Leeds and Sorkin.
“Thomas Mesereau Releases Statement.” February 24, 2006 (PR).
“Raymone Bain Releases Statement.” March 17, 2006 (PR).
GERMANY/THE ANTONS
Friedman, Roger. “Jackson Staying at Home of Wolfgang Schleiter.” Fox News, January 30, 2006 (I).
“Interview with MJ’s Former Pal, Anton Glanzelius of My Life as a Dog Fame.” Göteborgs-Posten, June 27, 2009.
Kloth, Hans Michael. “Deutschland’s King of Pop.” Spiegel Online, June 29, 2009 (I).
“Michael Jackson Visits Germany.” Hello! January 30, 2006.
TONY BUZAN/MIND MAPPING
“The Extraordinary Life of Michael Jackson’s Children.” Sunday Times, September 13, 2009.
CHAPTER 8
MJ beloved in Japan: AS1, AS2, CS1, and below. Kabuki: AS1 and CS1 on educated Japanese seeing MJ as a sort of global Kabuki performer, Deborah White blog, research on role-playing in “young man Kabuki.” Brunei stopover: Tohme told me that MJ’s visit “was not that big a deal” to the Brunei royal family. Abdullah/representatives unreturned calls: High Court trial. American in music business whispering in Abdullah’s ear: Tohme, based on statements from Sheikh Abdullah’s people in Manama. MJ’s possessions sent to the hotel, stay in Manama: Tohme, AS1, Rwaramba to Barak (see Chapter 1 notes). Money and jewelry left behind: Tohme and Dennis Hawk, from their trip to Manama. Visit to Europe: AS1 and Rwaramba. Departure from Bahrain, relocation to Europe, Raymone Bain’s elevation to business manager: AP’s “Jackson fires business managers” and press release it was based on.
Tracking MJ’s six-month-long stay in Ireland (interrupted by a ten-day foray to New York that I left out of the narrative) was made difficult for two main reasons. One was obfuscatory press releases that the media (Ebony in particular) swallowed whole. The other was that the media proved even more susceptible to the story that MJ spent his time in Ireland “mooching” off Michael Flatley, as Roger Friedman reported it. The Daily Mirror’s “CRAIC-O JACKO” was the story that stated MJ would attend the Bob Dylan concert. Blackwater Castle rumor: blogger James Galvin. Blackwater Castle stay: Liam Sheehan, Patrick Nordstrom 2009 press interviews, Blackwater Web site; Nordstrom was caring for a wife dying of cancer and could not be interviewed. Leprechaun theme park quote: Daily Mirror; AS1 told me that MJ really did believe in leprechauns, or at least encouraged his children to do so. Tensions between MJ and Grace, antique buying in Florence: AS1, Rwaramba to Barak. Debbie Rowe–MJ relationship: Marc Schaffel, AS1, AS2, Bob Jones book, Lisa Marie Presley interviews. Confidentiality agreement, Rowe’s concerns about children: Iris Finsilver declaration on the Smoking Gun Web site. Jones quotes on birth of Prince and Paris: his book. Rowe-Jackson prenuptial agreement: court records; payment: “reported,” though Katherine Jackson used the same figure. MJ-Rowe disputes and resolution: AS2, who has direct knowledge; resulting MJ-Grace disagreements: AS1. “Abducted” claim, other quotes re. custody dispute: court documents. Sheehan told me he had no idea the custody dispute was ongoing while he was living in the same home with MJ. He was also the first to tell me what a dedicated father MJ had been, something I hadn’t known and which was repeated again and again by other people. I think it was immediately after talking to Sheehan that I decided my magazine article was going to become a book.
DOCUMENTS
“Declaration of Iris Joan Finsilver.” February 3, 2005.
JAPAN
Masters, Coco. “Big in Japan: Tokyo Mourns Jackson’s Death.” Time, June 26, 2009 (hereafter cited as Masters. “Big in Japan”).
Kageyama, Yuri. “Michael Jackson Had Loyal, Generous Fans in Japan.” Associated Press, June 26, 2009 (hereafter cited as Kageyama).
White, Deborah. “Michael Jackson as Kabuki Theater.” thecrazywoman.com, July 5, 2009 (I).
PARIS
“Michael Jackson Fires Business Managers.” Associated Press, June 27, 2006.
“Michael Jackson en Disneyland Paris.” flickr.com, June 17, 2006 (I).
“Michael Jackson Visits Paris Garden.” justjared.com, June 23, 2006 (I).
IRELAND ARRIVAL/DYLAN/FLATLEY
Burnhill, Eleanor. “CRAIC-O JACKO; Superstar and Kids Jet into Ireland for Bob Dylan Gig.” Daily Mirror, June 24, 2006.
“Jacko Is in Cork.” jamesgalvin.com, June 24, 2006 (I).
BLACKWATER CASTLE
Browne, Bill. “Jackson’s Cork Hideaway.” Corkman, July 2, 2009.
Kelleher, Olivia. “‘He Just Wanted the Best for His Children.’” (Irish) Independent, June 29, 2009.
McCarthy, Louise. “Magic Tricks with Michael Jackson and His Kids.” Corkman, July 2 2009.
Martin, Paul. “Leprechaun Land; You’ll Never Believe It but Wacko Jacko Is Planning a Theme Park Full of Celtic Myths and Legends Called . . .” Daily Mirror, September 15, 2006.
GRACE RWARAMBA/DEBBIE ROWE
Heath, Chris. “Lisa Marie Presley.” Rolling Stone, April 20, 2003 (hereafter cited as Heath, “Lisa Marie Presley”).
“Playboy Interview: Lisa Marie Presley.” Playboy, August 2003 (hereafter cited as Playboy, “Lisa Marie Presley”).
CHAPTER 9
Schaffel v. Jackson: Schaffel, King, Mesereau, who had previously represented MJ in the matter; juror quote: unbylined UPI articles; Bain and McMillan remarks: Bain press release; King quotes: interviews. Ballinacurra: AS1, Des McGahan press interviews and his Web site; MJ “dancin’ on the grass”: Independent interview.
Luggala: AS1. Neverland fire: press release/Raymone Bain. Puppet theater outing: Eugene Lampert to Sligo Champion. Grouse Lodge: AS1; Paddy Dunning press interviews; unfortunately, Dunning would not give me an interview. Important detail including Grace Rwaramba’s scouting expedition, arrival at Grouse Lodge, attempt to keep his stay secret (including Dunning’s “Yeah, so is Elvis Presley” remark), the Elvis wax statue in the woods, protective attitude of local farmers: Luke Bainbridge, the Guardian. Will.i.am/“apple picking”: to starpulse.com. Other comments of artists and producers: “What’s the Scoop on Michael Jackson’s New Album?” (collected from dozens of publications and press conferences). Thanks much, R.J. Dr. Patrick Treacy: Mesereau, who recounted a phone conversation with Treacy; Treacy quotes: web interviews; acknowledgment he/his clinic gave MJ propofol during a procedure: interview with Deborah Kunesh, Catherine Gross, CastTV. Treacy insisted to Kunesh that MJ understood that he couldn’t use propofol without an anesthesiologist and “would never have done so.” Supposed photos of MJ in the south of France: AS1, Bain interview for Stealing Michael Jackson; Daily News, MJ/Bain response: entertainmentwise.com. Billy Bush/dialogue between MJ and camera operator: Gawker. Insomnia/recording machine with three clocks: Todd Gray interviews posted on amazon.com, Essence.com, Huffington Post. Frank Cascio’s gathering up MJ’s prescription drugs at night: Cascio to ABC News. MJ–Lisa Marie Presley letter about not sleeping for four days: Lucina Fisher/ABC; the letter came to light when Julien Auctions placed it up for bid in early 2012. When Lisa Marie protested, Darren Julien agreed not to sell it after all.
I’ll have to be careful what I write about my knowledge of MJ’s propofol use. I can say with certainty that he was using it on the HIStory tour. Dieter Wiesner was the only one who told me that on the record, though, and didn’t want to say the name of the doctor who was providing it to MJ. An anonymous source did name a doctor, one who has been the subject of investigation since MJ’s death. A second anonymous source told me that the propofol was provided by a pair of German anesthesiologists Wiesner had hired. As noted, Wiesner emphatically denied this. Schaffel and Wiesner both talked to me about the lengths to which MJ went to get some sleep, and of course a great deal of that information came out in connection to the criminal charges and trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. AS1, though, told me the most about this.
Bedsores: AS1, MJ autopsy report. MJ more free of drugs in Ireland than in years: AS1, Mesereau, Patrick Treacy interviews and MJ’s hosts’ insistence that he did not seem to be
on drugs. Tullamore story: The [Irish] Independent. Anxiety about World Music Awards: AS1, Raymone Bain, and Patrick Treacy.
DOCUMENTS
Autopsy Case Report—Case No. 2009-04415, Jackson, Michael Joseph, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. June 25, 2009 (hereafter cited as Autopsy, 6/25/09).
SCHAFFEL V. JACKSON
“Accusations Fly in Lawsuit Against Jackson.” UPI, July 12, 2006.
Caldwell, Tanya. “Jury Views Jackson Deposition in Lawsuit.” Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2006.
Deutsch, Linda. “Michael Jackson’s Frantic Messages Played.” Associated Press, July 6, 2006.
Hong, Peter Y. “Trial Delves into Odd Finances of Pop Star.” Los Angeles Times, July 12, 2006.
“Raymone Bain Releases Statement Regarding Trial Against Schaffel.” July 15, 2006 (PR).
“Two Jackson Personalities Emerge in Suit.” UPI, June 30, 2006.
BALLINACURRA HOUSE
Carty, Ed. “Irish Trip Revealed Down-to-Earth Family Man.” (Irish) Herald, June 27, 2009.
“Fit for a King of Pop: Family’s Luxury Hideaway.” (Irish) Independent, June 27, 2009.
Fitzpatrick, Tom. “Mary Recalls Day Michael and His Three Kids Visited Her Kinsale Shop.” Evening Echo, June 27, 2009.
WICKLOW CASTLE
Bain, Raymone. “Fire Engulfs Neverland Valley Ranch.” August 28, 2006 (PR).
———. “Michael Jackson Takes on Legal Conspiracy.” August 8, 2006 (PR).
Gray, Jim. “Jackson Was a ‘Down to Earth, Doting Father’ Recalls Sligo Puppeteer.” Sligo Champion, July 1, 2009.
“Michael Jackson to Buy Wicklow Castle.” Hot Press, September 18, 2007.
Woollard, Deidre. “Michael Jackson in Retreat at Irish Castle.” Luxist.com, Septenber 2, 2006 (I).
GROUSE LODGE/COMEBACK ALBUM/INSOMNIA
Aughey, Olga. “Paddy Dunning Talks of the Famous Grouse.” Westmeath Examiner, April 28, 2009.
Bainbridge, Luke. “Michael Jackson’s Irish Hideaway.” Guardian, August 14, 2010.
“Billy Bush Seduced by Michael Jackson’s ‘B’ Game.” Gawker.com, October 16, 2006 (I).
Bush, Billy. “The Return of the King of Pop.” Access Hollywood, November 2, 2006 (RT).
“Creepy Michael Jackson Dresses as a Woman.” New York Daily News, October 11, 2006.
Fisher, Lucina. “Michael Jackson’s Sleepless Letter to Lisa Marie Presley.” abcnews.go.com, May 30, 2012 (I).
Friedman, Roger. “Who’s Funding Jackson’s Retreat to Irish Recording Studio?” Fox News, October 21, 2006 (I).
Gray, Todd. “Michael Jackson’s Photographer Todd Gray Shares Intimate Moments with the King of Pop.” Essence.com, October 27, 2009 (I).
“King of Pop Felt at Home in Westmeath’s Grouse Lodge.” Westmeath Independent, July 2, 2009.
Lee, Chris. “Pop King’s Planning His Return.” Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2006.
“Michael Jackson’s Irish Retreat for Rent.” Irish Times, June 6, 2010.
“Michael Jackson Spotted in Tullamore Centre.” (Irish) Independent, October 28, 2006.
Monroe, Brian. “A Q & A with Michael Jackson: In His Own Words.” Ebony, December 2007.
“A Q & A with Todd Gray, Author of Michael Jackson: Before He Was King.” Amazon.com (I).
R.J. “What’s the Scoop on Michael Jackson’s New Album?” michaeljacksonbeat.blogspot.com, April 22, 2009 (I) (hereafter cited as “What’s the Scoop”).
Topel, Fred. “Will.i.am Goes Apple Picking with Michael Jackson.” starpulse.com, May 4, 2009 (I).
“Will.i.am on Working with Michael Jackson.” Rolling Stone, September 24, 2007.
“You Docs: Propofol Probably Not a Factor in Michael Jackson’s Death.” Syndicated column, July 15, 2009.
PATRICK TREACY/DUBLIN
Gross, Rev. Catherine. “A Place in Your Heart: Interview with Patrick Treacy.” blogtalkradio.com, September 24, 2010 (RT).
Kunesh, Deborah. “The Michael I Knew . . . Patrick Treacy Shares His Reflections on Michael Jackson.” reflectionsonthedance.com, 2010 (I).
“Patrick Treacy on Michael Jackson’s Death.” CastTV, June 26, 2009 (RT).
WIKIPEDIA
“Anterograde Amnesia.”
“Propofol.”
Chapter 10
1988 visit to London: contemporaneous coverage; coverage alongside 1996 Brit Awards; coverage in 2009. I also used interviews, coverage related to 2006 World Music Awards appearance. 1988 Guildhall dinner: Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury; original research. Bad tour: press coverage of Japanese and Australian legs, esp. the Age; Hilburn and McKenna/LA Times (see Chapter 4 notes), Pareles/NY Times, Frith/Village Voice (posthumous publication). MJ’s weirdness due to curiosity: my own interpretation, but his mother, at least, agrees with it. Skid Row: Gina Sprague (Joe’s secretary), to Taraborrelli. Antiques store incident: Atlanta Police Department “deputy” to Taraborrelli. “Daringly thin disguise”: Hirshey/Rolling Stone (see Chapter 2 notes). MJ on disguises/“Pioneering”: Beliefnet essay, Boteach (p. 104). David Foster story: Hit Man. “Bizarre” image: Frank Dileo press interviews, Taraborrelli. Jimmy Safechuck: Taraborrelli. More than fifteen years later, Bob Jones and his cowriter Stacy Brown attempted to retroactively infer impropriety from Jones’s claims that MJ remained financially generous to boys like Jimmy Safechuck and Jonathan Spence. More recently, blogger Desiree Hill has undertaken to prove that MJ’s relationship with Safechuck and other boys was somehow sinister. She’s done a good job of pointing out the inconsistencies in La Toya Jackson’s recent disavowals of the claims she made against her brother in Growing Up Jackson, but her other contentions are not persuasive. At the criminal trial in 2005, Tom Mesereau told the jury that Jimmy Safechuck had been married at Neverland. In his conversations with me, Tom was unable to recall where he had heard that. Based on what I’ve been told by sources I can’t identify, I don’t think it’s true. But again, there is no evidence that Safechuck ever accused MJ of any improprieties.
Emmanuel Lewis relationship: VH-1/Secret Childhood (inc. interviews w/Rippy, George; see Chapter 2 notes); also, Bashir/Secret Life of Michael Jackson, Lewis to Howard Stern, Taraborrelli. In each of the few instances he has spoken about this on the record, Lewis has insisted that there was no sexual contact of any kind. “All we did was watch comedy and cartoons,” he told Bashir. “Could anything negative happen between the two of us? The answer to that question is hell no!!” Baby bottles and nipples: The Man Behind the Mask; photo: In Touch, March 2005. 1984 public perception of Lewis relationship: People article about Lewis (see Chapter 4 notes). Alfonso Ribeiro/Ricky Schroeder relationships: VH-1/Secret Childhood (see Chapter 2 notes). Again, there have been no suggestions of impropriety by either of them, as boys or men. Corey Feldman has given two very different descriptions of his relationship with MJ, one in 2003 to Larry King, the second in 2005 to Martin Bashir. He has since come back around to a pro-MJ position. Seven Dwarfs at Hayvenhurst: Taraborrelli, Secret Childhood (see Chapter 2 notes).
Brooke Shields/“no big romance”: Shields to Joan Rivers, others in lacienegasmiled.com file (see Chapter 4 notes). MJ/Rivers sparring, “Boy George” press conference: Taraborrelli, my own recollection. MJ himself continued to perpetuate the myth of hot and heavy romances with Shields and O’Neal into the twenty-first century. In his interviews with Boteach, he called Shields “one of the loves of my life” and O’Neal “my first girlfriend.” Suggestion MJ should play Peter Pan: Jane Fonda to Gerri Hirshey. MJ on Shirley Temple (incl. quotes used): Boteach.
Elizabeth Taylor’s relationship with MJ was very real, as unlikely as it seemed to some people. Sources: Taraborrelli, MJ to Boteach, Theroux/Daily Telegraph (see Chapter 2 notes), Marikar/ABC. MJ/real estate agent: Dimond/Be Careful Who You Love. Taylor at Victory tour concert, first meeting w/Bubbles: MJ/other sources to Taraborrelli (rev. ed.). Liz and MJ incognito moviegoing: Theroux (see Chapter 2 notes), AS1. Picnic spot: Theroux (see Chapter 2 notes). Taylor giving elephant Gypsy to M
J: Schaffel; video from Home Movies project; MJ’s return gift: Theroux (see Chapter 2 notes). “Michael did a lot more giving”: AS1, CS1, pleadings and evidence in Schaffel v. Jackson. Wedding at Neverland: People. Shrine to Taylor: reported as National Enquirer in other outlets, orig. story not found. Debunking of shrine story: Frank Dileo to People, Schaffel. Liz, MJ, red string: msnbc.com among others. Role of drug use in Taylor/MJ relationship: Taraborrelli/Elizabeth, Posner/Daily Beast. Thousand prescriptions: Taraborrelli (“In the five-year period between 1980 and 1985, she was given prescriptions for more than a thousand different drugs ranging from sleeping pills to painkillers to tranquilizers.”) Posner quoted a “good friend” of MJ’s who said he had warned MJ that his relationship with Liz was “toxic”; “teetering”: Posner, per “a witness” at the 1993 American Music Awards. Elizabeth Taylor herself acknowledged her problems with prescription drugs, but was never so specific. I heard a good deal about this subject from AS1, but that information was mostly secondhand. MJ going straight from Klein’s offices to Taylor’s home during 2007–2008 LA visits; presumption they were sharing drugs; Klein response: AS1; Ben Evenstad, head of paparazzi agency National Photo Group, to Posner; Craig Williams; Klein has admitted to prescribing Demerol and turned over documents to the medical board showing when and how much.
MJ’s ideal woman a fusion of Mother Teresa and Princess Diana is something he spoke about frequently, including to Boteach. MJ told Boteach how turned off he was by hard or coarse women, such as Madonna (cf. his description of Taylor to Theroux, see Chapter 2 notes). KJ “like a saint,” Taylor “playful and youthful,” “. . . if we ever did anything romantically . . .”: MJ to Boteach. Captain EO set: firsthand from Todd Gold/People, Taraborrelli. Jonathan Spence/ MJ never acting inappropriately: Mesereau, court file. Gifts to Spence: Dimond/Be Careful, court file. Rolls-Royce to Jimmy Safechuck’s parents; Dileo/MJ conversation: Taraborrelli (others said car was a Mercedes). Jury’s Hotel bar/reporters: firsthand from Sam Smyth/Belfast Telegraph.
MJ’s “crotch grab” is something anyone who watched him perform in the late ’80s and early ’90s has seen. Audience reaction: Taraborrelli. Reflexive response to the music: MJ to Boteach. Controversy about the crotch grab/what it signified: personal experience. Terry George story: British press from time of Chandler case onward; it did not really cross the Atlantic (at least in media reports) until after MJ’s arrest. Account here: George to Nick Owens/Daily Mirror after MJ’s death. In 2005, Britain’s Channel 4 reported that George would be testifying for the prosecution at the criminal trial and quoted him as saying, “I can believe that the latest allegations are true because of what happened to me.” According to Sky News, the FBI also interviewed George about his allegations. But George didn’t testify at trial, something Mesereau cited as evidence either that the story was exaggerated or that George did not in fact believe MJ was a child molester.
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