York Hotel at Disneyland Paris; tour the Jardin des Plantes
June 23–25, 2006 The Jackson party flies to Cork, Ireland, and settles at Blackwater Castle
June 28, 2006 The Schaffel v. Jackson trial begins in Santa Monica
July 3, 2006 Michael and his party settle in at Ballinacurra House in Kinsale, Ireland
July 14, 2006 The verdict in the Schaffel v. Jackson case is a split decision; Schaffel is awarded $900,000 and Jackson $200,000
August 29, 2006 Michael and his party are at Luggala Castle in County Wicklow, Ireland, as he celebrates his forty-eighth birthday
September 29, 2006 Michael and his party are at Grouse Lodge when his attorneys and Debbie Rowe’s reach a confidential settlement of their legal dispute
October/November After Michael tells Raymone Bain he has no valid
2006 will or trust agreement and needs one, she initiates the creation of the “Neverland Trust,” which appoints Katherine Jackson trustee
Early October 2006 Michael is working with Will.i.am at Grouse Lodge on “comeback album”
October 15, 2006 Billy Bush interviews Michael for Access Hollywood at Grouse Lodge
November 15, 2006 Michael’s abbreviated performance at Earl’s Court during the World Music Awards ceremony
December 23, 2006 Michael, Grace, and the kids fly from Dublin to Las Vegas aboard a private jet that is met at the airport by Jack Wishna; he and Grace and the kids move into the house on Monte Cristo Drive
December 29, 2006 Michael’s vigil at the casket of James Brown
December 30, 2006 Michael speaks at James Brown’s funeral
January 25, 2007 Associated Press reports that Michael Jackson has returned to the United States
Later February Joe and Randy Jackson make separate attempts to gain entry to Michael’s Monte Cristo property and are turned away
March 31, 2007 Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates audit shows Michael Jackson has a net worth of $236 million
April 2007 Randy Phillips flies from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to meet with Michael about performing at the O2 in London; Raymone Bain calls a short time later to say Michael isn’t ready to perform
April 17, 2007 Sony/ATV acquires the Leiber-Stoller catalog
June 18, 2007 Just as jury selection is about to begin at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Michael’s attorneys settle the Prescient Acquisitions lawsuit
Late June to early Michael is sighted in Washington, D.C., area
July 2007
July 2007 Following the cancellation of his only credit card, Michael and his children are forced to leave hotels shortly after checking in
July 25, 2007 Michael is deposed by Howard King in the Dieter Wiesner lawsuit at the offices of the Venable law firm in Washington, D.C.
Mid August 2007 Michael, Grace, and the children show up at the Cascio’s house in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
October 15, 2007 At the High Court in London, Sheikh Abdullah files a lawsuit against Michael Jackson demanding approximately $7 million
October 31, 2007 Michael is recognized shopping with Frank Cascio at the Halloween Store in New Jersey
November 7, 2007 Michael, Grace, and children fly to Los Angeles for the sixty-sixth birthday party of Rev. Jesse Jackson
Mid-November to Michael, Grace, and the kids are the guests of Ron
early December 2007 Burkle; Michael refuses to take calls from Raymone Bain
December 31, 2007 The refinancing of the loans against Michael’s share of the Sony-ATV catalog is finalized
February 11–13, 2008 Thriller 25 is released in Europe and the United States
February 20, 2008 Fortress Investments issues notice of default on Neverland Ranch
February 27– Michael and children move from the Palms
March 2, 2008 to the Palomino property; Jermaine Jackson introduces Michael to Tohme Tohme
April 2008 Fortress Investments schedules May auction for Neverland Ranch and all property on premises
Early-mid May 2008 Colony Capital announces that it has acquired the note on Neverland Ranch and the threatened auction is averted
Early July 2008 Tohme Tohme officially becomes Michael Jackson’s new business manager
August 28–29, 2008 Michael is interviewed by Good Morning America, serenaded by British fans gathered at gates of Palomino property, and receives a copy of letter circulated by neighbors expressing concern that an accused child molester is living among them
Early September 2008 Tohme begins consulting with Peter Lopez about setting up a new concert tour for Michael
Late September to Michael and Tohme meet with Phil
early October 2008 Anschutz at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
Mid-late October 2008 Michael and children leave Las Vegas and check into the Bel Air Hotel, without Grace
October 21, 2008 Patrick Allocco of Allgood Entertainment flies to Las Vegas to meet with Joe Jackson about a “Jackson Family Reunion Concert”; Joe sends Allocco to meet with Frank Dileo
Late October to Negotiations of the O2 deal continue;
early November 2008 Grace comes to Los Angeles, but is sent packing
October 31, 2008 Michael and his children attend Halloween party at
Natalie Maines’s house with Veronique Peck
November 17, 2008 The Sheikh Abdullah lawsuit trial begins in London’s High Court
November 20–21, 2008 Patrick Allocco meets with Frank Dileo in Nashville
November 23, 2008 Michael and Tohme are preparing to fly to London when word comes that the Sheikh Abdullah lawsuit has been settled
November 26, 2008 Frank Dileo and Patrick Allocco sign a “binder agreement” for the Jackson Reunion Concert
Early December 2008 With help from Barrack, Tohme convinces Michael to commit to ten concerts at the O2; Tohme, Lopez, and Dennis Hawk initiate negotiations with Randy Phillips
Later in December 2008 Michael and his children move into the Carolwood Drive chateau
January 1, 2009 Allgood Entertainment hires Leonard Rowe as a “consultant”
January 26, 2009 At the Carolwood chateau in Beverly Hills, reportedly surrounded by Phil Anschutz, Tim Leiweke, Paul Gongaware, and Randy Phillips of AEG, Michael signs a deal to perform ten concerts at the O2 Arena in London
February/March, 2009 After Michael tells them he has no will and needs one, Tohme and Hawk consult with attorney Sean Najerian about preparing a will and trust agreement for Jackson
February 3, 2009 Leonard Rowe and Patrick Allocco take Katherine Jackson to lunch, explain the Reunion Concert proposal and tell her she will be paid if Michael signs a contract
February 9, 2009 Tohme’s partner James Weller meets with Darren Julian at a fast food restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard
February 12, 2009 Leonard Rowe and Patrick Allocco meet with Dennis Hawk at Hawk’s office
March 4, 2009 MJJ Productions files a lawsuit against Julian Auctions, demanding that it halt the scheduled April 22, 2009, auction of Michael’s property
March 5, 2009 Michael announces the “This Is It” concert series (ten shows) at the O2 in London
March 6–11, 2009 Michael discovers that Tohme and AEG are talking about increasing the number of shows at the O2; eventually he is persuaded by Tohme and Phillips to commit to thirty-one shows
March 11, 2009 Ticketmaster’s “pre-sale” of Michael Jackson’s O2 shows produces an astounding response
March 13, 2009 The number of scheduled concerts at the O2 has been increased to fifty; the tickets for all seats at every show sell out within four hours