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Chapter 10 - Seperate ways
Joe calls and tells Jermaine to come over without Hazel. Joe tells Jermaine to sign the contract with CBS. Jermaine doesn't sign. Jermaine says Michael was also tempted to sign with a promise with dinner with Fred Astaire - never happened. Jermaine stays with motown. Jacksons move to CBS without him. Jermaine wants to talk to Michael but doesn't do it because there was tension between him and the brothers.
Some time later Michael calls Gordy and asks Jermaine to join them at Westbury Music Fair. Jermaine goes but stays his ground doesn't go on stage. Disappointments. New morning Jermaine joins them at CBS to hear the plans for the future. Isn't impressed and leaves CBS. That's how they went their separate ways.
"There was a suggestion for years that I broke up the group by leaving, but I’ve never viewed it that way. I did not leave them: they left me. They left “home”—and I will believe that until the day I die."
Brothers doesn't talk to Jermaine for 6 months. Katherine kept in touch over the phone. Joe occasionally called him. Jermaine was depressed. Fans banish him. End of 1976 brothers starts talking to Jermaine again and Jermaine starts going to Hayvenhurst.
Tatum was Michael's first girlfriend, childhood sweetheart.
Drowning accident. (In the book the time is correct) Michael is in knee-deep water. (fits with Michael's MoonWalk version, contradicts Jermaine's Bio Channel close call version). Hard time breathing. Jermaine drives him to hospital. Michael is released after a few hours.
Being friends with Muhammed Ali. Michael learned about Islam from Ali.
One afternoon Jermaine sees Michael with bandages on his face. He fell down in the living room, broke his nose and then got a nose job. Says Michael kept his plastic surgeries private as well. Jermaine says he understood why he had surgery - his big nose made him miserable.
Michael thinking about going solo. All the brothers are either married or left home. Diana tells him to go solo. The Wiz. Michael becomes even closer to Diana.
"As for how intimate they truly became, this is where his music—nearly always semi-autobiographical—should speak for itself. Go listen to the wistful lyrics of “Remember The Time,” released in 1992. That song was, as Michael told me, written with Diana Ross in mind; the one great love that, as far as he was concerned, escaped him."
Michael feels isolated. Walking streets to find people to talk to. They didn't realize this until later. Quincy Jones, Off the Wall. Michael crying after the Grammy's because he didn't win album of the year. Wrote on bathroom mirror "thriller. 100 millions of sales. sell-out stadiums". Focus. Dedication. Determination. Perseverance. is the things that will take him there.
Chapter 11 - Moonwalking
80's. Michael's morning meditation, listen to a tape that says “YOU ARE CONFIDENT . . . You are strong . . . You are beautiful . . . You are the greatest.” as pep-talk to himself. Says Michael would be angry with him for sharing this because it was his private ritual.
Michael is becoming more and more famous. Fans breaking into Hayvenhurst to see him. Jermaine and Jackie receiving letters from girls saying they are the father of their children. Michael never slept with a fan. Delusional "Billie Jean" fans. Michael remodeling Hayvenhurst. Michael liked to sleep on floor - said it's good for his back. On his wall he had pictures of Ava Gardner, later Shirley Temple and last years Alicia Keys. Memory room in Hayvenhurst. One room with memorallibia and awards. One wall celebrity wall - pictures of Michael with other celebrities.
Michael recording his conversations. Going through other people's drawers.
Thriller. Obsessed with it. They hardly saw Michael in 1982. Thriller released, breaking records. Motown 25. Michael hesitant about Motown 25. Jermaine calls him, Michael says he doesn't want to do TV. Gordy convinces Michael. Michael accepts but also wants a solo spot for "Billie Jean". They didn't know what Michael prepared for his solo spot. Jacket is Katherine's. Before the show Michael was in Diana's dressing room, going through her luggage (Diana wasn't in the room). Jermaine is happy that they perform once again. Michael does his solo spot. Fred Astaire calls him next morning. Michael gets to meet him a few weeks later. Michael is happy. Michael kept Katherine's jacket that he used in Billie Jean, later gave it to Sammy Davis Jr for a wristwatch.
Chapter 12 - Animal Kingdom
Michael's love for animals. Buying a llama, the seller acts prejudiced. Michael puts him to his place. eventually buys it from other place. Other animals as well.
Bubbles. Michael acting parental with Bubbles. Bubbles listening to him. Bubbles not sleeping in his crib but in Michael's bed. Michael is sleeping on the floor. Bubbles had wonderful clothes. Jermaine sometimes dressed Jeremy in Bubbles clothes because they were better. Michael and Bubbles playing hide and seek. Bubbles is at Center for Great Apes. and according to Jermaine his behavior patterns show that he's his father's son. Latoya's visit with Bubbles after Michael's death.
Janet - how she surpised everyone. How she felt she was forced into music. Her success.
Thriller video. John Landis. How it was financed. Michael plays it to family at the theather in Hayvenhurst. Rebbie's son Austin was freaked out whenever Michael tried to get close to him - afraid that Michael would change into a werewolf in real life as well. Kingdom Hall not happy with the video. The disclaimer - Kingdom Hall insisted for it. John Landis wrote the disclaimer not Michael.
Michael feels conflicted between his passion for music and his religious beliefs. 2 elders started to shadow Michael make sure that he stray from God's path. Disguises for his pioneering work.
Joe is no longer adequate for managing the increased popularity, they hire other managers. Joe is hurt. He wasn't shut out completely , all brothers seeked advice from Joe. Ron Weisner and Demann. Michael later hired Dileo. Branca is hired.
"Those two were a double-act that gelled from day one. They reminded me of Abbott and Costello because Frank was the roly-poly guy with a thick cigar in his mouth, while Michael was the one doing all the crazy capers. Frank was a deflector and mouthpiece—a front man—but his know-how also brought a new slickness to all that Michael did. John Branca, a fair-haired New Yorker, had become my brother’s new attorney and he, too, would provide expert guidance in the years ahead. The Branca-Dileo combination was the professional operation Michael was happy to have surrounding him."
Jermaine is in talks with Clive Davis of Arista Records. Talks with Gordy. leaves Motown. Signs with Arista. Clive asks his opinion about this new artist - whitney houston. they started working together. There was attraction between Jermaine and Whitney.
Michael's song writing and colloborations. Michael sang on Jermaine's “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming” song , first release with Arista. Sony didn't want Michael on a song that would coflict with his own releases. so that was only released as a B-side.
Talks of reunion tour, album.
Michael meeting McCarthy. Learning about music publishing. Say say say. Neverland that he would purchase several years later.
Chapter 13 - The Hardest Victory
1984 - Victory Tour.
"VICTORY TOUR WAS ANOTHER IDEA that had to be sold to Michael before he agreed. And, as with Motown 25, his change of heart walked him into another page of The Guinness Book of World Records. It also led to reports that we, as brothers, “pressured” or “coaxed” him into taking part. This was the start of a mistaken and enduring belief that we were only interested in coat-tailing Michael’s fame for profit, as if he were an overnight sensation and we had just woken up to his talent, as opposed to having grown up alongside it."
"Unlike Epic and then Sony, we never viewed Michael as a robotic money-making machine. We viewed him as brother with whom we wanted to share more glory. Our passion to perform with him never changed en route from our bunk beds to Hollywood. That desire between brothers was always consistent, pre-fame, post-fame."
Jermaine says Michael first didn't want to do Victory tour, later as a stage addict he couldn't resist it and in the end he insisted on it planning design and concept. Joe and Katherine are the architect of Victory, he had Janet and Latoya on the line up as well. Jackie said it was better if it was only brothers.
Blames Michael's camp for probably saying him the tour wasn't a good idea. Michael telling Katherine he wants to focus on movie ideas. Decides to help brothers with a tour and album so they'll be out of their contracts and be free.
"But in the back of his mind, he always wanted it to be his last tour with us—even if we didn’t. He proposed a tour name: “The Final Curtain.”"
$5 million Pepsi deal. Michael didn't drink Pepsi because he didn't like it. Pepsi compromised. Pepsi commercial. Burn incident. Jermaine thought Michael was shot by the way people rushed. 3rd degree burns. Michael enjoying the ambulance ride. Michael never intended to sue Pepsi but they donated $1.5 million to a burn unit.
Surgery to stretch a part of his scalp over the burned area. an implant. He was in pain for years. Demerol is prescribed to Michael.
Jackie hit by a car, bust his knee. He can't perform. Don King conviction for manslaughter makes the headline. Michael hears it and refuses toperform.Joe talks to him. Michael agrees to perform but Don King receives a legal letter that says the can't conduct business on Jacksons behalf. Later his roles were reduced.
Michael 50% at rehearsals, saved his 1000% for stage. Michael would go home and practice on his own.
Media stories of Michael being a homosexual begin again before the tour. Michael married to music, devout JW, waiting for the right woman.
The sun comes with the ***** J** name. PR strategy is to plant weird and wonderful stories about him hence oxygen chambers and elephant man's bones stories. then comes weirdo, freak, added with his surgeries and his closeness to animals and children. Michael sends an open letter to the media. "ghosts" also addresses this.
Also there's quite a mention of politics going on with the tour, lawyers, representatives for different parties and what it caused.
Chapter 14 - The Reunion Party
First concert for the tour. Kansas. Marlon Brando's message to Michael "“MICHAEL—DON’T MAKE AN ASS OF YOURSELF AND FOR GOD’S SAKE, DON’T FALL IN THE ORCHESTRA PIT—MARLON.”. Describe the performance. Says Victory tour wasn't miserable. Huge difference between the business aspect and the show aspect. any business arguments didn't carry into hotel rooms or stage. Jermaine had suspicion that any rumors, subliminal messages etc was started by people that wanted to replace the brothers for Michael. More money for these people if money isn't split among the brothers.
Jermaine's tiger Bakana going on tour with them. Michael is touring with his 2 shadows from Kingdom Hall. Michael first seemed okay but he also valued his space.
"Their van had stopped at a set of traffic lights in Kansas City when Michael spotted three hookers on the street corner, with one wearing sequined hot pants. Michael’s eye couldn’t help but wander. “Oh my goodness, hurt me!” he said, playfully—Jackson-speak for “Oh wow, she’s looking hot.” Then, just as the lights were about to change, he stuck his gloved hand out of the window and waved. Three hookers did a double-take, wondering if that was . . . just maybe . . . it can’t be . . . Michael Jackson. Just to make sure that they were certain, Michael opened the van door a little and, looking back as the van began to move away, he showed his face, chuckled, and then slammed the door tight. He twisted around in his seat to watch three hookers jumping up and down with excitement. I don’t know what the two Jehovah’s Witnesses made of this interaction but it made Michael’s day and made one thing clear: he wasn’t always going to be squeaky-clean."
JW monitors followed Michael for 3 more years. Smooth criminal. Machine gun scene - JW's can't hold or possess or use a firearm. Kingdon Hall was harsh. "Michael wrote to the Kingdom Hall disassociating himself from the Jehovah’s Witnesses and specifically asking not to be recognized as a baptized Witness."
Michael and his sense of humor and pranks didn't change. Still Bill Bray was his target. Dileo also became his target.
Jacksons receiving death treats. The person who threathened them goes into a McDonalds and kills 22 injures 19 and killed in the shootout. Security increases if he had an accomplice that would carry out the plan against Jacksons. Travel in armored cars. Michael saying he would move so much on the stage so no one would be able to get him. Saying that Tito and Jermaine with their guitars were tied to a spot.
Madonna starts to hang with them in NY especually with Michael and Randy. Madonna wanting attention from Randy. Randy had a girlfriend.
"But we soon learned that very little deterred Madonna. Ignoring his girlfriend, she walked up to Randy, grabbed his face, stuck her tongue down his throat and told him, “When you’ve finished with this bitch, give me a call.”
Jermaine says Michael dated Madonna for shortest while in 1991. 2 mistakes Madonna did : try to change Michael and criticize Janet.
After that Michael seriously dated Brooke Shields. they remained friends and had communications till the day he died.
Jermaine continue working with Whitney Houston. More and more temptation. Michael and Clive Davis realizes it. They go their seperate ways as it's the right and sensible thing to do. Whitney Houstons “Saving All My Love For You.” is written about the events between her and Jermaine.
Brothers want to take Victory tour to Europe but Michael announces that it's their last and final show, announcing his detachment from Jacksons. Tells Katherine that this is something he needs to do alone. Brothers were hurt but accepted it.
1985 Jermaine see little of Michael as they are both recording. Jermaine releasing second Arista album, touring. Michael attending one of Jermaine's concerts in disguise. Jermaine can't realize it's Michael. (Jermaine says there's a picture of it in the book) Michael also use the same disguise during Bad Tour to mingle and sight see places.
John Lennon being killed by a fan. Makes Michael paranoid. disguises to hide. Looking for a secluded place to live.
Chapter 15 - Once Said.
"BETWEEN OUR LAST TOUR ENDING IN December 1984 and 1992, the family saw Michael sporadically, say three or four times a year in those eight years."
"Michael didn’t carry a cell phone so it wasn’t as if we could call him. Communications technology was never his forte and the system dictated now that we call his offices at Neverland or in L.A. and leave a message. And another. And then another. They all went unreturned and I didn’t know what to think."
1988 Jermaine comes up with the idea of Family Day. Michael sometimes made them sometimes didn't. 1989 2300 Jackson street song. Jermaine's marriage to Hazel ends in 1987 because he can't resist temptation when he mets Margaret. Jermaine moves back to Hayvenhurst. 1989 Jermaine visits Middle East. Converts to Islam. Returns to California. Moves to a duplex with Margaret and their 2 sons.
1990 news stories that Michael was taken to hospital with chest pains. Jermaine visits him. Michael says he didn't have chest pains but having throbbing pain , headaches. He was getting Demerol via IV. Reading about marriage and divorce. Jermaine mentions Islam to Michael.
Jermaine tells Michael he's moving to Atlanta to work on his next album with LA Reid and Baby Face. Stays with Michael that night at hospital.
Jermaine moves to Atlanta with Margaret and his 2 sons. Calls LA Reid and Baby Face about the album, hears that there's a delay. While waiting Jermaine starts talking with Stan Margulies (who would later produce Jacksons: American dream). He had a movie idea Tutankhamun and wanted Michael to play the pharaoh . Jermaine leaves a message to Michael about it and waits him to call back. Does this (call leave a message and wait) for several days. Michael never calls. 3 months pass in Atlanta. Jermaine hears LA Reid and Baby Face are in CA working with another artist - Michael.
As Jermaine was contracted to LAFace records an needed to deliver one more album to Arista he waited. LA Reid and Baby Face finally came back and they were upset with Michael as well. They didn't like Michael's insistence about Bruce Swedien and that Michael wasnn't going to continue with any of their songs. They had written "Word to the Badd".
(Note: I'll do direct quotes as most of you are curious about this)
"The hook that resonated—because of its implied selfishness"
"The lyrics they had written in anger met with my still-brewing anger toward Michael. Not only that: all my pent-up energy to get into the studio combined internally with a deepening sense of injustice. It was a perfect emotional storm in which no one was thinking, just letting fly. If a studio session is an outlet for anything, it is for releasing unexpressed emotion. Music can be cathartic that way and I won’t have been the first artist to arrive at the mic with an intention to get it all out. In fact, it was typical of me to vent on my own instead of saying anything direct to Michael."
"When I arrived at the studio to start work, I was presented with the finished song, and L.A. Reid and Babyface had come up with one particular verse that went like this: Reconstructed Been abducted Don’t know who you are Once you were made You changed your shade Was your color wrong? It was a clear dig at Michael, and I knew it. Those lyrics were consistent with a mistaken perception about him and I didn’t agree with them—but I did agree with the angry tone. I was mad. I embraced this secret retaliation. The moment that song sheet was in my hand, I was singing with an anger that therapists would have applauded, even if Michael’s fans would not. In my naïvety, I didn’t expect for a single second that those words would be heard outside the audience of two producers and one engineer because, in my mind, they were lyrics never intended for release. After I’d laid down my angry vocals—and felt much, much better for getting it off my chest—we recorded another version: the intended version of “Word to the Badd,” featuring T-Boz from TLC. It kept the same hook but ditched all of the innuendo toward Michael."
Bootleg version of Word to the Badd leaked. Jermaine calls Gordy. Gordy tells him to take responsibility. Jermaine wants to call Michael but sees no point as Michael doesn't return calls. Jermaine goes on Larry King / CNN says he should never have sang or recorded it. Michael calls Katherine to ask if it's really Jermaine singing the song. Katherine calls a meeting at Hayvenhust between the two.
"I went first. Not with an apology, but with the undercurrents. It is a conversation that remains vivid. “We used to be close,” I said, “but it’s been eight years . . . eight years, Michael. Eight years that we haven’t spent proper time together. I’m speaking for all of us, not just me.” He looked at me. Now we had eye-contact. I continued: “In those eight years, everyone has said everything they can about this family as if they know us and know you, and we should have stuck together but you went off and—”“And for those eight years you thought I deserved that song?” he interrupted. “That is hurtful, and I didn’t expect that . . . not from you, Jermaine.” “I didn’t write it.” “You sang it.” “I sang it when I was upset, but those lyrics don’t reflect how I feel about you and you know it,” I said. “You put your voice to those lyrics,” he said, forcing his point home. I could see in his eyes how hurt he was, and it killed me, knowing that I was responsible. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” I said. My betrayal acknowledged I tried to explain how I had reached out to him numerous times, leaving messages, and how frustrating that felt. “Like the King Tut movie idea you ignored . . .” “I don’t know anything about a King Tut movie,” he said, looking genuinely surprised. “I didn’t get any of those messages.” “Doesn’t that tell you something? That the people around you are not passing on messages from us!” I said, feeling agitated all over again, renewing my suspicion that our messages were being filtered by his gatekeepers. Michael promised to look into it. “But that still doesn’t excuse how much time you let pass during those eight years,” I reminded him. If we’re going to do this, let’s bring it all out, I thought. Michael went into a long-winded justification, saying it wasn’t deliberate, he was just busy. There had been a lot of traveling and touringand recording and shooting videos. He went on and on with what I considered to be rationalising. Eventually I had heard enough. “BUT, MICHAEL, WE’RE YOUR FAMILY! You’ve GOT to make time for family!” I yelled, and, in a fit of frustration, I slammed my fist on the coffee-table. The cups and saucers jumped on the silver tray and Michael almost leapt out of his skin. There was something so timid and fragile about him, so easily startled, that I felt bad for raising my voice. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to make you jump . . .” Then he smiled. “Look at your face,” he said, and then he started to laugh. “You’re so uptight!” As kids, we’d laughed nervously in the most serious of situations and Michael’s chuckling, made me laugh now. With that, everyone relaxed."
Michael starts turning up to more Family Days but yet still not regularly available to them. Jermaine says that fans held "Word to the Badd" against him and acted like families do not fight. Michael didn't and they made up.
Chapter 16 - Forever Neverland
Neverland - Michael's happily ever after.
"I see him lazing at home with the “Michael Jackson image” hung up in the wardrobe as he shuffles about the kitchen—morning or night—not so pristine in a white V-neck T-shirt, pajama bottoms or sweat pants, and black velvet house slippers with a gold crest and the letter “J” on the toe."
"The core fact is that my brother looked at life through a child’s eyes. Age, status, persona and other people’s expectations of him had nothing to do with it. He had a child’s heart and he never outgrew a childlike enthusiasm for fun—and this was why he had a natural affinity with children."
Desctiption of Neverland. House, gardens, paintings, zoo etc. Black-and-gold wrought-iron gates were from Jermaine's old house. Michael added UK's coat of arms to it. His name and a crown. Michael's love for royalty and British monarchy. Amenities, statues, theather, beds for sick children, arcade etc.
Michael wanted to help less fortunate and sick children. Children being invited to Neverland, Michael visiting hospitals while touring.
Princess Diana. Meeting her during Bad tour. Calls between Michael and Diana between 1991 and 1994. Michael and Diana have the ability to spend hours on the phone. Michael says Princess Diana is a "a wise, sweet, sweet woman".
Oprah interview. Michael wanted to correct misconceptions about himself, wanted it to be live so there could be no editing. Jermaine says it was more of a career changing thing for Oprah than it was for Michael. Joe is seen as abusive. Michael disclose his vitiligo.
"The truth is that Michael noticed a small white patch on his stomach around 1982, just as I had found a spot on one thigh. Where mine didn’t worsen, his spread. I had suspected something was going on as early as 1984 and Victory, because he started to cover up all the time."
Single glove had nothing to do with Vitiligo.Glove was first suggested by Jackie just to attract attention to his hand movements. Michael showed less and less skin during Victory.
"I suspected something but really had no idea how serious his vitiligo was getting."
Karen Faye realizes patches in 1983 during Say Say Say. First matching them to darker tone. As they got biggger she had to match them to the lighter tone. and he also needed heavier use of makeup.
"A spiritual soul with blonde hair and animated by a bubbly energy, Karen had first been assigned to Michael’s team some time around Thriller and she quickly evolved from a trusted professional to a true friend he affectionately nicknamed “Turkle.” Soon Karen’s wise words and comforting friendship proved as indispensible as her brushes and make up."
"When you understand how sensitive he was about his condition, you also understand how much he trusted Karen. It was invasive work but every professional choice she made was designed to give him freedom and confidence, and make him look like the star he was. And he equally relied on her keeping all her work confidential. Some members of his entourage, video directors and photographers, didn’t understand that Karen’s challenge was to keep Michael looking perfect, and she couldn’t explain her actions because she was sworn to secrecy. So observers only saw an overly fussy makeup lady—one who sometimes inexplicably disappeared with her client. This was misconstrued: people decided she was competing as a woman for his attention. The truth was that she was working her butt off to keep him feeling safe and secure, ensuring none of his vitiligo was visible to anyone crowding near him."
Michael also got diagnosed with Lupus. Caused red blotches on his face. Lupus and Vitiligo are the reasons that Michael used umbreallas.
Brett Livingstone-Strong. painting in a hangar. theraphy of art to escape the craziness. Public learned about this in 2011. Jermaine visited the hangar to see his art. 7 figure.
Michael's friendhsip with Dave Dave and Ryan White. Friendship with child actors Emmanuel Lewis, Maculay Culkin. Brett Barnes, Wade Robson, Cascio siblings. A lot of "surrogate families". Jermaine only experienced Michael's relationship with Wade Robson and his family. Talks about Wade.
Michael desperately wanting to have children but he's consumed with work and the right woman didn't come along. Michael wanted to have 9 children.
Chapter 17 - Body of Lies
1993 is the year everything changed with schemers, planners, plotters. Summer 1992 a journalist approaches Joy (Wade's mother) and tells he's investigating Michael for being a pedophile. Joy calls and tells it Michael's management.
Michael wasn't street smart , letting random people into his life. May 1992, Michael's car breaks down. Mets Chandler for 5 minutes. They give Michael their phone number. Michael calls them. Press refers them as Michael's "adapted family". Evan is happy about it, trying to find funding to his movie idea, tells the friendship is a wonderful means for Jordie nor worry for the rest of his life.
Michael drifting away from his brothers. Not maintaining communications with them. this time Jermaine isn't leaving messages but sending a lot of letters. No response from Michael.
Chandlers staying at Neverland. June (Jordie's mother) has no issues. Michael stay at their house with Evan. Evan asks Michel to build a new wing on his property Michael doesn't do it. Michael traveling with Jordie, June and Lily, buying them expensive gifts. Evan feeling left out, angry. June's new husband record phone call of Evan not being happy. Evan says he will ask for $20M for his screenplays if Michael refuse he would go public with allegations. August 1993, he tells this to Michael. Michael refuses. Evan tells Michael he would go along with his plan and he did. Media pays attention to his claims and the tape recording of Evan goes mainly unmentioned.
Chandler files a $30M civil lawsuit, criminal investigations start. Neverland, Michael's condo and Hayvenhurst gets searched. Body search and photographing of his genetalia.
Media asking "what is a grown man doing in bed with children?" .Explains bunk beds, crammed sleeping arrangements as kids, not being sexual, girls sleeping over as well, also parents. How Jermaine's kids and Tito's kids used to follow Michel around like ducks. June Chandler calling Michael "Peter Pan" that people wants to be around 24/7.
Announcement of The Jackson Family Honors show. Katherine talks with Michael and they all agree that the show must go on. Bill Bray tells them Michael was "sick to the stomach but keeping strong". After the announcement they make plans to go to Taiwan to join Michael. Elizabeth Taylorwas already there. Jacksons see Bob Jones. Jermaine says Bob Jones was part of barrier to their direct communication with Michael. Bob tells them it's not a good time , Michael sleeping. Jermaine gets angry passes him and barges into Michael's room.
They find Michael with an IV. There's a doctor. They are told that Michael collapsed before the concert, concert cancelled and he's dehydrated. He looks thin and stressed. Jermaine says he thinks he didn't eat or sleep for a week.
Latoya press announcement. Plug in for her book. Not Jermaine's story to tell, she told it in her book. The only thing Jermaine says Michael and the family forgave her.
2 months later rehab. Dependendcy to Demerol. Jermaine doesn't know much about Michael's rehab stay. Michael returns to US. Investigation and Grand Jury going on. Michael personally want to go through a criminal trial. However as criminal charges wasn't brought the civil case was to start. They thought if the civil trial happened, he wouldn't have a fair criminal trial so they settled. Insurers also had a role in the decision. Settlement : no admission of guilt, can testify in future criminal trial, cannot talk to media.
DA Sneddon interview 150 witnesses, convey 2 grand juries and say there's no case. but he doesn't close the case, keeps it open for future.
1995 Margaret receives a phonecall about a secret video of Michael and Jeremy in shower and that they''ll be printing a story saying that Michael paid them to keep silent. Their attorneys stop it but Diana Dimond on Hard Copy runs with the story. LAPD announces there's no such tape. Victor Gutierrez was the writer that created this story. Michael sues for defamation and wins.
1993 behind Michael. Michael refuses to change his life and his beliefs.
Jackson Family Honors. They wanted Oprah to host it. She declines.
"We were surprised to hear her decline, saying she didn’t think she would be a good host, but she wished us the best of luck. It was a shame—we knew how much she loved Michael—but it didn’t detract from the occasion."
Michael is happy in 1994 because he also found his true counterpart in a woman "someone who had had a restrictive childhood, wasn’t impressed by his fame, had experienced living under a spotlight and didn’t need him for his money. Someone who absolutely understood his world and needed nothing from him but love." Lisa Marie Presley
Chapter 18 - Love, Chess and Destiny
Paths passing with Lisa Marie for a long time. 1974 first time Jacksons met Elvis. Lisa Marie attended J5 concert and was a fan. 1992 Brett Livingstone Strong bring Michael and Lisa together at dinner. Friendship forms. Phonecalls between them begin.
"she impressed him with her no-nonsense, straightforward, hard advice. With so many voices around him, she was a refreshing sounding-board. She took no bullshit, and when she saw it around him, she made her feelings about certain people very clear. That kind of frankness always made my brother chuckle. There were no show-business airs and graces, and she was feminine, fine-looking and strong. I’d say the attraction was obvious."
Quiet wedding. No one from the family knew. After the ceremony Michael calls Katherine and tells her that he's married. Katherine's sounded like a black girl bit here. Jermaine only saw rare glimpses of Michael's marriage. Jermaine says they weren't "faking it" as media claims. They always wanted to be together. Janet and Rebbie hang with Lisa Marie and told that she was madly in love. Now Michael has Lisa Marie in his life, Jermaine stops trying to communicate with him because he knew Michael was okay.
ATV deal, merger with Sony. "With the help of attorney John Branca, he had out-maneuvered Hollywood to guarantee his future."
Friction in Michael's marriage. Phonecalls between Janet, Rebbie, Katherine. Jermaine doesn't know the details. Problems : Michael working, being away, being an absent husband and Lisa Marie not wanting it. Michael looking after Joe's brother's grandkids - not emotionally there for Lisa. Scientology. Michael feeling Lisa is trying to tie him down, not allowing his creative process. Lisa not giving him kids. He became convinced that she broke a pact they made. Michael shuts down. Lisa ran out of patience files for divorce.
"The saddest thing about this whole break down is that there was genuine love and friendship between them, but all that got eclipsed and scarred within some power-struggle. At the end of the day, it came down to two people with different temperaments and different outlooks, but I had always wished for a compromise that never happened."
Lisa tries to see if there's any way back. Michel build high walls.
Neverland logo , dreamworks logo. Michael believed he would be part of Dreamworks while it was set up. Jermaine doesn't know why Michael wasn't a part of Dreamworks. Voodoo spell story.
Debbie
"when a motherly blonde admirer offered to bear him children, it was “an offer from God” that he wasn’t going to ignore."
"Debbie Rowe was not a stranger to Michael. She was the nurse at the Beverly Hills clinic of his dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, who treated his vitiligo. Because of the intimacy of his treatment, Michael knew her to be trustworthy and discreet. When I heard Debbie was a nurse, I knew she would be soft, gentle and spoiling; someone who knew how to catch flies with sugar, not vinegar. Someone who was happy to roll along with Michael’s wishes. This was a chance for him to have children entirely on his terms: with 100 percent custody and a mother prepared to waive her parental rights. Looking back, and understanding how important fatherhood was to him, I don’t see what other choice he had when there was a volunteer willing to make his dream come true at a time when he was standing in the rubble of his marriage in an already-isolated world, not knowing when—or if—his next ideal “mate” would come along. Besides, it was a practical procedure rooted in love—Michael’s love for children. I viewed this arrangement as a blessing because of the devotion these young souls would be born into."
Grace became nanny. Media question his paternity. Veils idea was Debbie's against kidnapping. Michael maintained it in the future for privacy.
"Why anyone thought my brother was incapable of fathering his own children was beyond me, as was the idea he’d use a donor when it was his personal legacy that mattered to him. I think it’s fair to say that Debbie had a dominant gene (Prince had white-blond hair when he was born) but when I look into that kid’s eyes or catch his profile from the side, his similarity to Michael as a boy is obvious. But, to nail the myth once and for all, Michael has passed on his vitiligo to Prince. My brother’s paternity is irrefutable when Prince removes his shirt. What really matters, though, is that my niece and nephews know without a shadow of doubt that Michael was their biological father and they were born out of love."
Plastic surgery. Jermaine doesn't know the extent but obviously his looks changed. Jermaine thinks it was due to body dysmorphia. Jermaine blames the doctors that enabled Michel to go too far. He couldn't talk with Michael and say stop you are handsome because it was a sensitive subject. "The saddest thing was that Michael was never happy with his final look."
India visit. Nelson Mandela. Charlie Chaplin's house."“Let’s Go To Mumbai City,” song Jermaine did.