Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (99 page)

After that, the ceremony went off with few hitches,
even though Elizabeth seemed to struggle with the wedding rings until best man Michael intervened to help her.

Before entering the church, Michael, Elizabeth, and the other invited
guests were searched for hidden cameras. Apparently, Gest and Liza had left
word to search all guests, failing to provide an exemption for the famous best
man and matron of honor. A full unit security team blanketed the wedding.

Hundreds of rubber-neckers lined Fifth Avenue to watch fleets of black
limousines arriving with such guests as Gina Lollobrigida, Petula Clark, Tony
Franciosa, Robert Wagner, Joan Collins, Carol Charming, Lauren Bacall,
Janet Leigh, Mia Farrow, Patricia Neal, and Diana Ross. Turning down Liza's
invitation were Elton John, Michael Douglas, and Liam Neeson.

"As long as David and Liza keep trying, they will make it," said actor
Mickey Rooney, a long-time friend of Liza's mother, Judy Garland. "I wish
them the best of luck." The bride walked down the aisle to the sounds of
"Unforgettable," sung by Natalie Cole.

Liza had seventeen bridesmaids, Gest making do with only fifteen
groomsmen. Performers at the reception ranged from an aging Tony Bennett
to a troubled Whitney Houston.

The private planes rented, the hairdressers, the champagne, and buckets of
Beluga caviar were paid for by a $600,000 offer from National Enquirer for
exclusive photo coverage and a deal struck with a British tabloid. One source
was quoted as saying, "Tabloid star darlings may poo-poo the supermarket
rags, but their checks never bounce!"

As predicted, the Gest/Minnelli marriage didn't survive long, lasting a
year and a half. In October of 2003, Gest sued his former wife for $10 million,
claiming that she had "been violent and physically abusive" during their marriage, blaming it on her "persistent alcoholism," according to his affidavit.
Minnelli denied the accusations, claiming that Gest was simply after money.

During the breakup of the Minnelli/Gest marriage, Michael was torn in his
loyalties between his two friends, listening patiently to both sides of their stories. Gest returned that loyalty to Michael, maintaining his faith in Michael
during the pop star's child molestation trial in 2005. Gest even wanted to produce yet another documentary, a TV special showing the accused child molester's "world." The estranged husband of Minnelli also vowed to be a friend to
Michael whatever the outcome of his trial. "I can't just turn on him," Gest told
the press. "I would feel very sad if Michael is convicted. I'm not gonna turn
my back on him-that's not my style. Never has been."

But by May of 2006, Gest might have been wavering in his loyalty, as he
announced that he was going to expose "some shocking revelations" about
Michael in a forthcoming autobiography. He announced that among his
upcoming "bombshell revelations," he knew "where the skeletons of the past
are buried."

In his tell-all Gest promised to reveal "secrets regarding Michael Jackson's sex life." Gest's co-author, Mark Bego, told the press that Gest is
going to reveal such tidbits as Joe Jackson paying a prostitute to have sex with
his son and young Michael being propositioned for sex by a male record executive. After some of the other international headlines and revelations about
Michael, these so-called "revelations" seemed Sunday school tame.

As for Minnelli, Gest said, "I know stories, but I don't know what will
make it into print."

A wacko story released by the New York Post on July 12, 2006, was headlined GEST'S BED IS STRAIGHT. In it, Gest's burly British bodyguard,
Imad Handi, claimed that his boss likes African-American women. "He would
talk about what he did with women, and that he likes to use whipped cream
and cherries," Handi told Post reporter Dareh Gregorian.

Handi issued these statements in reaction to a lawsuit filed by Charles
Beyer in federal court. Beyer claimed that Gest and Handi sexually harassed
him, charging Gest with making crude comments about his manhood: "I bet
you have a small penis." Beyer also charged that Gest sent him lewd written
communications which included the words: "Shake my penis, make sure it
feels good, wash it in hot water and dip it in chocolate fudge." Beyer also
charged that "Mr. Minnelli" grabbed "my rear end on several occasions and
once grabbed my crotch." In spite of the Post headline, the story did little to
convince New Yorkers that Gest was indeed as straight as he has claimed.

When Michael returned to New York later that summer, it was not to
attend a wedding but to launch "the press war of 2002." Bitterly disappointed
over his declining record sales, he took on Sony in a counteroffensive. First,
he made the false accusations that Sony had demanded $200 million "to pay
them back for marketing costs." Sony had done no such thing-in fact, Sony
had invested millions of its own funds in what could only be called a disappointing comeback for Michael.

Stewing in his juices, Michael struck back a few weeks later, viciously
attacking Sony mogul, Tommy Mottola.

Earlier in the day, in Harlem, Michael had denounced Tommy Mottola as
a racist. "He's very, very devilish," he charged. Michael brandished a poster
of Mottola with horns superimposed on his head, a tail on his posterior, and a
pitchfork in hand. He also claimed that Sony had not "done enough" to back
Invincible because Michael was black. "That's the first time I ever heard
Michael call himself black," said a music critic for Rolling Stone magazine.

Many singers who had previously signed with Sony, including Ricky
Martin and Mariah Carey, defended Mottola. But members of the Jackson
clan backed Michael, claiming that racism had ended their professional relationship with Sony.

The charges of racism were ridiculously false. Mottola had previously been married to Mariah Carey, who is part black.

For support Michael picked up such heavyweights as the Rev. Al Sharpton
and his former attorney, Johnnie Cochran. The pop star was demanding that a
commission be set up to investigate all record companies-not just Sony-to
see if they were exploiting black recording artists.

Sharpton later said that when he made the appearance with Michael, he
didn't know the pop star would attack Mottola as racist. Privately Sharpton
didn't seem to agree with Michael's slander. Sharpton claimed that Mottola
had "always been supportive of the black music industry."

"Music moguls are liars," Michael claimed. "They manipulate history. If
you go to the record store at the corner, you won't see one black face. You'll
see Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones. The attack on me began after I
broke Elvis's sales and The Beatles's sales. It's a conspiracy. I was called a
freak, a homosexual, and a child molester."

Only 150 rag-tag but diehard fans in New York joined Michael in his
pathetic protest. At one point Michael falsely accused Mottola of using "the
N-word."

Sony shot back, calling Michael's remarks, "ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful." Nonetheless, allegations of racism by Michael put pressure on Sony to
sever ties with Mottola. By January of 2003, he was no longer head of Sony
Music Entertainment.

After attacking Sony, Michael decided to pitch a sequel of Moonwalk to a
group of publishers meeting in Stamford, Connecticut. In a new autobiography he was envisioning, he would "set the record straight," perhaps another
one of his Freudian slips.

He bitterly attacked
the interview Diane
Sawyer had done with
him for ABCs Primetime.
This startled the publishers, because Sawyer had
herself been attacked for a
"candy ass" interview in
which she'd "sucked up"
to Michael, allowing him
to deliver his version of
the child molestation
questions.

The wedding party: David Gest, Liza, MJ, & Liz

One of her rivals,
who didn't want to be
named, accused Sawyer of "ass-kissing. For an exclusive interview, Sawyer sacrificed her journalistic
integrity. I didn't believe a word Michael said. He should have paid ABC and
put Sawyer on his payroll."

"How could Sawyer do that to me?" Michael asked the assembled publishers. "She should have categorically denied that I was a pedophile on
nationwide TV." What was not asked was how could Sawyer know if Michael
were a pedophile or not?

Before the publishers departed from his hotel suite, Michael assured them,
"I'm just a regular all-American guy. Nothing more, nothing less." The
stunned publishers filed out, heading for the hotel bar.

The next day Michael told an executive at Simon & Schuster that he was
considering retiring from the music world and devoting the rest of his life to
writing children's books. The publisher assured him that S&S would be
delighted to look at any children's book that he might write.

After the Stamford meeting, no publisher got back to Michael with an
offer to print his second installment of memoirs. Michael was shocked by the
lack of interest, having told associates that "my new memoirs will make millions." The project died.

Michael felt humiliated at the rejection. Later that summer, on August 29,
2002, more embarrassments were on the way, some of them exhibited and
played out in public. At MTV's Annual Video Music Awards, Britney Spears
presented Michael with a birthday cake, making an offhand remark that he
was "The Artist of the Millennium."

In a rambling acceptance speech, Michael accepted a trophy that was
meaningless. Everyone on stage received the same trophy. Nonetheless,
Michael seemed to assume that he was actually being honored as "Artist of the
Millennium." In a subsequent remark allegedly delivered by Spears, she may
have said, "Michael Jackson should be singing `Fly Me to the Moon.' He's
already on Jupiter."

Michael faced more rejection and ridicule when writers filed their reports
of the event. MTV quickly announced that Michael was mistaken, claiming
that the channel had "merely wanted to wish him many returns on his birthday." More media attacks were on the way.

Forbes called his career "a franchise in demise." Soon his critics were
calling him "Pop's Lost Boy." Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, on CNN, said, "My
criticism of Michael is his self-absorption. The whole celebrity thing, where
he needs to feel like he's worshipped." As one former fan on the web said,
"Michael Jackson loves fairy tales. He's become a fairy tale and even
Neverland can't contain him as he wanders over the rainbow. Sorry, Michael,
but that pot of gold has eluded you now."

Michael's troubled year of 2002 concluded on a sour note. The magazine, People, named him "the biggest loser" of 2002. The pop star beat out George
Michael (arrested in a men's toilet) and Robert Blake (charged with the murder of his wife) as the winner of that dubious honor.

People wasn't the only magazine causing trouble for Michael. Unknown
to him, additional revelations about his private activities were being investigated for publication in Vanity Fair.

Just when the world thought it had heard every bizarre story ever associated with Michael Jackson, along came "Michael watcher" Maureen Orth.
Vanity Fair's April, 2003 issue contained an article she had authored. In it, she
revealed that Michael had paid $150,000 for the activation of a "voodoo
curse" to kill former friends-now "A-list enemies"-Steven Spielberg and
David Geffen.

The actual voodoo ceremony, according to Orth, occurred in 2000. In
Switzerland Michael was said to have undergone a "blood bath" as part of the
ritual. Presumably "blood bath" meant that Michael had actually bathed in
blood. One can only speculate in wonder at that claim. In a separate lawsuit
that Myung-Ho Lee, the star's former business manager, filed it was revealed
that Michael ordered him to wire the $150,000 to a bank in Mali, into an
account controlled by a voodoo chief named "Baba." Baba was expected to
sacrifice forty-two cows as part of an extended ceremony, Vanity Fair reported.

The story left a lot of unanswered questions. What was the link between
Switzerland and the voodoo priest in Mali? Where did the killing of the cows
take place? Presumably in Mali. Or one might ask an even more provocative
question. Is this widely published story really true?

The witch doctor was said to have intoned a series of chants during the
massacre of the cows. The individual name of each recipient of the curse was
articulated before a cow's head was chopped off. "David Geffen be gone!
Steven Spielberg be gone!"

In the Vanity Fair article, it was revealed
that twenty-five persons made Michael's list of
people he wanted dead. He was assured by the
voodoo witch doctor that everyone whose name
appeared on the list would "soon be dead." An
immediate mass demise of everyone on the list
never happened, according to reports, but we
can't be sure about the long-term affects of the
blood-drenched voodoo ceremony. After all,
only the names of Geffen and Spielberg were
revealed in the article. It is not known who the
other 23 intended victims were, but surely it included some prosecutors in the Santa Barbara area.