Michael Jackson: The Bad
Michael Jackson and His Masked Children
There are two celebrity strategies for dealing with the glare of the public eye: legitimate attempts to go incognito, and stage-managed press events where you and your small children wear masks. This scene (the latter) is truly bizarre, as Jackson and three children sporting feathered masks show up at Ed Hardy to go shopping. And then he blows a kiss from behind a surgical mask.
Michael Jackson and His Costumed Chimp
This infamous clip features the King of Pop with his monkey jester, Bubbles, drinking tea and blinking at the innumerable photographers. It is a pure example of man and animal sharing in a complete loss of dignity. The worst part is when Bubbles does the moonwalk for the press and he just looks like an old drunk backing up from an angry barman. Truly sad.
The Infamous Baby Dangling, 2002
The media freakout that followed this incident from 2002 was justifiably substantial. It is, generally speaking, never a good idea to cover your child's head in a blanket and dangle him over a third-floor balcony. Jacko's side of the story, though, is that he was simply trying to give his fans and the media a closer look. This glaring example of his inability to recognize inappropriate behavior neatly sums up the troubles he experienced in the last fifteen years of his life.
Jackson Outbids Paul McCartney for Rights to The Beatles Catalog
Despite collabos with Paul McCartney (on “The Girl is Mine” and “Say Say Say”), when rights to The Beatles entire song catalog went to the auction block in 1984, Jackson spared no expense in acquiring them despite his friend’s protests. As his legal fees mounted in recent years, he eventually sold his share in those rights (as well as various Little Richard and Elvis titles he owned) to Sony via his company ATV Music Publishing. This article explains the whole messy business of it.
Jackson Faces Child Molestation Charges, Submits to a Strip Search and Genital Comparison
The rumors of child molestation that became such a major part of Jackson’s public persona stemmed from a 1993 case involving then 13-year-old Jordan Chandler and his father Evan Chandler. The case was ultimately thrown out for lack of evidence, but in the meantime Jackson subjected himself to a strip search during which doctors compared his genitals to a description given by Jordan Chandler. Jackson also paid the Chandlers an out-of-court settlement of roughly $22 million, and evidence from that case resurfaced during another child molestation suit in 2005 (in which Jackson was acquitted on all counts). During the trial his sister Latoya Jackson accused her brother of being a pedophile (a statement she later retracted), and the stress of the case made Jackson dependant on all kinds of anti-depressants and stress-relief drugs.
