Jackson’s secrets starting to spill

Ref : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/jacksons-secrets-starting-to-spill/article1200133/


Katherine O'Neill
From Monday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009 09:46PM EDT
Hangers-on and people who profited from Michael Jackson's strange life have found a new obsession since his sudden death – spilling the King of Pop's vast number of secrets.
Everyone from his unofficial biographers to former employees have eagerly stepped forward since his death on Thursday to tell the planet about their version of the 50-year-old celebrity's final days and private world.
The British press, in particular, has eagerly snapped up all these largely unproven accounts, including articles by Ian Halperin, Mr. Jackson's Montreal-based biographer who made headlines of his own late last year when he predicted in Britain's The Sun that the singer would be dead within six months.
Mr. Halperin wrote in The Mail on Sunday newspaper that as late as June 21, Mr. Jackson had told an aide he wanted to die.
“It's not working out,” Mr. Jackson was quoted as saying, referring to his highly publicized grand comeback, a string of concerts scheduled in London later this summer. “I'm better off dead. I don't have anywhere left to turn. I'm done.”
Mr. Halperin alleged the American pop legend and father of three was anorexic, seriously ill, addicted to painkillers and dreading his return to the limelight.
Mr. Halperin wrote Mr. Jackson and his shadowy entourage were masters at hiding the truth about the celebrity, including his finances (he was broke), sexual preference (he carried on secret affairs with men) and even his hair (he wore wigs to cover his grey and thinning locks).
Mr. Halperin declined comment Sunday. His Canadian publisher said he'd prefer to wait until his latest book, Michael Jackson: The Last Years , is published in Canada next week
The Times of London ran a lengthy article featuring an interview with Mr. Jackson's former nanny, Grace Rwaramba. She worked for the pop icon for 17 years before being fired by him in December.
She said her former boss was a broke and clueless businessman who was hopelessly addicted to painkillers. “I had to pump his stomach many times. ... He always mixed so much of it. There was one period that it was so bad that I didn't let the children see him.”
Ms. Rwaramba told the paper that at one point she, along with Mr. Jackson's mother, Katherine, and pop-star sister, Janet, tried unsuccessfully to stage an intervention.
After Mr. Jackson died, she claims Katherine called her to ask whether she knew where the singer may have hid money in his rented Los Angeles mansion. Despite the never-ending supply of scandalous and sordid stories being pumped out about the pop star, his fans continue to grieve. U.S. President Barack Obama has even sent his condolences to the singer's family.
David Axelrod, an Obama adviser, said the President sent a private letter to the Jacksons, but the contents won't be made public.
The Jackson family have released a statement and called his “sudden death” one of the “darkest moments” of their lives. A private pathologist hired by the Jackson family completed a second, private autopsy Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case.
An initial autopsy conducted on Friday ruled out the possibility of foul play. However, the official cause of death likely won't be known for weeks as toxicology tests are performed.
With a report from Associated Press