Michael Jackson

SHAME ON THE Oct. 28 article by Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune regarding the release of the Michael Jackson film "This Is It. " He perpetuates the false accusations that Michael was a child molester, that he was Wacko Jackson, that he had lapses in judgment. Michael was acquitted of the molestation charges as there was no validity to them. His marriages and plastic surgery are none of Jones' business. I hope Jones was taught as a child that if you can't say something positive about a person, don't say anything at all. Vera D. Royster Philadelphia

IT IS TOO EASY to find fault with Michael Jackson's eccentric behavior because it is filled with so many contradictions. Michael was born African-American but now looks so pale no suntan can cure it. Michael married Elvis Presley's daughter even though Elvis once said that the "only thing a colored person can do for me is to buy my records and shine my shoes. " Michael says his childhood was abusive, and yet he has been accused of sexually abusing minors. It is not important how the media sensationalizes Michael's private life.

IT'S ONLY halftime in the Michael Jackson trial. But I have reached a verdict. Not innocent! But you knew that. You can't fill a phone booth with people who believe Jackson's contact with young boys is innocent. Anyone who would allow her young son to sleep in Jackson's bed or to spend an unsupervised evening with him is more pimp than parent. The term "neverland" should have taken on new meaning back when he made his first million-dollar payout to a pim, ahh, parent.

THE reinvention of Michael Jackson continues. It seems the King of Pop is looking to become the King of Rap. Yes, according to Rush & Molloy in the New York Daily News, MJ is looking to become edgier. More hip hop. Less hopscotch. "Soon you will see him surrounded by all kinds of beautiful women," says Jackson insider and "Alien Rock" author Michael Luckman. And Jackson's reportedly close to landing folks like Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Mary J. Blige to perform on his hurricane relief song, "From the Bottom of My Heart.

An unauthorized Michael Jackson book, just out, portrays him as a lonely, reclusive figure whose life has been shaped by disdain for his father, Joseph, who slapped his children around and flaunted his affairs. Along the way, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, by J. Randy Taraborrelli, details the pop star's surgical rehab and his jealous evaluations of fellow superstars such as Bruce Springsteen ("Really overrated. He can't sing and he can't dance") and Mick Jagger ("How did he ever get to be a star?"

Michael Jackson broke his self-imposed, seven-week seclusion Thursday night when he turned up for a show at Steve Wynn's Treasure Island resort in Las Vegas. He watched with Wynn, ex-junk bond king Michael Milken and a squad of bodyguards. Jackson, in red-leather jacket and cap, was applauded by some in the audience. He's said to be staying at the Mirage, next door to Treasure Island. Meanwhile, the lawyer for the boy accusing the pop star of sex abuse said that Jackson was "stonewalling" in that the only written answers to hundreds of questions submitted in an inquiry involving the 13-year-old's civil action against him were his name and address.

IF YOU believe in the notion of resting in peace, Michael Jackson is going to be tossing and turning. In an exclusive chat with TMZ.com, choreographer Wade Robson 's lawyer, Henry Gradstein , has reopened MJ's pedo-files. Wade spent many weekends with Michael between ages 7 and 14, and Gradstein told TMZ that Michael was a sexual abuser whose brainwashing finally took its toll on Wade last year and sent him into a tailspin. Gradstein said that Michael would tell the impressionable Wade, "If anyone ever finds out about what we did we will go to jail for the rest of our lives" and "our lives will be ruined forever.

I'M WAKING up quite refreshed these days now that I know more about Michael Jackson than I know about why our nation's defense system completely failed on Sept. 11. Michael Jackson must be on the list of "Acceptable Diversionary Topics" handed out to the networks by the government. Maybe we should add "sequined" to our "Tom Ridge Danger Color Chart" to alert the nation when Mr. Jackson is up to no good. Mark F. Walker, Philadelphia With the newest bin Laden tape, it's NOW or NEVER.

The boarded Uptown Theater in North Philadelphia was as much a place to remember Michael Jackson as it was a reminder of the good old days when the Jackson Five performed here 40 years ago. People began to gather outside the Uptown on North Broad Street for the 7 p.m. candlelight vigil more than an hour in advance. The moment of silence in the star's honor was brief. Instead, the crowd danced, cheered "We love Michael," and sang songs. More than 100 people, many of them baby boomers whose teen and young-adult years were fueled by Jackson's artistry, showed up last night to bid the star farewell.

Tweeting and texting, phoning and yelling in the street, Philadelphia-area residents shared the news last night of the death of Michael Jackson, the oddity and icon who perplexed and entertained America for decades. Not so much a person as a once-in-a-lifetime event, Jackson was part car wreck and part comet, and the 50-year-old's passing on a warm summer night galvanized people in the city and environs. "I was devastated," said Neil Shore, 39, a disc jockey at the Camden Community College radio station, WDBK-FM (91.5)

OH NO, HE DIDN'T. That's what Debbie Rowe , Michael Jackson 's ex-wife, is saying about allegations that the King of Pop molested dancer Wade Robson . Robson, who Jackson befriended, raised eyebrows yesterday when he said on NBC's "Today Show" yesterday that Jackson molested him from ages 7 to 14, an allegation he denied during Jackson's 2005 molestation trial. Rowe told TMZ, "I was angered that Wade Robson reversed his sworn testimony from court in 2005, and now claims to be a victim of sexual abuse.

In a strange about-turn, Wade Robson , 30, a choreographer who spoke up in defense of Michael Jackson during the singer's 2005 sexual-molestation charge, now says he actually was abused by Jackson. Robson's attorney, Henry Gradstein , has asked the judge in the Jackson wrongful-death trial to allow his client to sue the King of Pop's estate for an undisclosed sum. He claims Jackson molested Robson over a seven-year period while the young fan was still a child. Gradstein says Robson finally confronted the fact that he was abused when he suffered a nervous breakdown last year.

IF YOU believe in the notion of resting in peace, Michael Jackson is going to be tossing and turning. In an exclusive chat with TMZ.com, choreographer Wade Robson 's lawyer, Henry Gradstein , has reopened MJ's pedo-files. Wade spent many weekends with Michael between ages 7 and 14, and Gradstein told TMZ that Michael was a sexual abuser whose brainwashing finally took its toll on Wade last year and sent him into a tailspin. Gradstein said that Michael would tell the impressionable Wade, "If anyone ever finds out about what we did we will go to jail for the rest of our lives" and "our lives will be ruined forever.

Jackson's final months on trial LOS ANGELES - The most complete account of Michael Jackson's final months is about to unfold in a cramped Los Angeles courtroom nearly four years after the pop superstar's death. Lawyers for Jackson's mother will attempt to convince a jury that the company promoting the pop superstar's 2009 comeback concerts is responsible for his untimely death. The attorneys will try to prove that AEG Live hired and controlled the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter over Jackson's demise.

WASHINGTON - In a spectacular fall from political prominence, former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife agreed Friday to plead guilty to federal charges growing out of what prosecutors said was a scheme to use $750,000 in campaign funds for lavish personal expenses, including a $43,000 gold watch and furs. Federal prosecutors filed one charge of conspiracy against the former Chicago congressman and charged his ex-alderman wife, Sandra, with one count of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received.

IN THE BACK of the paper, the Super Bowl is football. On the Tattle page, it's an entertainment showcase - center of the universe for the rich and powerful and beautiful - and actors with shows on CBS. As part of the actual game broadcast, viewers got Beyonce and a Destiny's Child reunion at halftime, Jennifer Hudson fronting the Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus on a pregame "America the Beautiful" and Alicia Keys on a super slo-mo rendition of...

SOLVING this "Thriller" was easy as 1, 2, 3 - oh, simple as do, re, mi. A pair of autographed Michael Jackson shoes that were reported stolen from an auction at the Loews Hotel in Center City early Sunday have been returned to their owner. Martino Cartier, a salon owner from Blackwood, N.J., said that he brought the shoes and a jacket belonging to Jackson to be auctioned off at the Hair O' the Dog gala at the hotel Saturday night. The proceeds from the auction were to support his charity, Friends Are By Your Side, which provides wigs to cancer patients.

SOMEONE'S been "Bad. " Police are looking for the person who moonwalked off with a pair of signed Michael Jackson shoes - and the certificate of authenticity that went with them - from an auction at a Center City hotel early Sunday. According to city police, who responded to the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, at 12th and Market streets, about 2 a.m. Sunday, hotel security was watching the room with the shoes in it when security officers left to handle an unknown incident at the other end of the hallway.

LAS VEGAS - A dealmaker who helped bring Donald Trump to Sin City, courted Michael Jackson for a casino residency and consulted for Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin has been found dead at his home in Las Vegas. Jack Wishna was found dead at his Las Vegas-area home Tuesday, Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said. The circumstances surrounding the 54-year-old's death were unknown. Murphy said he hoped investigators would be able to determine the cause of death Wednesday afternoon.

During gift-giving season in the digital age, boxed sets are absurdly anachronistic - and more essential than ever. Sure, it's ridiculous to lust after doorstop-sized consumer goods when the sounds therein could easily fit on a flash drive the size of your fingernail. But then what are you going to give the music lovers in your life who need to hold a tangible treasure come the holidays? Boxes cater to obsessives, and there's always more in the vaults. This year, there are a number of sets in which a single classic album has been padded with extras to fill a box, including the Michael Jackson Bad set reviewed here, as well as sets dedicated to The Velvet Underground & Nico and The Beach Boys' Smile . The concomitant trend is to compile absolutely everything an artist recorded for a label in one foreboding package.