Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (54 page)

Ultimately, although Tatiana had initially tried to defend Michael, she
ended up feeling used by him. She became part of an image to make Michael
appear straight to the public. Her "dream," of working with Michael turned
into a "nightmare."

"I now realize that when you are blessed, you may be cursed as well," she
said.

On the Bad tour, Michael preferred the company, not of Tatiana, but of
some very "special friends."

Michael had a saying that became his guide to living: "No wenches, bitches, heifers, and hoes."

Instead of female company, Bob Jones claimed that the King of Pop
favored blond-haired young boys. "In my experience with Michael, once a
boy turned fourteen or fifteen years old, ties were severed."

Even though it was still the 1980s, Michael, as he went on the "Bad" tour,
was already living the lyrics of his 1993 single, "Keep It in the Closet":

"He is very curious and wants to draw from people who have
survived. People who have lasted the course. He is not really
of this planet. If he is eccentric it is because he is larger than
life. What is a genius? What is a living legend? What is a
megastar? Michael Jackson-that's all. And just when you think
you know him, he gives you more... There is no one that can
come near him. No one can dance like that, write the lyrics or
cause the kind of excitement that he does. "

--Elizabeth Taylor

"There is a considerable 'ick' factor when it comes to Michael
Jackson. Though acquitted of child molestation, most people
have been repulsed by his admission to sleeping in the same
bed with children, even if it was non-sexual. He also carries
plenty of baggage given his eccentric behavior over the years
and plastic surgery that has reduced him to a disturbing visual image. "

--Nekesa Mumbi Moody

"Michael never really had a childhood and I think he is trying
to experience it in later life. I would tell him to keep the
knowledge that he is innocent and hold his head up. "

--Frank DiLeo, Michael Jackson's former manager

"Michael can go out and perform before 90,000 people, but if
I ask him to sing a song for me, I have to sit on the couch
with my hands over my eyes and he goes behind the couch.
He is amazingly shy. "

--Quincy Jones

"In my heart, I was saying, 'I love you, Diana. Shine! And
shine on forever because you are the true princess of the people. "

--Michael Jackson on Princess Diana

Michael never forgave the magazine, Rolling Stone, for the way it embarrassed him in February of 1987. Its readers voted him worst artist in a staggering number of categories. Worst male singer. Worst album (Bad). Worst video
("Bad"). Worst dressed. Worst single ("Bad"). Worst hype. Most unwelcome
comeback.

Other organizations, including the American Music Awards, were more
indulgent with his output. "Bad" was chosen as Best Soul/R&B Single,
though Michael lost to Paul Simon as Best Pop/Rock Male Vocalist. Janet won
for Best Pop/Rock Video for "When I Think of You."

The gamblers in Las Vegas were betting heavily on Michael to make
another clean sweep of the Grammys in 1988, for which he'd earned four
nominations. Bad had been nominated for Album of the Year. Both Michael
and Quincy Jones were nominated for Producer of the Year, and Michael was
also nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal and Best Male R&B Vocal.

The night seemed to belong to Michael as he performed live at the 30th
annual awards ceremony, his first TV performance in five years. He sang and
danced to "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Man in the Mirror." For his
performance, Michael got a standing ovation, and Quincy Jones told him,
"The night is yours."

In a startling development, Michael lost all four Grammys. As Diana Ross
was presenting the award for Album of the Year to U2 for The Joshua Tree,
Michael collapsed backstage and had to be revived.

A sore loser, Michael told his handlers, "I refuse to attend another one of
these stupid award presentations. The backers are white racists. They want to
use me just for ratings-not to get the honors I deserve."

Bob Jones, his publicist, claimed that Michael tended to play the race card
any time he felt "victimized." Otherwise, as Bob suggested, "Michael seemed
to want to join the white race."

Regaining his composure, Michael stormed out of the auditorium where
the Grammys had been presented, vowing never to return.

As the star of the Pepsi commercials that were aired during the Grammy
telecast, Michael was clearly the winner, at least financially. Along with the
millions of dollars he earned, Michael met a new young friend with whom
he'd launch another one of his "special relationships." His name was Jimmy
Safechuck, and Michael would be so enchanted with the good-looking boy
he'd invite him to go with him on the Bad tour.

When Michael met the blond, blue-eyed California-born boy, it was early
in 1988. Jimmy was only nine years old, Michael a ripe 3-0.

The boy appeared with Michael in one of the Pepsi ads. In the commercial, Jimmy, cast in the role of a young fan, enters Michael's dressing room,
finding it empty. He tries on Michael's sunglasses and even dons one of his
fedoras and one of his sequined jackets. Suddenly, he looks up and is startled,
seeing Michael in the doorway. "Looking for me?" Michael asks.

Jimmy had been told that Michael's appearance at the doorway would be
shot at some later date and that he should look startled at an empty space. That
look on Jimmy's face was for real when Michael, without Jimmy's knowledge, suddenly appeared in the frame.

From the moment of their first meeting, Michael became enchanted with
Jimmy. The man and boy were seen together virtually all the time, often
accompanied by Jimmy's parents. Once, when the parents invited Michael for
dinner, he arrived in a Rolls-Royce with his own food.

A relationship of extreme intimacy between the boy and Michael was
maintained on and off for parts of 1988 and 1989, although there were other
"special relationships" going on at the time with other boys. Jimmy and
Michael were often seen in public wearing the same
costumes, man and boy identical designs.

Michael not only obtained the permission of
Jimmy's parents to allow their son to go on the Bad
tour, but he eventually hired both the mother and
father as well.

Jimmy Safechuck
and MJ

On the Bad tour, Jimmy often appeared on stage
with Michael, both wearing identical bondage outfits,
apparel evocative of the S&M shops on Christopher
Street in New York City. Michael at the time seemed
oblivious to the speculation the two costumes generated.

A crewmember, who toured with the Bad troupe
and didn't want to be identified by name, claimed that
"Michael in those days thought he was King of the World and did pretty much what he Goddamn pleased. He must have known
about the rumors circulating about him and the kid, but he made no attempt to
conceal his affection for the boy. Although the Bad tour crew felt they were
underpaid, considering the grueling schedule and long hours, and those
crowds, this Safechuck boy was getting a king's ransom spent on him.
Michael would take him shopping in Europe-you name it, toys, games,
clothing, anything the kid desired. Michael once rented an entire amusement
park just for the kid and himself. There were reports it cost him as much as
$50,000."

The sales department at Hamley's in London, the largest toy store in the
world, still remembers the visit of Michael where he held Jimmy's hand.
"Michael even bought puppets of himself for the boy," said one clerk. "And
also some puppets of Stevie Wonder. They made off with at least three dozen
dolls and teddy bears. Every computer game that fascinated the kid was purchased without objection by Michael."

He generously gave Jimmy's parents a stunning new 1989 Rolls-Royce.
With all the gadgets and extras, the bill came to $200,000. That wasn't all.
Jimmy's parents were also given, or so it was reported, "His and Hers"
Mercedes. "Transportation won't be their problem in the future," said an aide
to Michael.

When Jimmy, who turned ten years old during the Bad tour, caught the
flu, so did Michael. Two performances of the Bad road show had to be cancelled while Michael and his young friend recovered in a hotel suite.

Michael had learned to dance the Moonwalk sideways, and he taught its
intricate steps to the very talented Jimmy, who appeared on stage dancing the
same routines as the star himself. The Motown 25 TV special showed pictures
of Michael and Jimmy trading dance steps with each other.

On his shopping spree with Jimmy in Los Angeles, Michael ran into trouble when he visited the Zales Jewelry Store in the Simi Valley Shopping
Center. Appearing in a wig, with false teeth and a mustache, Michael aroused
the suspicions of the manager, who telephoned the police.

Michael was on the verge of being arrested until he took off the disguise
and showed the officers who'd been summoned to the scene his identification.
He explained that he had to wear disguises or else he'd be mobbed and the
store overrun. The police let him go, and the manager was filled with apologies. But by this time Michael, who had come in to make large purchases,
refused to patronize Zales.

It was said that Frank DiLeo urged Michael to break off his relationship
with Jimmy because of the ugly rumors. In London, one member of the press
actually suggested, in print, that the relationship was "perverted." By now, his
fame was so great that Michael couldn't appear in public, even in disguise, and not attract unwanted public scrutiny.

Michael forced himself to separate from Jimmy after putting up a strong
fight to stay with the boy. He later claimed, "I'm so terribly lonely without
him. It's a sad day when my public determines who I can have for a friend.
The difference in our age is not a problem for me."

It was later reported, and widely distributed on the web, that when Jimmy
and Michael went their separate ways, the boy received a "large cash gift."

At the time of Michael's trial on a charge of child molestation in 2005,
prosecutors sought Jimmy out to question the young man as a potential witness. Reportedly, he claimed that "nothing happened" during his short friendship with the star.

The Bad world tour was launched on September 12, 1987, coming to an
end on January 27, 1989. In his first-ever solo tour, Michael appeared on stage
123 times, playing to an audience of nearly 4.5 million fans in 15 countries
(including the U.S.) on four continents.

When the grosses were tallied, the tour had taken in $40 million but would
end up costing Michael money. Throughout the tour, millions of dollars had
been spent on an ultra-deluxe lifestyle, including the simultaneous availability of a jet, a helicopter, and a bus. Millions had been expended on every desire,
and the show itself was one of the costliest ever mounted for a singer.

As Michael launched his Bad tour, rumors were rampant. It was falsely
announced that Michael was going to star in the lead role of Phantom of the
Opera, to be directed by Steven Spielberg. Around the same time, rumors circulated that Michael was planning to buy Motown Records. Adding fuel to
the speculative fire was Michael's appearance, at the American Cinema
Awards, with Sylvester Stallone and Sophia Loren.

Michael's so-called romance with a blonde, 25-year-old woman, Karen
Faye, was just another attempt to give Michael a straight image. Faye, who
was in love with another man at the time, had worked as Michael's makeup
artist on the Captain EO video-nothing more. It turned out that Michael himself had ordered an aide to feed the story of the
fake romance with Faye to the National
Enquirer.

Karen Faye