# Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, shows his sincere grief by attending the BET awards gala **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301 "2009-06-29T00:55:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/21 "2009-06-29T14:05:38Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > It’s one thing to assert your opinion and say that you don’t care if anyone questions it. That’s your prerogative, as the opinion holder. > > But I, personally, do not “know it’s true” that Michael Jackson has never hurt a child, molested a child, whatever. I don’t know that he did. I don’t know that he did not. Some shit that that I can’t spell. It’s true that he did not molest children. ---
**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 29, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/22 "2009-06-29T14:22:39Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > We just lost the biggest super star in the world. Not his little boy who grew up to fulfill every dream he could have had for his family. No, no. Not his son. The biggest super star in the world. And the number one money generator in their family for thirty plus years. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/23 "2009-06-29T14:40:38Z")
The video that the OP linked to has been taken down by youtube. It states that there are legal rights issues in this country. Does anybody know an alternate site that has it posted? Gotta admit, now i’m curious to see it. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/24 "2009-06-29T15:04:02Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Some shit that that I can’t spell. **It’s true that he did not molest children**. You cannot possibly know that any more than someone that claims he did. _That’s_ the only truth regarding that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/25 "2009-06-29T15:10:14Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Some shit that that I can’t spell. It’s true that he did not molest children. Child_ren_ involves more than one child; since he only made one eight-figure settlement in a child molestation lawsuit I suppose there is little evidence he molested multiple children, but I guess at least one child made a fairly strong case against him. Like almost everybody, I know nothing about Michael Jackson’s character. He was deeply fucked up, but other than that, I can’t say much. Neither can you, I suspect, so your certainty is probably misplaced. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/26 "2009-06-29T15:13:47Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > You cannot possibly know that any more than someone that claims he did. _That’s_ the only truth regarding that matter. I will bet my life on it, will you say the same? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/27 "2009-06-29T15:15:30Z")
I will. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/28 "2009-06-29T15:17:11Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I will. Do it. ---
**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 29, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/29 "2009-06-29T15:18:11Z")
Why would anyone want to bet their life on it either way? Isn’t it possible to like someone’s music while acknowledging that yes, they may have also done terrible things? I like the Wall of Sound, but I don’t go around saying that Phil Spector was framed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/30 "2009-06-29T15:20:32Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > I will bet my life on it, will you say the same? What a great way to show how certain you are of something - make a bet nobody can ever collect on! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/31 "2009-06-29T15:29:38Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Why would anyone want to bet their life on it either way? Isn’t it possible to like someone’s music while acknowledging that yes, they may have also done terrible things? I like the Wall of Sound, but I don’t go around saying that Phil Spector was framed. Wrll, Phil Spector is guilty, I can’t think of any factor that would lead me to think PS would not have killed that woman. Now, I have no reason to think MJ diddled any kids. Was he innappropriate? Yeah, probably. Again, if I have misspelled something, I don’t care. Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/32 "2009-06-29T15:34:39Z")
**Abby\_Emma\_Sasha** - Cite? On what basis do you assert so strongly that MJ never molested a child? I have no opinion one way or the other, and am more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt simply because he was such a target, but that’s not proof. And how can you “stake your life on it”? Grow up. Hyperbole doesn’t make for a convincing argument. StG ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/33 "2009-06-29T15:52:29Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > **Abby\_Emma\_Sasha** - Cite? On what basis do you assert so strongly that MJ never molested a child? I have no opinion one way or the other, and am more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt simply because he was such a target, but that’s not proof. And how can you “stake your life on it”? Grow up. Hyperbole doesn’t make for a convincing argument. > > StG Sorry, have no cite. Hyperbole is not in a factor here. I am certain that MJ was not a pedo. I am so certain that I will stake my life on it. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/34 "2009-06-29T15:56:03Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Sorry, have no cite. Hyperbole is not in a factor here. I am certain that MJ was not a pedo. I am so certain that I will stake my life on it. Deal with it. The initial question was _why_ you were so sure, or why you expected anyone else to be convinced by your statement. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/35 "2009-06-29T15:57:54Z")
You know, I don’t recall ever seeing **Abby\_Emma\_Sasha** and Michael Jackson in the same room… ---
**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 29, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/36 "2009-06-29T16:07:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You know, I don’t recall ever seeing **Abby\_Emma\_Sasha** and Michael Jackson in the same room… Nooooo, that’s ignorant! ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/37 "2009-06-29T16:08:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The initial question was _why_ you were so sure, or why you expected anyone else to be convinced by your statement. Why am I sure? Becaue I know MJ was so limited in his chikdhood that he never knew what it was to be a kid. He was so disjointed from this he onl. He was a tortured child who neeeded to be nnurtured, and thank og he took his shit out on some good god damned songs. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/38 "2009-06-29T16:12:29Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I don’t think that Joe ever loved his kids. They were just a way for him to make money, like a troupe of trained ponies. Except that most pony trainers would care more for their animals than Joe cared about his kids. Fuck you Joe Jackson. Not for attending the awards ceremony - but for what Lynn says above. The sight of him makes my skin crawl. Janet Jackson - you are a star. I don’t know how she managed to get through her speech but she did it. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/39 "2009-06-29T16:15:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You know, I don’t recall ever seeing **Abby\_Emma\_Sasha** and Michael Jackson in the same room… Well, I guess that just proves that some conspiracy theories are vslid. ---
**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 29, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301/40 "2009-06-29T16:17:30Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > Why am I sure? Becaue I know MJ was so limited in his chikdhood that he never knew what it was to be a kid. He was so disjointed from this he onl. > He was a tortured child who neeeded to be nnurtured, and thank og he took his shit out on some good god damned songs. To respond to your above comment, he was never accused of raping children, but of doing a number of things that were not just inappropriate but illegal. I’ve also been reading a bunch of (incredibly creepy) Vanity Fair articles by Maureen Oth. In one of them, she mentions a quote by someone close to Jackson who said that he relives childhood constantly not so much because he was deprived of one, but because he was a child star and is incredibly narcissistic. I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll know either way just what drives him, but I guess that’s the point. We didn’t know him and we’ll never know either way why he was the way he was. The whole childlike thing seems to be more of a front. Despite the fact that he did make great music, he seemed incredibly manipulative, controlling, and intimidating. And whether or not he molested any kids, he certainly did go to great lengths to find very damaged, dysfunctional and vulnerable families to associate with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jacksons-father-joe-jackson-shows-his-sincere-grief-by-attending-the-bet-awards-gala/501301.md?page=3)