Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (97 page)

Michael was said to have turned to Malnik for help in paying off millions
of dollars of debts. Malnik began giving Michael financial advice, something
he also has supplied to the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. To reporters, Malnik
denied that he lent Michael the $3 million needed for him to post bail when
he was charged in 2003 with molesting a 12-year-old, cancer-ridden boy.

In February of 2004, a $70 million loan came due from the Bank of
America, and Michael had no money to repay it. Through the aid of Malnik,
Michael got the loan extended. Advisers to Michael told the press that the
star's links to the Nation of Islam, the black separatist group, has "scared banks off and hurt Jackson's ability to make more money." Two groups of
investors, each prepared to make business deals with Michael, had backed
away when criminal charges were filed against him for child molestation.

Financial sources disclosed that in the late 90s and post-millennium,
Michael was spending about $20 to $30 million annually-more than he
earned. "The result is an ongoing cash crisis," Duross O'Bryan, a forensic
accountant, testified at Michael's child molestation trial in 2005. The accountant also testified that Michael has long-term liabilities of about $415 million.
According to that estimate, the $475 million (plus) value of his assets outweighs the value of his liabilities by at least $60 million.

After being fired by Michael, publicist Bob Jones later commented on
Michael's financial woes. "Look, when you spend $2 million a month, you run
into these problems. This guy has been unable to face the fact that he no longer
brings in income to support his spending habits. Buying expensive gifts for
Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Liza Minnelli, and other so-called friends,
along with the millions he's had to pay these boys, their attorneys, his lawyers,
and others-all of this has caught up with him."

By now hundreds of incidents associated with Michael's reckless spending had seeped into press reports. On his way to visit Elizabeth Taylor at the
Bellagio in Las Vegas, Michael made an impromptu stop to pick up a $10,000
bottle of perfume as a gift. Speaking privately, the store owner said, "I sure
was glad to unload that bottle although I wondered what Elizabeth Taylor, of
all people, needed with another bottle of expensive perfume. Surely she has
enough scent."

At one point, faced with $10 million in legal fees on child molestation
charges, Michael defaulted on his Bank of America repayment loans once
again. Bank of America sold his debt to a New York company, Fortress
Investment Group, which specializes in "distressed debt."

Over the next several months, Michael failed to make payments on the
loan, giving Fortress the right to foreclose. In a last-ditch effort on the part of
Michael's attorneys, the star won the right to extend the loan, allowing
Michael more time to accumulate funds.

The refinancing saved Michael from bankruptcy but deprived him of part
of his share of the music catalogue.

Fortress also held a $70 million loan on Neverland.

In October of 2005, Michael defaulted on loan payments to Fortress.
Ominously December 20, 2005, was to have been the deadline for foreclosure
on the assets Michael had posted as collateral when he'd secured loans.

In August of 2006, it was revealed how Michael may have bailed himself
out of his massive debt. In papers filed in Manhattan, a financial group,
Prescient Acquisition Group, claimed that it helped Michael refinance $272.5 million owed to Fortress and arranged a $537.5 million loan related to his
ownership interest with Sony in The Beatles' song library.

The court statement contained the first news of how Michael had
escaped but only temporarily-a debt load deemed "almost impossible."
But although Prescient had maneuvered adroitly to set up those remarkable
loans, they now faced another problem, and that's why they were taking the
singer to court. According to officials at Prescient, Michael owed them $48
million in administrative fees for their role in having arranged the refinancing.

Until the day he died, Michael's finances would remain in disarray. Some
attorneys have asserted that lawsuits will keep those finances in chaos long
after his burial.

Taking time off from his financial woes, Michael flew to New York to
attend a gala.

As Bill Clinton was leaving office, Michael agreed to attend the annual
New York Charity Ball of his friend, Denise Rich, whose billionaire husband,
Marc Rich, was pardoned in an 11th hour decision by Clinton. Denise had
wanted Paul McCartney to be the headline act. But he cancelled for "private
reasons." He was replaced by Michael himself, who welcomed the opportunity to sit alongside President Clinton and his first lady, Hillary.

Denise staged her annual Angel Ball for her G&P Charitable Foundation
for Cancer Research in November of 2000. Michael showed up at the grand
ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York, where he greeted,
among others, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart,
Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, and Gladys Knight, who had been instrumental in her initial "discovery" of The Jackson 5. The gala went off without a
hitch, allowing Michael to forget his troubles, at least momentarily. But once
he returned to Los Angeles, he began the compilation of an enemies list evocative of Richard Nixon during his ill-fated final term. The pop star wanted
revenge.

"I'd rather receive praise from my fans than think about the people on my
enemy list," Michael said as he flew to New York in March of 2001 for his
induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, making him the youngest solo
artist to achieve that coveted award. The ceremony was conducted in New
York at the Waldorf Astoria.

Michael put in an appearance, but arrogantly refused to perform. To get
away with that, he arrived on crutches, claiming a leg injury that was faked.
Rumors were flying that night that the star was "too high" to perform even
though those charges may have been unfounded. Nonetheless, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame before the evening ended, an honor he richly
deserved, of course.

That same month he flew to England for one of his most bizarre public appearances. At the Oxford Union in Oxford, he broke down in front of the
audience, sobbing for his lost youth.

He claimed that he had wanted to be a typical little boy, building tree
houses and having water balloon fights. "But my father had it otherwise and
all I could do was envy the laughter and playtime that seemed to be going on
all around me." Still sobbing, he went on to say that he wanted "the weight of
my past lifted from my shoulders."

He was in Oxford to launch his charity, "Heal the Kids," aimed at bringing parents closer to their children.

A reporter for The Mirror in London, Sue Carroll, was at the gathering and
filed this report: "The one thing that Jackson did not look like last night was
a dad. There was a distinct resemblance to Liz Taylor, perhaps a touch of
Pinocchio, his sister Janet even ... but an old-fashioned father, hope. He hobbled on stage with an injured right foot, bearing crutches but looking as
though he had just stepped out of a Chanel boutique. His black hair was glossy
and beautifully blow-dried, his lips were a fetching pink, and there was eyeliner to emphasize his dark eyes. From where I was sitting in the gallery, it was
impossible not to be fascinated by that nose, which looked so small and manufactured. It was hard not to see this as some bizarre freak show."

"All of us are products of our childhoods," he told the audience. "But I am
the product of a lack of childhood. An absence of that precious and wondrous
age where we frolic playfully without a care in the world." In a very revealing statement, he claimed, "If you don't have the memory of being loved, you
are condemned to search the world for something to fill you up."

At New York's Madison Square Garden, on September 7 and 10 in 2001,
just prior to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, two special concerts were staged by Michael in celebration of his 30-year career as a solo
artist. Nearly fifty million viewers would later watch one of the concerts when
it was broadcast on November 13, as a CBS Television special. Celebrities
appeared onstage to pay tribute to Michael, including his rival, Ricky Martin.
Liza Minnelli put in an appearance, as did Britney Spears, Gloria Estefan, and
Ray Charles.

Michael also showcased songs from his new album, Invincible. The first
single off the new album, "You Rock My World," was accompanied by a
video that starred Marlon Brando and actor/comedian Chris Tucker.

Tucker and Michael were friends. Once they were seen together in Las
Vegas, leaving their separate hotel suites to emerge onto the gaming floor.
"People had to touch me," Michael told Tucker. "Everywhere I turned, I felt
hands on me. Other than the Pope and the Queen of England, I'm the most recognizable man on the planet."

Justin Timberlake and `N Sync also were billed on the 30th anniversary TV special. The pop heartthrob's girlfriend at the time, Britney Spears, also
appeared on the anniversary program, performing "The Way You Make Me
Feel" with Michael. But that footage was later cut from the broadcast. "Too
damn bad," said Spears. "Just too fucking damn bad!" her sometimes friend
Paris Hilton echoed.

At Madison Square Garden, in one of the most bizarre appearances in a
lifetime of bizarre appearances, Marlon Brando-who had been paid a million
dollars for his involvement-came onstage to confront a mostly youthful
audience, some of whom weren't necessarily aware of who he was.
Gigantically overweight and aging, Brando took a seat and introduced himself, "You may be thinking, who is that old fat fart sitting there." He then
removed his watch and informed the audience, "In the last minute, 100,000
children have been hacked to death with a machete." After rambling on for
ten minutes, the 77-year-old Oscar winner was booed off the stage. "He
played a madman in Apocalypse Now," said a witness. "Now I know Brando
wasn't acting."

Brando's appearance was considered so boring that it had to be cut from
the final televised show.

Following the Brando debacle, the show peaked when The Jackson 5
reunited with their performance of such bubblegum former hits as "ABC."

Bob Jones revealed that a reunion with Michael's brothers "was purely a
money move on his part. The last thing in the world Michael wanted was to
perform with his brothers. He made it clear to all who worked with and for
him that his family was to be kept as far away as possible. This is a man whose
dressing room was off limits to his parents. He would have only little boys in
his dressing room."

During the historic early-morning events of September 11, 2001, Michael
was still asleep. Most Americans learned of the attacks on the World Trade
Center and The Pentagon by watching the dramas unfold on television.
Michael was awakened by a mysterious call from a friend in Saudi Arabia,
telling him of the attacks. He immediately panicked and wanted to flee New
York. But he was also concerned for his friends, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon
Brando, who were still in New York at the time.

Immediately, Michael placed several emergency calls seeking an underground shelter for himself, for Elizabeth, and for Brando. He did not seem
concerned about members of the Jackson family, who at the time were also in
New York.

In an interview with Vibe magazine, Michael said that "Marlon Brando
was on one end of the hotel, his security was on the other end, and Elizabeth
Taylor was at another hotel." In the wake of the attacks, after vehicular traffic was once again allowed in and out of Manhattan, instead of heading for an underground shelter, Elizabeth and Brando were hauled by Michael to a
"secure location" somewhere in New Jersey.

It was sister Janet who eventually rescued those members of the Jackson
clan remaining in New York. Since airplane transit in and out of the city had
been disrupted, she rented Winnebagos to drive them back to California.

Later, Michael asked other major stars to join him in a post 9/11 tribute.
Reporter Clay Risen revealed their reaction to Michael's request. He was
turned down. "It couldn't have happened to a freakier guy," Risen wrote. "The
King of Pop is a star pariah. Michael Jackson's invitation to sing on a
September 11 tribute was turned down by a platoon of big-name stars."

Only weeks after the attack on the World Trade Center, Michael's lackluster Invincible album was released. He was hoping that income it generated
would save him financially. But in eight months, it sold just six million copies
worldwide, a poor return on the $40 million spent to produce it, and the $25
million Sony had spent to promote it.

By now, it appeared that Sony had lost its patience with Michael. As long
as the pop star made money, they could overlook his eccentricities. When it
appeared that he couldn't, one Sony executive confided, "Michael Jackson is
a drain, a money pit."

"For a guy who sold Thriller, this can only be an indication of his diminishing popularity," said Tom Vickers, the music consultant. "Jackson is the last
person to realize his fan base no longer exists," Vickers said. "For most people, he's the car wreck we slow down to rubber-neck. People have a ghoulish
fascination that has little to do with his singing or dancing abilities and everything to do with his freakish looks and behavior. A shrinking core of devotees
may continue to buy his music, but they can't sustain his lavish lifestyle.
Mainstream interest in Michael Jackson as an artist is over!"

Craig Marks, editor of Blender, the
music magazine, echoed similar sentiments. "I don't think he has earning
potential on the music side anymore.
He has it on the TV side, on the rubbernecking freak-show side. People will
tune in to watch him do anything, but
they don't buy his records any more.
It's almost impossible to hear his
records and not conjure up that scary,
weird guy."