Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (100 page)

Tommy Mottola

Shortly thereafter appeared yet another bizarre story in Vanity Fair, alleging that Michael, in addition to placing curses on perceived enemies, had
made several serious (at least for him) attempts to create money "out of thin
air." A mysterious Egyptian woman, claiming links to the ruling elite of Saudi
Arabia, appeared in Michael's life.

The Egyptian woman, once called "a modern-day Cleopatra," was identified only as "Samia." She is alleged to have escorted Michael to a basement
apartment in the Swiss city of Geneva where she reportedly showed him $300
million in cash. She promised him that he could have the money and a multimillion-dollar yacht stashed at a port on the French Riviera, plus a spectacular European villa "if you do what I ask."

Her demands were articulated in detail when three of her male associates
flew into Los Angeles where they were driven to Neverland for a private meeting with Michael to discuss the deal. At the meeting, according to Myung-Ho
Lee, Michael was ordered to produce one million dollars in cash. Lee also testified that he paid $20,000 to an armored truck company to deliver the million
dollars. Of course, if someone had $300 million in a bathtub, stashed away,
why would they need a million from Michael? It seems insane that someone
would give Michael $300 million, plus a yacht and villa, in exchange for a
million in cash.

It is not known if Michael turned over the money that day or not.
According to Lee, he was flown by Michael back to Geneva to consult yet
another voodoo doctor who put on a "show of sound, lights, and pigeons"
before opening the door to reveal a bathtub filled with $50 million. According
to testimony, this new voodoo man said that the money would disappear
unless Michael paid "thousands of dollars for the slaughter of poultry and
other animals." Again, this story raises far more questions than it answers. It,
in fact, makes no sense at all.

MJ whispering to the Rev. Al Sharpton

Perhaps the voodoo story
would never have surfaced if Lee
hadn't brought a lawsuit against
his former employer. Lee's lawsuit was inaugurated at the same
time that approximately fifty
legal procedures were being filed
against the pop star annually. By
2000, Michael had become the
most frequently sued performer
in the history of the entertainment industry. Aside from child molestation charges, most persons suing Michael charged him with unpaid
bills.

In an interview on The O'Reilly Factor for Fox News Network, Bill
O'Reilly questioned Maureen Orth. After reviewing, on camera, the voodoo
charges she had raised in Vanity Fair, she then cast doubt on Michael's muchlauded charity work. "I think he's manipulating his own image," Orth said.
"He's declaring he's a champion of children and children's charities, but the
charities aren't raising any money. There's $100,000 that was given to one
charity, shuffled over to another, that is now being investigated for not being
reported properly."

More and more people, not just Vanity Fair, were realizing there was
money to be made in exposing the private life of Michael.

Within the passenger compartment of a private jet flying from Las Vegas
to Santa Barbara, two "buggers" filmed and recorded Michael during private
conversations, perhaps hoping to sell the footage to the tabloids. It was
revealed that the owner of XtraJet, Jeffrey Borer, had instructed Arvel Jett
Reeves, owner of Executive Aviation which provided maintenance for the
fleet, to install the secret video equipment.

It is not clear how the secret recording came to the attention of law
enforcement officials. Perhaps an employee of the airline tipped off authorities, who investigated and found that indeed an illegal recording device was
used. In March of 2006, within a Los Angeles courtroom, each of them pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy. Borer was sentenced to six months
of home detention and fined $10,000. Reeves was sentenced to eight months
in prison and ordered to spend six additional months in a halfway house-and
to pay a $1,000 fine.

Michael's biggest expose was yet to come, this time on television.

On February 6, 2003, ABC broadcast a two-hour documentary produced
by Britain's Granada Television,
featuring correspondent Martin
Bashir, the British television journalist known for a notorious interview he had inaugurated with
Princess Diana. In that interview,
Di had spoken of her lover, James
Hewitt, and her husband's mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles.

MJ presented with an
award by Britney Spears

Bashir's interview with
Michael was one of the most controversial TV shows ever aired
and it would have devastating effects on the pop star's personal life. In one of the most foolish decisions of
Michael's life, he granted Bashir "unfettered access" to many aspects of his
private life for an astonishing total of eight months. After watching the broadcast in horror, Michael immediately filed complaints with the Broadcasting
Standards Commission and Britain's Independent Television Commission.

When the TV show was aired in Britain in February of 2003, some 15 million Brits had tuned in. To be granted air rights Stateside, ABC paid anywhere
from $4 to $5 million.

In tears, Michael confessed that the raw wound of his father's alleged
sadism made Michael "regurgitate" whenever he saw him.

Bashir went on to question Michael about plastic surgery. In an astonishing statement and in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Michael
still insisted that he'd had only two operations on his nose to help him breathe
better so that he could hit the high notes of his vocal range.

Teresa Wiltz, writing in The Washington Post, said, "Perhaps the most
poignant is the scene where Michael sits with Bashir in his movie screening
room, watching old television of himself performing `I Want You Back' with
The Jackson 5. The camera jumps from the young Michael-cute, brown,
innocent to the middle-aged Michael-ravaged, white, and clinging to the
illusion of innocence, and that moment says more than nearly two hours of
shock TV that comprises Living With Michael Jackson."

Michael admitted that he'd wanted children so badly that he often walked
compulsively around Neverland, playing with baby dolls.

But, like any other parent, he also showed that he could become annoyed
with his child. When Blanket cried, Michael brusquely shoved a baby bottle
in the veiled infant's mouth to shut him up.

In the interviews with Bashir, Michael freely admitted that he slept with
young boys in his bed. As an afterthought, he added that "little girls were also
included." According to staff members at Neverland, there is no evidence that
Michael ever slept with young girls.

One of MJ's victims?

In the most astonishing of the interview's
footage, Gavin Arvizo, a 12-year-old cancer survivor who would later bring charges against
him, sits cuddling with Michael, his head nuzzling against the star's shoulder. Gavin clutches
Michael's hand, relaying testimony about spending many a night in Michael's bed, and seemingly not aware at the time of how damning these
revelations were.

"Why can't you share your bed?" Michael
asked on the program. "The most loving thing is to share your bed with someone. I am Peter Pan."

Bashir reminded him that "you're Michael Jackson." "I'm Peter Pan in
my heart," Michael countered.

On camera, Bashir also documented Michael's big-spending habits that
showed very few signs of slowing down, despite his dwindling cash reserves.
On camera, Michael was shown spending $100,000 in two hours on clothing
in a New York store. But the most astonishing footage showed him spending
$6 million in Las Vegas on art objects which included antique urns, vases, and
a marble chess set.

The broadcast was seen by 27 million viewers around the world. Later,
Michael claimed that the footage was deliberately edited to portray him in a
bad light.

This set off a feeding frenzy among the media, Fox alone offering $5 million to broadcast out-takes. The out-takes were eventually shown, with Marc
Schaffel, the gay porn producer, emerging as the orchestrator of the deal. On
that show, Michael claimed-once again-only two trips to the plastic surgeon, but later, on NBC's Dateline, partly in reaction to that statement, a plastic surgeon was interviewed, insisting that the star had had as many as 50 separate operations on his face.

In November of 2003, Michael needed money, but seemed to be in no
shape to release an all-new album. He was not above cannibalizing his past
when he agreed to release his Number Ones album of previous hits.

The album recycled such by-now-familiar songs as "Beat It," "Billie
Jean," and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." It also included the previously
unreleased R. Kelly ballad, "One More Chance," which was sung by Michael.
One of Michael's fans posted his reaction to this new release on the web. "R.
Kelly should have kept the song to himself."

R. Kelly, of course, was one of the biggest-selling male vocal artists of the
1990s. Like Michael himself, Kelly frequently wears a mask, a Zorro mask.
And also like Michael, he's had his problems with child molestation issues. In
1994, when he was in his 20s, he married
R&B singer/actress Aaliyah, who was only 15
at the time, but the marriage was subsequently annulled. On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah and
eight other people died when their plane
crashed in The Bahamas.

Maureen Orth