Joe Jackson denies plans for Michael's children to become Jackson 3, again alleges foul play

In an interview Monday night with CNN's Larry King, Michael Jackson's father denied allegations that he'd physically abused the pop star when he was a child (though he admitted his son had barred him from his life) and that he was hoping to take Michael's three children on tour next year as the Jackson 3. Responding to the abuse claim, Joe Jackson said, "That's a bunch of bull-s....I raised him just like you would raise your kids, you know? But harm Michael, for what? I have no reason. That's my son. I loved him and I still love him." He called rumors of a Jackson 3 tour "a bunch of jive": "I'm not encouraging them to do nothing," he said. "They have to be what they are, kids at the moment." He also reiterated that he believed foul play was involved in Michael's death, noting the amount of time it took for Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician attending to Michael at the time of his passing, to come in for questioning. Murray's attorney has denied that his client was ever in hiding.

source: news-briefs

Will Janet Jackson Get Custody Of Michael's Children?

As another custody hearing for Michael Jackson’s children was postponed on Friday, speculation has begun to spread about who will be the children's caretaker.
The most interesting scenario, among many, would see Janet Jackson stepping in to raise her brother's three children.
According to CBS news , a representative with tabloid outlet "Inside Edition" said that Janet has offered to help. Melanie Bromley, of Us Weekly said, "It's important for her to be there for the children." A rep for Jackson has yet to respond to a query made by MTV News on Monday (July 20).
The CBS report suggested Janet has banded with her mother, Katherine, and sister, Rebbie to improve the chances of Michael's will being upheld. In the will, he left custody of his children — Prince, Paris and Blanket — to his 79-year-old mother. Katherine has been granted temporary custody of the children and they have been living in the Jacksons' Encino, California, home since MJ's passing last month.
Currently, parties for Katherine and Debbie Rowe are in discussions after the latest custody hearing was postponed for a second time, a rep for Jackson's attorney, L. Londell McMillan, told MTV News.
Rowe is the biological mother of MJ's first two children — the identity of Blanket's mother still remains unknown. Although Rowe has not had much of a relationship with the children since giving birth to them, the onetime nurse reportedly wants to ensure the kids will be safe. According to TMZ, a source close to Rowe said her present involvement in the matter isn't over money; she is still reportedly receiving funds from Jackson's estate from a previous agreement made between them after she gave birth.

source: MTVnews

Jackson's mother may challenge will executors

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's mother asked for a judge's ruling Friday on whether she can challenge the authority of two men named in her son's will as executors of his estate without being disinherited.
The filing does not formally challenge the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain as executors of Michael Jackson's estate.
But a favorable ruling could pave the way for 79-year-old Katherine Jackson to seek control of her son's estate, which has an estimated value of more than $500 million.
A judge granted her temporary control over roughly 2,000 items taken from her son's Neverland Ranch and slated for auction, but her authority expired and was given to Branca and McClain. She had sought to control Jackson's estate, but that was before the singer's 2002 will was filed in Los Angeles.
It names Branca and McClain as Jackson's choice for co-executors of the will, and states his estate should be placed in a private trust.
Jackson's trust included a "no contest" clause that calls for anyone who challenges the will to be disinherited. Katherine Jackson, her three grandchildren and unnamed charities are beneficiaries of the estate.
The filing states that Katherine Jackson's attorneys continue to confer with attorneys for McClain and Branca and no final decisions have been made.
"Mrs. Jackson and her counsel have not yet decided whether to object to the appointment of the named executors or to suggest an alternate appointment," the filing states.
A phone message left after business hours Friday for Paul Gordon Hoffman, an attorney representing Branca and McClain, was not immediately returned.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff will consider how to handle the filing at a hearing on Aug 3. Lingering issues about Jackson's estate could be decided then, and the hearing will also focus on whether Katherine Jackson will be allowed to keep custody of her son's children, who range in ages from 7 to 12.

Investigators target Michael Jackson's pseudonyms

For those who live in the tabloid cross hairs, the fake name is essential. Privacy-seeking celebrities have standard pseudonyms for checking into hotels, booking spa appointments, reserving restaurant tables, advertising for help and setting up visits to the doctor's office.

But when those attempts at anonymity make their way beyond the exam room door and onto a prescription pad, a Hollywood convenience becomes a crime.
State and federal laws designed to curb prescription drug abuse make it illegal for doctors to prescribe drugs in the name of anyone but the intended user, and physicians found using pseudonyms have lost their medical licenses and faced criminal charges.

The prohibition on fake names may become a key issue in the investigation into Michael Jackson's death.

Sources close to the investigation told The Times that the performer had been prescribed drugs in the name "Omar Arnold" shortly before his death June 25.
The probe has focused on Jackson's use of drugs, and investigators are looking closely at the conduct of at least five doctors who wrote prescriptions for him.

Jackson had long used aliases in health matters, according to associates.

One person who worked closely with Jackson in the 1980s and '90s said Jackson's physicians filed his medical records under pseudonyms, including Omar Arnold, Joseph Scruz and Bill Bray, and used those names to schedule appointments and order tests.

Another longtime associate said Jackson's staff regularly picked up prescriptions for the performer under different names.

Employing false names on prescription pads is a violation of federal Drug Enforcement Administration rules and of multiple state regulations, including the Business and Professions Code and the Health and Safety Code. Health and Safety Code Section 11173 states that "no person shall make a false statement in any prescription, order, report or record."

Dr. H. Westley Clark, the director of the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said fake names flout mechanisms put in place by states and pharmacy chains to flag people potentially abusing drugs.

"It makes it difficult to track behavior of patients who might be doctor-shopping or who may be receiving large doses of controlled substances that might cause some concern," said Clark, who is licensed as both a lawyer and doctor.

Jackson's is hardly the first instance of a celebrity using false names to fill prescriptions.

When actress Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting in 2001, investigators found a cache of painkillers in her purse and later determined that she had used six aliases in seeking 37 prescriptions from 20 doctors.

A Brentwood cosmetic surgeon who prescribed her medication in the name of "Emily Thompson" was stripped of his medical license the following year.

When movie producer Don Simpson died from an overdose of cocaine and prescription medication in his $18-million Bel-Air mansion in 1996, investigators found a closet full of pill bottles.

Many were written to "Dan Wilson," a pseudonym.

Los Angeles County prosecutors are seeking to convict two of Anna Nicole Smith's doctors and her boyfriend on conspiracy charges for illegally providing the model with excessive amounts of narcotics and other controlled substances.

Among the evidence they have cited are prescriptions the doctors allegedly wrote for Smith in the names of her boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, and at least three other people.

All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.

source: loss angels times

Madonna's Stage Collapses In France, Killing One

One person was killed Thursday (July 16) when a stage being built for Sunday's Madona concert in Marseille, France, collapsed. The Associated press reported that in addition to one death, six workers were injured in the accident.
According to reports, the stage for the singer's Sticky and Sweet show at the 60,000-capacity Stade Vélodrome fell apart while under construction around 5:15 p.m. local time (11:15 a.m. ET), with two of the workers suffering serious injuries and all six of those hurt taken to local hospitals. At press time, authorities did not know what caused the accident.
Madonna issued the following statement about the collapse, according to TMZ"I am devastated to have just received this tragic news. My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news."
BBC news reported that Marseille city councilor Maurice Di Nocera said the frame of the stage "started shaking and collapsing" before the accident.
The concert has been canceled in the wake of the collapse. The stage that the singer has been taking around the world for the past year includes a giant revolving platform with an oversize silver and black throne, a DJ deck, a JumboTron screen on which Britney Spears makes her nightly virtual cameo and multi-level risers on which Madonna jumps rope and spars in a mini boxing ring.
The back of the stage is two-tiered, and the front of the stage at the end of the catwalk is a square with a circle in it that rises up and spins around. The catwalk comes into play most prominently in the show when Madonna is wheeled out in an ornate white antique car for the virtual Kanye West duet "Beat Goes On," riding in the vehicle from the back of the stage out onto the turntable in the audience and then spinning around 180 degrees and riding back to the main stage. Hydraulics lift it up and move it around.
A number of large, moving screens serve as the background during the show, as well as smaller ones on wheels that the singer dances with during a virtual duet with Justin Timberlake on "Four Minutes."

source: mtv.com

Michael Jackson's Posthumous Global Record Sales Reach 9 Million

In life, Michael Jackson struggled for decades to reach the record-smashing sales he achieved with 1983's landmark Thriller album. But since his unexpected passing on June 25 at the age of 50, the self-proclaimed King of Pop has once again become the most dominant musical figure on the planet.
Jackson’s album and compilation have locked down the top 10 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in the United States for the past three weeks, selling more than 2.3 million albums since the singer's death, including 1.1 million over the past seven days. At a time when most contemporary stars struggle to notch sales of more than 2 or 3 million, the numbers are impressive, but they're even better when sales across the globe are factored in. According to the Loss Angels Times an unidentified source with knowledge of sales figures for the catalog said that more than 9 million Jackson albums have been sold worldwide since June 25.
While Sony Music, which controls Jackson's solo adult catalog, would not comment to the Times or MTV News on sales figures, a spokeswoman for the label did not dispute the 9 million sales figure. In addition to ruling over the U.S. catalog charts, Jackson's albums have perched atop similar charts in France, Germany, Australia and England over the past three weeks.
"We're seeing a real outpouring from fans and consumers who are looking to connect and get past what's happened — the tragedy of his death — through attaching themselves to his music," Gary Arnold, senior entertainment officer for Best Buy, told the Times. Arnold said fans aren't just buying Jackson's global breakthrough Thriller, but rather a broad range of the singer's music, from the early Jackson 5 material to his later solo albums.
Considering the many unresolved issues around Jackson's estate, his cause of death, the custody of his three children and a potential all-star tribute concert in England later this year, Arnold predicted sales would remain strong, and possibly surge, through Christmas.
Though Amazon.com doesn't typically reveal sales figures, a spokesperson for the company said customer response to Jackson's death has been unprecedented, resulting in more orders for Jackson CDs and MP3s in the first 24 hours after his death than in the previous 11 years the Amazon music store has been open.
Even jukeboxes are seeing a huge uptick in Jackson action, with leading digital jukebox company TouchTunes reporting that the singer's songs were ordered up nearly 1 million times on its 38,000 jukeboxes since his death. Also seeking to cash in on the surge of interest, the British stage musical "Thriller Live" announced that the tribute show would relaunch in Europe this month and hit several U.S. cities over the next year. Jackson cover band Who's Bad also quickly booked a North American tour that will keep them on the road through November.

Jackson’s kids want to live with sister Janet

Next week’s courtroom showdown, in which Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, and ex-wife Debbie Rowe are expected to vie for temporary custody of two of the late pop star’s children, could come with an unexpected twist.
According to a new report, the kids in question, Prince Michael, 12, and Paris-Michael Katherine, 11, along with their 7-year-old brother Prince Michael II (aka Blanket), have made their own decision. They want their late father's sister, Janet Jackson, to raise them.
“Janet has completely bonded with those children in the last two weeks,” a family friend revealed to OK! magazine. “She has been their rock. It’s clear to everyone that they are looking to her for comfort and guidance.”


source:msnbc