Michael and the Truth: Criticism of the Jackson Family Part 3

On Monday night, I watched the Oprah interview via the blog/website ThatGrapeJuice.net and I was hesitant to watched the interview.

Paris Interview with Oprah for her OWN Network

Oprah Interviews Paris Jackson

I know how Oprah works and I was not in the mood for the nonsense that she was going to start. When the interview came on television on Sunday night, I did not watch it because I did not have cable. I knew that the fans were going to tweet and make facebook statuses on the interview, so I had to log off those websites. The last thing that I wanted was to get the interview highlights from MJ fans.

Paris with Oprah..... I know, I know.

No offense to his fans but most of them can be the biggest drama queens and kings ever. I was not looking forward to the interview when I first heard of it because of Oprah’s past remarks on Michael. I know for a fact that Michael was angry when Lisa Marie Presley and her racist mother Priscilla were on Oprah months after Michael was vindicated and trashed the man. I know how Michael felt about Oprah and when she had the nerve to interview the Jackson family in 2010, I wanted to scream. Even Randy was having a fit tweeting on his twitter account that Michael would have never let his children be interviewed by that woman among other things. Before the interview was set to air, a group of Michael Jackson fans released a press release stating that Oprah was exploiting Michael’s death.

MJ Fans Tell Oprah Off

"Dear Oprah,
Horatio Nelson once said, “Desperate affairs require desperate measures.” Judging by the recurring headlines detailing OWN Network’s dismal performance after a year and a half on the air, you must be looking for those “desperate measures”.We can’t help but notice the irony of the current situation: the man you spent the better part of the last decade, bashing and stopping short of labeling a child molester, is the very man’s name and progeny, you are now using to salvage your sinking network. No doubt, at the top of OWN TV’s Rescue List would be a repeat of HIStory?Remember in 1993, your Oprah show experienced record ratings, over 100 millions viewers tuned in, to watch you interview the world’s biggest superstar, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
While you were a somewhat hot commodity in the United States then, Michael Jackson introduced you to an international audience.
When a few years later, Mr. Jackson had sex abuse allegations leveled against him, we all watched in dismay you turned on him, appointed yourself judge and jury, deciding even before evidence was presented in court, that he MUST be guilty of the charges. After a jury of his peers rejected those accusations and returned a NOT GUILTY verdict on ALL counts, you continued to openly question his innocence with snide remarks, and demonized him to your audience and guests.
You have made it very clear, whether by airing “Is Michael Jackson Guilty?” show during jury deliberations or molestation shows before or after interviewing members of Mr. Jackson’s family, that Lady O’s opinion is more important than those 12 jurors who sat through the grueling trial.
Randy Jackson, younger brother of Mr. Jackson confirmed in a 2010 interview, that Mr. Jackson was well aware of your smear campaign and your dubious attitude towards him. Though he never made his feelings about you public, his brother reiterated, “She [Oprah] is the last person on earth he [Michael Jackson] would want around his children.”
Having crowned yourself a “child defender”, we find it distasteful, disgraceful and hypocritical, that you are now using grieving children, whose father you tried to sway a jury to send behind bars, when it suits you.
Few in the media have called out your shameful exploitation and hypocrisy, but we applaud the few who did.
Those Who Remember."

I thought the statement was pretty good and got to the main point. Oprah’s network, OWN, is in trouble and she is doing everything she can to save her network. Oprah would have to kiss rear ends in order to get these people to appear on her failing network. I do believe that she exploited Paris into doing the interview because of the reality of her network’s ratings. This article basically sums up Oprah’s desperate attempts to save her network.

Oprah Exposes Paris for Ratings

"Michael Jackson was a flawed human being in a lot of ways, but one thing he seemed to get right was shielding his kids from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. So why is it suddenly okay to exploit his daughter for publicity?
14-year-old Paris Jackson is set to appear on Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN network this coming Sunday to discuss the loss of her father and her own budding acting career. This seems like a savvy move to revive the network’s flagging ratings, as well as help introduce Paris to the world. In a handshake deal with the devil, Oprah will receive $1,000 for each tear she coaxes the bereaved child to shed into her waiting bosom. Ka-ching!
Am I the only one who finds this super gross? Please excuse my pearl-clutching response, but Michael Jackson’s dying wish was basically that his kids be able to have normal childhoods and grow up outside the spotlight. (You know, the spotlight…that thing that drove him insane and ultimately killed him.) And sure, Paris may be doing this interview voluntarily, but is a 14-year-old really mature enough to be held responsible for her own self-exploitation? I mean, I wanted to do all sorts of dumb shit at age 14, but my parents said no, because that was their job. Step it up, guardians of Paris Jackson.I think her aunt Janet Jackson needs to take the wheel here, because she’s the only one who seems to have the child’s best interests in mind. As she told Oprah:
“We’ve spoken about the fact that you’re only a child once. I think there’s a time for everything, and now is not the time [to act in films]. I told her I thought she should enjoy being a kid, possibly go to college–or not–but wait till she turns 18.She’s a very tough, smart girl. But it’s a cut-throat industry. I wouldn’t want my child to do it.”
Word."

Sidenote: The quote that Janet stated about Paris came from Prevention magazine and not Oprah.

I agree with what the blogger was getting at. This was the main reason why I was angry with Paris doing the interview. The movie that Paris is currently filming is not completed and she has nothing to promote. There was really no reason for Paris to do the interview. What benefit that she would get out of this interview? None. Don’t be shocked if Oprah gets high ratings for the interview.

Getting back to the interview, I watched the interview waiting for Oprah to ask this child something that would be ignorant and disrespectful. However, to my surprise, besides the question Oprah asked Paris about going on dates, Oprah was pretty much reasonable. Yes, in my opinion and as much as I despise Oprah, she was reasonable. Also, the interview was not bad at all.When you watch the interview, you get a glimpse into the new home that Katherine and the children live in. The house/mansion is GOREGOUS. Katherine explained to Oprah that she was going to have the Hayvenhurst home, in Encino, California remodeled but decided to move out of that home and into the new home in Calabassas, California.

It was revealed in the interview that Katherine reached out to Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother when she heard the news of Whitney’s death. Whitney’s passing reminded her of Michael’s passing and she had to reach out to her. I remember watching that thinking here are two women who raised music legends who had to watch them achieve fame and success and also had to watch them suffer. These women had to do the unfortunate and bury their much loved children. A picture of Michael and Whitney together was shown and I remember pausing the video and wiping tears. It was too much for me to see two people I adore pass away the way they did. It was overhelming and painful. After getting myself together, I watched the interview and I admire Katherine’s strength so much because when she talks about Michael, she becomes very emotional and it hurts me to see her in so much pain. I watched Oprah trying to comfort her and thinking to myself, “You were one of the main ones causing so much pain for her son. How could you comfort her?” One of the touching parts of that interview was when Paris reach over to her grandmother, give her a kiss and hugged her. That really bought a smile to my face because I do believe Katherine was a savior for Michael’s children since the day he was murdered.

After Oprah was done talking to Katherine, it was Paris’ turn. Oprah and Paris sat on the coach and decided to chit-chat , you know, “girl talk”. Oh, Michael must have been rolling in his tomb if he knew this was happening. Paris revealed to Oprah that people bully her and when I first heard about this, I remembered what Michael said about his children. He did not want them to be singled out. Poor Paris that haters need to bully her because they are jealous and because Michael was her father. Bullies are sad souls however, Paris handles it very well, in my opinion. A lot of people would have fought the bully, but she completely ignores them and that can make the bully really angry. Oh well.

However, I do wonder if Paris’ bullying had anything to do with the media, including Oprah, constant harassment in regards to her father. If Oprah and her cohorts never bothered, belittled or assumed that Michael was whatever to these people, Paris would probably not have to deal with the bullying. Since I do believe that is one of the reasons for her being bullied, I wondered why Oprah did not apologize to her for trashing her father. Oprah had the nerve to ask Paris if she was dating – she is 14 years old. I know that these days even 12 year olds have dates. However, Paris is a child and she is not ready to date at all. It is understandable that her brother, Prince who is 15, is dating because he is a boy but girls are different and they should date when they are like 16.

As usual, Oprah asking Paris about the veils and it has become tired. To be honest, it was not Michael’s idea to cover his children in veils; it was Debbie Rowe’s idea. Michael took the idea without any thought and ran with it. In my opinion, I never liked the veils or masks. I thought it was too dramatic, weird and silly. I understand the concept and reason, but the perception was not good on Michael’s part. Paris really wants to act and I cringe when I see her participate in it or talk about it. I feel that Paris needs to wait or at least guest star in a Nickelodeon or Disney type of show before she does a feature film. I am not sure but something tells me that this movie that she is doing looks like it does not have a good story and will do more exposure than actually build up her craft.

I always knew that Michael’s children fight. How are they ever going to know one another if they do not fight with one another? I am not supporting fighting, I am looking at this in terms of unconditional love and how siblings get to know who each of them are. I like the fact that Michael was a father that supported and actually did punishments instead of being the type of father that allow his children to run the show. Paris stated that she and Blanket would fight with one another and Michael would have to tell each of them to stay in the corner. Good on Michael. Paris stated that she is close to her brothers but she is closer to Blanket and stated that Prince seemed distant. She feels that he is like that because he is a teenage boy. I am going to be honest, I was a little worried when she stated that about her brother. Also, a bit of a sidenote, did you see the food that Blanket was eating? That boy is an eater, like me.

Overall, I do not want this family, any of them, that includes Janet, to be interviewed by this woman. It is not necessary because it is clear that she has agendas and she does not care about Michael. When she stated that the reason why she never checked on Michael was because Michael did not call her after the interview (that would mean to her that he would need her for something) that showed me the type of person she is – selfish. Oprah honestly thinks that she is God or such higher being because she built an empire and if you are famous and want her help, you should contact her. Oprah failed to realized that on a USA standpoint, she was the Queen of daytime talk television. However, on the worldwide point of view, before her 1993 interview with Michael, she was an unknown. Michael put her on the map, worldwide and Oprah never seems to understand that. The Jacksons needs to protect Michael’s children from these people. Sadly, it seems like Oprah has become friends with Katherine and Paris and do not be shocked if Oprah will do more “sit downs” with Paris in the future.

Randy Not Going to his Daughter Stevanna’s Graduation

I am a frequent member/lurker of the gossip website/message board Lipstickalley.com (LSA) and I read on one of the threads that Randy did not go to his daughter, Stevanna Jacksons’, college graduation ceremony.

http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/399398-What-Kind-of-father-misses-his-daughter-s-Harvard-graduation/page2

Unlike her sister Genevieve (her brothers Randy Jr. and Donte go to college), Stevanna was smart enough to know that she is probably not a singer and should stick to academics. Stevanna graduated from Harvard University and her mother Eliza, brother (on her mother’s side), a few members of her family from her mother’s side and her grandfather, Joe Jackson, were at the graduation ceremony. I guess he came because he was proud of his granddaughter and that he represented the family. However, Randy was not there.

Stevanna Jackson graduating from Harvard back in May. Good on her.

Joe Jackson was there to represent the family and support his granddaughter.

I do not know what to say about this. I do not like to bash the Jackson family because I do not know what it is like to be in their family. However, at the end of the day, a person has responsibilities. Whether they are a Jackson or not, that person has responsibilities and one of them is to be there for your child’s graduation. I know that there were not enough tickets for the ceremony but that does not mean that Randy could not at least make the trip to Boston and watch his daughter get her degree. I know that Randy had issues with Eliza and at one point, well, mostly Stevanna’s whole life, Randy did not pay child support to Eliza. However, why punished Stevanna? Is that right to her? No, it is not. Randy did not even tweet or release a statement congratulating his daughter on her graduation. It does not make any sense to me. My father made sure he was there when I graduated from college some years back. (If I were to tell you how many years, you will figure out my age. ) I hope the Jackson family at least throw her a graduation party and Randy is there planning the party. He owes that to her. Congrats to Stevanna.

Trouble with the Unity Tour

Let’s not fool ourselves, once we all heard that these fame loving (and I state that in the nicest way possible) brothers wanted to tour again, we were shaking our heads. Some fans even attack them on twitter and probably Facebook. There were fans trashing them on the message boards for even having a reunion tour. I have stated how I feel about this tour since I have heard about it. I am not shocked that there are shows being cancelled because of poor ticket sales.

http://blackamericaweb.com/2012/06/04/jacksons-unity-tour-dates-cancelled-to-work-on-album/

If the main attraction which is not Jermaine, but Michael, is not there, then no one will be there. Who is a diehard fan/stan for any of those brothers? Not me and not anyone I know personally. The brothers are Michael’s brothers and that is their fame today. Forty years ago, when they were on the radio and had fans because of their music and not because of whom they are related to, people cared and wanted to see them perform. Now, who wants to see them perform? The ticket sales are not selling because the main reason why they exist died nearly three years ago. Who cares what these guys do? Yes, Tito and Marlon are grandparents and yes, Jackie has a son who raps. Yes, Jermaine is still flirting with fans who are not his wife, Halima Rashid. Yes, Jackie still looks great for 61. Their children are more of an interest than they are. This is the reality that they are not getting.

The Jackson Four...

This is what I think the brothers need to do – perform at the shows that sold the most like the Harlem, NY show. Do a special on that show and let the special air on youtube.com and network television. That way, people can see how they are going to do this show without Michael. They can also start work on the second season of their reality show that I really like called Jackson Family Dynasty. Or, they can cancel the whole tour and go on their separate ways. I think the last suggesting is the best suggestion. The Jackson brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. What else should they be doing? They did it all. Let the past be the past and enjoy the rest of their years.

Michael’s First Cousin Keith Jackson on the Radio This Weekend

I am a listener of a radio show called the Michael Jackson Preservation Project and last Sunday, one of the deejays stated that Michael’s cousin, Keith Jackson, will be on the show. The deejay told fans to call in and ask him questions about his family. You know that I will definitely call in and ask him what I need to ask him. I have the question(s) that I have in mind. Here are some videos of him being interviewed and playing with his band.