Michael Jackson (121 page)

Financial Declaration, 11 March 1973.

Katherine Jackson’s Sworn Declaration, 16 March 1973.

The Final Years at Motown

The background on Sammy Davis, Jr., was culled from information contained in his excellent second autobiography,
The Sammy Davis, Jr., Story – Why Me?
I also drew from my 1978 interview with Michael Jackson and my 1980 interview with Jermaine Jackson. Some of Janet Jackson’s
comments were published in
Interview
. I also culled information from Vince Aletti’s features on The Jackson 5 in the
Village Voice
(see bibliography). Also, I viewed a videotape of The Jackson 5’s entire Las Vegas act.

I viewed a videotape of The Jackson 5’s performance on
The Bob Hope Show
.

I interviewed Raymond St Jacques in March 1987 and culled comments about
Isomand and Cross
and his relationship with the Jacksons from that interview.

I also interviewed friends of the Jackson family who requested anonymity.

Enid Jackson’s memories of her first encounters with Jackie Jackson were culled from interviews conducted with the late Mrs
Jackson for this book on 29 October 1990, 7 November 1990 and 19 November 1990. Jackie Jackson’s comments about his wedding
were meant to be published in
Soul
magazine on 6 December 1974, but most were not. I obtained a transcript of the interview.

Information regarding Jackie Jackson’s automobile accident was culled from a report in
Soul
magazine.

Theresa Gonsalves was interviewed on 5 January 1991.

Details of Michael Jackson’s meeting with Berry Gordy on 14 May 1975 were culled from the Sworn Declaration of Michael Jackson,
20 February 1976. (The declaration became part of case number C139795:
Michael Jackson et al. v. Motown Record Corporation of California et al
., 30 March 1976.) I also referred to Michael’s account of his meeting with Gordy in his autobiography,
Moonwalk
.

I drew from my interviews with Gil Askey (5 March 1984) for my first book,
Diana
.

I obtained a copy of the Jacksons’ original CBS recording contract.

The confrontation between Jermaine and Joseph Jackson was recreated based on my interview with Jermaine Jackson in 1980.

I referred to an interview with Jermaine and Hazel Jackson in
Ebony
. I also referred to Katherine Jackson’s autobiography,
The Jacksons – My Family
. I also used as source material reports from
The Hollywood Reporter
and
Variety
(see bibliography).

I referred to my interview with Marlon Jackson in 1978 to recreate the scene at Westbury Music Fair when Jermaine walked out
on the group. I was present backstage after the show.

Also I obtained a copy of Berry Gordy’s application, dated 30 March 1972, to register The Jackson 5’s name as being owned
by Motown Records. I obtained a copy of the United States Patent Office’s acceptance of Gordy’s request, and documentation
that Gordy owned the name exclusively. I obtained the Forms of Patent from the United States Patent Office, numbers 965,808
and 965,809, registering in the name of Motown Record Corporation the logo Jackson 5ive and the name Jackson 5, ‘For entertainment
services rendered by a vocal group, in class 107, Int. Cl. 41.’

I drew from an interview I conducted with Melvin Franklin in 1977 for
The Black American
.

Again, I referred to the Sworn Declaration of Joseph W. Jackson, 20 February 1976.

I obtained a transcript of the Jacksons’ press conference at the Rainbow Grill in Manhattan on 30 June 1975. I also obtained
a copy of the 1 July 1975 telegram from Michael Roshkind to Arthur Taylor, president of CBS, informing him that The Jackson
5’s name belonged solely to Motown Records. I also interviewed witnesses to the press conference. Vital to my research were
Motown memoranda from Tony Jones to Joseph Jackson regarding The Jackson 5’s activities at Motown.

I also interviewed Martha Gonsalves (3 June 1990), Edward Lewis (16 July 1990), Michael Lewis (16 September 1990), Susan Myerson
(1 October 1990), Harry Weber (5 October 1990), Mark Kelly (15 November 1990) and Lee Casto (2 December 1990). Joyce McCrae
was interviewed by Cathy Griffin on 14 October 1990.

The matter of the late Enid Jackson’s filing for divorce from Jackie Jackson is documented in papers originally filed in September
1975 in Los Angeles Superior Court, County of Los Angeles, but also included in the 1985 divorce case, file number DI57554.

I obtained a copy of Marlon and Carol Jackson’s wedding certificate, dated 16 August 1975. Joseph Jackson’s comments about
his son’s wedding were originally published in
Soul
, January 1976.

The Sworn Deposition by Michael Jackson, dated 15 January 1976, was utilized.

I used as source material an interview with Jermaine Jackson by Cynthia Kirk in
Good Evening
, 29 April 1976.

I viewed videotapes of all episodes of the Jacksons’ television series for CBS-TV.

Motown v. The Jacksons

Details of the lawsuit brought by Motown Record Corporation against the Jacksons were culled from the following documents
filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles County, all case number C139795:

Michael Jackson et al. v. Motown Record Corporation of California et al
., 30 March 1976.

Tariano Jackson, Sigmund Esco Jackson, Marlon Jackson and Michael Jackson, a minor, by Joseph Jackson, his Guardian v. Motown
Record Corporation of California, Inc
., 11 February 1977.

Ralph Seltzer’s Sworn Deposition, 24 March 1976. In this fifty-page deposition, Seltzer recalled Joseph Jackson’s original
negotiations with Motown regarding his sons’ recording contracts. Of Joseph Jackson and the Jacksons, he remembered, ‘I do
not recall that any of them read the contract prior to signing it.’

Supplemental Declaration of Joseph W. Jackson, 30 March 1976. In this lengthy document, Jackson gave his version of the day
he and his boys signed their Motown contracts and described how he felt about Ralph Seltzer and Berry Gordy. He also recreated
the telephone conversation with Gordy in which he thought he had successfully renegotiated the contract’s original terms.

Sworn Declaration of Joseph W. Jackson, 20 February 1976. Jackson’s declaration shed more light on his dealings with Motown,
the ‘take-it-or-leave-it contracts they made us sign,’ the accommodations Motown arranged for them when the group moved from
Gary to Los Angeles, how ‘neither I or my sons ever read any contracts we signed once we got to Los Angeles,’ and his relationship
with Johnny Jackson. Most importandy, he reconstructed angry conversations he had with Jermaine regarding Jermaine’s decision
not to sign with CBS Records. Joseph Jackson’s memory of these conversations corroborated Jermaine’s in an interview with
me on 27 May 1980.

Sworn Declaration of Richard Arons, 20 June 1979. As Joseph Jackson’s attorney, Arons was privy to all of Jackson’s business
dealings, and he described, in this fifteen-page document, how Joseph went about searching for a new label for his sons and
how his sons reacted to leaving Motown.

I also reviewed 367 other legal documents and correspondence relating to this case, from which I gleaned details applicable
to this book.

Flashback to Early Days on the Road

Tito, Marlon and Jackie Jackson have discussed their father’s behaviour in the early days while on the road in a number of
interviews. We discussed it in our interview in 1978. Michael wrote about these experiences – though not in a very in-depth
manner – in
Moonwalk
. For evaluation purposes, I drew from my interview with Beverly Hills psychiatrist Dr Carole Lieberman on 8 January 1991.
Also interviewed: Yolanda Lewis (5 June 1990), James McField (30 October 1990), Gregory Matthias (15 November 1990), Gregorio
Joves (1 December 1990), Sarah Jackson (2 May 1990) and Tim Whitehead (18 November 1990). I also drew from interviews with
Theresa Gonsalves, Tim Burton and Sylvester Goodnough.

Tatum O’Neal declined to be interviewed for this book. Biographical information about her and her family was culled from accounts
published in
Good Housekeepings, Ladies’ Home Journal
and
Redbook
. The information about Michael and Tatum at the Playboy mansion was culled from an interview with Michael Jackson in
Soul
magazine.

The rumours about Michael Jackson and Clifton Davis were published in many publications. Michael discussed the matter with
reporter Steve Ivory for
Soul
(issue of 12 September 1977). I interviewed Clifton Davis in 1978.

Michael and I also discussed rumours of his homosexuality in 1978. His comments about that subject are interspersed through
this book.

The Wiz and Off the Wall Years

I interviewed Rob Cohen, producer of
The Wiz
on 14 February 1989 and again on 25 April 1989. I also interviewed the film’s director, Sidney Lumet, on 22 August 1978.

Other information was drawn from interviews with James McField, Susie Jackson and Theresa Gonsalves. Having written about
The Wiz
in depth in my 1989 book,
Call Her Miss Ross
, I utilized research conducted for that work in this chapter. I attended the press conference for
The Wiz
at Astoria Studios in September 1977, interviewed Michael at that time and drew from an interview I conducted with Diana
Ross on 19 October 1981.

I drew from an interview with the Jacksons at their home in Encino in August 1978 and another interview with Michael Jackson
in July 1979.

I also culled material from early published accounts of Michael’s relationship with Quincy Jones. I interviewed Quincy Jones
during a break in the recording of a Brothers Johnson album in 1979, and some of the material regarding
Off the Wall
is culled from that interview.

Cheryl Terrell, Joh’Vonnie Jackson, and Other Subject Matter

I obtained a copy of Joh’Vonnie Jackson’s birth certificate, 30 August 1974.

I also obtained property information on Cheryl Terrell’s Gardena, California, apartment building from World Tide Company.
Residents of the apartment house were interviewed on 25 August 1990. Cheryl Terrell spoke to my private investigator, Cathy
Griffin, on 29 August 1990, but declined to be formally interviewed for this book.

I obtained the Escrow Instructions from Imperial Escrow Company for the property on 6908 Peach Avenue, Van Nuys, purchased
by Joseph Jackson as trustee of the Joh’Vonnie Jackson Trust, 25 January 1981, as well as a Property Profile on 6908 Peach
Avenue from World Tide Company.

I obtained a copy of the Trust Corporation established for Joh’Vonnie Jackson on 23 February 1981.

I also procured a Property Profile supplied by Fidelity National Title. The profile includes a copy of the Individual Quitclaim
Deed signed by Katherine Jackson releasing any of her interest in the property to Joseph Jackson, and the Quitclaim Deed executed
on 20 January 1980, and signed by Joseph Jackson, turning the same property over to the Joh’Vonnie Jackson Trust.

Joh’Vonnie Jackson posed for our photographer; the photo appears in this book.

I drew from my and Cathy Griffin’s interviews with Marcus Phillips (3 June 1990), Tim Whitehead and Stanley Ross (1 November
1990) and Jerome Howard.

Paula Reuben interviewed Carol L. Kerster in June 1990.

I also drew from Charles Sanders’s story of Jermaine and Hazel Jackson in
Ebony
in August 1981.

Gina Sprague v. Joseph and Katherine Jackson, Randy Jackson and Janet Jackson

Gina Sprague was interviewed for this book on 16, 18 and 21 September 1990.

Susie Jackson was interviewed on 21 September 1990.

I obtained a copy of the police report (DR. number 80-749111) filed by Gina Sprague on 16 October 1980.

Other details of Gina Sprague’s lawsuit against Joseph Jackson, Katherine Jackson, Randy Jackson and Janet Jackson, a minor,
were culled from the following documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles County, all file number C383387:

Complaint for Personal Injuries, Assault and Battery, Conspiracy, 21 September 1981.

Sworn Declaration of Gina Sprague, 20 September 1981.

Sworn Declaration of Gina Sprague, 21 September 1981.

Sworn Declaration of Joseph Jackson and Katherine Jackson, 22 September 1981.

Answer to Complaint for Personal Injuries, Assault and Battery, Conspiracy, 5 March 1982.

Notice of Motion for Order Granting Leave to Amend Complaint, 16 November 1982.

Sworn Declaration of Michael S. Fields. Fields was Gina Sprague’s attorney.

Amended Complaint, 11 January 1983. This ten-page complaint graphically depicted details of what Sprague alleged happened
the day she was attacked.

Fifty-two other court documents relating to the
Sprague v. Jackson
case were also used as source material.

I also obtained legal documents filed by Joyce McCrae, an employee of Joseph Jackson’s, on 16 June 1981: Complaint for Declaratory
Relief, Partition, Money Due on Demand to Establish Deed Absolute as Mortgage and Judicial Foreclosure, and
Joseph W. Jackson v. Joyce McCrae
, 16 June 1981, case number C371220. Both were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles County. Though I decided not
to write about this particular suit – which involved a condominium jointly owned by Jackson and McCrae – I utilized the documents
to learn more of Jackson’s relationship with McCrae and Gina Sprague. In this lawsuit, McCrae claimed, ‘I was asked to testify
at a hearing held at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office regarding assault charges filed against Joseph Jackson’s wife
by Ms Gina Sprague. When I informed Joseph Jackson that I had been asked to testify, Joseph Jackson told me that he wanted
me to stay out of the matter. I did testify at the hearing on 17 December 1980. I am now informed and believe and allege that
my employment was wrongfully terminated by Joseph Jackson in retaliation for the testimony I gave at that hearing regarding
his relationship with Gina Sprague…’