by Donald Bogle
“He was completely out of it. He was so drugged up he was like a zombie. He just looked like a lost soul,” said Tarling. “When his hat came off and I saw his whole face for the first time I was physically shocked. I had this image of Michael Jackson the performer in my mind, but the sight I saw was nothing like that—he looked terrible. He wore full make-up with smudged red lipstick and eyeliner. His face was covered in white paste like a clown. He looked as if he had been wearing the same make-up for a couple of weeks. What shocked me most was the tip of his nose—it was jet black. His whole face was white except for his nose which was like an open cut goes when it congeals over into a scab. It looked awfully painful.”
Tarling also remembered: “I wanted to get him off immediately because the longer we stayed there, the more vulnerable we were. It was pandemonium on the plane, security men and airport ground staff were unloading baggage, but Jackson was oblivious to it all.”
Elizabeth, however, was completely alert. She had her two dogs with her, and aware that Britain’s quarantine laws forbade pets from entering the country for a period of time, she wanted her animals smuggled off the plane. Tarling refused. He said she then told Fortensky to stay on the flight with the dogs. He did not seem pleased.
Tarling had to carry Michael off the plane. At the same time, a Michael Jackson “lookalike was smuggled on to the plane and curled up on his seat pretending to sleep. The decoy worked and as far as the passport control officers were concerned, Jackson had never left the plane.”
Waiting in one mini-bus was the therapist Beauchamp Colclough, who questioned Michael: Did he understand “why he was there and did he know he had a problem.” The rules of the clinic were explained. Michael seemed to have no problem when told he’d have to make his own bed and wash his dishes. Or perhaps he was too out of it to understood what was being said. But when he was informed that phone calls would not be allowed, Michael snapped to attention. “Suddenly Jackson said very calmly and coherently, ‘Excuse me, can you turn this bus around and take me back? If I can’t use a telephone, I’m calling the whole thing off.’ ” Said Tarling: “It made everyone realize that he wasn’t such a spaced-out idiot after all.” It was agreed that he could use the phone.
In the van, Taylor’s temper flared when she learned that Michael could not immediately go to the clinic because of concern about the media. “This is bull shit,” she said, then proceeded to ask Tarling about his credentials. In the van, her fragile physical condition became apparent to the bodyguard. “As I drove around, she screamed out hysterically. Apparently, the movement had hurt her back.” Once again, she was exerting herself in a way that would have appalled her physicians.
Michael was first taken to the home of Elton John’s manager John Reid. “Within an hour, Taylor insisted Jackson be taken to the clinic. She felt he would react better to treatment in a hospital environment and the doctors agreed.” In the early morning hours, he was secretly moved to the clinic. Taylor reboarded the plane, which then flew to Switzerland.
Michael’s stay at the clinic was difficult for him—and the staff. “I felt sorry for him. You could tell he was determined to get out and was ready to walk on to the streets of London in the freezing cold. Half the world’s media were searching for this man and he nearly walked right out into the open—on his own.” But he somehow stuck it out. At one therapy session, Michael, with other patients, introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Michael, and I’m addicted to drugs.” It was no different from Elizabeth’s group therapy sessions at the Betty Ford Center. Not long afterward, the decision was made to take Michael back to the home of John Reid where, under staff supervision and along with nurses, doctors, and fellow patients, his treatment continued. When Jackson had to wear a disguise—“baggy tracksuit pants, a long coat, scarf and an old baseball cap”—to leave the clinic, Tarling remembered: “Jackson was as cool as you like. He waited for my signal, then walked to the car just outside and I drove off. He liked the disguise but refused to change his shoes.” Both the disguise and the Jackson lookalike on the flight seemed to spring from old-school Hollywood, which surely pleased Michael, subterfuges worthy of Howard Hughes or Garbo or even Elizabeth.
On December 10, Michael was discharged from the clinic and returned to the United States.
• • •
In the States, he returned to what, for him, was a nightmarish media circus. He was also confronted with a long-running suit from songwriters who accused him of using their material on Thriller. Both Bert Fields and security consultant Anthony Pellicano left his defense team. So intense and pervasive was the coverage that the NAACP accused the media of being “excessive and too negative.” “There have been no charges filed and if they are filed, they will be filed in the courtroom—not the newsroom,” the organization’s West Coast region director said. “We are sick of watching negative news stories.”
By January 1, 1994, $2 million had been spent on the investigation. “Two grand juries had questioned more than two hundred witnesses, including thirty children who had been friends of Michael’s over the years. Not one witness could be found who could corroborate Jordie Chandler’s story,” it was reported.
But the worst was yet to come. Because Jordan Chandler’s deposition had described distinguishing marks on Michael’s genitalia, the prosecution ordered Michael to undergo a strip search, which would be photographed, to see if such marks existed. Fortunately, his attorneys arranged for the procedure to be performed at Neverland. But it was still psychologically painful. On the day of the strip search, Michael protested that he couldn’t leave his room. According to J. Randy Taraborrelli, it took about an hour for attorneys Cochran and Weitzman to coax Michael to come out of his bedroom and into the parlor. Also present was Santa Barbara’s District Attorney Thomas Sneddon Jr. As the search was about to begin, Sneddon left the room, as did Michael’s attorneys. “Bodyguard Bill Bray was allowed to remain, as would the two detectives and two photographers and two doctors.” Wearing a robe, an angry, frazzled, and humiliated Michael shouted at one of the detectives: “You! Get out! I don’t want you here for this. Get out!” A doctor calmed him down. Hearing the commotion, Cochran and Weitzman returned to the room. “Get these sons of bitches out of here,” Michael shouted.
Finally, he stood on a platform and was photographed by a DA’s photographer.
Afterward, an outraged Michael addressed the public in a taped video that was broadcast on CNN. “Don’t treat me like a criminal,” he said, and thereafter described the complete body examination by investigators. “It was the most humiliating ordeal of my life.” A cry from the heart, his words appeared true, emotional, and perhaps for some surprisingly heart-wrenching.
His attorneys apparently questioned if he could endure a trial, now set for March 1994. Discussions ensued about his welfare, his state of mind, his emotional state. Finally, it was suggested he settle out of court and be done with the whole experience. Who knew what else might be revealed or distorted during a trial. The scrutiny could break him. But Michael was adamant. Not a penny would go to Evan Chandler, whom he believed had put Jordie up to the allegations. From most accounts, he never spoke ill of the boy. He could never understand why, from his perspective, Jordie had turned against him.
In the midst of the media frenzy and the defense team’s maneuvers, Michael had a party for two hundred underprivileged children at Neverland on January 16. One could only wonder what he was thinking. But Michael remained in many respects naïve, an innocent.
Michael was finally persuaded to settle the case rather than endure the continued media frenzy—and also a trial that would leave him even more emotionally battered and drained.
• • •
“Michael Jackson Settles Suit For Sum Said to Be in Millions,” read the front-page headline in the New York Times on January 26, 1994. “In return for the financial settlement the boy, who is unidentified, dropped the civil lawsuit he had instituted against Mr. Jackson. But a separate criminal investigati
on will continue.” Los Angeles’s District Attorney Gil Garcetti said: “The criminal investigation of singer Michael Jackson is ongoing and will not be affected by the announcement of the civil case.” Johnnie Cochran read a statement, however, stating: “In short, he is an innocent man who does not intend to have his career and his life destroyed by rumors and innuendo.” “With the civil case ended, legal experts said a criminal investigation of Mr. Jackson might collapse,” the New York Times reported. “Under a California law adopted two years ago, a victim of sexual abuse cannot be compelled to testify against his or her assailant.” The New York Times also stated: “But legal experts said the settlement had left Mr. Jackson open to similar suits.” The New York Times would be right on both counts.
Estimates of the settlement ran as high as $22 million, of which $20 million would be put in trust for Jordan; one million each would go to his parents, Evan and June. Additional sums would be paid to Chandler’s attorney Larry Feldman for contingency fees. One estimate of those fees was $5 million.
Ironically, before the settlement, the results of a poll conducted earlier by the tabloid television show A Current Affair indicated that 75 percent of people felt Jackson was innocent. But if anything, the settlement led many to believe Michael was indeed guilty. Afterward, it was said by those close to him that he regretted the settlement for the rest of his life.
His image never fully recovered. Henceforth, the media depicted him primarily as Wacko Jacko. His look itself would undergo further changes. The skin lotion seemed to be even lighter, the hairpieces even more extreme, and the nose looked even more as if it were about to fall apart.
“On the professional front, Jackson has become a bad risk, both as a pitchman (Pepsi parted ways with him in November),” reported Newsweek, “and as an entertainer (he is being sued for more than $20 million in a fraud and breach-of-contract suit due to his canceled world tour). And he seems to have lost every supporter but Elizabeth Taylor, who proclaimed his innocence again last week.”
• • •
“Thank God this case is being dismissed,” Elizabeth informed the media. “Michael’s love of children is one of the purest things I have ever seen, it shines like an extra sun, despite the media’s distorted lens. I always knew this would be thrown out of court, and I am so grateful.” But, in reality, the case had not been thrown out of court. Michael’s attorneys had prevented it from ever getting there.
In some circles, Elizabeth was criticized, labeled an enabler. But generally she was considered a loyal friend. Within the African American community, where it was often believed, as the NAACP had indicated, that Michael was being persecuted by the media, Taylor was viewed as a heroine, the one person he seemed to believe in during these troubled times. Columnist Liz Smith reminded her readers: “USA Today’s Jeannie Williams made the significant point that no member of Jackson’s family has really comforted him during this latest crisis—only Elizabeth.” Perhaps it is best to add that although Katherine Jackson and other family members tried to comfort him, he didn’t find relief in their arms. He still had too many conflicting feelings about his family. Liz Smith also pointed out that Elizabeth’s die-hard support of Michael could be expected of this “maternal and nurturing woman. She loves Michael as she loves her own children. No further explanation needed. She is the original hand-in-the-fire-for-a-friend gal.”
As for the public’s opinion of Taylor, Smith added: “There has been some question of Elizabeth’s reputation being harmed by her steadfast loyalty to Michael. But this movie queen-turned-AIDS-crusader-and-perfume mogul occupies an untouchable position in the celebrity pantheon. Elizabeth today is eons removed from the home-wrecking femme fatale who once brought the wrath of the Vatican down on her head. Her strenuous efforts on behalf of Jackson—putting her own fragile health in peril—have only solidified her current, very positive, loyal public image.”
Of course, about those who remained critical of her, Elizabeth Taylor frankly didn’t care one iota. Most important to her, she had saved Michael in Mexico City. She had fought to ensure he had the proper defense. Despite her own physical maladies, none of which was helped by the traveling and by the stress, she had stuck by him to the end of the nightmare. Yet her frailty and poor health would very soon be apparent.
As for Michael, he would never forget her loyalty and support, her fundamental kindness.
Chapter 17
* * *
PUTTING THE PIECES of his life back together, Michael spent time with Lisa Marie Presley, his staunchest ally, second to Elizabeth. Neverland functioned just about as it always had. Resuming his social activities, he also set out to rehabilitate his image.
In February 1994, he participated in a television special: The Jackson Family Honors, reportedly the brainchild of Jermaine, who was the program’s executive producer. Televised from the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas, the special also seemed partly an attempt to rewrite the family’s dysfunctional reputation. Honoring Berry Gordy and Elizabeth for their achievements, the program featured performances by such stars as Gladys Knight and the Pips, Smokey Robinson, and Dionne Warwick. Also present at the taped broadcast was Louis Farrakhan, the minister of the Nation of Islam, once critical of Michael but now seemingly a fan. During the taping of the special, there was also a threat that La Toya “would sneak in disguised as an Arab and disrupt the event,” reported the New York Times. No one seemed to know why she would don such a disguise. But the threat that she would do so was made by her manager, Jack Gordon. “That was how I planned it,” Gordon informed the New York Times. “When La Toya goes to Europe, we dress her like an Arab. We put a thing around her face. She goes like an Arabic woman from the Mideast.” Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, in terms of the public’s response to the program, she was a no-show. But, regarding the makeup of the audience to see Michael that night, the New York Times pointed out: “There were no Hollywood power brokers, no movie stars, and few, if any, representatives of Sony Music Entertainment, which has a contract with Michael Jackson worth $50 million to $65 million, and the Creative Artists Agency, which represents the performer.”
Introduced by Michael, who looked sleek and dapper in all black with long hair, Elizabeth accepted her award—mostly by praising Michael. “Michael is a remarkable human being. He has a commitment to others beyond compare. We have suffered with you, Michael. From the depths of our deepest anguish we knew you would emerge victorious—bruised but magically untouched by the malicious tongues of the world.” She added: “Enough of tabloid media. Enough of tabloid television.” Those comments received a thundering ovation. But the atmosphere changed as younger audience members called out Michael’s name. They wanted to see the King of Pop onstage—in action. When Elizabeth said that he would not be performing, the mood of the audience quickly changed—as shouts and boos were heard throughout the theater. “Don’t boo,” she said. “That’s an ugly sound.” She then cut her speech short.
Actually, earlier backstage Elizabeth had tried to persuade Michael to perform, using her world-famous charms. But also present was Lisa Marie, who put her foot down. “Look, he’s not going to perform, so you might as well just leave it alone.” Elizabeth Taylor was not accustomed to being spoken to in this way, especially by a woman young enough to be her daughter. Michael apparently said nothing. “Well, you’re the boss, I guess,” said Taylor to Presley. Then she walked off.
But of great interest to television viewers was Elizabeth’s appearance—“ailing and enormous,” commented columnist Linda Stasi. “The actress, reportedly about to have hip surgery, was seen being transported to the hotel earlier in the day by ambulance and was obviously in a great deal of pain. Her weight seemed to have ballooned from a few months ago.” Clearly, she should not have attended the event. Heavily medicated, her weight gain may have been the result of steroids administered to combat the pain. Before the year was out, the results of an investigation of her pain medication prescriptions would be published in the Los Angeles
Times: “Three prominent Los Angeles physicians have been publicly reprimanded by the California Medical Board for falsifying patient records to cover up the massive amounts of addictive drugs they prescribed to actress Elizabeth Taylor. The action, yet to be publicly announced, finally brings to a close the accusations filed against the doctors in 1990 by the California attorney general’s office, alleging that the physicians prescribed excessive doses of painkillers for Taylor during the 1980s.”
Most significant, by the time The Jackson Family Honors aired in late February, Taylor had entered the hospital and undergone hip replacement surgery, the result of years of suffering from osteoarthritis of the left hip. The expected period of recuperation was eight weeks.
With the exception of Katherine, Michael didn’t seem interested in saying much to other family members at the The Jackson Family Honors. Nor did his sister Janet, who performed at the event and then quickly exited. Like Michael, she also appeared to keep her distance from her family, save for her mother. In Las Vegas, family members were booked into the MGM Grand; Janet chose to stay at the Luxor. Michael opted for the Mirage.
The show did nothing to alter the public’s perception of the Jacksons. “Family reunions are often strange affairs. But the public reunion of the performing Jackson clan on Saturday night was, even by Las Vegas standards, one of the strangest spectacles in theatrical history,” commented Bernard Weinraub in the New York Times. “Part soap opera, part tragedy and part weird comedy, the Jackson family epic took another turn in a reunion (minus one outcast daughter) before 15,000 people.” The newspaper also commented: “But most of the real-life drama actually took place offstage. Certainly the most pointed comment of the reunion came, unexpectedly, from Katherine Jackson, the matriarch. Several hours before the stage reunion, Mrs. Jackson appeared at a news conference with her husband, Joseph, and their son Jermaine. . . Mrs. Jackson was asked if her family, with all its wealth and fame, was living the American dream. ‘It’s been an American nightmare in the last six months,’ she said tartly. No one would dispute her.”
