Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Ladies in Michael’s Life Part 2 (Revised 2019)

This entry will be dedicated to the women who had some kind of a romantic relationship or some type of courtship with Michael. Each woman will be listed stating how they met Michael, an explanation of their relationship/courtship with Michael and what has happened to them since their time with Michael ended. As usual, because this is my blog, I will include my opinions about each of the women. This entry will cover the women Michael had relationships with in the 1970s and 1980s. I want to stress this, even though there is a disclaimer on this blog, that what I state on here, in regards to my opinions, are my opinions. I am not going to sugar coat anything because at the end of the day, it is not about what I think, it is about the truth. Take what I state or leave what I state.



Michael in the 1970s.



Michael stated in his autobiography Moonwalk about the song “She’s Out of My Life” (from the Off the Wall album) and how it was personal for him. On page 162, he goes on to state that 


"Sometimes it’s hard for me to look my dates in the eye even if I know them well. My dating and relationships with girls have not had the happy ending I’ve been looking for. Something always seems to get in the way. The things I share with millions of people aren’t the sort of things you share with one."


I wonder what got in the way and why he can share with millions of people he could not share with one? Did he love people way too much that he couldn’t love one? Was he afraid of being with one woman for the rest of his life? Was he worried that being with one woman would hurt his career? He could have meant so many things with that quote. This blog entry would explore this side of Michael and maybe find out why he stated that quote.



The 1970s:

Diana Ross



Diana Ross during her prime in the 1970s.




Michael often talked about how much he loved Diana Ross and he was not lying when he discussed her in his autobiography Moonwalk even stating that she was his first love. Michael first met Diana in the late 1960s/early 1970s and she was rumored to have “discovered” the Jackson 5. Diana was the member of the biggest female group of that era known as the Supremes. There was no secret that Michael was a huge fan of the group and often stated in his earlier interviews that one of his musical inspirations was the Supremes. Diana, like Michael was under the record label Motown. Like Michael, Diana loved the founder of Motown, Berry Gordy but the way she loved Berry was not the same way Michael loved Berry. (Berry and Diana had an affair that produced a child name Rhonda.) Michael stated that when he and his brothers were living with Diana that he developed a love for art and would often paint with her. Michael stated that Diana was his friend, mother and lover all in one. Creatively and musically, they both worked with one another; they were in the movie The Wiz in which Michael was the scarecrow and Diana was Dorothy and they did a song together called “Eaten Alive” in the 1980s. There has been rumors for years that Diana was Michael’s first time and the rumors intensified in the 1990s when rapper/producer P.Diddy (he was known as Puff Daddy back then) stated to MTV that Michael told him that he lost his virginity to Diana. In 2004, the promotional guy confirmed the rumors when he posted/stated, 


"It's no secret within certain circles that Diana Ross was his first. The poor guy thought he was going to marry her but she @#%$ him over with Gene Simmons and Arne Naess."

Michael even stated in his book Moonwalk on page 166, 

"When I heard Diana Ross was getting married, I was happy for her because I knew it would make her very joyous. Still, it was hard for me, because I had to walk around pretending to be overwhelmed that Diana was getting married to this man I’d never met. I wanted her to be happy, but I have to admit that I was a bit hurt and a little jealous because I’ve always loved Diana and always will." 






Michael with Diana.

In my opinion, I felt that Diana did not love Michael the same way he loved her and I have always believed that they had a closeness or special bond that Michael wanted to be turned into a true love affair. I believed they had sex with one another when Michael was of age and I also believed that Diana manipulated Michael into thinking that something amazing was going to happened between them. Basing on what the promotional guy stated, Michael and Diana had sex and instead of Diana taking that into consideration – taking away the virginity of Michael – she messed around with Gene Simmons and married Arne Naess who was the father of Diana’s younger children Ross and Evan. Diana did not seemed to care how Michael felt and that messed him up for many years. Michael never seemed to get over it. After all of that drama, Michael put his feelings for her aside and still hung out with her and her family. Evan and Ross are even friends with Michael’s nieces, nephews and younger cousins. During the 2005 smear campaign that Michael endured, Diana did not publically support Michael and when asked about Michael on Access Hollywood, Diana did not want to talk about it. I remember watching that actually insulted by that action. Diana could have at least stated something? Even her children did not state anything publicly. After that smear campaign was over and Michael was freed, rumors started to spread that Evan could be one of Michael’s “sons”. When Evan was asked about that, he denied it but I have always believed that he enjoyed the press because he was trying to have a movie career out there and being connected to Michael was how he was going to get into the papers. When Michael was murdered in 2009, it was revealed in that invalid will that Diana would be the next in line to take care of Michael’s children if Katherine becomes unable to take care of the children. I personally hope that this never happens. The last thing I would want to ever see when it comes to Michael is that his children are taken from their family and into the hands of a selfish woman who did not care about Michael’s feelings. Diana never even came to any of Michael’s funerals and even though she dedicated her recent tour to Michael, because everyone was dedicating something to Michael at that time, I was not buying any of it. I felt that Michael wasted his time falling for that woman.

Stephanie Mills





Stephanie Mills' glamour shot. 

Stephanie Mills met Michael in the 1970s when she was playing Dorothy in the Broadway version of “The Wiz”. Stephanie, like Michael, was a child singer who had amazing pipes. Michael came to one of the Broadway shows and when he saw Stephanie perform the show, he was blown away. After that, the rest, as they say was history. To some people, Michael and Stephanie were friends. However, to Stephanie, and some in the black community, Michael and she were not only friends, they were romantically linked. Stephanie did her now infamous (in a good way) interview with a Philadelphia radio station Power 99. 




Good stuff.


In the interview, Stephanie talks about Andy Warhol taking them out to dinner, doing an interview with him, Stephanie wanting to marry Michael, her defense of Michael when asked about the child abuse “allegations” and most importantly, well, when it comes to this blog entry, what Michael did to her. Yes, without her giving it away, she implied that Michael did more than kiss her. In my opinion, Stephanie was great for Michael because she loved him and took care of him very well. Stephanie loved his family and still does to this day. 



Michael with Stephanie in the 1970s. 

Stephanie defended Michael when his own “wives” were too ashamed to. The interview that Stephanie did with that radio station had to be done because of the crazyiness Michael was going through at that time. You have to understand that when I first heard the whole interview, I was very happy because Stephanie could have been like Diana, Tatum O’Neal, Brooke Shields and Lisa Marie Presley and not defend him. Stephanie showed me, but really showed Michael, that she was that true friend that he needed. Stephanie never married Michael but instead married former Shalamar group member and ironically one of Michael’s choreographers Jeffrey Daniels. Michael and Stephanie went their separate ways, but even with that, Stephanie made sure that she spoke to Michael. In a radio interview weeks before Michael was murdered, Stephanie stated that she still kept in touch with Michael. 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/muthaknows/2009/05/12/the-legendary-stephanie-mills-is-my-special-guest

As we all know, weeks after that interview, Michael passed away and Stephanie like me and millions of people around the world were devastated. It was revealed by gossip columnist Flo Anthony (she will be mentioned later) that she (Flo) saw Stephanie at the memorial and reached out to hug her. Stephanie was on the now cancelled Monique show on BET to talk about Michael. 




Very sweet. 




Stephanie has sort of made it a mission to defend Michael to anyone that would ask her about him. 


These two videos -




and 


/

Stephanie stands up for Michael.




showed Stephanie talking about Michael in a loving way. Stephanie wrote a song that she dedicated to Michael. These days, Stephanie is still touring and recently produced a play. Stephanie even turned down a chance to be featured on the TV One show called Unsung. 

 *Update 09/06/2017: Stephanie Mills did an interview with Sirius XM Radio to promote the very popular live action feature The Wiz back in 2015. In the interview, she reveals that she dated Michael. 

Stephanie Mills talks about Michael, 2015.

Janelle Penny Commissiong



Janelle Commissoning press photo in 1977.

Janelle Penny Commissiong became the first black Miss Universe in 1977. Janelle is from the island of Trinidad and Tobago and when she won Miss Universe, she met Michael. I didn’t know about her time with Michael until I read a post on the website Lipstickalley.com. I also did not know that in the tribute issue the magazine Vanity Fair did on Michael that he was asked about her. This is what he told the reporter Lisa Robinson in August of 1977 and read it carefully, page 300, (L.R. stands for Lisa Robinson and M.J. stands for Michael Jackson)


"L.R. : You’ve been seen out with Janelle Penny Commissiong, the former Miss. Universe. Is it a romance? 
 M.J. : [Laughter, giggling] That’s a hard question to answer. Like most of the people you may see me out with, like Tatum [O’Neal] and Janelle, they’re kind of on and off, they’re friends, and [hysterical laughter…. I talk to them. I don’t know how to describe it, really [more laughter]. I don’t know what to say."





Michael giving Janelle a kiss on the cheek in the 1970s.


I know what you must be thinking, 'Michael thinks we are dumb and are not seeing what he is trying to say.' He was dealing with Tatum and Janelle around the same time. What was he “talking” to them about? Their day? Then, Michael was laughing, hysterically at that. What for? Lisa Robinson was asking him an innocent question about his time with Janelle. Whatever he could not describe, we know it was not innocent. So,we are going to hope that the whole story will be told. However, I doubt that. Also, when I saw the year that she was born (1953) I noticed that she is older than Michael. It reminds me of the quote the promotional guy stated, 

"He likes women over the age of 18. S---, even before he was 18, he liked women well over the age of 18."

 After her encounter with Michael and her reign as Miss Universe ended, Janelle married a business man name Brian Bowen who was the founder of the company Bowen Marine. In 1989, he died of an accident. For a brief period of time, Janelle headed the company and remarried to another business man name Alwin Chow. Janelle and Alwin adopted a daughter name Sasha and these days she is still viewed as an icon in her native land. 



Tatum O’Neal
Image result for Tatum Oneal pics

 Tatum O'Neal's glamour shot.

Tatum O’Neal is the daughter of actor Ryan O’Neal and is often known for having an unstable and disturbing (now recovering) relationship with her father, her bouts with drug abuse and her insane marriage to tennis great John McEnroe. Tatum became the youngest actor (male and female) to win an Academy Award for the movie Paper Moon when she was seven or eight years old. However, unless you are a diehard Michael Jackson fan, you would not know that Tatum and Michael had a romantic relationship. Michael and Tatum started dating in the 1970s and they were five years apart. Michael stated in his Moonwalk book page 165, 


"My first real date was with Tatum O’Neal. We met at a club on Sunset Strip called On the Rox. We exchanged phone numbers and called each other often. I talked to her for hours, from the road, from the studio, from home. On our first date we went to a party at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion and had a great time. She had held my hand for the first time that night at On the Rox. When we met, I was sitting at this table and all of the sudden I felt this soft hand reach over and grab mine."


Then he goes on to state (going on to page 166), 


"Ours developed in a real close relationship. I fell in love with her (and she with me) and we were very close for a long time. Eventually the relationship transcended into a good relationship. We still talk now and then, and I guess you’d have to say she was my first love – after Diana."


Tatum’s side of the story in regards to her relationship with Michael was somewhat different than what he stated about her. In her autobiography, A Paper Life, Tatum stated, 


"I met him at the On the Rox, the club Lou Adler & Jack Nicholson opened upstairs from the Roxy on the Sunset Strip. Michael was around 17 at the time, about 5 years older than me and he seemed very sheltered and fearful and lonely–not at all what you’d expect a world-renowned performer to be. As I recall, he didn’t even know how to drive a car.

He gave me his number, and we started talking everyday–long drawn-out conversations that sometimes got so boring I would hand over the receiver to my friend Esme Gray. Michael would just keep on, thinking he was talking to me. His usual subject was sex. At 12 I didn’t have much to say about sex–all I knew was that it went on, pretty steadily, in my father’s room next to mine. But Michael was intensely curious about anything, everything sexual, though in an incredibly sweet and innocent way.

He was a huge star, but it seemed he barely even dated and knew little about life. He once came to my house and asked to come upstairs because he’d never been in a girl’s bedroom before. He sat on the bed, and we kissed very briefly, but it was terribly awkward. For all my passionate crushes on people like Dustin Hoffman, I was just 12 and not at all ready for a real-life encounter. So I said,’I can’t.’ Michael, who was sweating profusely, seemed as intimidated as I was. He jumped up nervously and said,’Uh, gotta go.’

That’s the closest I ever got to Michael, which is why I’m amazed by his recent claim on national TV that I’d seduced him but he was too shy to carry it through. I absolutely adored Michael–as a friend–and I admire him to this day. I believe that he fell in love with me. I’m told that he wrote the song “She’s Out of My Life” on his album Off the Wall for me. What an honor.

At the time of the supposed seduction, I was barely pubescent, and what I’d seen of sex so far was unappealling and gross. It may have been Michael’s fantasy that I’d seduce him–and it’s a little sad that he cast himself as failing, even in his dream–but it just didn’t happen.

Unfortunately, my friendship with Michael came to an abrupt ending. He’d played the Scarecrow in The Wiz, the urban remake of the Wizard of Oz, which starred Diana Ross as Dorothy. For the film’s premiere, Michael invited me to be his date. I asked my dad, who didn’t care one way or another if I went, but my talent agency was dead set against it. I was told, in exactly these words: ‘You can’t go to a premiere with a ni**er.’ Hollywood! 

That upset me tremendously. Had I been old enough–or had I the parental support–I could have stood my ground & insisted ‘Oh yes, I can.’ But my father was too disengaged to help me think it through. So, without telling Michael the reason, I turned him down. He was devastated. After that Michael didn’t speak to me for years, until I ran into him at the Helmsley Palace in New York. For old times’ sake, we caught a concert together, Kool and the Gang at Madison Square Garden. Michael dressed in full costume for the event–coming in blackface, with a pasted-on beard–the whole nine yards. But things were never the same between us. "






Michael and Tatum partying in the 1970s.

Tatum mentioned in that excerpt that Michael told Martin Bashir that Tatum tried to seduced him. I think it is true, however, I also think that Tatum is telling the truth about Michael calling her on the phone talking about sex. I doubt that Tatum did not know about sex because she admitted in her book that she participated in an orgy at around 12 years old. Tatum has denied the claim even going as far as releasing a statement. I thought she was stupid to release a statement about that. Tatum was trying to make Michael be viewed as a “liar”. I do believe that Michael had a real relationship with Tatum and that he loved her very much. Tatum is a very tortured soul and does a lot of back peddling. I do believe what she stated about Michael in her book but I also believe that she and Michael were not telling the whole story. I am not sure if the both of them had sex and if they did, Michael was not going to state it and Tatum will never state it. However, when it came to friendship, loyalty just was not there. When Michael went through the media smear campaign in 2005, Tatum never reached out to be there for Michael. When Michael passed away in 2009, Tatum did go to the memorial and did not really talk about Michael until she released her current book called Found: A Daughter’s Journey Home in 2011. Tatum did a series of interviews promoting her latest book. I found her comments she said to the website thedailybeast.com interesting in regards to her relationship to Michael, 

"D.B.: Farrah and Michael Jackson passed away the same day. That’s a pretty full-circle thing for you, to have your first “public” boyfriend and your father’s great love that sort of drove a wedge between you two, pass at the same time. 
 T.O.: [Michael] was somebody I knew and I did go on a date with, but I don’t know about my first “public boyfriend.” Let’s call that the media’s take on my first “public boyfriend.” First of all, how sad to lose two f***ing icons. Secondly, it sort of canceled Farrah out a little bit because she didn’t get the moment that I think she deserved and could have had. At the same time, this is life, man. This isn’t about who’s going to get the better farewell."
So….. Michael “lied” about Tatum being his first girlfriend? Crack is a powerful drug. Wow. Don’t do drugs, people. Tatum did her now infamous interview with Piers Morgan Tonight (yeah that guy) in which she stated that Michael was a drug addict. Of course because Tatum is not a bright person, she assumed that he was an addict when she did not know all of the facts. Even Michael’s brother, Jermaine Jackson, was trying to get Tatum to correct what she stated. He tweeted, 

"To clarify Tatum O´Neal, Michael wasn’t “addicted” as you said on Piers Morgan. Propofol was administered for him to sleep #factsplease. Bad enough contending with what Murray’s defense is likely to claim without more misinformation."

Tatum even apologized on twitter for what she stated about Michael - 





 Tweet from Tatum O'Neal. 


I am not surprised by what she stated because that just shows her true colors. I know what Michael stated about Tatum in the “private” phone conversations he had with a woman name Glenda Stein (she will be mentioned on the 3rd installment of the series). However, to be fair, Michael was messing with other women while he was with Tatum.



Theresa Gonsalves



Theresa Gonsalves' head shot. 

Theresa Gonsalves was, like millions of young girls during the early 1970s, a huge fan of the Jackson 5. Theresa, like many girls at that time, constantly wrote letters to Michael and his brothers. Unlike many girls, Theresa received a reply from Michael that literally changed her life. Theresa chronicles her time with Michael in her self-published book called Remember the Time: A True Intimate Look at Michael Jackson Through “Letters to Michael that was released in months after Michael’s death in 2009. In her book, Theresa talks about the first time she met Michael in person in 1974 when the Jacksons were performing in Las Vegas. Theresa talks about the time she went to New York City from her native Boston all by herself just to visit Michael. 



Michael and Theresa in the 1970s.


At that time, in 1977, Michael filming the movie The Wiz and staying at the famous Sutton Place with his sister LaToya Jackson. During her stay in New York, Michael invited her to his room while they became intimate. That started their off and on love affair/relationship that ended in the 1980s. In her book, she talks about the first time she made love to Michael on page 40 to 42. Theresa also talks about “Billie Jean” really being about her situation regarding the father of her first born son (her son’s name is Todd) denying being the father. Theresa received notoriety not her doing but because someone she knew tipped the tabloid Star magazine that Theresa was the real Billie Jean. Theresa was featured in J. Randy Tarborrelli’s book on Michael called Magic and the Madness and true to JRT’s form, he got her story wrong in his book because as we all know, JRT was never interested in Michael’s relationships with women. The rest of her book talks about the times that she and Michael hung out, their second intimate encounter on pages 60-62, about the time Elizabeth Taylor’s people bashed Michael’s son Michael Jr. aka Prince on page 65 and the last time she physically saw Michael in 2003 when her son that she named after him, Mychal, met him when Michael was at the Radio Music Awards. Ever since Theresa came forward to reveal her true relationship with Michael, she received praise and bashing from his fans (mostly female) alike. I personally speak to Theresa and I am happy to state that she was one of the best girlfriends he ever had. Theresa has always respected him and took the time out to speak to the fans on her Facebook page. She has made it her mission to get her story about her time with Michael out there because, like me, she wants the lies about Michael’s sexuality to cease. Theresa told me that she was going to be interviewed for the tabloid show Entertainment Tonight in 2010, but they decided not to do the interview with her. I guess Theresa did not want to get paid for the interview simply because she does not need to lie on Michael Jackson like a certain fool had who had no problem doing so. Click here to read who I am referring to -

 http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2012/05/truth-about-scott-thorson-liar.html

 Theresa still communicates with one member of Michael’s family and these days lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
*Update: Theresa did her last interview about her time with Michael. Please read this blog post for the link of the interview and a rundown - 

 http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2015/10/ladies-in-michaels-life-part-6.html

*Update #2: On December 20, 2021, I published a podcast episode of my review of Gonsalves' book on her time with Michael. I have since changed my mind about their connection. Please check out the episode on this link -

 https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michaelandthetruthpodcast/episodes/Episode-18-Book-Review---Remember-The-Time-By-Theresa-Gonsalves-SPOILERS-e1bvn4v
Maureen McComick



Maureen McCommick at the TV Land Awards.


Maureen McCommick is an actress who is best known playing the character Marcia Brady on the classic television show The Brady Bunch. During her time on the show, rumors started to spread that Maureen dated a young Michael. It was tabloid foddler for years until she confirmed the relationship when she released her autobiography in 2008 called Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. In the book, she stated that her time with Michael was innocent and -

"Once we went ice-skating and he held my hand as we glided around the rink. I wondered if he might try to kiss me, but he didn't. After another outing, he did give me a kiss goodbye. But it was only a gentle peck on the cheek."

After Michael passed away in 2009, Maureen was interviewed on Access Hollywood and talked about the last time she spoke to Michael. In the interview, she talked about being 16 and he was 13 (him and these older women, what is the deal??) and how shocked she was when he died. You can watch the rest of the interview here. 



Maureen McCommick on Michael. 

Sheila (Last Name Not Known)
I have always believed that Michael had secret girlfriends that the public did not know about. That was his right to have that. When I listened to the MJ theme radio show, Michael Jackson Preservation Radio Project, last year, gossip reporter, Flo Anthony was a guest on the show. I called in and asked her a question about the time that she first met Michael. Then, the bombshell, she revealed that her friend, Sheila later dated Michael for a year. 
Listen to the bombshell here –

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/preservingmj/2012/01/23/the-michael-jackson-preservation-project
It is not known how the relationship was and things of that matter. Flo Anthony came back for the second time on the radio show and she was asked about Sheila but she decided that she could not give the listeners the details or the tea on Sheila’s relationship with Michael. I doubt if we will ever get the whole story. 

The 1980s:
Brooke Shields



Brooke Shields 

Brooke Sheilds is an actress and model who started off her career when she was a baby in Ivory soap commercial in the 1960s. During her peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Brooke became known for her controversial movie roles and modeling gigs. When she was 13 years old, she first met Michael but they did not date until she was a bit older. They were first seen together in the late 1970s when they went to the Academy Awards together. In 1984, Michael accompanied her and child star Emmanuel Lewis to the Grammys where he won a record eight Grammys in one night. In his book, Moonwalk, Michael talks about Brooke on page 166, 

"Another love was Brooke Shields. We were romantically serious for a while."

Michael also stated on the Rabbi tapes that became a book called Michael Jackson Tapes -

"That was one of the loves of my life. I think she loved me as much as I loved her, you know? We dated a lot. We, we went out a lot. Her pictures were all over my wall, my mirror, everything. And I went to the Academy Awards with Diana Ross and this girl walks up to me and says "Hi, I'm Brooke Shields." Then she goes "Are you going to the after-party?" I go, "Yeah." "Good, I'll see you at the party." I'm going "Oh my God, does she know she's all over my room?" So we go the after-party. She comes up to me she goes, "Will you dance with me?" I went, "Yes. I will dance with you." Man, we exchanged numbers and I was up all night, singing, spinning around my room, just so happy. It was great."

However, in typical fashion when it comes to these women who think they are better than him, Brooke totally denies that she ever had a relationship with Michael. She even stated that Michael seemed “asexual” the more she would see him. Here is what she stated to Rolling Stone magazine back in 2009 -

"Everybody was always confused by our relationship. Nobody got it, and I didn't really care. My mom was always very positive in a sweet way about him, and he loved my mom. My mom would joke with him and rib him like he was a little kid, so he always got a kick out of her. He used to say, "It's great you can be that close with your mom," because she was also my manager at the time, where he had a very different relationship with his father, and I think he envied that.
We maintained our relationship for so long because it was never not real. People expect anything in entertainment or Hollywood to be transient, and it's not as interesting a story for us to have been lifelong friends. People want sordid details or they want big blowups, and the truth of the matter is, from the time we met when I was 13, we understood each other and became very good friends, and that was it, we didn't need to make it into anything else. I went to high school and college and I forced that into my life, and he didn't have that luxury. He would laugh, I would tell him about whatever happened at college or high school, and I think he just always felt it was too unattainable for him, so vicariously, I would share with him football games or cheerleading.
What did I think of his marriage to Lisa Marie? I think we're not dealing with convention, so somebody like Michael, he's not going to just fall in love with somebody and get married. I think there were a few people that he could identify with, and what I know about Lisa Marie, she was very sweet, she could identify with him, they could talk about things that I'm sure she understood with regards to her father. So I think he tried to create a convention for himself. There were times when he would ask me to marry him, and I would say, "You have me for the rest of your life, you don't need to marry me, I'm going to go on and do my own life and have my own marriage and my own kids, and you'll always have me.
He never actually formally proposed to me, though. He would sort of say, "Why don't we adopt a child together? The way your heart works is what I want in my life," and I said to him, "You're always going to have my heart, we don't need to adopt a baby, and I think it's wonderful that you want to have children, adopt a child." I wanted to fall in love and get married and have my own babies, and I said, "I don't think that you need to necessarily do that." This was just before he married Lisa Marie in the Nineties, I guess. He had discussed it with me, and I said, "I don't think that's the best thing to do for me." I was just out of college, and wanting to fall in love and have a fairy tale, I was holding on to that. He just felt so bad that there were so many little children in Romania in these orphanages, and he wanted to try to give them homes, and I really wanted to be able to do that with him, but it would have divided my life too much.
I hope when you write this, it doesn't sound freakish. What it was was a young man who kept reaching to try to find happiness. I think he wanted to take his resources and make a difference to other people in their lives, and he knew that I wanted to do that in the world, too, so he would reach out to someone like me and say, "How can we make a difference, it's easier to adopt a child if you're two people." He never said, formally, "Will you marry me," it was never that for me, he never was that definitive, but I think he was a guy who kept searching for happiness.
The problem is when you try to bring that out and in this society, it turns into a tabloid sentence, which is, "He wanted Brooke Shields to live with him and adopt babies," and it sounds ridiculous. And it never was that clear-cut. He found people he loved in his life and he didn't want to let go of them and he wanted them all to live together because he didn't want to go out into the outside world, which was so cruel and too much to handle, and it makes sense. I've seen many people in this position where they try to bring people into their circle, because going out of their life, just walking outside on the street is too much for them. That's why he created Neverland, because he wanted to bring people in so that he didn't have to leave and he could feel their happiness and he could somehow regain something that he felt he'd lost. So of course I was going to be one of the people he was going to call.
I can't really guess why his last years were so challenging. I think just cumulatively, when you distance yourself that much for that long, and if you don't have the healthy outlet creatively, because there was a period of time when I think his music was his strength, and that was where he could filter and pour himself into it, and it was clear, and he knew what to expect and he could make it what he wanted. His life, I think, was very hard to grasp, and I don't know if the people around him were helping at all.
I don't think he was surrounded by healthy people. I think he just created a world that he felt safe in, and we went out to dinner a lot less. We used to go out to restaurants — it was madness, but at least we could get to a restaurant and be at a table. Entering and leaving the restaurant was a mess, but we could at least do that, and slowly but surely, he stopped going out to restaurants. And he got thinner and thinner ... at first, he made fun of me because when I was in college, there would be keg parties or whatever, and he was like, "I can't believe you were drinking," and I would say, "It's college, that's what you do in college, you drink, you get sick, and you don't want to drink anymore, that's the way it happens," and he swore off all alcohol and he swore off everything, and he was so clean. He would make fun of me because I wasn't as healthy.
My heart broke for him because once he felt the need to run — I felt like he ran. I was worried about him financially, I was worried about the kids, I was worried about his health. I always worried about his health, because I thought he was just too skinny. He would make fun of me, especially when I was in college, because I gained weight in college — what freshman doesn't gain the freshman 15? — and I'd say, "I know you're going to think I'm fat, but ..." and it was a joke, but he also became very, very conscious of everything, and I used to say, "I think you've lost too much weight." So I started worrying about his health from the thin standpoint. 
I saw him less and less as our lives became different. At every major event in my life, he reached out to me, whether if it was when my dad died, when I had my first daughter, and had severe post-partum, we'd speak, and then it got more and more difficult to reach him, and some of the people in his life that I could call to get him, they were fired or they left or they went away, and in the last few years, it was harder to get the right number to get through to him. 
I like to think that I was a good friend to him. That's the way it always was, and our friendship never altered, it just stayed the course. No matter what was happening, the one thing that whenever we got on the phone with each other, he would just giggle or laugh and say, "Oh, Brooke," and I was consistent, and I think that was important for both of us. I wanted him to know my kids, but it became harder to take him out and bring him into ... it was just a trauma. I feel like he shouldn't have gone that way. I've always maintained what a pure soul he was.”

Let me be frank here and if people are insulted by this, I apologize. I did not buy anything she stated in the public memorial for Michael back in July 2009. It was staged to me. A lot of people do not know that when Brooke was dating Michael in 1984, it was a P.R. stunt between her people and Michael’s people. At that time, Michael was sick and tired of Brooke Shields, especially when she would come over the Hayverhurst estate unexpected and unannounced. 



Michael with Brooke Shields in 1984. She liked him even more than he like her at that time.

Sidenote: when Flo Anthony was on the Preservation MJ radio show in January to talk about the women in his life, she intentionally made the mistake of stating that Stephanie Mills would come unexpected to visit Michael. That was really Brooke.  I know that some of what she stated is complete nonsense because I do not believe Michael purposed marriage to her or wanted to adopt children with her. For Brooke to state that Michael seemed “asexual” to her as the times went by only further prove my suspicions of the true nature of their relationship. We all know that the last time she saw Michael was in the 1993 Grammys when she was his date. It is clear that Brooke was creating stories of things that probably never happened. I do believe that Michael had a relationship with her when they dated in the late 1970s/ early 1980s and probably in 1993. However, during 1984, they were not in a relationship. I always viewed their relationship as more as a  friendship that never went any further than that. I am not bothered when she stated the things she stated because she really did not know him like that in my opinion. Brooke did an interview with Billy Bush of Access Hollywood after she spoke in Michael’s memorial. She stated -
"I had not only not spoken to him, I hadn’t seen him in years,” she said.“There must have been many times where you wanted to pick up the phone and call him and say, ‘Can I help you? As a friend, can I come see you? Do you need someone to talk to?’” Billy asked.“I did that, you know, 20 years ago,” Brooke said. “I mean… the rhetoric didn’t change, you know, I did that way back when, but anyway, I did my best.”“You did a beautiful job,” Billy said of Brooke’s memorial speech.“I hope I did a good job,” she said. “I tried.”

http://www.accesshollywood.com/brooke-shields-breaks-her-silence-on-emotional-michael-jackson-memorial-speech_article_27586
Interesting. She stated that she reached out to him in her words “20 years ago”, when this article was posted it was in 2010, so 20 years ago was in 1990. We all know that she was hanging out with him in 1991, 1992 and 1993. When the child abuse smear campaign happened, where was she? Or during the trial days? Oh, yeah, that’s right, her excuse was that she did that “way back when” but she “did her best”. Sad and lame.

 Ola Ray



Ola Ray and I do not know why she looks like that.

Ola Ray will forever be known as Michael’s girlfriend in the classic “Thriller” short film. Ola started her career of modeling and acting as a Playboy bunny in the early 1980s. It was that spread she did that landed her in the classic “Thriller” short film. A lot of people do not know that Ola and Michael almost had a romance during the set of the classic short film. When contributors for the magazine Vanity Fair, Nancy Griffin and Douglas Kirkland did a book on the short film, Griffin did an article for the magazine discussing what it was like. Here’s a few quotes that were mentioned,

"He would also enjoy a secret interlude with Ola Ray. The actress had her makeup done each day at a studio where Jane Fonda happened to be shooting a workout video. Ray engaged in girl talk with Fonda, a friend of Jackson’s, and solicited tips on how to pique Jackson’s romantic interest. As Ray remembers, “Miss Fonda said, ‘Be yourself—just be sweet and talk to him about things he might be interested in or like to do. He’s a Jehovah’s Witness, so you should talk to him about religion. Maybe he will want you to go to church with him one day.’”
Arriving at the set, Ray would sit outside her trailer and finish touching up her makeup. “Every day Michael came and sat and watched me,” she says. “He was in awe of me. He was always in my face trying to learn to do things with makeup like I did.” When he asked her to come give pointers to his own makeup person, saying, “I have a shine on my nose that I can’t get off,” she agreed. “So I’m seriously talking to his makeup artist, trying to explain what to do, and she looked at me and said, ‘Girl, don’t you know that no matter how much powder I put on his nose it’s going to shine? Do you know how many nose jobs he’s had?’ Then Michael started laughing, because I didn’t know he had had nose jobs! I guess the whole world knew.”
The flirtation progressed. “I had some intimate moments with him in his trailer,” says Ray. How intimate? “Let me see how I can say this without, you know, being too …” She pauses. “I won’t say that I have seen him in his birthday suit but close enough,” she says, laughing. Because he was shy, she tried not to scare him by coming on too strong. “What we had was such like a little kindergarten thing going on. I thought it was important for him to be around someone who would make him feel comfortable, and that was my main objective.” Did they make out? “Kissing and puppy-love make-out sessions,” she confirms, “and a little more than that.” That is all she cares to divulge. “I’ve already told you more than I’ve ever told anyone!”
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/07/michael-jackson-thriller-201007

The son of George Folsey, Ryan, recalls in the interview, Michael’s feelings about Ola -

"Ryan hung out with Michael in his bedroom, which had a mattress on the floor, toys everywhere, and illustrations of Peter Pan on the walls. They talked about music—“I was amazed that Michael didn’t know who U2 was”—and the girls they had crushes on. Jackson revealed how discombobulated he had been by Ola Ray’s sexual allure after a dance rehearsal with her. “He started getting all nervous and stuff,” says Ryan. “He said, ‘She’s adorable, she’s adorable. She’s so hot!’ It was just so funny seeing him that way.”

During the premiere of the short film, Ola was looking for Michael and this was exchanged -

"Ola Ray looked for Jackson before the lights went down and found him in the projection booth. He told her that she looked beautiful, but refused her entreaty to come sit in the audience. “This is your night,” he told her. “You go enjoy yourself.”

Also, Ola stated in the same interview –

"Ray thinks about Jackson every day, with considerable regret. “I just wish I would have had the opportunity to be a little bit more in his life. I bet he would have been happy with me. It would have taken someone like me who would not put pressure on him or play him for his money or anything other than that I wanted to be with him for who he was,” she says. “I had no other agenda than that.” “That walk with Michael, when he was dancing around me and singing, I felt like I was the most, I don’t know, blessed girl in the world. Being able to do that and being able to play with Michael, and having him play around me. I felt so in love that night. You can see it in my eyes. You can see it for sure.”

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/07/michael-jackson-thriller-201007



Michael and Ola on the set of the "Thriller" Short film in 1983.

I have to admit, it did not bother me that these people stated these things about Michael because we all know that Michael had an image to portray. If he had to be the biggest star in the world and knowing that he was a black man he had to act a certain way. For example, when he told John Landis that he was a “virgin”, John Landis believed him because he had to get him to see him in that way. When he revealed to Vincent Paterson that he never went to parties, Vincent believed him. This was his Peter Pan image that he created and calculated to get certain people to view him a certain way. Michael showed a different side to Ola because maybe he felt comfortable around her and really liked her. When Ola did an interview with one of those tabloid shows and the ABC News special on Michael, she stated things that made me believe that something happened between the two.



Ola Ray on one of those tabloid shows.






Ola Ray in the ABC Special on Michael.

In my opinion, I think that something happened between them and I wouldn’t be shocked if they almost had sex. Their chemistry in the short film was not acting to me, it was real. They really seemed to be smitten by one another. It is almost pathetic if you read the rest of the article that these people, sans Ola, have become arm chair psychologists on Michael and his “behaviors”. Why did it matter to them how Michael was like or how he interact with them? They were in the presence of pure greatness and they decided to dwell on the unimportant things? That is lame to me but what do you expect from the media, particularly from Vanity Fair who have never been kind to Michael? In the end, Ola sued Michael and later his estate for the money that she claimed she deserved during her time on the “Thriller” short film. Here is the article:

http://www.mjjstreet.com/news-and-information/ola-ray-looking-for-royalties-for-thriller/

So, there you have it. Personally speaking, when she sued Michael when he was alive, I did not like that because I felt she should have moved on and let it be. I understand that she basically could not get a job in Hollyweird because she was typecast as the girl in the “Thriller” short film. However, if Michael paid her then she should have not sued him afterwards. When she sued again and recently received a settlement, this time it was the Estate that had to pay. I also know that Ola did an interview with that evil Diane Demon Dimond during the Hard Copy days and all I can state about that is Ola made that decision and she has to deal with that on her own. 

*Update: Ola Ray was interviewed last year at some event stating that she is writing a book. Here is the link to the information - 

 http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2015/10/ladies-in-michaels-life-part-6.html


Romonica Harris



Romonica Harris.

Romonica Harris claimed to have met Michael when she was a teenager after he won a record eight Grammys in 1984. She even claimed that she was engaged to be married to him and were together for five years. 

 *Update: I discussed about Romonica on this blog post. Please check it out - 
http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2015/10/ladies-in-michaels-life-part-6.html

 *Update - 5/28/2017: 

 Here is part one of Romonica's interview with the website justicesystem.net in which she talks about Michael. 

Part one of Romonica Harris' interview about her time with Michael, 2005.
Whitney Houston



Whitney Houston.


Whitney Houston was one of the greatest singers of all time and I have always believed that she and Michael probably had something together. We all know her amazing story in regards to her unspeakable talent, career and her beautiful looks. We also know about the demons that she had to fight throughout her life. After she passed away, friend (and I state that loosely) to both her and Michael, David Gest, revealed that Michael and Whitney were more than friends. David stated in a series of quotes in an interview that he did with the tabloid The Sun -

“My friendship with Whitney started in 1985 when I was introduced to her by my best friend Michael Jackson. 
At the time, I was producing the American Cinema Awards in LA and as Michael and I were driving to Disneyland in his Rolls-Royce, I said I would love to have Whitney receive the Distinguished Achievement in Music Award. He dialled and passed me the phone saying, “Okay, here she is, ask her.” 
She really loved Michael and he adored her. Michael told me they once shared a passionate kiss, and she told me she was at one time very much in love with him.I think she really wanted to marry him but, although he had a crush on her, he was too shy. 
Later, he confessed to me he should have made every move. If they had got together, I believe Whitney would not have done drugs or become a semi-recluse. When we met last year, it was at her concert in Copenhagen and it was the saddest performance I had ever seen her give.” 

My favourite memory of all was when I was driving with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston in his car, in the mid-1980s, singing Dionne Warwick’s greatest hits. 
Michael would sing one song, then Whitney would sing the next and, when it came to my turn, they both sang together and told me to not sing.”

Whitney also stated in the David Gest produced film on Michael called Life of an Icon that she wanted to marry Michael. 





Whitney talks about wanting to marry Michael. 


I remember years ago reading an article that Michael and Whitney got drunk with one another during the late 1980s and well, read the rest –
"Step forward Janet's brother Michael 'Peacemaker' Jackson. Seven years ago he and Whitney spent the night in a hotel bedroom together.
Of course, nothing happened, though Whitney blushed and refused to comment.
But Monica Pastelle, a pal of Lisa Marie Presley, says: "Michael told Lisa that Whitney practically drank him under the table that night.
"She can handle champagne. He can't. Poor Michael had one drink, got dizzy and swooned on the bed.
"Whitney slept on a chair and slipped out before he woke. It was pretty embarrassing for him."
But Jackson so appreciated Whitney's tight lipped discretion, that she won his never-ending loyalty.”



A rare picture of Michael and Whitney. 

Now, you can take that information for what that is worth however I believe that Michael drank with Whitney and that is all I believed from that piece of information. We all know that Michael loved to get his drink on. (I know there are people who would not like what I am saying but the trial revealed a lot of things about his life.) We also know that Michael acted different around people who treated him like a regular person. On her last tour, Whitney dedicated a song to Michael called “Song For You” and she revealed some interesting about her time with Michael. 



Whitney singing "Song for You" dedicated to Michael.


 Hey, you never know what was the real deal. 


Jasmine Guy (ALLEGEDLY)



Jasmine Guy during her prime. 

 Jasmine Guy is an actress, singer and dancer and is probably best known playing the Southern Bell Whitley Gilbert on the hit show A Different World. (That show was the spin off of another hit show the classic The Cosby Show.) There are people who are thinking, “why is Jasmine featured in this entry?” Well, remember that information that I posted on one of the entries from the promotional guy? He talked about an actress that Michael was seeing - 
"an actress from a popular '80s/early '90s sitcom"
When I saw this statement, I remember that I had to think of the sitcoms that began in the 1980s and ended in the early 1990s. Only three shows fit that description: Empty Nest, The Cosby Show and A Different World. So, I started to think about the actresses and which ones had a connection to Michael or I read rumors about them and Michael. On the show Empty Nest, Michael knew the actress Kristy McNichol but there were rumors (now confirmed) that Kristy is a lesbian. So, I had to cross her out. Michael probably did not have a connection with the actress who played Sondra Huxtable Tibideaux, Sabrina LeBeauf because they probably never met and the Cosby Show was taped in Harlem, NY. Michael was California bound most of that time besides touring worldwide. So, the only person that is left is Jasmine. Jasmine was in a popular sitcom and I remember reading that Flo Anthony stated that Michael and Jasmine flirted with one another when they were in a recording studio. When I believed I got my answer, I contacted the promotional guy and let him know my answer. He told me that I was correct. Michael put her in his “Liberian Girl” short film and if people have any doubt, ask yourself why would he put her in the short film? When he was receiving an award in the 1994 NAACP Awards, Jasmine presented the award to him. It was rumored that women who presented awards to Michael were women he had relationships with. At the moment, there is not enough information about their relationship.

Tatiana Yvonne Thumbtzen


Tatiana Yvonne now

Tatiana Thumbtzen (now Tatiana Yvonne) will forever be known as the girl that Michael chased in the 1987 short film “The Way You Make Me Feel”. We have all seen the video and we all saw the chemistry he had with her. Michael even stated that he had to have a sexual attraction for the woman in his short films so it can work. Tatiana was/is a model and when Michael was doing a casting call for his next short film, Tatiana auditioned for the role. When Michael saw her, he found the girl for his short film and the rest, as they say, was history. Tatiana later revealed that when she was shooting the short film with Michael, her shoe became stuck on the car seat and she was having trouble pulling her shoe off. Michael saw that and pull her shoe out of the car seat and when she fell from the car to the ground, Michael helped her up and wiped up her rear end. Tatiana stated that was when sparks flew. Michael also invited her to the set of the short film “Leave Me Alone” and there is a picture of Tatiana giving a kiss to Michael on his cheek. Michael eventually invited her to meet his family and took her on his popular BAD tour as his muse. Things started to become toxic for Tatiana when she was touring with Michael. Tatiana was being single out by Michael’s make-up artist Karen Faye Kissinger when she refused to do make up for Tatiana. Michael’s people started to get some suspicious information about her and her famous kiss that she gave Michael when they performed “The Way You Make Me Feel” on stage. Once she kissed Michael on the lips, the crowd went wild. Once she was done with her performance, according to her account, Michael’s then manager the late Frank Dielo and assistant at the time Miko Brando, Marlon Brando’s son, confronted her and asked her why she kissed Michael. Tatiana claims that she called Michael before the show and told him that she was going to change things up in their routine. Michael told her that he was fine with that. The next thing she knew, she was replaced by Sheryl Crow. 

Michael kissing Tatiana on the BAD tour in 1988.

*Update: To read the Q&A session I did with Tatiana, click on this link - http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2013/01/q-session-with-tatiana-thumbtzen.html

*Update: To read my view of the Q&A session of Tatiana and more, click on this link - 

Marva King
Image result for marva king

Marva King on the cover to one of her albums.

Marva King is an actress and singer who is best known for playing the housewife Helen in the Tyler Perry stage play Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Marva sang backup for singers like Prince, Phil Collins, Lionel Richie and Michael. Unless you did not follow information regarding the women in Michael’s life, you would not know that Michael and Marva might have something going on. Marva was interviewed in 2010 and she talks about the first time she met Michael. Marva also states that Michael made her his “playdate”. Now, that could mean anything to anyone but what grown man makes a woman his playdate if they were just playing like kids???
"Then, I met Michael. One day I was invited to the studio and I met Michael. I was like, 'Oh my God! I’m here with Michael Jackson!' and then my childhood thoughts and dreams just went through my head and Michael was admiring this beautiful waist top that I had. It had so many different panels of lace and he said, “It’s so beautiful!”He kept walking around me, and I froze! I couldn’t even talk. I think I’m star struck! I did pretty good until I got to him, because I had a crush on him as a kid. Oh my goodness, I’m like, 'Michael Jackson is admiring me!'
It’s so funny. We ended up getting to know each other. It took a while, because he had a lot of security and stuff, like, 'What does she want?' and 'Why is she really around?' You know, they watched me for a while. They studied me religiously, but then they learned, 'Okay, she’s not so crazy and she doesn’t have any other motive, except she wants to work and she’s friends with Michael.' Michael ended up talking to me, so I ended up becoming one of his playmates. We had too much fun! We were two young adults that were real childish, but we had so much fun! I would travel with him sometimes, and we would torture the press, we would hide and do things (laughs) and just have a lot of fun.”

http://www.lipstickalley.com/showpost.php?p=6610757&postcount=19

Hmm, and did you read the part about Michael admiring Marva’s waist top? Interesting to say the least. An insider stated information about Michael’s relationship with Marva that could be more than “playmates” - 
“Mike and Marva were real touchy feely. He would hug her tits and touch her butt, I think him Randy and Marva would go see movies.”

Yes, Michael had his fun indeed. Even though what I posted about Marva does not really qualify as an romantic relationship, it is possible that Marva did not want to get into details with her time with Michael. I posted the information to show the possibility of those two being more than just friends or playmates.
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References: 

Books/magazines -
Moonwalk, Jackson, Michael. 1988 and revised 2009, Pages 162,165 and 166.

"The Boy Who Would Be King", Robinson, Lisa, Vanity Fair. September 2009, pages 292-301. 

Videos/Audio: 
All of the videos/audio are from youtube.com
Stephanie Mills Radio Interview - 

Flo Anthony on Michael Jackson Preservation Project
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/preservingmj/2012/01/23/the-michael-jackson-preservation-project
Articles/Blog Posts -
David Gest Remebers Whitney - 
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/music/article4142566.ece (The Link does not work.) 

 Ola Ray Heads to Court - 
http://www.mjjstreet.com/news-and-information/ola-ray-looking-for-royalties-for-thriller/

 Except From one of Tatum O'Neal's Books - 
http://web.archive.org/web/20140327222032/http://www.positivelymichael.com/forums/showthread.php?10478-Michael-s-Loves-1976-1978

 Information on Janelle Commissoning - 
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=gah/commissiong-janelle-penny-1953

Tatum O'Neal on the Daily Beast - 
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/06/15/tatum-o-neal-opens-up-on-dating-michael-jackson-child-stars-her-new-show-on-own.html

Jermaine Jackson's tweet message to Tatum O'Neal - 
http://www.legendarymichaeljackson.nl/?p=5382 (Link no longer exists)

 Brooke Shields on her Speech About Michael -
http://www.accesshollywood.com/brooke-shields-breaks-her-silence-on-emotional-michael-jackson-memorial-speech_article_27586

"The truth about Scott Thorson" by Belinda O., posted on May 15, 2012.
http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2012/05/truth-about-scott-thorson-liar.html

 Maureen McCommick on Dating Michael - 
http://www.mjfanclub.net/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1432:maureen-mccormick-tells-about-dating-michael&catid=171:2008&Itemid=75 (Link no longer exists.)

 Brooke Shields Talks about Michael to Rolling Stone - 
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/michael-jackson-remembered-brooke-shields-on-king-of-pops-pure-soul-20090713

The "Thriller" Diaries -
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/07/michael-jackson-thriller-201007

Single posts from lipstickalley.com - 
http://www.lipstickalley.com/showpost.php?p=6610757&postcount=19
http://www.lipstickalley.com/showpost.php?p=9294350&postcount=1972
http://www.lipstickalley.com/showpost.php?p=6099222&postcount=5453

Tatiana Thumbtzen updates -
http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2013/01/q-session-with-tatiana-thumbtzen.html
http://michaelandthetruth.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-past-and-future-part-4.html

 Theresa Gonsalves' updates - 


Romonica Harris' update -
Pictures: 
Some of the pictures came from my personal harddrive and some came from a google.com search.
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