Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (96 page)

At the debut of the 21st century, Michael continued a pattern of involvement in other lawsuits as well, both minor and major. Most of them weren't
associated with charges of child molestation, but with demands from merchants who asserted that Michael had reneged on previous purchases. One of
the more spectacular examples included Michael's alleged promise of $1.6
million to Sotheby's for the acquisition of two 19th-century paintings-one of
a cupid and the other of a woman holding a boy and a sheep.

Although Rowe had been restrained by a gag order, she continued to issue
statements about Michael, including one she revealed in February of 2003.
She said that if "Michael called me tonight and said he wants to have five
more, I'd do it in a heartbeat." Michael had enlisted Rowe's help, asking her
to appear on a TV documentary to counter the damaging portrayal of British
journalist Martin Bashir, who exposed Michael on the air in 2003.

Fox won the bidding war to air the two-hour TV special, The Michael
Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See, narrated by
Maury Povich. In the special, Rowe said, "My kids don't call me mom
because I don't want them to. They are Michael's children."

Within the televised tell-all, Rowe also claimed that it was her decisionnot Michael's-to cover the faces of her two children with scarves whenever
they appeared in public, citing a possible kidnapping threat. "I don't want a
Lindbergh baby," Michael had previously said.

Although Rowe had formally relinquished her parental rights in 2001, she
was pursuing a lawsuit late in 2005 that requested the immediate return of
their children from the Middle East. In that lawsuit, she accused Michael of
"abducting" Prince and Paris. In legal documents she filed with the court,
Rowe went on to assert that she had seen the children only once since the summer of 2005, when she won limited visitation rights.

But as events unfolded, Rowe's lawsuit would face many hurdles. And in
the interim, as lawyers for both sides wangled, Prince and Paris remained in
the Middle East, held in check by the gloved clutches of Michael himself.

Attorney Raoul Felder claimed that "Even if Rowe got Jackson back into court, it could be opening a can of worms that would get them both into trouble. Maybe the law will do what it should have done in the first place and take
custody away from both of these two."

A presupposition of the legal system of both Bahrain and Dubai, as
endorsed by Islamic tradition and according to many legal experts, maintained
that a court order originating in Los Angeles would not be enforceable.

Felder went on to say that if the case indeed ever came to court, a judge
might justifiably confront Rowe with, "How did you ever allow your children
to be with Michael Jackson in the first place? It's a tough Rowe to hoe."

In spite of the legal muddle and disagreement emanating from these
issues, in 2005, a judge decided that proper court procedures had not been
observed in 2001 when Rowe was denied custody rights, even though she had
volunteered to give them up at the time.

Rowe apparently changed her mind about abandoning her rights as a parent after Michael was charged with child molestation and began associating
with the Nation of Islam, which espouses anti-Semitic causes. Rowe, who is
Jewish, was deeply offended by this association.

In 2005, Tom Sneddon, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney and a
figure who would emerge as one of Michael's most aggressive nemeses, subpoenaed Rowe for an appearance in court. Sneddon's motivation involved his
belief that her testimony would damage Michael in front of a Santa Barbara
jury, where he was facing charges of child molestation in the Gavin Arvizo
case.

On the stand, Rowe appeared to want to get back into Michael's good
graces, despite that fact that she had, in a separate legal maneuver, inaugurated a lawsuit to reinstate her custody rights over her children.

The prosecution hoped that Rowe would depict Michael "as a coercive
cad and lousy dad." To everyone's surprise, she did the opposite, presenting
instead a lively defense of her former husband. During a full three hours on
the stand, she praised Michael repeatedly. She ended her largely favorable testimony by blaming Michael's associates for the pop star's troubles and claiming, "I've always considered him a friend. . .generous to a fault and a brilliant
businessman." She denounced the un-indicted co-conspirators as "opportunistic vultures."

Earlier sheriff's deputies had claimed that she'd called Michael a
"sociopath" who referred to their children as "my possessions." But she didn't repeat or admit those charges on the witness stand.

Later, Detective Sergeant Steve Robel took the stand to repeat Rowe's
original damning testimony. "But it was too little, too late," said a source on
Michael's defense team.

At the end of the day, her favorable testimony about her ex-husband's character was defined as a startling setback for the prosecution. On the stand,
however, Rowe did admit that "Michael's henchmen" had promised her visitation rights with her kids if she agreed to "gush" about the pop star in a video
made to counter the damaging effect of the Bashir documentary.

In court documents filed in July of 2006, Rowe asserted that she was flat
broke and that Michael owed her hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney
fees and other costs. She claimed that her legal fees and mortgage, plus other
expenses, had left her with only $173,000 in the bank, all her other monies
from Michael having been spent.

Five years after divorcing Michael, Rowe said, "If you fall in love onceand if you're lucky enough-it's forever. I'm not one of the lucky ones." At
her Beverly Hills estate, she burst into tears three times during an exclusive
interview with Entertainment Tonight. She claimed that she was studying to
become a forensic psychologist and had been breeding prize-winning horses.
"I don't know that it would be fair to me to have a relationship with anyone
because I'm trying to figure out what I want," she said.

It was later revealed that Rowe was indeed owed $1 million in back
alimony from Michael and that she had been forced to sell her 21/2-carat diamond wedding ring on eBay. The star's attorneys countered with the charge
that Rowe had "violated a confidentiality agreement by appearing on
Entertainment Tonight."

After much bickering, a secret deal between Michael's lawyers and Rowe
was concluded in late September of 2006. The terms were not announced.
"We're still dealing with the details but it addresses all of the disputes between
the parties," said Marta Almli, the lawyer who represented Rowe. The attorney refused to say what the settlement involved. It was rumored that Rowe
received both a "large monetary payment" and was granted visitation rights
with her two children, Prince Michael
and Paris.

Debbie Rowe

In spite of mounting financial difficulties, continuing lawsuits, and payouts
to Debbie Rowe, Michael still seemed to
think he had the funds to pursue whatever whim came into his head. In June of
1999, he spent $1.54 million to purchase
the statuette associated with the Oscar
Best Picture award that David O.
Selznick had won for Gone With the
Wind in 1939. The former King of Pop
was spending far more money than he
generated.

Not since the days of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, who seemed
obsessed with spending herself into the poorhouse, has a media headliner
wasted so much money or owed so much. His bestseller album, Thriller, for
which he was paid $100 million, should have set him up for life.

Fans were asking, "Where did all the money go?" After all, Michael had
made the most successful album of all time and had amassed a fabulous fortune. How could he end up in debt, his life in ruins?

To pay for his mounting debts, Michael went to Bank of America, initially taking out a loan for $70 million, which was followed by another loan for
a staggering $200 million. These were in addition to loans from Union
Finance and Investment Corporation. For collateral Michael put up his ATV
catalogue, including dozens of Beatles' songs, which he owned jointly with
Sony. His other assets included not only Neverland, but royalties from his own
music, such as "Billie Jean" or "Beat It." His music is estimated to have a market value ranging from $75 to $90 million.

In reviewing Michael's assets, a former Bank of America official, who did
not want his name used, said, "We were shocked to find out just how many
songs Michael owned. Of course, everybody knew about The Beatles' catalogue. But I was unaware that he owned some of the songs of Elvis Presley,
even Madonna. When we drew up an estimate of his publishing rights, it came
to $450 million, which we thought would more than guarantee a loan in the
millions. A singer who had earned at least half a billion in his lifetime was
turning to the songs of other artists such as John Lennon and Elvis to save his
financial hide."

In 2001, as a means of securing the loan from Bank of America, Michael
offered as collateral his two most valuable assets-a fifty percent stake in his
Sony partnership and the rights to his own music library.

This was not the first time Michael had used
The Beatles' catalogue to raise much-needed
cash. After the lukewarm reception of his
HiStory album, he had set up a joint ownership
of his ATV Music with Sony, for which he was
paid an astonishing $95 million. "Hot damn and
save the Queen," Paul McCartney reportedly
said when hearing of this fabulous outflow of
cash. There was a certain irony in this deal.
Signing the agreement was Sony honcho
Richard Rowe, the son of the late but not
lamented Dick Rowe. Originally Dick Rowe, a
senior Decca Records A&R executive, had
turned down The Beatles, claiming "they just aren't commercial."

Martin Bashir

Michael had long been infamous for his choice of sometimes bizarre pals
he hung out with. In December of 2003, he was linked with another in a long
list of "strange bedfellows," in this case the flamboyant Alvin Malnik, no
stranger to scandal himself. Michael later claimed that he was taken to
Malnik's house in Miami Beach by Brett Ratner, the film director, who had
promised to show him a "house so beautiful it will make you catatonic."

The multi-millionaire Malnik has been "fodder" for federal files since the
1960s and has been called the successor to mob moneyman Meyer Lansky.

In 1966, the U.S. attorney in New York indicted Malnik on charges of
using the mail to defraud investors, but in 1971 prosecutors dropped the case.

In 1993, a New Jersey Gaming Commission linked Malnik to organized
crime figures, a charge he has denied. The commission in its report concluded, "The evidence establishes that Mr. Malnik associated with persons
engaged in organized criminal activities, and that he himself participated in
transactions that were clearly illegitimate and illegal."

Malnik was the owner of The Forge, the trendy South Beach hot spot to
which he took Michael on a "date" (no homosexual reference intended). It was
reported that Michael and Malnik "bonded at the hip," becoming such fast
friends that Malnik offered the pop star the use of his lavish mansion in Ocean
Ridge, Florida. Later, from a base in Miami Beach, Michael even hosted a
70th birthday party for Malnik at The Forge, inviting such glitterati as Smokey
Robinson, B.B. King, and even the famous attorney, F. Lee Bailey.

Rush & Malloy in the New York Daily News reported that guests "were
surprised to see how openly affectionate the 44-year-old musician was toward
several boys who appeared to be in their teens." A Miami headline asked the
question: IS JACKO MARRIED TO THE MOB?

The Forge had actually opened in 1969, attracting everybody from
Richard Nixon to his shady pal, financier Bebe Rebozo. In previous years,
even Richard Burton and Frank Sinatra had patronized the club.

Malnik also owns Title Loans of America, a national chain lending money
legally at high percentage rates, sometimes as much as 22%.