Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social and Sexual History of Michael Jackson (71 page)

Michael said that he didn't see anything wrong with that. "I'm happy if
Elizabeth is happy, and she seems to be. But does she really have to pose for
that magazine cover holding a condom? Naughty, naughty."

In time, Larry would meet many of Elizabeth's other gay friends, including Roddy McDowall and millionaire Malcolm Forbes.

The "wedding of the year" took place in October of 1991 at Neverland,
Michael picking up the tab of $1.5 million. Two American presidents attended, Ronald Reagan with his wife, Nancy, and Gerald Ford. There were 160
other guests.

Larry invited members of his family, except his father with whom he was
on the outs, and Elizabeth invited both children and grandchildren. Michael
invited his Hollywood Golden Age friends such as Gregory Peck. Merv
Griffin arrived with "arm candy," Eva Gabor, and even Diane von Furstenberg
put in an appearance and was seen talking to-of all people-Phyllis Diller.

In return for his generous hosting of their wedding, the Fortenskys pre seated Michael with a rare albino bird from the Amazon. It was rumored to
have cost Elizabeth $25,000.

After the wedding, Jack Gordon called with another one of the many getrich-schemes he had come up with for Michael. So far, Michael had rejected
all of Gordon's "deals," but Gordon never stopped trying until the two men
discontinued their association.

Gordon later recalled Michael as saying, "I wanted to marry Elizabeth
myself. But I understand why she chose Larry over me. But her marriage has
given me an idea. I'm going to get married myself My new bride is not as
famous as Elizabeth but her father was."

"Just who might that be?" Gordon asked. "I'm all ears, and I want the
rights to the photographic coverage."

"I'm not telling," Michael said. "I haven't even dated her yet."

"What makes you so cocky?" Gordon asked. "Maybe the bitch won't even
be attracted to you."

"Sexual attraction is not part of the deal," Michael said adamantly. "There
are other things."

"Yeah, money," Gordon snapped.

"That too, to the tune of $15 million dollars."

"For $15 million, I'll marry you myself-and I'm a straight arrow."

"There will be more than money on the table," Michael said. "I'll agree to
spend millions more on launching her singing career."

"Oh, my God," Gordon said. "You're going to propose marriage to a
singer. I want her management contract."

"You're always wanting something." Michael said, slamming down the
phone.

"It's being offstage that's difficult for me. "

--Michael Jackson

"Thank God for Michael Jackson. He has helped me so much.
These songs on Dangerous will determine how my career will
be. I was worried that people were getting tired of my music.
I don't know what the future holds, but whatever happens I'll
always have this."

--Teddy Riley

"Michael Jackson is the least weird man I know. My childhood
and Michael's childhood are so similar and so strange. "

--Elizabeth Taylor

"Whatever we do whatever we say now well make a vow to
keep it in the closet. "

--Michael Jackson
"Keep It in the Closet"

"Michael's vision is to present the most spectacular, most
state-of-the-art show to the world that it has ever seen, and
that's the goal we're moving toward.""

--Benny Collins
On the "Dangerous" tour

"I was glad to pose nude for Playboy. It forever squelched the
rumor that Michael and I are the same person. "

--La Toya Jackson

"Because with time my skin condition has gotten worse. I
have vitiligo and I'm totally allergic to the sun. I'm not even
supposed to be outside actually. Even if I'm in the shade, the
sun rays can destroy my skin. "

--Michael Jackson

At the dawn of the 1990s, Michael seemed to be making a career out of
receiving awards. Most often, he didn't show up to accept these honors. When
he did, he became notorious for giving a brief and predictable speech, always
of the "thank you very much, I love all of you" variety.

On ABC's Good Morning America, host Charlie Gibson referred to
Michael Jackson as "a guy who made one big album and a Pepsi commercial
where his hair caught on fire." Appearing with him, Tina Brown, then editorin-chief of Vanity Fair, defended her choice of Michael on the cover of one of
that magazine's recent editions. He was pictured with his long hair blowing
back in an unseen wind. "We chose Michael Jackson because he is the premier
entertainer of our time," Brown said. "He's the biggest!"

Michael did put in an appearance at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the
unveiling of a portrait that he had commissioned of himself. Called "The
Book," it depicted Michael in a chair holding a book on his lap. In the background was a statue of Peter Pan. A Japanese businessman paid $2.1 million
for the painting. This was the highest amount ever paid for a portrait of a living person. When Whoopi Goldberg heard of this, she remarked sarcastically:
"You've got to be kidding!"

With the collaboration of his new manager, Sandy Gallin, Michael took
more of a hands-on approach to his own career, leaving Gallin free to pursue
his other clients, who included not only Whoopi, but also Dolly Parton and
Neil Diamond. When Dolly heard that she and Michael were being managed
by the same agent, she was reported to have said, "Don't forget! I have bigger
tits than Michael Jackson unless he goes back for plastic surgery again."

Michael refused to attend the 1990 Grammy Awards. It was just as well.
If he'd gone, he would have seen Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814" edge
out "Moonwalker" for Best Long Form Video of the year.

One award Michael received was later to cause ridicule and embarrass meat. The homophobic Los Angeles Council of the Boy Scouts of America
created an award and named it in honor of Michael, its first recipient. On
September 14, 1990, he accepted the Michael Jackson Good Scout
Humanitarian Award for his "humanitarian efforts" and fund-raising.

Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, presented the award
to Michael, who appeared in a black and gold military costume with sunglasses. In a brief acceptance speech, Michael said, "On behalf of the millions of
past, present, and future Boy Scouts, I will try to abide by your motto of being
prepared and always extending a hand to others."

Joan Rivers ridiculed his short speech. "I bet he'd like to extend a hand to
a cute little boy scout. Why? To `Beat It,' of course!"

Michael slowly moved ahead with his long-delayed new album,
Dangerous. He set unrealistic goals for himself, demanding of his back-up
musicians that they produce an album that would top the sale of Thriller.
Privately, Sandy Gallin had his doubts that Michael would ever top the sale of
Thriller. Dangerous would eventually sell thirty million copies worldwide.
Michael had an even loftier goal. He said, "I want to create something like
Beethoven did so that people would still listen to it in a thousand years from
now."

When Forbes magazine published its list of highest paid entertainers for
1990, two black men ranked as number one and two. Michael was furious that
he came in after Bill Cosby. "Cosby does a little dance to open the show,"
Michael said. "But he can't dance. I mean, not a step! And for not being able
to dance, he earns $100 million in two years as opposed to me."

With Walter Yetnikoff and John Branca out of the picture, Michael proved
a hard-assed negotiator when it came time in 1991 to talk turkey with Sony,
the new owner of CBS Records. Tommy Mottola, who would later be
denounced by Michael, took over for Yetnikoff.

Up front, Michael demanded an $18 million advance for each album. Not
only that, he wanted to split expenses and profits fifty-fifty with Sony, an
unheard-of request in the industry. He also wanted to start his own record
label. "What next?" Mottola asked. "Pay for his flight to the moon?"

The staff at Neverland reported that Michael shouted and ranted for three
days and nights, even firing five of his team, when he learned that sister Janet
had signed with Virgin Records for a contract estimated to be as high as $50
million, the largest recording deal in the history of the industry.

Michael struck back, signing a deal with Sony that might bring him up to
$1 billion, at least in potential earnings. Not only was the amount unprecedented, but so was the deal, which included film, record, and TV options. The
fifteen-year contract, after much bickering, finally granted Michael the right
to start his own record label, Nation Records. For being CEO of the company, Michael would be paid $1 million a year.

He also got Sony, again after much bickering, to grant him a seventy percent profit on all video rights. Since Sony owned Columbia Pictures, it was
announced that Michael would also be making his first film for that company.

In rebuttal, Janet's people, as they are called in Hollywood, announced
that her deal with Virgin Records did in fact exceed "the record segment of the
contract" signed by her brother with Sony. But the Wall Street Journal soon
shot down Janet's claims, estimating that the record portion of Michael's Sony
deal would be "worth at least $60 million," a good $10 million more than the
terms defined by his younger sister's contract. Michael's rivalry with his older
brother, Jennaine, receded into the background as he seemed to an increasing
degree to be pitted against Janet. A fan in Chicago, Laraine Maven, said, "I
don't have much allowance to spend in a record store. If it was a question of
buying Janet or buying Michael, I'd go for her, since she sings better."

In 1992 the Guinness Book of World Records asserted that Michael's Sony
deal was indeed the largest contract ever signed in the music industry.

For his first movie role at Columbia, Michael wanted to depict Little
Richard, but so did Eddie Murphy. "Eddie wouldn't be believable as a Tutti
Frutti," Michael shouted at Gallin. "I practically own Little Richard. Get the
role for me. Tell Eddie to star in ... dare I say the title, Mother Fucker! "

Back at Encino during this time in 1992, Margaret Maldonado Jackson,
now living with Jermaine, was in the process of producing a mini-series
called The Jacksons: An American Dream. Her problems were detailed in her
memoir, Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness, ghost-written by
Richard Hack and published in 1995.

Among Margaret's travails, La Toya
threatened legal action if her likeness was
used in the mini-series. In January of 1992, a
nationwide search that rivaled the hunt for
an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone
With the Wind was launched. More than
three dozen young actors were needed to
portray the Jackson family at three different
stages in their lives. Margaret not only had
La Toya to deal with, but Michael himself.
Reports surfaced, but were later denied, that
Michael demanded actors playing him to be
white.

December, 1989 edition of
Vanity Fair

Margaret finally got Michael to agree on
the cast, and made some intriguing choices
of her own. In the end, a talented actor, Jason Weaver, played young Michael, with Alex Burrall and Wylie Draper starring
at later stages of his life.

Margaret cast Holly Robinson, familiar to audiences for her appearances
on 21 Jump Street, as Diana Ross. For her lover, Berry Gordy Jr., Margaret
cast Billy Dee Williams. The first black Miss America (later dethroned),
Vanessa Williams, was cast as Suzanne de Passe, who, as a Motown executive, played an instrumental role in launching The Jackson 5.

Margaret recalled, "Seeing the actors re-enact segments of their lives
brought back all the love, the pain, the anticipation, the heartache, and, in several cases, the anguish as memories came flooding back."

As the head of his own record company, Michael signed up some other
family members to his label. But his motives may have been suspect. Some
executives at Sony privately claimed that there was a feeling that the King of
Pop wanted only one Jackson in the recording studio, Michael himself. Of
course, there was nothing he could do about Janet. At this point, she was
beyond his financial control.

"I think Michael secretly wanted to sign the other Jacksons as a means of
suppressing them instead of promoting them," said a Sony official, speaking
confidentially. Michael did release a recording by his older sister, Rebbie, and
one by Tito Jackson Jr., both of which showed a great deal of promise, but
reportedly he then went on to sabotage the promotion of both of these recordings.

Michael had begun what was for him a long, arduous, and costly project,
his long-awaited Dangerous album. In a surprise move, he did not use Quincy
Jones as the producer, even though the very talented Jones had brought
Michael his greatest success.

He decided to go with Harlem-born Teddy Riley as producer. Riley was
famous for a new musical genre, called "New Jack Swing"-or "Swingbeat"
in Britain-and had pioneered the sound with such R&B performers as Keith
Sweat.