Katherine Jackson, come get your children. Just a few short months after LaToya Jackson’s outrageous claims about her brother Michael’s life, a new Jackson sibling has stepped up to hitch a ride on Michael’s posthumous coattails.
The offending party is no other than Jermaine Jackson, eldest Jackson son and author of “You Are Not Alone: Michael, Through a Brother’s Eyes,” which, of course, takes a look at Michael’s life and death.
Writing a book about your brother is harmless enough, but the “secrets” that Jermaine is revealing about his brother’s life are downright bizarre and unbelievable.
Jermaine recently told The Times magazine that his family had arranged to have a private jet whisk his brother away to Bahrain back in 2005, if his child molestation trial ended in a conviction. He claims Michael did not know of the plan, but certainly would have agreed to escape.
Perhaps an escape plan isn’t so strange, but what about September 11? Coincidentally timed around the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Jermaine also recently told Access Hollywood that his brother was scheduled to be in the World Trade Center Towers that very day — but serendipitously, the pop star overslept.
The real kicker to Jermaine’s sudden interest in telling stories about Michael is that the two weren’t the best of friends — their relationship was strained since the day Michael took over for lead vocal of the Jackson 5, and it seems the two never fully recovered.
In 1991 Jermaine actually recorded a diss track (for lack of a better word) against his brother called “Word to the Badd,” attacking his Michael’s fame and evolving skin color. The song leaked to radio included lyrics like “never think about who you love /only think about number one/ You forget about where you started from/ You only think about what you want.”
As I’ve said before, people grieve in different ways. That’s a given. And, as many have noted, tons of people are profiting off on Michael’s death, so why shouldn’t his siblings do the same?
But the thing is, Jermaine, like La Toya, knew Michael. Jermaine knew his brother, knew his tastes, his fears, hopes and dreams. And no doubt he knew that Michael was a pretty private person who was hurt by his portrayal in the media. So why in his death are his siblings piling on the secret-telling?
It’d be great if, instead of seeing Jermaine Jackson on TV exploiting Michael’s life for his own profit — because what value does sharing these stories add exactly, except feeding in to the popular hunger for stories of the absurd — Jermaine was doing something positive and beneficial with the Michael Jackson legacy, through charity work or social activism. That’s what Michael cared about — not spreading his business for book sales.
Whether or not you believe in an afterlife, there’s something to be said for honoring someone’s life with dignity, maintaining their memory with respect. Sharing stories about private jets rides to evade arrest and dodging September 11 certainly doesn’t honor Michael’s memory. Thanks to his siblings, Michael’s memory is being clouded with their foolishness and maintains the “Wacko Jacko” reputation.
