Thursday , March 28 2024

Bad Week for Michael Jackson

First, MJ is sincerely not digging the new Eminem video, wherein Em, masquerading as the King of Pop, undergoes various indignities and ends by chasing his nose around the dance floor. Jackson complained about it publicly and asked the cable stations not to show it. Only BET complied with the King’s wishes.

Worse still, yesterday things did not go well in court:

    The judge in the Michael Jackson case has rejected the singer’s attempt to have multiple child abuse charges thrown out of court.
    Judge Rodney Melville ruled there was enough evidence to warrant the charges.

    He also rejected a request from defence lawyers to exclude evidence seized from Mr Jackson’s Neverland ranch and a private investigator’s office.

    ….Judge Melville said the alleged victim’s evidence to a grand jury was enough for a trial to go ahead.

    “His testimony alone, if believed by the grand jury, would supply all the evidence needed to support the indictment,” he said in a written ruling.

    Mr Jackson had argued the secret grand jury proceedings were flawed, prosecutor Thomas Sneddon “bullied” witnesses and there was insufficient reason to suspect a crime. [BBC]

So that’s bad and all, but then it gets really grim:

    the judge did shed some light on Mr Jackson’s conspiracy charge, summing up the prosecution’s version of events in his ruling.

    The charge, one of the 10 the singer faces, covers allegations of child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion, but few details had been released until now.

    Mr Jackson is alleged to have urged the boy’s family to take part in a video to deny abuse and “personally explained to the mother that her children were in danger”.

    He then had the family flown to his Neverland ranch, where the boy and his brother “were invited to sleep in the Jackson bedroom”.

    Their movements were allegedly restricted, phone calls monitored and, after the mother left, she was only allowed to see them again by making up a story that their grandfather was ill.

    Mr Jackson also allegedly had the family moved out of their Los Angeles apartment and put their goods into storage before a planned trip to Brazil, the judge revealed.

These are just allegations, but with no evidence thrown out, and the testimony of the victim and his family backing up these charges, um, zowie. This would be the behavior of a control freak, of someone used to always getting his way, of someone who has been able to buy either loyalty or silence for the last 20 years or so. But he’s a good singer and dancer.

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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