The Time Is Long Overdue to Acknowledge Publicly That the Last 25 Years of Michael Jackson's Life Would Have Been Much Different -- Indeed, Much Healthier For Him Both Physically and Psychologically -- Had He Had the Courage to Come Out of the Closet
(Posted 5:00 a.m. EDT Monday, June 29, 2009)
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A 'SKEETER BITES REPORT EDITORIAL
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It was a Thursday that neither I -- nor millions of people across America and around the world -- will soon forget.
I had a strong, gut-level feeling that this would not be a normal, run-of-the-mill Thursday afternoon as I was broadcasting my weekly smooth-jazz radio show. Sure enough, about 40 minutes after I went on the air, the bulletin flashed on the computer screen in the studio that actress Farrah Fawcett, a cultural icon of the 1970s best known for her role in the TV series "Charlies Angels," had lost her three-year battle with cancer at the age of 62.
As I read the bulletin on the air, little did I realize that this was only the beginning of an unforgettable Thursday.
Less than two hours later, after I had signed off and was in my car heading home, another, more dramatic bulletin boomed from my car radio: Michael Jackson -- the "King of Pop" -- had been rushed to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles amid reports of having suffered "cardiac arrest."
Stunned by what I had just heard, I pulled over and stopped. I didn't wait for the follow-up bulletin that the 50-year-old Jackson had been pronounced dead. I knew right away that he was gone. But it wasn't the fact of Jackson's death that stunned me. Rather, it was the realization that a remark I made about Jackson two-and-a-half years earlier proved to be prophetic.
JACKSON WAS A 'DEAD MAN WALKING' AT JAMES BROWN'S FUNERAL
I knew that Jackson was a dying man the moment I watched his appearance in late December 2006 at the funeral in Atlanta of his mentor, the "Godfather of Soul," James Brown, who had died on Christmas Day at the age of 73 from complications of pneumonia.
Jackson appeared so emaciated -- he had to be assisted to and from the podium -- that I turned to my wife and said, "Michael Jackson's not going to be around much longer. Look at him! He looks like a dead man walking!"
A year and a half later, photos appeared in the tabloids and on the Internet of an even thinner Jackson confined to a wheelchair being pushed by actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Las Vegas.
It was abundantly clear that Jackson was in seriously ill health. The first thought that crossed my mind was that the "King of Pop" was suffering from a debilitating disease -- To be candid, I was thinking AIDS -- and that he was unwilling to talk publicly about it.
But now it's very likely that Jackson suffered the same fate as Elvis Presley when he died in 1977 at the age of 42: Death caused by years of abuse of prescription medications. It was revealed over the weekend that Jackson had become addicted to painkillers, including Valium, Xanax and Ativan.
Appearing on NBC's "Weekend Today," Dr. Deepak Chopra, a longtime friend of Jackson revealed that he turned down a request by the "King of Pop" to prescribe him OxyContin -- the same painkiller that conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh admitted he became addicted to in 2003.
With all the bizarre twists and turns that Jackson's life had taken in the last 25 years -- and especially since his 2005 criminal trial for alleged child molestation -- I frankly didn't expect Jackson to make it to 50. As it turned out, I was off by just one year; Jackson died just over two months shy of what would have been his 51st birthday on August 29.
NO ONE IN MUSIC HISTORY COULD MATCH JACKSON'S APPEAL
There can be no doubt about the musical genius of Michael Jackson. Not since Elvis Presley has a solo popular-music entertainer so captivated Americans. But neither Elvis nor the Beatles could come anywhere close to Jackson's global popularity.
Of course, Jackson had two things going for him that Presley and the Beatles didn't have: An incredible gift for keeping people entertained since he was five years old -- and MTV. He also broke down the wall separating black and white music lovers.
Jackson is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records not only for the biggest-selling album of all time, "Thriller," but also for the greatest number of number-one singles.
He also branched out into movies, with his role as the Scarecrow in the film version of the Broadway musical "The Wiz" in 1978; the title character in Disney's "Captain EO" in 1986; and as himself in his 1988 autobiographical feature, "Moonwalker."
But Jackson's incredible success may have also proven to be his greatest curse.
CONTROVERSY OVER JACKSON'S ALTERED PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
After suffering second-degree burns in an accident in 1984 while filming a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial in which his hair caught fire in a pyrotechnic burst, Jackson became deeply self-conscious about his physical appearance.
A year later, as fans noticed his complexion becoming progressively lighter, Jackson revealed that he was diagnosed with vitiligo, a chronic relatively common disorder that causes depigmentation in patches of skin. The disorder --which most starkly affects African-Americans -- causes patches of discoloration on the face, hands and wrists, as if the person had suffered severe burns.
But Jackson's change of skin color -- combined with numerous cosmetic surgeries to his nose and mouth -- prompted persistent rumors that he was somehow ashamed of his African-American heritage and was bleaching himself white. His video of "Black or White," the first single from his 1991 album "Dangerous," only added fuel to the rumors.
'KING OF POP' HAD FOUGHT GAY RUMORS FOR 25 YEARS
But by far the most controversial aspect of Jackson's life was over his sexuality. With his high-pitched voice that often broke into a falsetto and his increasingly androgynous -- some would say effeminate -- appearance and demeanor, the "King of Pop" would be dogged for the rest of his life by rumors and innuendo that he was gay. The accusations in 1993 and again in 2005 that Jackson had "inappropriate" relations with young boys only made matters worse.
Particularly in the last 15 years, it became increasingly difficult for this writer -- I came out of the closet more than 30 years ago, first as a gay man in 1978 and later as bisexual in 1993 -- to believe that Jackson was straight. Indeed, he had repeatedly dropped strong hints, whether consciously or unconsciously, that he was gay from the night he appeared at the taping of the NBC television special celebrating Motown Records' 25th anniversary in 1983.
Jackson's video of his 1987 hit, "Bad" didn't help; by that time, it was painfully obvious, in the opinion of this writer, that Jackson was not -- and would never be -- a bad-ass macho straight dude. His attempts to project an image of a crotch-grabbing tough guy in subsequent videos and stage performances fell flat on their face.
JACKSON'S MARRIAGES DISMISSED AS SHAM; HIS 3 KIDS WERE ARTIFICIALLY CONCEIVED
His marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis' daughter, in 1994 -- following accusations the previous year by a 13-year-old boy that Jackson molested him -- was dismissed by many, including this writer, as a sham, a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image that had been battered by the molestation accusations, even though they were never proven and Jackson reached an out-of-court settlement with the boy's parents.
Despite Lisa Marie's insistence that she and Jackson lived "a married couple's life ... that was sexually active," few people believed her and the marriage lasted only 19 months before it ended in divorce -- adding more fuel to the rumors that the "King of Pop" was gay.
His second marriage in 1997 to Debbie Rowe lasted two years, during which Rowe bore him two children: son Michael Jr., better known as Prince Michael (now 11 years old) and daughter Paris Michael (now 10). Yet both children were conceived through in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination -- strongly suggesting that the couple never consummated their marriage.
The identity of the mother of Jackson's youngest son, Prince Michael II, remains a closely-guarded secret, although Jackson has said that Prince Michael II (now seven years old) was also conceived through artificial insemination.
Why would a man who's supposedly heterosexual marry two different women yet never consummate either marriage? And why would he father three children through artificial insemination?
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE THAT JACKSON WASN'T STRAIGHT
For many, the 2005 child-molestation case against Jackson was the final straw. Although he vehemently denied the accusations and was eventually acquitted, Jackson by that time had nonetheless dropped all public pretense of being heterosexual. He had no known girlfriends after his 1999 divorce from Rowe; Hollywood gossip about Jackson and actress Tatum O'Neal being romantically linked proved false.
Looking back at the latter half of Jackson's life, this writer is convinced that he could have avoided all the controversies about his private life that dogged him -- and would probably still be alive today and in much better health, both physically and psychologically -- if the "King of Pop" had had the courage to do 25 years ago what I did 30 years ago: Come out of the closet.
Instead, Jackson spent the last 25 years of his life going to extraordinary lengths to run away from what he truly was.
There are those reading this editorial who no doubt will believe that I am "outing" Michael Jackson now that he is dead. I reply by saying that the "King of Pop" outed himself, even as he fought tooth and nail not to.
How else to explain the title of one of his hit singles from his 1991 "Dangerous" album -- "Keep It In the Closet?"
Skeeter Sanders
Editor & Publisher
The 'Skeeter Bites Report
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Copyright 2009, Skeeter Sanders. All rights reserved.