Michael Jackson (118 page)

On 26 May 1994, after the Jordie Chandler scandal, Michael went on to marry Lisa Marie Presley. At the time, most observers
viewed the union as a public relations manoeuvre. However, as it happens, the truth is stranger than fiction: he and Lisa
had a strong sexual chemistry; it was the first time Michael had ever felt so intensely about another person. (Corbis)

On 13 November 1996, Michael married Debbie Rowe. And it was Debbie who gave Michael his longed-for children. (Corbis)

Michael with his daughter, Paris (left), and son, Prince Michael I, on a public outing, in 2002. He covered their faces, he
said, in order to avoid kidnapping attempts. (Corbis)

This is the photo that caused a huge sensation in November 2002, when Michael dangled his nine-month-old son, Prince Michael
II, from a balcony in Germany. He apologized for it, but he was never able to live it down. (Corbis)

This is a rarely seen photo of Michael and Diana Ross. Michael so loved and respected Diana he stipulated in his will that,
in the event of his death, she care for his three children if his mother, Katherine, was unable to do so. (J. Randy Taraborrelli
Collection)

Michael’s children have always been a source of fascination. Jackson’s second wife, Debbie Rowe, is the mother of Prince Michael
I (left) and Paris (in the middle). Prince Michael II’s mother is unknown. (National Photo Group/Valdez)

The memorial service for Michael Jackson, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009, was a deeply touching
event, with the most moving tribute of all given by Jackson’s 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine Michael. Here she is surrounded
by members of the family: siblings Janet, LaToya and Jermaine, and Jackson’s older son, Prince Michael I. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty
Images)

There were many rumors of Michael’s declining health in the months prior to his death, but he certainly looked fit in this
photo taken on June 23, just two days before his death. Michael was in rehearsals for his comeback show in London, which were
to have begun in July. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/AEG via Getty Images)

I owe a debt of gratitude to so many people who saw my work and research regarding Michael Jackson through its many incarnations
over the years. It would be impossible to acknowledge them all – I started writing about Michael for the
Black American
newspaper in New York back in the 1970s!- – but I would like to at least try to recognize a few.

I would like to thank my publisher, Jamie Raab at Grand Central Publishing, and all of the terrific people there who worked
so hard to pull together this updated edition of my Michael Jackson biography under such a pressing deadline. This book has
not been available in America in almost fifteen years. It’s so wonderful to see it back in print, and now fully updated.

I would also like to thank my domestic agent, Mitch Douglas, for his dedication to me and to this work. Also my European agent,
Dorie Simmonds, was instrumental in assisting us with this project, and I thank her for years of great representation.

I would like to thank Thomas Mesereau, the attorney who represented Michael Jackson during his 2005 molestation trial and
won Jackson an acquittal on all counts. I would also like to thank Brian Oxmon, the Jacksons’ family lawyer. I most certainly
must also acknowledge John Branca, Michael’s trusted attorney for many years of his life. I think lawyers have a bad rap sometimes,
but these three gentlemen always had Michael’s best interests at heart, and I have the greatest respect for them. I thank
them for their support of what I have tried to do over the years in reporting Michael’s story.

In 2005 I covered the Michael Jackson molestation trial in Santa Maria, California, for CBS News and Court TV. I returned
to CBS News in 2009 to cover Michael’s death for the network. I’ve met so many amazing people during my time with CBS – media
colleagues, many of whom I now count as good friends of mine and who were so supportive of me in my efforts to do my best
job. I would like to acknowledge just a few of them here: my very good friends Bruce Rheins and Dawn Westlake, Jennie Josephson,
Manuel Gallegos, Vince Gonzalez, Jennifer Sieben, Soshea Lebowitz, Sherri Sylvester, Ben McShane, Susan Filan, Anne Bremner;
Jim Moret, Maureen Orth, Michelle Caruso, Leslie Miller, Miguel Marquez, Quintin Cushner, Peter Bowes, Peter Shaplin, Lisa
Strum Sweetingham, Pat Ketchum, Diane Dimond, Jim Meitus, Pat Ketchum, Savannah Guthrie, Dawn Hobbs, Stacy Brown, Andrew Cohen,
Trent Copeland, Hal Eisner, Aphrodite Jones, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Roger Friedman, Jim Thomas, Dan Whitcomb and Mike Taibbi.
I apologize to any whose name is not on this list. You are definitely in my heart, if not on the tip of my tongue at this
moment. Thanks as well to Raymone K. Bain for her work, and also for being Michael’s spokeswoman during our time in Santa
Maria.

I must thank, of course, the Jackson family. Sometimes over the last thirty years of my reporting about them, I have been
in their favor. Often not. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes when it comes to the media and celebrities. However,
I have the greatest respect for the Jacksons, and I hope they know it. I consider many of them to be my good friends. I have
so many memories of my experiences with them over the years at the Hayvenhurst estate in Encino when I was first starting
my career. I have interviewed them all so many times and have done my best to be fair and empathetic. I am so very sorry for
their loss of Michael. Their grief is, I know, incalculable. I send them all my love: Joseph and Katherine, Rebbie, Jackie,
LaToya, Tito, Randy Marlon and Jermaine. This book is dedicated to the memory of their son, their brother...their loved one,
forever.

Special thanks to Mike Lawler for his advice and support on all-things-Jackson. He has helped me in so many ways over the
years where Michael is concerned, and I am very grateful to him.

Hillel Black was the editor of the original edition of this work back in 1990.
Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness
was our second collaboration; Mr Black also edited
Call Her Miss Ross.
No author could ever have hoped for a better, more patient person to shepherd a book.

Paula Agronick Reuben was invaluable to me in so many ways for many years early in my career. I was fortunate to have been
able to work with her on the original edition of this book
Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness.
She is a consummate professional and a close friend.

Private investigator and researcher Cathy Griffin was a vital contributor to this project. I am especially indebted to her
for locating sources who had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. Ms Griffin also conducted scores of interviews
for this work, and I am extremely grateful to her for that as well.

Special thanks to Stephen Gregory, not only for so many years of friendship but also for all of his invaluable input into
this book. He is always there for me, without fail.

I must thank Jonathan Hahn, a fellow journalist, my publicist, and also my good friend. A fellow couldn’t ask for a better
sounding board than Jonathan. Thanks also to Alysia Garrison for being so vital and important to Jonathan, and also to me.