Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days by Tanner Colby, Bill Whitfield, Javon Beard Page B
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Hughes and circus impresario P. T. Barnum. After Thriller , Jackson gave his handlers copies of Barnum’s autobiography, telling them that he wanted his career to be the greatest show on Earth. Pretty soon, it was. In February 1993, to promote his Dangerous album, Jackson opened the gates of Neverland to television crews for the first time, granting a tour and interview to Oprah Winfrey. The singer discussed his personal relationships, his use of plastic surgery, andthe skin condition he suffered from, vitiligo, which had caused the lightening of his appearance in recent years. Over 90 million viewers tuned in.
Six months later, Jackson lost control of his public image and never got it back. That August, during the Asian leg of the world tour for Dangerous , British tabloids broke the news that the Los Angeles police department had launched an investigation based on allegations that he had molested a thirteen-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler. In the days that followed, Jackson collapsed backstage before a concert in Singapore. Citing a variety of health reasons, he began canceling performances.
Raised a devout Jehovah’s Witness, as a young man Jackson famously did not drink, smoke, or even curse. In 1984, while he was filming a Pepsi commercial, a pyrotechnic mishap set his hair on fire, causing second-degree burns to his scalp and nerve damage that left him in considerable pain. He started taking prescription painkillers and, in the years that followed, began using them with increasing frequency. The Chandler scandal pushed him over the edge. In November, Jackson canceled the remainder of his tour, checked into a London rehab facility, and issued a press release acknowledging his addiction to prescription pain medication. But rehab offered only a brief escape. Released the following month, Jackson was forced to undergo a strip search conducted by investigators looking for alleged “identifying marks” on his genitals that had been described by his accuser.
Jackson was humiliated, and the press gleefully reported his humiliation in every detail. The same revolution in broadcast technology that fueled Jackson’s meteoric rise on MTV had turned on him with a vengeance. The rise of twenty-four-hour cable news outlets fused the tabloid media and mainstream journalism together into a new industry built on a never-ending stream of sensational “infotainment.” The circus surrounding Jackson’s legal troubles—and, shortly thereafter, the murder trial of O. J. Simpson—set a template for theobsessive, wall-to-wall coverage of celebrity scandal that has now, in the age of the Internet, become routine.
In 1994, GQ magazine published an article titled “Was Michael Jackson Framed?” that reported the results of an exhaustive investigation into the charges leveled against the singer. Reporters found that Jordan Chandler’s father, Evan, had made attempts to extort Jackson prior to going to the police. Also, the statements Jordan made about Jackson were only given after much prodding from his father and under the influence of a powerful sedative. Evan Chandler, a dentist, had given his son a dose of sodium amytal before having him interviewed; patients under the influence of the drug are highly suggestible. Prior to that interview, Jordan had always insisted that Jackson had done nothing wrong.
But GQ ’s debunking of the allegations didn’t make for the same sensational headlines as the allegations themselves, and Jackson’s decision to settle the case out of court was perceived as an admission of guilt. Almost a decade later, in a misguided attempt to repair his reputation, Jackson gave British journalist Martin Bashir an all-access pass to film the now notorious documentary Living with Michael Jackson . Far from rehabilitating the singer’s image, Bashir’s report focused heavily on the singer’s relationship with thirteen-year-old Gavin Arvizo, a cancer patient whom Jackson had befriended and helped through
Six months later, Jackson lost control of his public image and never got it back. That August, during the Asian leg of the world tour for Dangerous , British tabloids broke the news that the Los Angeles police department had launched an investigation based on allegations that he had molested a thirteen-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler. In the days that followed, Jackson collapsed backstage before a concert in Singapore. Citing a variety of health reasons, he began canceling performances.
Raised a devout Jehovah’s Witness, as a young man Jackson famously did not drink, smoke, or even curse. In 1984, while he was filming a Pepsi commercial, a pyrotechnic mishap set his hair on fire, causing second-degree burns to his scalp and nerve damage that left him in considerable pain. He started taking prescription painkillers and, in the years that followed, began using them with increasing frequency. The Chandler scandal pushed him over the edge. In November, Jackson canceled the remainder of his tour, checked into a London rehab facility, and issued a press release acknowledging his addiction to prescription pain medication. But rehab offered only a brief escape. Released the following month, Jackson was forced to undergo a strip search conducted by investigators looking for alleged “identifying marks” on his genitals that had been described by his accuser.
Jackson was humiliated, and the press gleefully reported his humiliation in every detail. The same revolution in broadcast technology that fueled Jackson’s meteoric rise on MTV had turned on him with a vengeance. The rise of twenty-four-hour cable news outlets fused the tabloid media and mainstream journalism together into a new industry built on a never-ending stream of sensational “infotainment.” The circus surrounding Jackson’s legal troubles—and, shortly thereafter, the murder trial of O. J. Simpson—set a template for theobsessive, wall-to-wall coverage of celebrity scandal that has now, in the age of the Internet, become routine.
In 1994, GQ magazine published an article titled “Was Michael Jackson Framed?” that reported the results of an exhaustive investigation into the charges leveled against the singer. Reporters found that Jordan Chandler’s father, Evan, had made attempts to extort Jackson prior to going to the police. Also, the statements Jordan made about Jackson were only given after much prodding from his father and under the influence of a powerful sedative. Evan Chandler, a dentist, had given his son a dose of sodium amytal before having him interviewed; patients under the influence of the drug are highly suggestible. Prior to that interview, Jordan had always insisted that Jackson had done nothing wrong.
But GQ ’s debunking of the allegations didn’t make for the same sensational headlines as the allegations themselves, and Jackson’s decision to settle the case out of court was perceived as an admission of guilt. Almost a decade later, in a misguided attempt to repair his reputation, Jackson gave British journalist Martin Bashir an all-access pass to film the now notorious documentary Living with Michael Jackson . Far from rehabilitating the singer’s image, Bashir’s report focused heavily on the singer’s relationship with thirteen-year-old Gavin Arvizo, a cancer patient whom Jackson had befriended and helped through
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