Michael Jackson
Page 53
1. No wenches, bitches, heifers or ho’s (whores).
2. Never give up your bliss.
3. Live with me in Neverland forever.
4. No conditioning.
5. Never grow up.
6. Be better than best friends.
Michael Meets Jordie’s Father
One person was not as taken by Michael Jackson’s relationship with Jordie as everyone else: Jordie’s father, Evan Chandler.
The odd situation between Jordie and Michael Jackson evolved so quickly, Evan couldn’t seem to keep track of it. When June would telephone him to tell him about their Neverland visits, he found it difficult to believe that a world-famous entertainer would have that much time to spend with his ex-wife and their child. Also, June and Evan had been arguing about Evan’s involvement in Jordie’s life; June didn’t feel that Evan was spending enough time with his son. Evan disagreed. However, he couldn’t help but feel that he might be losing his place in Jordie’s life to Michael. He didn’t believe that Michael was doing anything wrong with Jordie. Rather, he simply felt the presence of another man, an influential male figure, in his son’s life – and he didn’t like it. It didn’t help matters that June would often make reference to the fact that Jordie saw Michael more than he did his own father. ‘Michael is completely influential on your son,’ she told Evan during once conversation, ‘and he’s taking over where you have left off.’
When he learned that Michael was sleeping with Jordie, Evan became upset. ‘It’s preposterous,’ he told his ex-wife, according to what he later recalled. ‘It isn’t right.’
‘Well, that’s what I thought, at first,’ June explained to him. ‘But you have to be there. You have to see how kind and gentle Michael is with Jordie.’
‘Bullshit,’ Evan said, angrily, according to his memory. ‘It’s not right and I want it to stop.’
‘Well, it’s not going to,’ June told him. ‘I’ve already been through this with Michael, and I know it’s fine. I’m Jordie’s mother,’ she said, ‘and I know what’s best for him.’ How dare Evan try to tell June how to raise their son? She was doing the best job she could do, she felt, and had given the matter regarding Jordie and Michael serious consideration. She did not want Evan to second-guess her.
When Evan polled his friends, they agreed that there was something inappropriate about Jordie sleeping in the same bed with Michael Jackson. One of his patients – Evan was a dentist – suggested that, ‘just to be on the safe side’, he should insist that such behaviour stop. She was familiar with Michael’s dermatologist, Arnold Klein, and, at Evan’s request, called the doctor to inquire about Michael. Klein told her that Michael was ‘absolutely heterosexual’ and, according to him, there was no reason to be concerned about him and Jordie. ‘He’s the sweetest guy in the world,’ Arnold said, ‘and, I swear to God, you would be making a mistake separating him and Jordie. He’s completely innocent, like a kid himself.’ Still, despite Klein’s reassurance, Evan Chandler’s patient said that, at least in her opinion, an adult should not be sleeping in the same bed with a youngster, unless he is the child’s parent – and even then such sleeping arrangements should be closely monitored. Another of Evan’s friends, Dr Mark Torbiner, had to agree: something was wrong with the arrangement as it existed between Jordie and Michael, and it should be stopped, he insisted. ‘It’s not normal,’ said Torbiner. ‘C’mon! Be realistic. In the real world, this is crazy.’
On Sunday 18 April, Michael returned from his business trip to the East Coast. As soon as he got to Neverland, he picked up the telephone to call Jordie and invite him and his mother and sister to the ranch for a five-day ‘vacation’. Now Evan was closely monitoring the frequency of Jordie’s visits with Michael, and becoming unreservedly uncomfortable about them.
On 22 April, much to Evan’s chagrin, Michael took June, Jordie and Lily to Disneyworld in Florida for three days, utilizing Sony’s company jet. When they returned to Los Angeles Michael asked if he could stay at the house with June and her children. Again, Michael slept in the same bed with Jordie. About a week later, Michael bought Jordie a computer. The youngster was thrilled with the present; Evan was not happy about it. He had planned to buy his son the exact same computer and Michael had beaten him to it.
It was decided by Michael and Jordie that the computer would be set up at Michael’s hide-out so that when Jordie spent time there he would have access to the Internet. Jordie now felt that the more time he spent at the hide-out, the better off he was – and June agreed, since she trusted Michael with her son – and maybe to spite Evan, or maybe not – she allowed the visits, most of them overnight, to continue.
In early May, Michael offered to take June, Jordie and Lily to Monaco for the World Music Awards where Michael was being honoured with three trophies including ‘World’s Best-selling Record Artist of the Era’. The Jackson entourage would be travelling first class, and would stay in the $2,000-a-night Winston Churchill suite at the Hotel de Paris, the finest such establishment in the principality. It promised to be an exciting vacation for June and her family. For his part, having his friends with him on this overseas trip meant that Michael did not have to leave them behind; he couldn’t bear the idea of that.
On the day they were to leave, Evan Chandler came by the Schwartz house to say goodbye to his son. Though he still had not met Michael Jackson, he had no choice but to trust that June knew what she was doing when she agreed to the trip. Disturbingly, though, Evan noticed that Jordie now seemed oddly cold towards him. Evan would later remember feeling that his son had changed, that he no longer seemed to care about his father. As Jordie climbed into the limousine with June and Lily, Evan stood at the curb and watched them chatter among themselves and, as he recalled it, felt left out of the proceedings. Later, he would say, ‘I felt then that maybe June should just divorce Dave, since they were having problems, and maybe hook with up Michael. After all, they were having a good time, even if I had some reservations about it. Maybe I was wrong, I reasoned. Maybe I was wrong.’
In Monaco, Michael was often photographed with June, Jordie and Lily. In several pictures, he is seen holding Lily in his arms while walking next to June. Jordie, in a red shirt and large, oversized hat that clearly belonged to Michael, walked ahead of them. During the show, Michael sat next to Prince Albert, with Jordie in his lap.
On Sunday 16 May Michael and his guests returned from Europe. While browsing in the airport’s gift shop, they found a feature story in the National Enquirer tabloid about ‘Michael’s new, adopted family’. Along with the article were photographs of Michael with Jordie at Disneyworld. ‘Oh, no, don’t believe that stuff,’ Michael told his friends, even though the article was obviously true. ‘The stuff they wrote about me is all lies.’
Unbeknownst to Michael, Evan Chandler had also seen the article. He worried that such publicity might set Jordie up as a target for kidnappers and, in his opinion, the situation between his son and a man he had never met – Michael Jackson – was out of control. Evan had a tense telephone conversation with June about the situation; he also telephoned Dave Schwartz to tell him how he felt about the article, which resulted in a loud argument between the two men.
Though Dave had been on his estranged wife’s side, his position changed after the article came out, and his friends began calling to express sympathy that he had lost his family to Michael Jackson. He demanded that June break off her friendship with Michael. She refused, saying that Michael had been kind to her and the children and that for him to try to interfere at this point was ‘just plain selfish’.
Afterwards June told Michael Jackson about the many emotional and argumentative conversations relating to him and Jordie which had taken place in just a few hours. Concerned, Michael felt that what had transpired was typical of the behaviour of adults. ‘See, grown-ups don’t trust each other, and that’s the real problem here,’ he told June. ‘It’s such a shame that this kind of thing happens, isn’t it?’
*
Evan walked around the room with his mouth agape, unaware that Michael was in the shadows. ‘My God, look at all this stuff, Jordie,’ Evan said, astonished by the sight of so many thousands of dollars’ worth of compact discs, videos, Nintendo cartridges and toys, many of them still in boxes. ‘Where’d you get all of this stuff from?’ he asked.
Just as Evan asked the question he caught a glimpse of movement in the corner. It was Michael. Evan’s first impression of Michael was that he was an odd person. Michael had on full makeup, including red lipstick and black eye-liner. He had on his black hat; a band-aid on his nose. He was chewing gum. ‘Hello, Mr Chandler,’ he said, his voice a delicate whisper. Michael extended his hand. When Evan shook it, as he later remembered, it was a weak, limp handshake.
At that moment, Evan’s five-year-old son, Nikki, from his second marriage, ran into the room. ‘Wow. Michael Jackson,’ exclaimed the youngster. Within moments, Nikki was on the floor with Michael playing with action figures and wrestling with him, as Evan and Jordie looked on. Later, all four went into the backyard to play with slingshots. Maddeningly, Michael kept touching his nose, every few minutes. No one knew why; no one asked. By the time he left the house, Evan was completely taken with Michael. He had been kind and considerate to the children, funny and ‘completely normal acting’, as Evan later recalled it.
A few days later, Michael felt comfortable enough with Evan to invite him to the hide-out. He suggested that Evan bring Nikki. When father and son arrived, they found Jordie and Michael waiting for them. Michael then presented Nikki with an assortment of toys, and Evan with a Carrier time-piece. Later, as the boys played, Michael told Evan that he hoped to be able to take Jordie with him on the second leg of his Dangerous tour, which would begin on 24 August 1993 at the National Stadium in Thailand, Bangkok. He felt that Jordie might obtain a unique education on the road with him in countries such as Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Israel and Turkey and Mexico. Michael hoped that Evan would think of his offer as a rare opportunity for Jordie, and perhaps discuss the matter with June.
Evan would later recall again feeling uneasy about Michael. He had to ask the question: ‘Michael, what exactly is the nature of your relationship with Jordie?’
‘Well, I don’t know what to say,’ Michael responded, ‘except that it’s… it’s…’ He seemed to search for the right word. ‘It’s cosmic,’ he finally said.
Evan got to the point. ‘Look, are you having sex with my son?’ he asked. One would think such a question would be asked by Evan while his hands were wrapped around Michael’s throat, but Evan recalled his demeanour as having been calm and collected.
Michael was shocked. He couldn’t believe Evan would ask him such a question, and in such a straightforward a way. ‘My God, I can’t believe you would ask me that,’ he said.
The two men stared at each other for a few moments, apparently not knowing what to say. Evan decided not to push the issue. Instead, he asked, ‘What if you don’t want to be friends with my son in the future? He’ll be so hurt.’
‘Not want to be friends with Jordie?’ Michael asked ‘But that’ll never happen. No one is more loyal than me. I will always be Jordie’s friend.’
An awkward silence hung between the two men. Finally, Evan suggested that he and Michael join the youngsters in Michael’s arcade.
At this point, as Evan Chandler later recalled it, he truly did not know whether to approve of Michael or not. He vacillated between feeling exhilaration and uneasiness. After all, Michael didn’t really deny that anything inappropriate was going on, nor did he admit it.
In a few days’ time, Evan was again awe-struck by Michael’s presence in Jordie’s life, enough to suggest that Michael even spend more time with him. The suggestion came when Michael showed up at Nikki’s birthday party on 22 May 1993, astonishing all of the guests who couldn’t fathom that the Michael Jackson was playing with their children at a friend’s birthday party. ‘Who wouldn’t want his kid to be Michael Jackson’s pal,’ Evan said at the time. He even suggested that Michael build a new wing on to the home so that he wouldn’t have to make the trek from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles just to visit Jordie. ‘You can just stay here,’ he offered, ‘but you’d be more comfortable building an addition to the house, I think.’
Michael took the offer seriously enough to have his representatives check with the zoning division of the county in which Evan lived to determine if it would be possible to build such an addition to the house.
That night, Michael stayed at Evan’s home, sleeping in the same room with Jordie and Nikki. After the two boys watched a video of Peter Pan with Michael, Evan bid them good night and closed the bedroom door. The last thing he saw was Michael Jackson tucked into a roll-out bed, and his two sons in bunk beds – Jordie in the bottom bed and Nikki in the top. Those would remain the sleeping arrangements at Evan’s home for the next two nights.
What a strange scene: Michael Jackson, arguably the wealthiest and most accomplished entertainer in show business curled up in an uncomfortable, roll-out bed while sleeping in a room with two youngsters.
Didn’t he have any responsibilities? It was as if the person in Jordie’s room had no plans for the future, certainly no recording dates or concert commitments.
Wasn’t he known to rub shoulders with movies stars, magnates and members of royal families such as Diana, Princess of Wales? Why did he never mention them? Where was his family? Why did he never speak about them? He never once mentioned his brothers, or the names of any of his siblings.
And wasn’t he supposed to be wealthy? According to Forbes, he had earned fifty-five million dollars the year before. Why then did he dress only in old jeans and T-shirts? Why did he wear the same black loafers every day? When, on occasion, he did refer to his wealth, it seemed incongruous. For instance, Evan once watched Michael and Jordie shoot water pistols at tomatoes lined up on a ledge. Michael told the youngster, ‘I’m thinking about buying my own private jet.’ Jordie shrugged. Then, Michael said, ‘You know what? I’ll bet if I stand back three more feet I can still hit that tomato right over there.’
If anyone had told Evan that the person sleeping in his son’s bedroom was actually a Michael Jackson impersonator, he would have believed it – that’s how little the life of the man on the roll-out bed seemed to have with the genuine-article King of Pop.
Over the next couple of days, Evan and Michael forged ahead with their own friendship. They discussed family matters as well as Jordie and Nikki’s education. Michael mentioned that Jordie had often described Evan as a terrific father, and Michael noted his own admiration of Evan’s dedication to his children. They also discussed Dave Schwartz, and his displeasure over the National Enquirer’s assertion that Michael had ‘stolen’ his family. Evan said he had to agree with Dave that the story was ‘in bad form’. Michael explained that he had learned to live with sensational articles about himself and his friends, and he hoped Evan would not hold this one against him. Evan said he liked Michael very much and would happily allow him to continue to be friendly with Jordie and Nikki.
The two men shook hands and agreed to keep open the lines of communication between them.
In days to come, however, Evan had more time to think about Michael’s analysis of his relationship with Jordie as being ‘cosmic’ and the fact that he had been so curiously reticent to characterize their relationship in specific terms. Michael hadn’t been responsive to the direct, albeit disconcerting, question of whether or not he was having sex with Jordie. Rather, Michael just seemed embarrassed by it. Evan, as he would later tell it, began to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Small incidents over the ne
xt few days made a bigger impact on him.
For instance, there was the evening the family was together watching television with Michael when Michael seemed unable to take his eyes off Jordie. When Evan asked Michael if something was wrong, Michael said, ‘No, I’m just looking at things.’ However, when Jordie rose to go into the kitchen to fetch a snack, Michael followed. When Jordie went outside to speak to a visiting friend, Michael followed. Finally, when Jordie got up to go to the bathroom and Michael also rose, Jordie said, ‘Michael, I’m just going to the bathroom. You can stay here.’ Embarrassed, Michael laughed and said, ‘Oh, okay. That’s fine.’
Evan understood that teenagers have all manner of relationships with non-family members and that those with peers can sometimes have a greater influence on their values and behaviour. However, was Michael a peer? Not really. Also, his influence on Jordie was troubling because there were so many unanswered questions about it. Why did Michael and Jordie have so many inside jokes between them, as if sharing their own language? Why were they always whispering to one another? Why would they speak softly to one another and then, as soon as they would hear one of Jordie’s parents enter the room, clam up? Why was Jordie beginning to dress like Michael, with black hats and mirrored sunglasses? Most importantly, why were they sleeping in the same room?
Over the next few weeks, Evan continued to press Michael about the nature of his relationship with Jordie, so much so that Michael began to distance himself from Evan rather than have to undergo any further interrogation. Michael seemed to not understand why Evan was confused about what was going on between him and Jordie. Hadn’t he already explained that he was Jordie’s true, loyal friend? Didn’t they have an agreement to forge ahead with Michael as an accepted part of the family? Again, as Michael had earlier told June, Evan either trusted him or he didn’t. The problem was that Michael was unprepared for what might occur if Evan did not trust him. Would he abandon his friendship with Jordie because the boy’s father did not trust him? No.