It's about time Gawker covered this--but you barely scratch the surface of the bombshells in this book. I don't know how you could cover this without mentioning "sodium amytal," one of the weirdest twists in the 1993 case.
Overall, my take is: It's the most thorough coverage of the 1993 case ever published; it's decent on the 2003 case; and questionable in the final chapters. I think MJ was gay, but just because someone claims to have been his lover doesn't make it so. And there's little evidence of that deadly lung disease Halperin's obsessed with.
It's poorly edited, the cover is crap (really, Simon & Schuster?), but I was persuaded by Halperin's overall tone and the fact that he admits upfront he wanted to find incriminating evidence but didn't. He sounds like he's being honest about his research and findings; whether the people he talked to and quotes in the book were honest is the big question mark of all MJ bios.
Alright, I want to add this to my long tirade below:
I AM glad that you were able to once again publish "The King Of Pop is gonna lick your lollipop!" because that IS one of the funniest things I've ever read. Ever.
Oh, Tracie. This is SUCH a disappointing write-up. This book is crap, through and through: the reason it's so rife with typos is because it was thrown into the presses in the EXTREMELY narrow window in which someone could publish something this fucking ridiculous and not get sued or stopped (aka when Michael was alive, or when his family was aware enough to pay attention to what was happening to his name and his legacy). To say it was in any way "reported" is to say that Bratz: The Movie should have won an Oscar. For fuck's sake, he uses HIMSELF as a report.
I don't want to sound fangirl when I say this but: MICHAEL JACKSON WASN'T GAY, and the women he HAS slept with have said as much -- including the woman he slept with the longest, Lisa Marie Presley. For all the SHIT she talked about him after their divorce -- ahd she did, and she had a right to -- the one thing she ALWAYS stood by was the quantity and quality of sex they had through their two year marriage (and, most likely, the two year affair they carried on after the divorce).
How do I know this? Becuase I read a biography of Michael Jackson ACTUALLY WORTH reading. It's called "The Magic And The Madness" and it's by J. Randy Taraborelli, a family friend of the Jackson's and a reporter who had been reporting on Michael from the beginning of the Jackson 5. The edition I read is not the edition on the shelves right now: the one now goes to the end of his life, as well as one can. My edition stopped right before the molestation trial, right after Martin Bashir's Living With Michael Jackson. It skews tabloid in places -- stories about cosmetic (as opposed to medical, whcih it was) skin bleaching and things like that have since been proven wrong -- but it has an INCREDIBLE insight into his life with his family (it helps that Taraborelli has stayed in touch with the entire Jackson clan through the years), his relationship with his manager and his attorney (Frank DiLeo and John Branca respectively), his relationship with Quincy Jones, and ESPECIALLY his romantic relationships. The way he turned what was mostly likely a high school-ish romance with Brooke Shields into the love of his life (in his head), his faltering attempts at love with Tatum O'Neil, and his INCREDIBLY passionate relationship with Lisa Marie.
It really disgusts me to see anyone give ANY weight to this crap. You really want to read about Michael Jackson? Read his fucking biography.
@stoprobbers: I do believe Lisa Marie when she says she loved Michael and that they had sex. I also believe Randy Taraborelli when he says that Michael was not a pedophile. But just because Jackson has relationships with women does not mean he was not gay. I have had intense relationships with men who eventually ended up embracing their homosexuality. If Michael was, in fact, gay, that doesn't make his relationships with women any less real.
@stoprobbers: are you out of your mind? you think michael jackson was heterosexual!? his best friends were liza minnelli, elizabeth taylor, and diana ross. he hand-picked jackie o to edit is autobiography. he idolized princess diana. he danced. he married a scientologist! he's one of the only people in existence, besides liberace, i can think of who was faggier than i am.
@stoprobbers: I hope no-one is naive enough to think that they can "know" Michael Jackson from reading a book about him. Biographies are just as agenda-driven (whether it's the subject's or author's agenda) as any other text.
Your conjecture about his love-life and skin bleaching is odd. Nothing has been "proven" about these aspects of his life. We've heard conflicting accounts and you hold your own view; it doesn't mean that people who disagree with you are wrong. Most aspects of people's lives are too messy and to contained to ever be "proven".
@stoprobbers: Totally, totally. I've spent the last few weeks trying to get t know Michael as best I could using various sources and I literally found no evidence whatsoever. He liked the ladies, didn't molest kids and he and Lisa Marie got it on like bunnies when they were married. And there's also evidence he'd been boning chicks way before that. I'll state my sources if I must
@Tracie: Just because you're faggy doesn't mean you're gay. And just because you're gay doesn't mean your faggy. You know that as well as I do.
And I'm SOOOOO glad that who we're friends with reflects our exact sexual preferences. Tracie, you might be drunk but you've proven yourself smarter than this a thousand times over.
Michael Jackson, in reality, is a WEALTH of oddity, eccentricity, and weirdness to be plucked apart. There is so much there that is SO STRANGE without having to write about things that are untrue, or made up.
For fuck's sake, the guy had MANNEQUINS ALL OVER HIS HOUSE. EVERYWHERE. DRESSED UP. POSED LIKE THEY WERE DOING THINGS. THAT IS FUCKING TERRIFYING. So why don't you write an analysis of that instead? A guy so FUCKING LONELY that he had MANNEQUINS to talk to instead of people.
(I'm glad I didn't write this last night -- the thought of those creepy ass mannequins give me the jitters.)
@Scal: Sure, I've picked a view and held it. But I'd wager that I've picked my perspective of his life by synthesizing more sources than just the tabloids, the media, and the reports after his death. I certainly didn't take a book this shoddily written and researched into account.
I have my own mixed feelings about The Magic & The Madness, and there are things in it I want to believe aren't true, but most likely are. But WHY, WHY WHY WHY should I take the word of a book written by a man who was barely able to get close to ANYONE in Jackson's circle (let's not even talk about Jackson himself) more than a book that was written by someone who has been close to the man and his family for over 30 years at the time of its publication?
Everything with a grain of salt that can't be proven photographically. (And, by the way, that's how you can "prove" he didn't willy-nilly bleach his skin -- there is photographic evidence of his vitiligo.)
@stoprobbers: Tracie says that it's a sleezy shoddily written book. This is a review of that book. Why wouldn't she talk about what was in the book? Also what independent research have you done that did not involve "the media"? Did you know Michael Jackson? Did he call you at home?
@stoprobbers: Hmm, are you a fan pissed off about this book? Because my take is that it's pretty much a lover letter to fans. He sorts through a lot of sordid material and tends to give MJ the benefit of the doubt throughout. He questions a lot of strange sources, and usually sides with MJ. It was published hastily, but it was supposedly slated for publication right around now anyway.
That said, the latter few chapters are iffy (though honestly presented).
@stoprobbers: Give the book a shot. All the articles (like this one) focus on 2005 to the present (when we're supposed to believe he was meeting construction workers at motels), but the other stuff is fairly compelling. It's not a takedown.
Btw, where did you get your copy of the up-to-date Taraborelli book?
@stoprobbers: Well, I'm not exactly proud of it, but I listened to the secret tapes made of him talking with his friend Glenda and he goes on and on about finding a woman and wanting to settle down. Obviously, the Taraborrelli book, which I've heard is fairly accurate. Then Lisa Marie, who steadfastly avows that they got it on and quite frankly, she's got no reason to lie. There's circumstantial evidence of him dating his "The Way you Make Me Feel" dancer Tatiana Thumbzten, as Jermaine alluded to them dating at the time, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did it. Then, the sheer amount of completely heterosexual pornography that was hauled out of his house I think attests to the fact that the man was not gay. Lisa Marie in one interview speaks of how he was a completely different person around her, swearing and telling jokes and acting normal. Again I'm about to go to sleep so if you do a little searching around you can find these things I'm speaking about. Oh, and also it was said by one of his staff after his death that he and his nanny Grace were an item before she was fired. Anyways, look into it all and you'll see that he was not gay. I think he was just uncomfortable with airing his public relationships out in the open (with the exception of LMP) and this is why we don't hear much about the women he's dated. Anyways, hope this helps. Oh, and don't forget that he actually goes on tape and states "I'm not gay," and I'm inclined to believe him.
Oh, OK. Yeah, I ran into Michael at LA Live outside the Staple Center the week before he died. He sprinkled fairy dust all over my friends and I and we flew to the second star on the right and straight on til morning. He turned back to earth and I could almost hear him say, "Fuck you you fucking leeches, Shamon." ....wheres my publishing deal?
I have an "I don't know this person to actually know anything about him much less anything this private" theory that he may have been trans but couldn't really live that way he wanted because his life was so public and he would have been subject to bigot asshole scrutiny.
It's just a thought and has NOTHING to do with his molestation charges. I just think that if he were not famous and ruined by certain aspects of his very public life from such a young age, it would be a possibility.
Although I would not write a book about this far reaching theory, just a Jezebel comment thank you.
The King of Pop's going to lick your lollipop line gets me everytime, lol, it's so ridiculous and that's the weird part about Michael Jackson's celebrity. No matter how crazy or outlandish a story, it makes you wonder if it's true mainly because he was eccentric and seemed to inhabit a different world.
Even when there was evidence to the contrary and stories were obviously fabricated, over the years people ate up the tabloid gossip about him with fervor because even the craziest lies seemed to be true. And even in his death it continues.
@MizJenkins:Outing? What are you talking about?I'm laughing at the ridiculousness of the line. In fact, i didn't even touch on the veracity of the author's claim mainly because it seems fabricated imo. My point is because Michael's persona was eccentric, people believed/believe anything written about him no matter how outlandish.
@Eric Northman is mine: Whether you believe it or not that's precisely what they intended to do. People who will write anything about him no matter how outlandish are bottom feeders IMO. People who find it more entertaining than despicable are feeding the bottom feeders. So I'm not sure what that makes them...
@MizJenkins:That's the point though the Book is number 1 obviously people eat this shit up with fervor. I mean sites like Perez Hilton and TMZ get a million hits and it's not about anything substantial but folks are obviously entertained by cum stained photos and misogynistic rantings. There's a market for anything i suppose.
So basically this guy has a crush on Michael Jackson, decides to write a book on him to get closer, and then BOOM! Jackson dies, and now he has a goldmine on his hands? That's classy with a k, Ian.
@stoprobbers: Exactly. He was important culturally. Which means there will be cultural examinations of him (both true and false) going on probably long after we're dead. Just like JFK, Elvis, Marilyn etc. (BTW, I have the same measurements as all of these people.). I don't think it's ever going to be possible to end any and all speculating on his life outside of his music.
Also, I don't think anyone said that the things in the book were necessarily true. Just that they were said. Although I do hope the thing about Liza is true, because that would make my damned day.
@stoprobbers: I really don't think some people realize (or remember) just how important he is in regards to our culture (and it goes way beyond the music industry and far outside the US). Shit, I was eight years old during "Thriller"-mania, when I wrote a book report on him, made myself a bedazzled glove to wear while reading it to the class! Who today has that kind of influence?
your first comment came across as unnecessarily obtuse. your follow up comment, not so much.
i'm not sure where both these sentiments (that a] he should be left in peace, but will inevitably b] continue to be speculated about, just as the others you mentioned,) really coincide, or that they have to, as i'm sure texascrude was allready aware of of b] when she expressed a], but whatever.
@texascrude: How dare you disrespect the media's grieving. They have lost a WINDFALL in future Michael Jackson coverage and they are going to finish GRIEVING WHEN THEY FINISH GRIEVING
@polypam: Please don't speak for other people or make assumptions about what they realize. Just because some folks aren't big fans, it's not because they are operating in ignorance of MJ's sainthood or greatness. Everyone is allowed their own opinion.
@formergr: She does have a point, though, that a lot of people right now who are grieving or thinking or analyzing were extremely young, or not even born, at the absolute peak of his fame. I was as big an MJ fan as anyone I ever met... but I was BORN in 1984. Fuck, I don't remember that shit. I remember Bad, I remember Dangerous, and I REALLY remember HIStory, but a lot of us didn't live through that time when he really exploded. And, for some people, you lose perspective because of it.
@redqueenmeg: @librisdraconis: Except it was already discussed above and noted that these quotes come from a letter that Hassett wrote to Hasselbeck. In other words, when she lifted quotes from Hasselbeck to "prove" her point, she inadvertently introduced her own spelling errors. Also someone posted to say that they have a copy of the book and those errors are not in the Hasselbeck book.
07/29/09
Overall, my take is: It's the most thorough coverage of the 1993 case ever published; it's decent on the 2003 case; and questionable in the final chapters. I think MJ was gay, but just because someone claims to have been his lover doesn't make it so. And there's little evidence of that deadly lung disease Halperin's obsessed with.
It's poorly edited, the cover is crap (really, Simon & Schuster?), but I was persuaded by Halperin's overall tone and the fact that he admits upfront he wanted to find incriminating evidence but didn't. He sounds like he's being honest about his research and findings; whether the people he talked to and quotes in the book were honest is the big question mark of all MJ bios.
07/29/09
I AM glad that you were able to once again publish "The King Of Pop is gonna lick your lollipop!" because that IS one of the funniest things I've ever read. Ever.
07/28/09
07/28/09
I don't want to sound fangirl when I say this but: MICHAEL JACKSON WASN'T GAY, and the women he HAS slept with have said as much -- including the woman he slept with the longest, Lisa Marie Presley. For all the SHIT she talked about him after their divorce -- ahd she did, and she had a right to -- the one thing she ALWAYS stood by was the quantity and quality of sex they had through their two year marriage (and, most likely, the two year affair they carried on after the divorce).
How do I know this? Becuase I read a biography of Michael Jackson ACTUALLY WORTH reading. It's called "The Magic And The Madness" and it's by J. Randy Taraborelli, a family friend of the Jackson's and a reporter who had been reporting on Michael from the beginning of the Jackson 5. The edition I read is not the edition on the shelves right now: the one now goes to the end of his life, as well as one can. My edition stopped right before the molestation trial, right after Martin Bashir's Living With Michael Jackson. It skews tabloid in places -- stories about cosmetic (as opposed to medical, whcih it was) skin bleaching and things like that have since been proven wrong -- but it has an INCREDIBLE insight into his life with his family (it helps that Taraborelli has stayed in touch with the entire Jackson clan through the years), his relationship with his manager and his attorney (Frank DiLeo and John Branca respectively), his relationship with Quincy Jones, and ESPECIALLY his romantic relationships. The way he turned what was mostly likely a high school-ish romance with Brooke Shields into the love of his life (in his head), his faltering attempts at love with Tatum O'Neil, and his INCREDIBLY passionate relationship with Lisa Marie.
It really disgusts me to see anyone give ANY weight to this crap. You really want to read about Michael Jackson? Read his fucking biography.
07/28/09
07/29/09
07/29/09
Your conjecture about his love-life and skin bleaching is odd. Nothing has been "proven" about these aspects of his life. We've heard conflicting accounts and you hold your own view; it doesn't mean that people who disagree with you are wrong. Most aspects of people's lives are too messy and to contained to ever be "proven".
07/29/09
07/29/09
07/29/09
And I'm SOOOOO glad that who we're friends with reflects our exact sexual preferences. Tracie, you might be drunk but you've proven yourself smarter than this a thousand times over.
Michael Jackson, in reality, is a WEALTH of oddity, eccentricity, and weirdness to be plucked apart. There is so much there that is SO STRANGE without having to write about things that are untrue, or made up.
For fuck's sake, the guy had MANNEQUINS ALL OVER HIS HOUSE. EVERYWHERE. DRESSED UP. POSED LIKE THEY WERE DOING THINGS. THAT IS FUCKING TERRIFYING. So why don't you write an analysis of that instead? A guy so FUCKING LONELY that he had MANNEQUINS to talk to instead of people.
(I'm glad I didn't write this last night -- the thought of those creepy ass mannequins give me the jitters.)
07/29/09
I have my own mixed feelings about The Magic & The Madness, and there are things in it I want to believe aren't true, but most likely are. But WHY, WHY WHY WHY should I take the word of a book written by a man who was barely able to get close to ANYONE in Jackson's circle (let's not even talk about Jackson himself) more than a book that was written by someone who has been close to the man and his family for over 30 years at the time of its publication?
Everything with a grain of salt that can't be proven photographically. (And, by the way, that's how you can "prove" he didn't willy-nilly bleach his skin -- there is photographic evidence of his vitiligo.)
07/29/09
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07/29/09
That said, the latter few chapters are iffy (though honestly presented).
07/29/09
Btw, where did you get your copy of the up-to-date Taraborelli book?
07/30/09
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07/28/09
It's just a thought and has NOTHING to do with his molestation charges. I just think that if he were not famous and ruined by certain aspects of his very public life from such a young age, it would be a possibility.
Although I would not write a book about this far reaching theory, just a Jezebel comment thank you.
07/29/09
I agree that I think his sexuality was more complicated than gay or straight.
07/28/09
Give it a rest people.
07/28/09
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07/28/09
Even when there was evidence to the contrary and stories were obviously fabricated, over the years people ate up the tabloid gossip about him with fervor because even the craziest lies seemed to be true. And even in his death it continues.
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07/28/09
My abuelita would call all of them "pinches diablos!" with no respect for the dead.
07/28/09
07/28/09
Whether or not you think he was a saint, we owe a huge chunk of our culture to him. That, at the very, very least, deserves our respect.
07/28/09
Also, I don't think anyone said that the things in the book were necessarily true. Just that they were said. Although I do hope the thing about Liza is true, because that would make my damned day.
07/28/09
07/28/09
your first comment came across as unnecessarily obtuse. your follow up comment, not so much.
i'm not sure where both these sentiments (that a] he should be left in peace, but will inevitably b] continue to be speculated about, just as the others you mentioned,) really coincide, or that they have to, as i'm sure texascrude was allready aware of of b] when she expressed a], but whatever.
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06/23/09
Frankly, I was just pissed she was writing yet another worthless book on the subject and wasting the fucking paper.