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March 6, 2006
Michael Jackson’s Reputation Still in Crisis
PHOTO: Michael Jackson's Mugshot
“Michael couldn't survive one day in prison - he would commit suicide.”
Comments from Jermaine Jackson regarding his younger brother, Michael Jackson.
Jermaine Jackson feared his kid brother Michael might be guilty of child molestation, but backed him at trial because he thought the pop star would commit suicide in prison, according to a bombshell book proposal obtained by the New York Daily News.
In a tell-all outline shopped to publishers just weeks after Michael's arrest in November 2003, Jermaine described the Pop King as a sometimes out-of-control drug and booze abuser with a calculating mean streak and "a thing for young children."
The eight-page proposal for "Legacy: Surviving the Best and the Worst," lists Michael Jackson's preferred substances as Vicodin, Demerol, codeine, Percocet, cocaine, Jack Daniels and wine.
"Does he really know what he does with these kids?" Jermaine wondered.
"I don't want to tell you my brother's innocent. I am not certain that he is," Jermaine said in the tome-teaser drafted by author Stacy Brown, who co-authored "Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask" with the singer's former publicist, Bob Jones.
But Jermaine's still-unpublished tale is the ultimate insider look at the troubled star.
He admits that the family has protected Michael Jackson’s image and says that Jackson also cheats, lies and even changed the color of his skin.
Even the pop star's behavior with his own nephews has left his family "shaken," according to Jermaine. He recounts the family coming together after the death of brother Tito's ex-wife in the mid 1990s and finding Michael sitting on a bed with Tito's young sons and holding them in a disturbing manner.
Jermaine also dished about the singer's bizarre behavior shortly before he surrendered to authorities to face charges in November 2003.
Holed up in a Las Vegas hotel room, Michael calmly watched a "Pinocchio" DVD with his three children in his lap, but he later flew into a rage, trashing the room and breaking every glass, lamp and dish in it.
PHOTO: MJ Dangles Son
The protective big brother vowed to help Michael beat the rap because "Michael couldn't survive one day in prison ... He'd commit suicide."
Other bombshell teasers in Jermaine's outline include:
• That during the Jackson 5 days, Michael's brothers feared he was gay. The brothers met lots of women while touring and all eventually fell in love. "But Michael, well, he wasn't interested. We used to quietly say that we couldn't have a gay brother."
• Michael hates Jews because he thinks Hollywood moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen stole the idea for Dreamworks studio, including the boy-on-the moon logo, from him. "But the Jews are the powerful ones and they have done a lot to put my brother in his place ... just another n-----."
• That a devious and calculating Michael squashed his brothers' solo musical careers.
But the family stood behind Michael despite pain, doubts and misgivings, unwilling to give up on "our little brother."
Michael Jackson threw a raging fit and made drastic threats when he found out his brother Jermaine was drafting a tell-all book, so his shaken older sibling pulled the plug on the project, the Daily News learned.
Michael vowed to toss Jermaine out of the Jackson family home and sue him and anyone else who had a hand in writing or publishing the proposed tome, "Legacy: Surviving the Best and the Worst," said author Stacy Brown, who had been slated to ghostwrite the project.
In a shocking tome-teaser detailed in Sunday's Daily News, Jermaine, 51, said Michael, 47, has "a thing for young children" and that he feared his kid brother might be guilty of the child molestation charges he faced in late 2003. A jury found the oddball entertainer not guilty of the charges last June.
Jermaine also dished about Michael's alleged drug and alcohol abuse, claimed that Michael's two older kids were fathered by a sperm donor and suggested that their father, Joe, molested their sisters Rebbie and La Toya when they were kids.
In an exclusive interview yesterday, Brown said he was "surprised and caught off guard" when the Daily News obtained the book outline more than two years after it was shopped to publishers as Michael faced child molestation charges. "The experience of writing the proposal ... and then having Michael go nuts, Jermaine crying, and the family going into chaos mode was draining and weird, and one that I wouldn't want to deal with again," said Brown, who co-wrote "Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask" with the pop star's longtime front man Bob Jones.
A few reputation management tips from the Reputation Doctor regarding Michael Jackson:
• Running from your mistakes, lies or problems only makes things worse.
An excellent reputation is built on truth, transparency and accountability. These are three things Michael Jackson is lacking in his reputation. However, he needs to come clean with himself before he can ever come clean with others. He is in huge denial of his behavior.
• Jermaine’s reputation is better than Michael’s today and as a result, we view Jermaine's opinion with more honesty and credibility.
Michael’s reputation is a mess. He is trying to create another image, but you all know I think an image is a lie and will blow in the wind like straw. A reputation is built with a concrete foundation of truth or not at all.
• When your own family is turning on you in public, your reputation is definitely in crisis!
Another family member speaking out against you in public is anyone's nightmare. The truth always bubbles to the top and sometimes directly from the "inner circle" by a family member. Michael Jackson needs to seek seasoned crisis PR help today. His reputation has mud all over it and his reputation will only be repaired with complete truth from his own lips. At the second he finally speaks the truth is when he finally begins repairing his reputation. It will also lift a huge burden from his shoulders because lying is always a big burden. Lying also fills one with a lot of guilt. It is time for Michael to seek the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, not just for himself, but for the sake of his entire family before it is too late.
PHOTO: Michael Jackson Before His Crises
Remember, do the right thing when your reputation is in crisis and seek the counsel of an experienced reputation management expert. It will be a major challenge, but ultimately the rewards of repairing your reputation will be great. Why? Because Your Reputation Is Everything! ™
About Mike Paul
Mike Paul is editor of The Reputation Doctor blog. The Reputation Doctor is a nickname given to him by various clients. Mike's blog is located at www.ReputationDoctor.com. He appears regularly on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV, ABC News, ESPN, CBS News, BBC, and others as a weekly contributor and expert in the global news regarding leaders, celebrities, corporations and other organizations with reputations in crisis. Mr. Paul is also president and senior counselor of MGP & Associates PR (www.mgppr.com), a leading strategic public relations and reputation management firm based in New York. For interview requests, speeches, senior counseling or other business opportunities with Mr. Paul, call 212-595-8500 or email info@mgppr.com.
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