Sunday, June 28, 2009

Michael Jackson Rumors Debunked

Michael Jackson was long the target of many rumors during his brief lifetime. If you are looking to hear about the court trials or Michael's skin disease Vitiligo, please refer to earlier posts for detailed information and photographs.

Other rumors will be addressed here.

Q:Did Michael sleep in a hyperbaric chamber to make himself younger?

False. Michael was a frequent guest to many hospital wards over the years where he would stop to visit and cheer up patients or visit terminally ill children. On one visit, he saw a hyperbaric chamber and asked the doctor questions about it. He wanted to know what it felt like to be inside of it, so he climbed in. Someone snapped a shot and it went around the world and the rumor was born.

Q: Did Michael buy the elephant man's bones?
False. When asked this question during an interview, Michael got a hell of a kick out of it. Despite his eccentricities, Michael was intrigued by the rumor but wondered why people thought he would buy them or where he would put them if he had.

Q: Did Michael propose to Elizabeth Taylor?
Possibly. Elizabeth Taylor denied this in a somewhat sarcastic manner when asked, but given Michael's attachment to her, it's not altogether unbelievable.

Q: Was Michael a Jehovah's witness?
True. Not towards the end of his life, but as a child and up until his mid 20s. His mother is a devout Jehovah's witness and Michael himself went door-to-door (in a disguise) at times as a young man. During the Thriller era, Jehovah's Witnesses took issue with his Thriller video and did not want it released as they thought the images were satanic. This is the reason there is a written message at the beginning of the video in which Michael expresses that the video has nothing to do with his personal beliefs in the occult. Michael left the church and by all accounts was a great scholar of religion. He didn't chose a definitive one the rest of his life, but enjoyed learning about all different religions and would attend a Baptist Church one day and a Synagogue the next. There was a picture taken of Michael's bedroom in the 90s. There was a painting of Jesus above his bed.

Q: Was Michael's marriage to Lisa Marie real?
True. Lisa Marie never wavered on this, both in her statement relating to his death as well as through their marriage and the difficult and angry times afterwards. I used to own a wedding card that these two sent to their family and friends after the wedding. It was a secret wedding so the Jacksons weren't present, though secret marriages tend to be common in their family. The world found out through the judge who married them that blurted it out to the world a month after they tied the knot.

Q: Was Michael's father abusive?
True. Michael never went into great detail about the abuse, though he did acknowledge to Oprah Winfrey that his father beat him and he mentioned that his father used to tell him he was ugly. He also confided that he would become physically ill at the sight of his father even as an adult and used to throw up upon hearing that his dad was coming to visit him.

Q: Did Michael own a chimpanzee?
True. Bubbles the chimp was one of countless exotic animals Michael owned (others included giraffes, elephants, panthers, a crocodile, peacocks, rams, etc, though Michael oddly enough had a fear of dogs. This wasn't always true as he had guard dogs as a child). Bubbles was raised with Michael until he grew too big and became dangerous. He is still alive and being cared for outside the family. Michael was a huge animal-lover and among those who funded the release of Keiko, the whale from Free Willy. He was vegetarian most of his life, at 16 vowing not to eat meat. He cheated from time to time over the years.

Q: Did Michael have a flesh-eating disease?
False. This peculiar rumor appeared and vanished in the last months of Michael's life. Michael did have Vitiligo and Lupus.

Q: Did Michael have plastic surgery?
True. This one is sort of a no-brainer. Michael had multiple surgeries, the first on his nose which was practical and a medical procedure as he broke his nose upon falling on stage when he was 20. He had numerous nose jobs and a cleft put into his chin. Michael's siblings greatly teased him about his big nose as a child, probably adding to his insecurities physically. He also didn't want to see his father Joseph in the mirror.

Q: Did Michael invent the moonwalk?
Partly. According to Michael, the inspiration from the Moonwalk came from kids he saw in the ghetto, who did a certain version of it. He took their steps and added changes and developed the Moonwalk.

Q: Was Michael gay?
Michael never directly addressed this question, and it was never directly asked on an interview. Both of his ex-wives claim they had sexual relations with him. When Oprah asked him if he was a virgin, he laughed and blushed, claiming that he was a gentleman and didn't believe such things should be spoken about openly. Michael was known to have crushes on girls as a boy and growing up. Despite his androgenous look, no evidence ever came to light that he was gay. In fact, some friends and even fans claimed that Michael was quite fond of flirting and hitting on women, which can also be evidenced in clips of "Living With Michael Jackson" the documentary.

Q: Are Michael's kids really his?
You got me. Michael's father Joseph had red hair and green eyes as a young man. LaToya also has green eyes. Michael's daughter Paris and oldest son, Prince, definitely are at least partially Debbie Rowe's which can very easily be visually identified. Michael never revealed the source of who Prince Michael II (Blanket)'s mother was, though he does bear a slight resemblance to Michael by coincidence or truth. Michael never revealed any donor information. I imagine only a handful of people know the answer to this question.

Q: Why did Michael's kids wear masks?
Michael knew what it was to live life in the spotlight with a camera shoved in your face since he was a child. He never wanted his children to share that fate but always wanted to be a dad, even as a teenager. The masks served to shield his children from prying cameras. The media did not have an accurate idea of his children's faces so they were able to go out in public without masks and live more normal lives without being followed when not with their father. They didn't wear masks at home.

Q: Who was the female voice on 'In The Closet'?
Most people think it was Naomi Campbell as she was the girl in the video. It was actually Princess Stephanie of Monaco, who supposedly briefly dated Michael. Food for thought, you can also here Notorious B.I.G. rap with Michael on his song 'This Time Around' on the HIStory album and the girl having a steamy phone conversation with Janet Jackson on her Velvet Rope album is actually Lisa Marie Presley.



Q: Did Michael ever want to act?
Michael starred in many films, not only his own videos. He was in 'The Wiz', 'Captain Eo', 'Ghosts', 'Men In Black II', and 'Miss Castaway'. He was in talks to play Edgar Allan Poe in a film that never materialized and had a desire for parts that eventually went to Johnny Depp, including Edward Scissorhands and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Marlon Brando gave him a few acting lessons.

Q: Did Michael do any other types of art?
Michael did the storyboard illustrations for the movie 'Mars Attacks'. He also did some sketches for Walt Disney World. Michael also did voiceover work under a pseudonym for certain episodes of the Simpsons. He was an artist of all trades.

Feel free to add or send in more questions or rumors, we will dig up the answer.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I deleted a comment from a user here as I will not tolerate comments against an individual on race, religion, or orientation. I am open to the views and posts of all but will not allow discrimination on the above on this blog towards any individual. Feel free to post your views and opinions, those I do and don't disagree with are more than welcome, as long as it does not violate the principle above. We are all equals on this blog.

Anonymous said...

does Micheal wear wig all the time?

Anonymous said...

::does Michael wear a wig all the time?::

I can't confirm this for sure, but I certainly think so. Michael was standing next to me outside the courthouse in 2004. The very first thing I noted was his hair, and that it had to be a wig. Not that he couldn't just straighten his hair, but it was the sheer glossy nature of it and the way it was too perfect to be natural. Also, if you look at the photo shoot Michael did with LIFE magazine in 1995 with Lisa Marie Prelsey on their 1 year anniversary, you can see netting on and around his sideburns (this is when he was rocking the short hair look)so apparently that was a wig as well. I don't want to add to any speculation regarding if he was bald or not or what extent he used wigs because I don't know, those are just my observations that always had me asking that question too. He did suffer 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns on his scalp during the Pepsi accident in 1984 when his hair caught fire, I don't know if that would affect the growth of hair or not. His hair during Bad and Dangerous looked pretty real to me...

Nata said...

I wonder if U have any rumors on MJ's first concert in Russia, Moscow in 1993, organised by Samvel Gasparov.. Id just found out abt it from Russian tv programm yesterday and got amused to learn more abt the concert, Michael Jackson and people's natures

In my view it just shows what great things can be done by truly great people..
Im bad with my own words (plus English is not my native language) and hope that U can put this story in better words so people see the way MJ was..
I have some links in russian saying about this story.. Maybe U can get it in english too?
The links:
1) an article in newspaper in 1993-
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc-rss.aspx?DocsID=8735
2) an article in 2003, interview of Gasparov, concert organiser
http://www.izvestia.ru/culture/article41653/
3) another Gasparov's interview in 2004 (its a bit long :-/, part abt MJ is in the middle of it)
http://www.druzya.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7403
4) a blog written by a guy who was at the concert in 1993 and yesterday (1st of July) watched Gasparov's interview on one of Russian TV programms dedicated to MJ
http://idiot.fm/2009/07/01/chto-i-trebovalos-dokazat-8/

and as a guy said in comment to the blog (link 4): after such examples of one's life people still wonder why the world grieves on this man's leave

Best rgds,
Nata

ch555x said...

Interesting factoids RE:MJ...

Anonymous said...

I just watched Martin bashir's video.He was rude to Micheal. And he's stupid fool idiot!

Cant he see how kind is micheal!Micheal never raise his voice to anyone.He was just to kind for me and people only know to take advantage on his money.

May god pay Micheal's good deed.

Anonymous said...

"Michael did the storyboard illustrations for the movie 'Mars Attacks'."

Are there any reliable sources for this?
I've stumbled upon some storyboard drawings in a MJ-fanboard, but no one could confirm that they were really his....

Anonymous said...

I believe his name was also in the film credits, I could be mistaken about that. I remember seeing them printed in a fan publication that was officially endorsed by Michael, I highly doubt they would have printed it if it hadn't been true or confirmed. They were very cool drawings, as many of MJ's sketches often were. So much talent there...

VariousCrap said...

Did MJ play any instruments?

I know he did the drums on Morphine and I have seen pics of him with a guitar and piano, but was there anything else?

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jim. Thanks for visiting the site! I do know the MJ played piano and a bit of guitar and tinkered with drums. I wouldn't say he was extremely accomplished in the fields of actual musical instruments like some of his brothers. He did compose a lot of music using vocal instrumentation. He used his voice much like a keyboard with different musical options, he could vocally mimick instruments and in order to compose a song, he would take multiple tape recorders and on each one beatbox or mimic whichever instrument on different recorders then rewind them and play them all back in unison. Apparently, it sounded a lot like a real band. His beatboxing was amazing.

Unknown said...

Hello. Can you send me any link or whatever proof that Michael briefly dated Princess Stephanie of Monaco? I would like to know as I could see in a YouTube video her facial expression when Diana Ross sat on the lap of MJ during a World Music Awards performance. She seemed not too happy with that. I would appreciate any. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say that there actually is a video in which Michael directly says he is not gay (unfortunately released by News of the World).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyc31SX0jh8
You wrote this awhile ago so of course you wouldn't have seen it though, so this isn't meant as a criticism. Good work on everything! =)

Anonymous said...

I have seen that video since the article was written. He also mentions in his song "Tabloid Junkie" that 'they say he's homosexual' and the song refers to fake rumors and tabloid sensationalism so I figured he was making an indirect statement there. But one can't help but notice with a song title like 'In The Closet' that he also liked puns and as with other aspects of his life kept his personal life details mysterious, as the News of the World clip was a private tape when he was under investigation and wasn't released to the public. If he cared that much about letting his personal life be known, he would have been more public about that. I respect his decision to not have to talk about such details either way, it's no one's business nor does it matter.

Anonymous said...

Hey, this is a great lot of informaiton to host on blogspot and i have always believed in michael's innocence and that he did indeed suffer from Vitiligo throughout his life as it is a permanent condition

one thing that is bugging me is the Muslim conversion story printed in the sun in 2008. i know two of michaels lawyers on larry king claimed this to be a rumor, nothing more, but are you able to elaborate for me? as in the later years of his life, from what i have read and watched from michaels interviews, he claims to be giving all glory to Jehovah, the lord and still spoke about the bible
also he did have a christian funeral and reportedly pray and worship with the Andrae and sandra crouch, not the sinners prayer yes i know that bit is false but the fact is they did visit him to praise and worship, his spokesperson even admitted he asked for an anotinting of the holy spirit for his music

but since you have been able to answer the questions surrounding the legendary singer so well are you able to tell me if he ever was or died a muslim?