In life, we think that when we become friends with someone, that person is our friend for life. That is almost never the case. With Michael, his friends were, for the most part, flaky. He had friends that stole from him, bashed him, disrespected him and lied on him. Last year, I did a blog post on these friends of Michael's called "The Friends, Hanger Ons and the Ones Undecided". Here is the link -
http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2012/05/friends-hanger-ons-and-ones-undecided.html
This entry will be the second part to that blog post in which I will discuss the other friends that I did not mentioned in the previous related entry. This entry will not be for the ones that expect something positive so please beware. Next to the names of the people, I will put in parenthesis "friend", "foe" or "undecided". Some of the things you might read or view might shock you and some of the things might anger you. However, one have to finally accept the fact that the ones that you might think were his "best friends" were really the worst ones he ever had.
Update: When I published this entry on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I added Miko Brando as one of Michael's friends. As I was doing this entry, I completely forgot that I already added Miko Brando on my list last year. So, I have replaced him with another friend of Michael's.
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Debbie Allen (friend)
Debbie Allen knew Michael and his family for over 30 years and she would work with him on certain projects. When Michael died in 2009, Debbie gave an emotional interview with CNN on her friend and how she felt about him.
It was telling to me that Debbie truly considered Michael a friend and unlike many of them, she never went out of her way to trash him.
Brett Barnes (friend)
Brett Barnes was one of the children Michael befriended in the 1990s and would accompanied him to certain events. Brett was even featured in the "Private Home Movies" special along with his sister, playing with Michael. When Michael was falsely accused in 1993 of child abuse, Brett defended his friend. Fast forward to 2005, when Michael was on trial for child abuse charges, Brett was one of the strongest witnesses to the defense team. He made it clear that Michael did not do anything improper to him. When Wade Robson (who will be mentioned later) stated May of this year that he was abused by Michael (thanks to a claim that he made to the Estate of Michael Jackson), Brett went to twitter to state a very interesting comment.
When a fan asked him if he was going to set up Michael, Brett told the fan not to insult him like that. I hope that Brett would never have to go there and create a lie about Michael just to get money. However, you never know with anyone in this day and age.
Keya Morgan (friends)
Keya Morgan is a writer, historian and child prodigy who was profiled on CNN when he was 11 years old. He met Michael in the 1990s and struck a friendship with him that still exists today. Keya Morgan has always been a supporter of Michael's and has made it his mission to get the truth out there about Michael. That is why he is on this list. I follow him on the social networking site twitter and he has been amazing supporting his dear friend. I am going to post tweets that Keya has made about Michael and what some of his so called "friends" can do for Michael instead of letting people disrespect him.
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin's friendship with Michael began in 1988 and throughout the 1990s. During the success of the Home Alone movies, Macaulay and Michael hung out a lot and Macaulay was featured in Michael's iconic "Black and White" short film. When Michael became a father, Macaulay became the godfather to Michael's children Prince and Paris. (It was later revealed in his book that Macaulay is the godfather to Prince). During the 2005 trial, Macaulay became one of the witnesses who testified in court after the prosecutor Tom Sneddon implied that Michael abused Macaulay. When he took the stand, he defended his friend and stated that nothing happened to him. Tom Mesereau (who will be mentioned later) later stated that Macaulay was one of the true friends that Michael had in his life. After Michael died, Macaulay did not do interviews talking about his friend and he attended the burial ceremony with his then girlfriend, actress Mila Kunis.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an comedienne, an Oscar winning actress and one of the co -hosts on the show The View. She was also friends with Michael and spoke about her friendship with Michael a few times on The View. Here is video of her talking about her last conversation with him.
Like a few of his friends, Whoopi defends him whenever she had the chance. When Wade made the laughable allegations against Michael, Whoopi made it no secret who's side that she is on.
Berry Gordy (friend)
Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 and wanted to use the record company to make music that would change the world. He is responsible for the careers of Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, the late Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and the Jackson Five. Berry first met Michael in 1968 when he and his brothers auditioned for him. After that audition performance, because he was hesitant to signed another child star, he had a change of heart and signed the Jackson 5. From there, a bond was formed between Michael and Berry. Michael learned from Berry how to work in the music studio and how the songs were created. Michael also felt that Berry was like a father to him because at that time in his life, his father, Joe, did not show the emotional connection the way Berry showed him. In 1983, when it was the 25 anniversary of Motown Records, Berry wanted Michael to be there and perform with his brothers. Michael wanted to do the show if only he could do his own solo performance. That performance became his iconic Motown 25 performance that changed Michael's life. Over the year up until Michael's death, Berry always had a soft spot for Michael and spoke in his 2009 memorial. These days, Berry Gordy is focusing on the Motown Musical on Broadway. I want to add that Berry is also family to Michael: Jermaine was his former son in law and three of his oldest children (Jermaine Jr., Autumn and Jaimy) are Berry's grandchildren.
Kathy Hilton (friend)
Kathy Hilton was mentioned on the related blog post I made last year. The reason why she is on this one was because she defended Michael after Wade Robson made claims of abuse. Kathy makes it clear, by her actions, that she was truly a good friend of Michael's. As long as I have been a fan, this is very rare of this to happen to Michael. There are a few people that have done this to Michael but is always refreshing to see this. Kathy is also best friends with LaToya and has been good to the Jackson family. Say what you want about her family, Kathy is good people.
Kidada and Rashida Jones (undecided)
Michael has always hung out with girls as well as boys but not much is stated about Michael's friendships with girls. Thanks to the ignorant media, they continue to tell a lie to the public that Michael only hung out with boys. The daughters of iconic music composer/producer Quincy Jones ruins the media's lie. Kidada hung out with Michael more than actress Rashida did in the 1980s. During their friendship with Michael, Kidada, according to Quincy Jones, would call Michael on the phone everyday and the phone bill would be long and expensive. Rashida stated in an interview that when she was younger, she and Michael would throw water balloons from a hotel balcony while people were eating. She also stated that Michael would never harm a child. I have to state this because it needs to be stated, I did not like the fact that she nor Kidada did not publicly defend Michael during the trial days because when the media was implying these horrid things about Michael, they stayed silent. It was when he passed away when Rashida talked about Michael and stated that her best memory of him is when Bubbles bit her. I do believe that they loved Michael and cared about him but the lack of defense for him has bothered me. I hope they find the courage to speak out and defend Michael but let's be real, that might not happen. I hope I am wrong, though.
Gladys Knight (friend)
Everyone knows Gladys Knight as the Empress of Soul and a legend. A lot of people do not know that she is good friends with the family. Gladys has also stated that she discovered the Jackson 5 but Diana Ross took the credit for that. Gladys has always supported Michael and his family. When the family had their public rift last year, it was Gladys who put things in perspective. When Paris was attacking her aunt Janet on twitter, Gladys was not happy with that and even stated this on the CBS show The Talk -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/gladys-knight-paris-jackson-family-drama_n_1703919.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
Emmanuel Lewis (friend)
Emmanuel Lewis met Michael in the early 1980s when he was on the show Webster. He, along with Brooke Shields accompanied Michael to the 1984 American Music Awards and Grammys. Michael would often go places with Emmanuel and would hang out with his family. During the rough times in Michael's life, Emmanuel has always supported him. He could have been like Corey Feldman and told fables about Michael to the press for publicity but he never did. Instead, he went to college and even ran his own record label.
Tom Mesereau (friend)
If there was anyone that really know what the word "friend" means, that would be Tom Mesereau. I know that I stated on this blog that Randy made a "mistake" putting Mesereau in Michael's life after the fact he defended the author Randall Sullivan regarding his book on Michael. At times, I forget that there are reasons why people do what they do and even though I did not agree with Mr. Mesereau's reasons for supporting the book, I do understand. With that said, I would like to take back what I stated about Mr. Mesereau and applaud him for continuing to stand by Michael when low life scum want to destroy his legacy because they did not save up all of the money they made "choreographing" lame moves for less than great dancers. Mr. Mesereau have been constantly defending Michael's innocence and his good name to anyone that would listen to him because he knows that he must do that for him. No one asked him to defend Michael and that is the greatness about Mr. Mesereau. His defense of Michael's is effortless, respectable and reasonable. He does not defend Michael halfway but defends him all the way and he does not care how anyone would feel about it.
Liza Minnelli (undecided)
I made it clear on this blog that I am not a fan of Liza Minnelli. She is before my time and era. I understand that she was friends with Michael and when she married David Gest in 2002, he was Gest's best man. That image of those two people kissing was so odd and weird that you can't really script that. I never really paid attention to Michael's friendship with Ms. Minnelli and I remembered a quote that he stated about her in Rolling Stone magazine in 1983. He stated,
Liza also talked about Michael and his girlfriends. Let's read what she had to state.
Let's remember what Michael told Rolling Stone about his friendship with Minnelli. If their friendship was all about show business, then why was Minnelli claiming to know of one girl that he was going to marry that turned him down? Why was she claiming that she knew all of his girlfriends including Lisa Marie Presley? I believe that it is all a lie. Liza went to a tabloid, the Daily Mail, for this interview and the tabloid paid her. Who knows what she stated in the article that is made up? It is very possible that she is completely lying about her true friendship with Michael. When Michael was falsely accused of child abuse back in 2005, where was Liza with this information?
Alfonso Ribeiro
Alfonso Ribeiro will always be Carlton Banks on the iconic show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and to diehard fans of Michael's, Ribeiro was a dear friend of Michael's. On the show, he has done Michael's famous moves. Here is one of them -
He has always defended Michael in the past based on the laughable allegations that followed Michael for 20 years. It did not changed when he was with his wife and was recently asked about the latest laughable allegations against Michael made by that Wade person. This was his response -
Lionel and Brenda Richie
Lionel Richie knew Michael since Michael was seven years old and unlike so many of his friends over the years, he never stopped defending him. The reason why he is on this list, along with his ex-wife Brenda, was because he continues to show people that Michael was a dear friend of his and he was family, literally. Lionel and Brenda's daughter, Nicole Richie, is the goddaughter of Michael's. So when that clown, Wade, made up lies about Michael, Lionel and Brenda wasted no time defending Michael. This is a crash course of Defending Michael Jackson 101 - get right to the point once some fool lies on Michael. Lionel was asked about it and this is what he stated -
http://www.contactmusic.com/news/michael-jackson-child-abuse-allegations-false-lionel-richie_3654036
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Wade Robson (foe)
Where do I start with this fool? For starters, he is a foe to Michael as well as a user, manipulator and liar. With that said, I think I speak for all fans, and usually I do not, by stating that Robson is a waste of flesh. You know, what angers me is when someone does something or a lot of things for someone and instead of feeling blessed, they become bitter. I do not know what exactly happened to him that would make him turn on Michael the way he did. I do know that a lot of dancers/choreographers do not make a lot of money in the field. If they are not on Dancing With The Stars, that nice paycheck is not coming. Even though I do not know for sure what his issue is with Michael, I think I know why he treated Michael this way. Let me just state that Wade is lying no matter how you slice it. I believe he was telling the truth in 2005 when he was grilled repeatedly on the stands during the trial. From 2009, when he "honored" Michael when he died up until the present day, something happened. I believe that Wade wanted to be part of the Cirque Du Soleli tributes to Michael that the Estate has been doing. When the Estate choose Jaime King to handle the dancing and choreography department of specials, Wade felt cheated and decided to come up with a plan to get what he wanted. This is probably how Wade handles rejection. He never had to handle with that before because Michael founded him and helped him get far in the industry when it comes to dance. He worked with big pop stars of his era like Nsync and Britney Spears. He choreographed moves for the show So You Think You Can Dance among other things. Then, probably made some crazy decisions and made mistakes along the way. The only way that he could get out of it was to get some money. So, he filed a claim to the Estate asking for money by falsely accusing Michael of child abuse. If you really look into Wade, you would notice that Wade has been known to hurt his friends. Justin Timberlake was good friends with Wade but when he found out that his then girlfriend, Britney Spears, cheated on him for Wade, he was done with him and Britney. If Wade can do that to his own friend, of course he would do that to Michael. Wade seems to be the type to get what he wants to get no matter how he would get it. There was a comment that was spreading throughout the website tumblr in regards to why Wade did what he did. Here is what he stated -
All of the publicity that he is getting is EXACTLY what he wants and I hope that he knows how to handle it when it nonsense gets to be too much for this bastard. Even artist and a friend of Michael's David Nordahl, stated this about Wade and his family and Michael's demeanor around children.
He better not bump into a Michael Jackson fan because if he does, that fan will be letting him know what it is like to mess with Michael. I need to also state that if tmz.com, the same clowns who broke the story, are starting to doubt it, you know it was truly a lie from the beginning. Wade is making a mockery of real sexual abuse victims all for money and revenge and for that, he is complete and utter scum.
Elizabeth Taylor (undecided)
I have never paid attention to Michael's friendship with Elizabeth Taylor until 2002. I was listening to the radio when a radio disc jockey in Philadelphia by the name of Patti Jackson (she is not related to the Jacksons) was offering her opinion about why Michael was having problems with Sony. When I heard her reasons, I thought it was stupid and lame. I had to email her and let her know how I felt about her opinion. She responded back to me basically stating (going by memory) that people were turned off about some of the things Michael did. Some did not understand his friendship with Elizabeth Taylor. After some thinking, I hated to admit it but Patti Jackson was correct in some ways. I am a child of the 1990s and an 1980s baby so I only know Michael from the Bad era up until his murder in 2009. Before my time, Michael was a different celebrity to Patti Jackson, who practically grew up with Michael. She remembers when it was about the music and he was not friends with Elizabeth Taylor. Michael was very close to his family, had a connection to his first group of fans, the black community, was down to earth and looked like someone people could recognized. I understand that people change as they become older and with Michael's case, he changed as he became a bigger celebrity. Patti grew up in a different time than I so she sees things differently and she probably saw Michael's friendship with Taylor as more of a publicity stunt than an actual friend. Besides the generational gap between Patti Jackson and myself, she made a very interesting point about Taylor. We know that Taylor has been there for Michael as far as publicly defending him but really, that is what a friend is suppose to do. Other than that, I do not know how was she as an actually friend of Michael's. When she was interviewed on Oprah back in 1993, Oprah asked her what did she and Michael have in common. She stated that Michael and her had abusive fathers. Here is video of her speaking about her "friendship" with Michael -
When Michael was fighting child abuse allegations in 1993, Taylor held a press conference telling the world that Michael checked in to a clinic to deal with his substance abuse issues and her defense for Michael. Fast forward to the trial back in 2005 and Taylor was barely there to defend Michael. When Michael died in 2009, the Jackson family did a memorial for Michael and Taylor was invited to attend the service. She released a statement about that.
http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20287787_20289739,00.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/07/06/the-jackson-liz-drug-link.html
Stevie Wonder (friend)
Who does not love Stevie Wonder? The musical genius, the amazing singer, the definition of a musician, the great music and the wicked sense of humor. (Yes, he does drive. No lie.) He was also an loyal, loving and true friend of Michael's. It is even rumored that Stevie was actually a cousin of Michael and the family. Stevie has always been there for Michael through all of his ups and downs. When Michael passed away in 2009, Stevie gave an emotional and moving tribute to his friend during his memorial.
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Links:
Articles -
Liza Minnelli on the Daily Mail -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2042245/Liza-Minnelli-Michael-Jacksons-love-life-X-rated-Lady-Gaga-David-Gest.html
Gladys Knight on Paris Jackson: She Wouldn't Have Any Teeth -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/gladys-knight-paris-jackson-family-drama_n_1703919.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
The Jackson-Liz Drug Link -
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/07/06/the-jackson-liz-drug-link.html
Donald Trump Remembers Michael Jackson -
http://www.rap-up.com/2009/07/07/donald-trump-remembers-michael-jackson/
Magazine -
Michael's quote about Liza Minnelli in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine back in 1983.
Tumblr -
Artist and friend of Michael's David Nordahl's comment in regards to the false claims made by Wade Robson. The quote was reblogged by me on tumblr.com -
http://beesblog83.tumblr.com/post/50705724683/i-was-at-the-ranch-when-wade-and-his-mother
Twitter -
The tweets are from Brenda Richie, @BrendaHarveyRichie
The tweets are from Keya Morgan, @KeyaMorgan
Book -
The quote about Elizabeth Taylor and her people's disgusting remarks regarding Michael and his son, Michael Jr. from Remember the Time, Gonsalves, Theresa, 2009, page 65.
Pictures -
The pictures came from google.com search, my personal harddrive and tumblr.com
Video -
All videos are from youtube.com
http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2012/05/friends-hanger-ons-and-ones-undecided.html
This entry will be the second part to that blog post in which I will discuss the other friends that I did not mentioned in the previous related entry. This entry will not be for the ones that expect something positive so please beware. Next to the names of the people, I will put in parenthesis "friend", "foe" or "undecided". Some of the things you might read or view might shock you and some of the things might anger you. However, one have to finally accept the fact that the ones that you might think were his "best friends" were really the worst ones he ever had.
Update: When I published this entry on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I added Miko Brando as one of Michael's friends. As I was doing this entry, I completely forgot that I already added Miko Brando on my list last year. So, I have replaced him with another friend of Michael's.
Michael in 1991.
Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen knew Michael and his family for over 30 years and she would work with him on certain projects. When Michael died in 2009, Debbie gave an emotional interview with CNN on her friend and how she felt about him.
Debbie Allen on Michael.
It was telling to me that Debbie truly considered Michael a friend and unlike many of them, she never went out of her way to trash him.
Brett Barnes (friend)
Brett Barnes during the MJ trial in 2005.
Brett Barnes was one of the children Michael befriended in the 1990s and would accompanied him to certain events. Brett was even featured in the "Private Home Movies" special along with his sister, playing with Michael. When Michael was falsely accused in 1993 of child abuse, Brett defended his friend. Fast forward to 2005, when Michael was on trial for child abuse charges, Brett was one of the strongest witnesses to the defense team. He made it clear that Michael did not do anything improper to him. When Wade Robson (who will be mentioned later) stated May of this year that he was abused by Michael (thanks to a claim that he made to the Estate of Michael Jackson), Brett went to twitter to state a very interesting comment.
I wish people would realise, in your last moments on this earth, all the money in the world will be of no comfort. My clear conscience will.
When a fan asked him if he was going to set up Michael, Brett told the fan not to insult him like that. I hope that Brett would never have to go there and create a lie about Michael just to get money. However, you never know with anyone in this day and age.
Keya Morgan (friends)
Keya Morgan
Keya Morgan is a writer, historian and child prodigy who was profiled on CNN when he was 11 years old. He met Michael in the 1990s and struck a friendship with him that still exists today. Keya Morgan has always been a supporter of Michael's and has made it his mission to get the truth out there about Michael. That is why he is on this list. I follow him on the social networking site twitter and he has been amazing supporting his dear friend. I am going to post tweets that Keya has made about Michael and what some of his so called "friends" can do for Michael instead of letting people disrespect him.
Tweets from Keya Morgan about Michael.
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin.
Macaulay Culkin's friendship with Michael began in 1988 and throughout the 1990s. During the success of the Home Alone movies, Macaulay and Michael hung out a lot and Macaulay was featured in Michael's iconic "Black and White" short film. When Michael became a father, Macaulay became the godfather to Michael's children Prince and Paris. (It was later revealed in his book that Macaulay is the godfather to Prince). During the 2005 trial, Macaulay became one of the witnesses who testified in court after the prosecutor Tom Sneddon implied that Michael abused Macaulay. When he took the stand, he defended his friend and stated that nothing happened to him. Tom Mesereau (who will be mentioned later) later stated that Macaulay was one of the true friends that Michael had in his life. After Michael died, Macaulay did not do interviews talking about his friend and he attended the burial ceremony with his then girlfriend, actress Mila Kunis.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg.
Whoopi Goldberg is an comedienne, an Oscar winning actress and one of the co -hosts on the show The View. She was also friends with Michael and spoke about her friendship with Michael a few times on The View. Here is video of her talking about her last conversation with him.
Whoopi Goldberg on Michael.
Like a few of his friends, Whoopi defends him whenever she had the chance. When Wade made the laughable allegations against Michael, Whoopi made it no secret who's side that she is on.
Berry Gordy (friend)
Berry Gordy.
Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959 and wanted to use the record company to make music that would change the world. He is responsible for the careers of Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, the late Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and the Jackson Five. Berry first met Michael in 1968 when he and his brothers auditioned for him. After that audition performance, because he was hesitant to signed another child star, he had a change of heart and signed the Jackson 5. From there, a bond was formed between Michael and Berry. Michael learned from Berry how to work in the music studio and how the songs were created. Michael also felt that Berry was like a father to him because at that time in his life, his father, Joe, did not show the emotional connection the way Berry showed him. In 1983, when it was the 25 anniversary of Motown Records, Berry wanted Michael to be there and perform with his brothers. Michael wanted to do the show if only he could do his own solo performance. That performance became his iconic Motown 25 performance that changed Michael's life. Over the year up until Michael's death, Berry always had a soft spot for Michael and spoke in his 2009 memorial. These days, Berry Gordy is focusing on the Motown Musical on Broadway. I want to add that Berry is also family to Michael: Jermaine was his former son in law and three of his oldest children (Jermaine Jr., Autumn and Jaimy) are Berry's grandchildren.
Kathy Hilton (friend)
Kathy Hilton.
Kathy Hilton was mentioned on the related blog post I made last year. The reason why she is on this one was because she defended Michael after Wade Robson made claims of abuse. Kathy makes it clear, by her actions, that she was truly a good friend of Michael's. As long as I have been a fan, this is very rare of this to happen to Michael. There are a few people that have done this to Michael but is always refreshing to see this. Kathy is also best friends with LaToya and has been good to the Jackson family. Say what you want about her family, Kathy is good people.
Kidada and Rashida Jones (undecided)
Kidada and Rashida Jones with their parents Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton.
Michael has always hung out with girls as well as boys but not much is stated about Michael's friendships with girls. Thanks to the ignorant media, they continue to tell a lie to the public that Michael only hung out with boys. The daughters of iconic music composer/producer Quincy Jones ruins the media's lie. Kidada hung out with Michael more than actress Rashida did in the 1980s. During their friendship with Michael, Kidada, according to Quincy Jones, would call Michael on the phone everyday and the phone bill would be long and expensive. Rashida stated in an interview that when she was younger, she and Michael would throw water balloons from a hotel balcony while people were eating. She also stated that Michael would never harm a child. I have to state this because it needs to be stated, I did not like the fact that she nor Kidada did not publicly defend Michael during the trial days because when the media was implying these horrid things about Michael, they stayed silent. It was when he passed away when Rashida talked about Michael and stated that her best memory of him is when Bubbles bit her. I do believe that they loved Michael and cared about him but the lack of defense for him has bothered me. I hope they find the courage to speak out and defend Michael but let's be real, that might not happen. I hope I am wrong, though.
Gladys Knight (friend)
Gladys Knight.
Everyone knows Gladys Knight as the Empress of Soul and a legend. A lot of people do not know that she is good friends with the family. Gladys has also stated that she discovered the Jackson 5 but Diana Ross took the credit for that. Gladys has always supported Michael and his family. When the family had their public rift last year, it was Gladys who put things in perspective. When Paris was attacking her aunt Janet on twitter, Gladys was not happy with that and even stated this on the CBS show The Talk -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/gladys-knight-paris-jackson-family-drama_n_1703919.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
It’s drama, that’s what it is. If you lived up under the microscope as this family does, everybody has dysfunctionality in their families, either one way or the other. See, I’m from the south and [we] was raised in that southern way. You have to understand Paris is what, 14? How old is Janet? Who’s the one who tries to direct the other one here? And I would think that it’s a good thing she let’s Paris know who she is. She is a Jackson, she shouldn’t be putting the business out there like that. Cause people read into whatever they want to read into, that’s how they get the drama. So, she’s just trying to protect her, in a way. But if she [Paris] called me that, she wouldn’t have any teeth...You respect your elders.Refreshing, at the time, to see someone stating the obvious in regards to Paris' behavior. Gladys cared about Michael enough to tell the world that his daughter was wrong and out of line. On her twitter account, she still defended what she stated and let that be.
Emmanuel Lewis (friend)
Emmanuel Lewis.
Emmanuel Lewis met Michael in the early 1980s when he was on the show Webster. He, along with Brooke Shields accompanied Michael to the 1984 American Music Awards and Grammys. Michael would often go places with Emmanuel and would hang out with his family. During the rough times in Michael's life, Emmanuel has always supported him. He could have been like Corey Feldman and told fables about Michael to the press for publicity but he never did. Instead, he went to college and even ran his own record label.
Tom Mesereau (friend)
Tom Mesereau.
If there was anyone that really know what the word "friend" means, that would be Tom Mesereau. I know that I stated on this blog that Randy made a "mistake" putting Mesereau in Michael's life after the fact he defended the author Randall Sullivan regarding his book on Michael. At times, I forget that there are reasons why people do what they do and even though I did not agree with Mr. Mesereau's reasons for supporting the book, I do understand. With that said, I would like to take back what I stated about Mr. Mesereau and applaud him for continuing to stand by Michael when low life scum want to destroy his legacy because they did not save up all of the money they made "choreographing" lame moves for less than great dancers. Mr. Mesereau have been constantly defending Michael's innocence and his good name to anyone that would listen to him because he knows that he must do that for him. No one asked him to defend Michael and that is the greatness about Mr. Mesereau. His defense of Michael's is effortless, respectable and reasonable. He does not defend Michael halfway but defends him all the way and he does not care how anyone would feel about it.
Liza Minnelli (undecided)
Liza Minnelli.
I made it clear on this blog that I am not a fan of Liza Minnelli. She is before my time and era. I understand that she was friends with Michael and when she married David Gest in 2002, he was Gest's best man. That image of those two people kissing was so odd and weird that you can't really script that. I never really paid attention to Michael's friendship with Ms. Minnelli and I remembered a quote that he stated about her in Rolling Stone magazine in 1983. He stated,
"Me and Liza, say. Now, I would consider her a great friend, but a show-business friend. And we're sitting there talking about this movie, and she'll tell me all about Judy Garland. And then she'll go, 'Show me that stuff you did at rehearsal.' And I'll go, 'show me yours.' We're totally into each other's performance."That is interesting that Michael stated that in 1983 that Minnelli was a show business friend. So, I was in complete anger when I read that Liza stated some very harsh things about Michael's father, Joe. Read on -
‘Michael’s life was precisely the one dictated by his father. The family’s religion [the parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses] means the children weren’t even meant to be in show business. But, when they started making money for their father, that was it. Michael was used and abused almost from the time he was born.Now, if she was a show business "friend" to Michael, I doubt that Michael told her some things about his father when he didn't consider her that much of a personal friend. I think that Liza, seeing how Michael was treated by his father, made assumptions and stated what she stated. It has to be stated that Michael wanted to be an entertainer ever since he was young and that if Joe ever used his children to get money, they did not seem to have an issue with that because they have never stated that he used them. Joe was their manager and yes, they made money for him because that is how a manager is paid: by making money off of their employer. If she was this so called "friend", she would know that Michael forgave his father and even held the annual Joe Jackson Day at his former home Neverland. Also, a real friend of Michael's do not attack his father for any reason just to make a point.
Liza also talked about Michael and his girlfriends. Let's read what she had to state.
‘I remember he was going with this girl and he was so in love with her. He came to show me the ring he’d bought for her. I asked him what he was going to say and he didn’t know. So I said: “Let’s rehearse,” and that’s what we did.‘But the girl turned him down. She said she wasn’t ready to commit right now. She told him to ask again in six months. And it all but killed him. He was heartbroken. I knew all his girlfriends including Lisa Marie who became his wife.’http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2042245/Liza-Minnelli-Michael-Jacksons-love-life-X-rated-Lady-Gaga-David-Gest.html
Let's remember what Michael told Rolling Stone about his friendship with Minnelli. If their friendship was all about show business, then why was Minnelli claiming to know of one girl that he was going to marry that turned him down? Why was she claiming that she knew all of his girlfriends including Lisa Marie Presley? I believe that it is all a lie. Liza went to a tabloid, the Daily Mail, for this interview and the tabloid paid her. Who knows what she stated in the article that is made up? It is very possible that she is completely lying about her true friendship with Michael. When Michael was falsely accused of child abuse back in 2005, where was Liza with this information?
Alfonso Ribeiro
Alfonso Riberio.
Alfonso Ribeiro will always be Carlton Banks on the iconic show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and to diehard fans of Michael's, Ribeiro was a dear friend of Michael's. On the show, he has done Michael's famous moves. Here is one of them -
Very funny.
Basically.
I mean, there is really nothing more that I can state about that. He basically went right to the point.
Lionel and Brenda Richie
Lionel and Brenda Richie.
Lionel Richie knew Michael since Michael was seven years old and unlike so many of his friends over the years, he never stopped defending him. The reason why he is on this list, along with his ex-wife Brenda, was because he continues to show people that Michael was a dear friend of his and he was family, literally. Lionel and Brenda's daughter, Nicole Richie, is the goddaughter of Michael's. So when that clown, Wade, made up lies about Michael, Lionel and Brenda wasted no time defending Michael. This is a crash course of Defending Michael Jackson 101 - get right to the point once some fool lies on Michael. Lionel was asked about it and this is what he stated -
http://www.contactmusic.com/news/michael-jackson-child-abuse-allegations-false-lionel-richie_3654036
Hello, is it me you’re looking for? Nope, Lionel Richie thinks that the courts would be wrong to pursue the Jackson family following choreographer Wade Robson’s recent child molestation claims against the late King of Pop, claiming that the accusations are “bogus.”I would post the article from tmz.com but tmz.com articles are banned on my blog. Then, his ex wife, Brenda, goes on her twitter account and bashes Wade and defends Michael. It was so good that I was even telling my followers to follow her. Here is what she states in a nutshell. She made more tweets on her defense for Michael.
Wade Robson (foe)
Where do I start with this fool? For starters, he is a foe to Michael as well as a user, manipulator and liar. With that said, I think I speak for all fans, and usually I do not, by stating that Robson is a waste of flesh. You know, what angers me is when someone does something or a lot of things for someone and instead of feeling blessed, they become bitter. I do not know what exactly happened to him that would make him turn on Michael the way he did. I do know that a lot of dancers/choreographers do not make a lot of money in the field. If they are not on Dancing With The Stars, that nice paycheck is not coming. Even though I do not know for sure what his issue is with Michael, I think I know why he treated Michael this way. Let me just state that Wade is lying no matter how you slice it. I believe he was telling the truth in 2005 when he was grilled repeatedly on the stands during the trial. From 2009, when he "honored" Michael when he died up until the present day, something happened. I believe that Wade wanted to be part of the Cirque Du Soleli tributes to Michael that the Estate has been doing. When the Estate choose Jaime King to handle the dancing and choreography department of specials, Wade felt cheated and decided to come up with a plan to get what he wanted. This is probably how Wade handles rejection. He never had to handle with that before because Michael founded him and helped him get far in the industry when it comes to dance. He worked with big pop stars of his era like Nsync and Britney Spears. He choreographed moves for the show So You Think You Can Dance among other things. Then, probably made some crazy decisions and made mistakes along the way. The only way that he could get out of it was to get some money. So, he filed a claim to the Estate asking for money by falsely accusing Michael of child abuse. If you really look into Wade, you would notice that Wade has been known to hurt his friends. Justin Timberlake was good friends with Wade but when he found out that his then girlfriend, Britney Spears, cheated on him for Wade, he was done with him and Britney. If Wade can do that to his own friend, of course he would do that to Michael. Wade seems to be the type to get what he wants to get no matter how he would get it. There was a comment that was spreading throughout the website tumblr in regards to why Wade did what he did. Here is what he stated -
He is going to pay one day.
"I was at the ranch when Wade and his mother were there. He was a happy kid and his mother was always there.I suspect this is just another case of attempted extortion. Wade has a family now and I suspect that he needs the MONEY. I think he saw the immense wealth in the Michael estate and his mouth watered. Michael is no longer here to defend himself.I was around Michael many times in the presence of children. Michael had a great respect for all people and especially children. He would NEVER have harmed a child — physically or psychologically."http://beesblog83.tumblr.com/post/50705724683/i-was-at-the-ranch-when-wade-and-his-mother
He better not bump into a Michael Jackson fan because if he does, that fan will be letting him know what it is like to mess with Michael. I need to also state that if tmz.com, the same clowns who broke the story, are starting to doubt it, you know it was truly a lie from the beginning. Wade is making a mockery of real sexual abuse victims all for money and revenge and for that, he is complete and utter scum.
Elizabeth Taylor (undecided)
Elizabeth Taylor.
I have never paid attention to Michael's friendship with Elizabeth Taylor until 2002. I was listening to the radio when a radio disc jockey in Philadelphia by the name of Patti Jackson (she is not related to the Jacksons) was offering her opinion about why Michael was having problems with Sony. When I heard her reasons, I thought it was stupid and lame. I had to email her and let her know how I felt about her opinion. She responded back to me basically stating (going by memory) that people were turned off about some of the things Michael did. Some did not understand his friendship with Elizabeth Taylor. After some thinking, I hated to admit it but Patti Jackson was correct in some ways. I am a child of the 1990s and an 1980s baby so I only know Michael from the Bad era up until his murder in 2009. Before my time, Michael was a different celebrity to Patti Jackson, who practically grew up with Michael. She remembers when it was about the music and he was not friends with Elizabeth Taylor. Michael was very close to his family, had a connection to his first group of fans, the black community, was down to earth and looked like someone people could recognized. I understand that people change as they become older and with Michael's case, he changed as he became a bigger celebrity. Patti grew up in a different time than I so she sees things differently and she probably saw Michael's friendship with Taylor as more of a publicity stunt than an actual friend. Besides the generational gap between Patti Jackson and myself, she made a very interesting point about Taylor. We know that Taylor has been there for Michael as far as publicly defending him but really, that is what a friend is suppose to do. Other than that, I do not know how was she as an actually friend of Michael's. When she was interviewed on Oprah back in 1993, Oprah asked her what did she and Michael have in common. She stated that Michael and her had abusive fathers. Here is video of her speaking about her "friendship" with Michael -
Elizabeth speaking to Oprah about Michael.
http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20287787_20289739,00.html
Pouring out her grief on her Twitter page, Elizabeth Taylor says she's going to skip Michael Jackson's memorial – and she feels the pop star would have approved of her decision.Taylor called the memorial a public "whoopla" even though the family were the ones who planned the memorial in order to honor their beloved family member. Taylor could have made it short and to the point without disrespecting what his family was doing for him. Then, there is the connection they both had with Dr. Arnold Klein. I remembered when Michael passed away, there were rumors that Taylor introduced Michael to Dr. Klein who later admitted to giving the drug propofol as well as giving him the diagnosis of Lupus. (BTW, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Michael stated during his testimony on the AEG trial that Michael did not have Lupus. It is possible that the disease was in remission and because of that, might not show up in the autopsy. However, I am not going to question a doctor who performed the autopsy and I do believe him. That would lead me to believe that, in my honest opinion, Michael was misdiagnosed on purpose by Dr. Klein just so he could poison Michael to control his mind.) Dr. Klein went on television after Michael died stated that he could be the father of one of Michael's children, stated that Michael was gay but later denied the claim among other things. There was an article that was published weeks after Michael's death that revealed that a good friend of Michael's warned him twice about being friends with Taylor. Here is what was stated -
"I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event," she writes.
Taylor, 77, one of Jackson's closest friends, says she was asked to speak at the Tuesday eventat the Staples Center in Los Angeles. "I cannot be part of the public whoopla," she writes. "And I cannot guarantee that I would be coherent to say a word."
Instead, she's expressing herself in writing. "I will always love Michael from the depth of my being and nothing can separate us." And, she adds, "My love goes out to Katherine and Michael's beloved children."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/07/06/the-jackson-liz-drug-link.html
And it was Taylor who endorsed Arnold Klein, the cosmetic dermatologist to Hollywood’s A-list, to Jackson. One of Klein’s nurses, Debbie Rowe, later married Jackson and was the surrogate mother for his first two children. One tabloid report even suggested since the pop star’s death that Klein was the biological father of those children, something he dismissed outright.Jackson was twice warned by a good friend that his relationship with Taylor was toxic because she unwittingly fed his addiction.
In the mid-'80s, when Jackson was a new patient at Dr. Klein’s office, Taylor was seeking help for her own prescription-drug and alcohol problem. According to a source intimately familiar with Taylor’s medical history in the 1980s, she sought help from at least two doctors to counter her growing drug dependence. After multiple visits to one of them, she abandoned the pretense of wanting to be drug-free and instead asked for Dilaudid and Ativan, the first a powerful opiate that street users dub “the Bentley of heroin,” and the latter a tranquilizer.
The doctor refused and demanded she come clean on her entire prescription history. He then discovered that Taylor was using more prescriptions than she had disclosed during her earlier visits. A source close to the doctor said that when she was pressed about who was prescribing such a wide mix of drugs, she said it was Dr. Klein. The doctor urged her to enter rehab—she did in 1988—and much later remarked to an associate, “I’m surprised she’s still alive.”
A person familiar with Jackson’s medical history says this was around the time Jackson first began using some of the same pain and sleeping pills as Taylor. Dr. Klein was treating Jackson for vitiligo (which causes depigmentation and patchiness in the skin), this person says, and Jackson often complained about residual pain from his 1984 accident in which his hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi ad.
Dr. Klein not only counted Taylor and Jackson as patients but socialized with both. When Liz celebrated her birthday, for instance in 1999 at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel, at an Andrea Bocelli concert, she only invited Michael, Klein, her hairdresser, and her then-boyfriend, a Beverly Hills dentist and his two sons.
Jackson was twice warned by a good friend that his relationship with Taylor was toxic because she unwittingly fed his addiction—she would never encourage him to straighten out as she had the same problem. In each instance, the normally nonconfrontational Jackson abruptly cut off any discussion. “He would hear none of it,” says the friend.
Donald Trump was on CNN’s ‘Larry King Live’ on Friday and asked the real estate mogul what he thinks of the problems that Michael Jackson’s is currently facing. “You know I know him very well,” Trump told King. “He lives in my buildings, more than one. He lives in various of my buildings. I mean, he sort of follows me around in the sense of he likes what I have. He’s been great. He’s never been a problem. I hear all of the horror stories. He’s never been a problem. And I would know, believe me. I ask the doormen, I ask the concierge, I ask the elevator operators. Michael Jackson has never been a problem, but it’s too bad. It’s very sad.”
Michael was reportedly millions of dollars in debt before he died, but despite that, Trump says he was business savvy. “He was actually a very, very smart businessman,” the billionaire told Larry King on Monday. “He’d come into my apartment and we’d talk a lot about business.”Trump recalled Michael’s meeting with former Beatle Paul McCartney, who he collaborated with on “Say Say Say” and “The Girl Is Mine.” “Paul McCartney mentioned that he was going to try and buy back the other half of the Beatles music and Michael then went out and bought it.”The real estate mogul says his friend went through “hell” in the last decade of his life. “Michael was a much different guy in the last seven or eight years, maybe ten years. I always view it as two Michael Jacksons. You had Michael up till around the age of 35. That was the greatest entertainer I’ve ever seen and then you had the later version of Michael who was much more reticent. He was much shier. He was a terrific guy, he was a wonderful guy, but he lost a certain amount of confidence in the last 10 years. He went through a lot, including some very, very bad doctors.”While he was living at Trump Tower in New York, Michael visited Trump’s children, but he never believed any of the molestation charges after witnessing his interaction with his kids firsthand. “Michael would spend a lot of time with my kids. Michael would come, play with the kids. He just loved children. He was not a child molester and I am certain of that. He’d play with my son Eric and my son Donald and he’d just play with them forever.”Trump always had great respect and admiration for the pop star, comparing him to Elvis and the Beatles. “I’ve had every entertainer working for me more or less. I knew Pavarotti, I knew all of the great entertainers. I think the greatest entertainer that I have ever seen was Michael Jackson. There’s never been anyone like him.”On point.
Stevie Wonder (friend)
Stevie Wonder.
Who does not love Stevie Wonder? The musical genius, the amazing singer, the definition of a musician, the great music and the wicked sense of humor. (Yes, he does drive. No lie.) He was also an loyal, loving and true friend of Michael's. It is even rumored that Stevie was actually a cousin of Michael and the family. Stevie has always been there for Michael through all of his ups and downs. When Michael passed away in 2009, Stevie gave an emotional and moving tribute to his friend during his memorial.
So moving.
Instead of telling the reader what he has done for Michael, I am going to post various videos on Stevie tributes to Michael. There will be no need to state any more things about his friendship with Michael.
When I was thinking of doing this post, I wanted to make sure that I covered all of the bases. I cannot do every single friend that Michael had because that would take up so much time. I wanted to get right to the point without doing so much. There will be people who read this who will not agree with what I have to state and to those people, I will say, "well, the truth is the truth". When doing the research for this post, it bothered me to read some of the things that his friends stated about him. Michael loved Quincy Jones and his daughters, but Quincy stated that Michael "did not want to be black" while his daughter, Rashida, stated that Michael "looked like an alien". Friends do not say this about their friends. My disappointment when Michael was still friends with Elizabeth Taylor weeks before he passed away when I thought he was done with her altogether. It bothered me to read that Michael was warned by a friend, twice, how toxic Taylor was to him. Michael never seeing how her heavy influence on him has nearly ruined his life. Donald Trump's comment on Michael after his death made me realized that Michael could have stick to the ones that truly cared about him and let the toxic friends go. This is why I believe that Michael was better off with his family. If any of his friends trash his family, that is a sign that they are not his friends because before he was their friend, he was a member of the family they were bashing. A true friend tells you the truth and offer ways to help you see the truth. Michael had some of those friends but spent more time with the "friends" that implicitly gave him most of the problems he never wanted to deal with in the first place.
Michael in 2005.
Links:
Articles -
Liza Minnelli on the Daily Mail -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2042245/Liza-Minnelli-Michael-Jacksons-love-life-X-rated-Lady-Gaga-David-Gest.html
Gladys Knight on Paris Jackson: She Wouldn't Have Any Teeth -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/gladys-knight-paris-jackson-family-drama_n_1703919.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
The Jackson-Liz Drug Link -
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/07/06/the-jackson-liz-drug-link.html
Donald Trump Remembers Michael Jackson -
http://www.rap-up.com/2009/07/07/donald-trump-remembers-michael-jackson/
Magazine -
Michael's quote about Liza Minnelli in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine back in 1983.
Tumblr -
Artist and friend of Michael's David Nordahl's comment in regards to the false claims made by Wade Robson. The quote was reblogged by me on tumblr.com -
http://beesblog83.tumblr.com/post/50705724683/i-was-at-the-ranch-when-wade-and-his-mother
Twitter -
The tweets are from Brenda Richie, @BrendaHarveyRichie
The tweets are from Keya Morgan, @KeyaMorgan
Book -
The quote about Elizabeth Taylor and her people's disgusting remarks regarding Michael and his son, Michael Jr. from Remember the Time, Gonsalves, Theresa, 2009, page 65.
Pictures -
The pictures came from google.com search, my personal harddrive and tumblr.com
Video -
All videos are from youtube.com
