The biggest Hollywood scandal ever?
: Correct if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Michael Jackson case the biggest scandal in the history of Hollywood?
Sure, OJ was tried for killing people. But Jackson’s a much bigger star and a much stranger star and doing anything to a child — if he did it — gets you a reservation in hell. This story is going to be berserk beyond anything we’ve ever seen.
The sheriff and prosecutor who announced the arrest warrant against Jackson just now on TV are making the big mistake of acting all jolly about it, cracking jokes about how Jackson’s isn’t their kind of music and how they’d advise against sleepovers at Neverland Ranch. Dumb. They’re acting as if this is their moment in the spotlight when, in fact, it’s a serious case. And it doesn’t help that it’s two doughy white guys arresting a once-black guy.
Howard Stern said this morning that no matter what happens in this case, the parents of the 12-year-old alleged victim should be hauled out to the public square of ridicule themselves. Knowing what we know and hearing what we’ve heard about Jackson — true or not — what responsible parents would ever send their child into his grasp? Stern essentially accused them of selling the kid to Jackson to get the chance at a case and a payday.
Jackson’s finances have been shaky. He has been weirder and weirder. We are about to watch the final phase of what will probably rank as the worst fall in memory.
My colleague wonders whether Michael Jackson will moonwalk on his perpwalk.
