# The Michael Jackson Clan Implodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763 "2008-03-26T02:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/1 "2008-03-26T02:52:28Z")
Great story [here](http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03232008/news/nationalnews/jacko_clan_in_a_deep_funk_103188.htm). The ladies seem to have made out well. But, Man, the guys! One stocking grocery shelves, another repairing cars, Internet clothing sales. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/2 "2008-03-26T03:07:03Z")
Wow, Michael sounds like a huge dick. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/3 "2008-03-26T03:42:31Z")
Wow, that is among the most mean-spirited articles I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/4 "2008-03-26T03:44:45Z")
Mean-spirited? You mean it misreperesents the Jackson clan?? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/5 "2008-03-26T07:48:42Z")
Well it is the New York Post. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/6 "2008-03-26T11:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Mean-spirited? You mean it misreperesents the Jackson clan?? [/QUOTE] Mean spirited, like hunting down Gary Coleman at his security guard job and exposing him to to ridicule. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/7 "2008-03-26T13:39:23Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Mean spirited, like hunting down Gary Coleman at his security guard job and exposing him to to ridicule. [/QUOTE] Because, as we all know, Gary Coleman is a very private person that never exposes himself to ridicule - [right?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns99tqLSDLU) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/8 "2008-03-26T13:45:32Z")
“It was better in Gary, Indiana,” Jermaine said a couple of years ago. Wow, how bad does life have to suck for you to say this? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/9 "2008-03-26T13:48:03Z")
Didn’t think the Jackson family would be in shambles like that. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/10 "2008-03-26T14:30:10Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] Because, as we all know, Gary Coleman is a very private person that never exposes himself to ridicule - [right?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns99tqLSDLU) [/QUOTE] Which occured long after he was reduced to working as a rent-a-cop. I don’t see how shilling for payday loans at one point in your life excuses invading your privacy at a previous period. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/11 "2008-03-26T14:47:09Z")
Jacko is wacko, but its not his responsiblity to bail out family members again and again and again, all of whom were wealthy at one point. It’s not like he isn’t facing his own financial problems now as well. Jacko made them all rich on multiple occasions, and now he’s an ass for not giving large sums of money to grown able bodied adults who lost their fortunes via stupidity? The two nutjobs of the family are wealthy, plus two more, but the normal males can’t get it together? Too bad. And yeah, Jacko is the one keeping the other brothers from successful singing careers- they’d be top of the charts if not for Jacko :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/12 "2008-03-26T15:20:25Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Which occured long after he was reduced to working as a rent-a-cop. I don’t see how shilling for payday loans at one point in your life excuses invading your privacy at a previous period. [/QUOTE] Uhh - yeah. He was being a very quiet, private person when that bad old media sought him out and exposed him as being a \ security guard. [Look here.](http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/coleman/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/13 "2008-03-26T15:35:27Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] Didn’t think the Jackson family would be in shambles like that. Damn. [/QUOTE] My thoughts exactly. Of course Jacko doesn’t have an ongoing lifetime responsibility to keep financially bailing out his siblings, but if the article is to be believed (iffy, I know, since it’s the _Post_, after all), he made some promises which he’s since forgotten, and has nickel-and-dimed them pretty shamelessly for past concert appearances. Yet another reason to loathe him. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/14 "2008-03-26T15:42:37Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] Uhh - yeah. He was being a very quiet, private person when that bad old media sought him out and exposed him as being a \ security guard. [Look here.](http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/coleman/index.html) [/QUOTE] I still don’t see how one act of bad behavior excuses another. Why is is OK to harass people at work? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/15 "2008-03-26T17:03:48Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Jacko is wacko, but its not his responsiblity to bail out family members again and again and again, all of whom were wealthy at one point. It’s not like he isn’t facing his own financial problems now as well. Jacko made them all rich on multiple occasions, and now he’s an ass for not giving large sums of money to grown able bodied adults who lost their fortunes via stupidity? The two nutjobs of the family are wealthy, plus two more, but the normal males can’t get it together? Too bad. And yeah, Jacko is the one keeping the other brothers from successful singing careers- they’d be top of the charts if not for Jacko :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Actually, Michael is in serious debt himself. He keeps being bailed out financially by rich friends in the middle east, unfortunately. Neverland Ranch is about to be forclosed on, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/16 "2008-03-26T17:46:32Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] And yeah, Jacko is the one keeping the other brothers from successful singing careers- they’d be top of the charts if not for Jacko [/QUOTE] Well, if it’s true that Michael signed them to his own label and then refused to release their albums, it may well be his fault. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/17 "2008-03-26T17:57:37Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Well, if it’s true that Michael signed them to his own label and then refused to release their albums, it may well be his fault. [/QUOTE] Yeah: > [@](#): > > Jackson, riding high in the music world, signed his brothers to his personal record label, MJJ, and refused to release any of their music. Wouldn’t that be breach of contract? > [@](#): > > With the release of his “Invincible” album in 2001, Michael celebrated 30 years in the music industry with two star-studded concerts in Madison Square Garden. > > While paying Brando $1 million to appear and giving five- and six-figure fees to artists such as Whitney Houston, Usher, Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child to perform, Jacko had his brothers sign a contract that would pay them just $1,100 each. Now THAT’S a shitty thing to do. > [@](#): > > “Michael said after the trial ends, and we know he is going to walk, that we are definitely going out on tour,” Jermaine said. “We are going to set the world on fire.” Instead Michael fled to the Middle East. Randy Jackson, who persuaded several friends to remortgage their homes, used the cash to help pay Michael’s legal and other expenses. Randy said he was left holding the bag when Michael fled to Bahrain. When Michael returned to the States, taking up residence in Las Vegas in December 2006, Randy tried to confront him, but Michael would not have it. A desperate Randy charged the compound housing Michael, but bodyguards were sicced on the youngest brother. No wonder he never has to pay what he owes-he just dumps it on his family. Asshole. So he’s not only a kiddie-diddler, he’s a thief as well. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/18 "2008-03-26T18:11:26Z")
Signing them to a record deal and assumably paying them money to be on the label is much much more than any other label out there would do- is there really a market for the Jackson 5 without Jacko, 20 years since the last success of any of them? Other than Jermaine’s few hits in the 70’s and early 80’s, has any other brother done anything even marginally successful that didn’t have Jacko singing lead? Labels refuse to release material all the time if they don’t think they’ll be successful- why release something by a bunch of 50 year old backup singers and waste the time and energy and money? Anyone who thinks that the actions of Jacko have kept a bunch of middle age nobodies from worldwide fame is daft. Maybe when they were young and cute and could dance and sing, but now? And Randy convinced freinds of his to mortgage their homes to help Jacko? Cite from Randy please? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/19 "2008-03-26T18:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] “It was better in Gary, Indiana,” Jermaine said a couple of years ago. Wow, how bad does life have to suck for you to say this? [/QUOTE] Hey now–it’s a wonderful name! (Named for Elbert Gary of judiciary fame) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763/20 "2008-03-26T18:44:10Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Hey now–it’s a wonderful name! (Named for Elbert Gary of judiciary fame) [/QUOTE] Well in fairness, it’s not Louisiana, Paris France, New York or Rome… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-jackson-clan-implodes/442763.md?page=2)