# Michael Jackson Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988 "2009-06-25T21:15:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/321 "2009-06-27T14:07:53Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Created in 2006: > > [If this is what’s happening outside, what’s going on inside?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDW1TVH78BU) Brilliant. And very sad and disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/322 "2009-06-27T18:02:45Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The weirdest thing about the media firestorm is seeing the TMZ stalker-azzi being treated like real journalists. (I saw one on local news this morning, going public with the “demerol overdose” allegation, which at this point has to be nothing more than wildly unsubstantiated speculation.) The truly unfortunate thing is that TMZ is so soullessly willing to get in people’s faces/business, that they often get the story first. They reported he was dead LONG before anybody else did, and I don’t think they were just guessing. I wouldn’t be surprised if the demerol overdose thing turns out to be spot-on. Those TMZ stalkers are _everywhere._ ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/323 "2009-06-27T18:46:21Z")
> [@xanthous](#): > > The truly unfortunate thing is that TMZ is so soullessly willing to get in people’s faces/business, that they often get the story first. They reported he was dead LONG before anybody else did, and I don’t think they were just guessing. I wouldn’t be surprised if the demerol overdose thing turns out to be spot-on. Those TMZ stalkers are _everywhere._ Since the tox report won’t be back for a while, the only way they could be right is if somebody inside the house noticed…“whooops…that’s kind of a big dose…uh oh oh no crap…!” and then talked to a TMZ guy on the way to the hospital. Weirder things have happened, of course. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/324 "2009-06-27T19:04:30Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Since the tox report won’t be back for a while, the only way they could be right is if somebody inside the house noticed…“whooops…that’s kind of a big dose…uh oh oh no crap…!” and then talked to a TMZ guy on the way to the hospital. > > Weirder things have happened, of course. That’s just it: _people talk._ TMZ banks on it, and they’re parasitical enough to know exactly who to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/325 "2009-06-27T19:57:27Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Oh lord, that made me choke up. I loved the Jackson 5. [THIS made me actually cry.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1w) I loved that song so much, and hadn’t heard it for ages. > > And this, oh my god, [an astonishing acapella](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehal1eUG1jk)\* “I’ll Be There” that’ll just tear your heart out. > > This is what’s sad, what he used to be, all that talent, all that promise. There will never be another Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, and thank god. > \*there are a bunch of acapella songs up. I don’t know what they are (software to take out the music? Tapes from the studio?) and I don’t know where they came from but they must have been gold to fans when they surfaced. Here’s an acapella [“Ben”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46rGlj8--Xk). I don’t often post these days, but just had to say a huge thank you for these links. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/326 "2009-06-27T20:03:36Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Most of the “Stars” on your list were never all that huge. The biggest one is probably Marsha Brady and you apparently are unaware of how royally fucked up her life has been. Multiple serious drug addictions, bulimia, depression, obesity, prostitution, etc. She did not come out “pretty normal”. That’s true, but Jan has come out and said most of what Marcia wrote about her was pure horseshit. She could be trying to cover her own ass, but something tells me that Marcia Brady’s “autobiography” is more than a little fictional. I mean, she expects us to believe she posed for nude pictures in her late teens/early 20s (just after The Brady Bunch ended) for some skeezy drug dealer and that he never felt the need to show them to anybody. Yeah right. > [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > The guy who played Doogie Howser seems to have turned into a nice,well rounded fella. Didn’t you hear? After all those years in Hollywood he caught TEH GHEY! And like all the debauched homos he has managed to find the love of his life and even had the nerve to fire his publicist after she told the press he was insulted after someone told a newspaper he was GHEY. That unfeeling monster! Doesn’t he know bigots need jobs too? ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/327 "2009-06-27T21:16:17Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m trying to think of a phenomenal child star who managed to grow up well-adjusted. Donny Osmond. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/328 "2009-06-28T03:01:40Z")
Haven’t seen it brought up yet, but in [this column](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-fuller/the-real-reason-for-micha_b_221825.html), Bonnie Fuller brings up the fact that Michael Jackson suffered from lupus, which can often result in heart failure at age 40-50. Couple that with trying to lose weight to appear as super thin Michael of yore in order to be in impeccable shape for his Farewell Tour, as well as the training and stress to do 50 shows next month— the Demerol might have pushed it too far. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/329 "2009-06-28T03:10:23Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m trying to think of a phenomenal child star who managed to grow up well-adjusted. Shirley Temple’s the only one I can come up with, but if she’d been popular 40 years later, she might not have survived either. Here’s 3: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. True they’re still just in their 20s, so for all we know, the Hookers and Blow Years may be coming, but I doubt it. Of course, we need to define “well adjusted”. There are plenty of nonfamous people who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex etc. There was no one quite as… odd… as Michael Jackson, though. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/330 "2009-06-28T03:28:24Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Here’s 3: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. True they’re still just in their 20s, so for all we know, the Hookers and Blow Years may be coming, but I doubt it. Are they as huge as Michael Jackson, though? Like, they’re known for Harry Potter, and Harry Potter is a huge deal, but do people want to be Harry Potter the same way they wanted to be Michael Jackson? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/331 "2009-06-28T03:38:16Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Are they as huge as Michael Jackson, though? Like, they’re known for Harry Potter, and Harry Potter is a huge deal, but do people want to be Harry Potter the same way they wanted to be Michael Jackson? I’d say it depends on your age, however, that was not the question. **AuntiePam** asked if there were any mega child stars who grew up well adjusted. Those 3 have. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/332 "2009-06-28T16:28:23Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I’d say it depends on your age, however, that was not the question. **AuntiePam** asked if there were any mega child stars who grew up well adjusted. Those 3 have. I have a hard time classifying three kids that have done one series of movies to be mega child stars. However, it could just boil down to exposure. They’re still young, though. Give it time. Nobody put Daniel Radcliffe in “Teen Beat” or whatever its equivalent is, and Emma Watson hasn’t been given an offer to be in Playboy (yet). Despite the amazing success of the Harry Potter movie franchise, they’re still not overexposed (insert Daniel Radcliffe \*Eqqus \*joke here). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/333 "2009-06-28T17:12:58Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > I have a hard time classifying three kids that have done one series of movies to be mega child stars. However, it could just boil down to exposure. They’re still young, though. Give it time. Nobody put Daniel Radcliffe in “Teen Beat” or whatever its equivalent is, and Emma Watson hasn’t been given an offer to be in Playboy (yet). Daniel Radcliffe regularly appears in J-14, Teen Beat’s new hip alternative and Emma Watson has been approached by the Hef to appear in Playboy. They may not be as big as Michael Jackson was in his heyday, but there’s no denying they are huge stars. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/334 "2009-06-28T17:17:22Z")
Well, I usually don’t care for fan tribute vids on YouTube, but this one was brought to my attention, and I thought was well done [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/q7ZhStgAETc/hqdefault.jpg "Tribute to Michael Jackson - Billie Jean") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ZhStgAETc) (sorry if this is wrong thread or has already been posted; tried to read all but may have missed some) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/335 "2009-06-29T00:06:58Z")
> [@Corbomite](#): > > I guess they’ll do some kind of tribute on the Simpsons this fall - but what image will they show? Leon Kompowski? (for those who don’t know the episode, Michael Jackson voices a plumber who thinks he’s michael jackson. There are some songs in the episode, but supposedly they’re actually a soundalike). Maybe the Thriller Album when Bart shows him what Michael Jackson really looks like? _The Simpsons_ did a tribute tonight by showing the “Do the Bartman” music video (Jackson co-wrote the song) followed by a tribute card showing Homer with Leon. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/336 "2009-06-29T15:33:10Z")
At last night’s BET Awards ceremony – which was largely devoted to a tribute to MJ – Joe Jackson said how said it was that Michael couldn’t be there to enjoy the tribute. Ironically, if Michael had shown up at the BET awards (alive, of course), everyone would be frantically trying to pretend they didn’t know him. It’s not like he was exactly the toast of the town for the past 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/337 "2009-06-29T15:35:06Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Ironically, if Michael had shown up at the BET awards (alive, of course), everyone would be frantically trying to pretend they didn’t know him. It’s not like he was exactly the toast of the town for the past 15 years. Nothing rehabilitates a man so thoroughly as death. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/338 "2009-06-29T15:49:27Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > Haven’t seen it brought up yet, but in [this column](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-fuller/the-real-reason-for-micha_b_221825.html), Bonnie Fuller brings up the fact that Michael Jackson suffered from lupus, which can often result in heart failure at age 40-50. It’s never lupus. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/339 "2009-06-29T16:05:58Z")
**kaylasmom** is wondering where exactly the children were on Thursday. Has that been established one way or another? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/340 "2009-06-29T21:07:36Z")
I wonder how much of the autopsy will be made public. I’m curious, among other things, if there’s any revelation about his skin color (i.e. did he really have vitiligo, or what exactly was he doing to make it that color). Has it been released who made the 911 call? It was such an oddly polite call- the guy kept saying “Sir”. “Sir, he’s on the floor”, “Sir his heart is not beating”, “There’s a physician here Sir”, “Sir do you know anybody who’s hiring?”, etc… It made me wonder if the guy was military, or perhaps Black Muslim (Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan both would say “Sir” a lot in their interviews and Michael has had some relations with them in the past). In any case, it was a strange sounding and almost ‘cultlike’ voice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988.md?page=18)