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The trouble with celebrity posses after Michael Jackson

6 comments on The trouble with celebrity posses after Michael Jackson

The trouble with celebrity posses after Michael Jackson
: Michael Jackson was also charged with conspiracy yesterday and it strikes me that’s going to change the relationship of employees and posses to celebrities and the rich and powerful.

It’s not hard to imagine that if Jackson did what he’s accused of doing, one or more people who worked for him helped, knowing that he was up to no good but shrugging and figuring, hey, it’s his ass that’s on the line. But now they’re sitting on the line with him.

This is a prosecution tactic, clearly, to make sure that these people realize they, too, are liable for their actions and can go to jail and so they’d better testify against him and tell all.

Jayson Williams’ pals testified against him. So did Martha Stewart’s.

So looking forward, hangers-on and posses will have to be careful that they don’t help their star employers or friends do anything bad or else they could get in trouble, too.

And the stars will be careful for fear that the people around them will be able to testify against them in the future. There will be no secrets. There will be no protection. And so, we will see posse whistleblowers.

Stars won’t trust their posses, posses won’t trust their stars (and, of course, lawyers will be busy).

I find this fascinating from a sociological viewpoint; it changes the essential nature of sycophancy in the inner circle of entertainment or even business and government.

What we need is a gawker of Hollywood to chronicle this change in the post-MJ era.

6 responses to “The trouble with celebrity posses after Michael Jackson”

  1. Walter Wallis Avatar
    Walter Wallis

    If Jackson was screwing the kids or giving them blow jobs or hand jobs, throw the book at him, but if all he did was think impure thoughts and pat them on the ass, the DA should go to jail.
    When killers go free and nuancers are jailed, the system is screwed up.

  2. Loboll Avatar
    Loboll

    (Shudder) What is the world coming to…posses, sycophants, hangers-on developing personal ethics? This is too shocking for words. Heaven forfend that we should act responsibly!

  3. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Responsibility for ones acts? Responsibility by the individual as well as responsibility by the pack? That is a rather extreme position.
    We live in a culture where nobody is responsible, except evil corporations or govt., everyone is a victim and deserves compensation, and nobody does anything w/o chcking with their lawyer (altho that didin’t help Martha Stewart).
    The rich are evil. Otherwise they would not be rich. We can take away their earnings and call it fair taxation. We can sue them, take their wealth and call it justice. We seem to have a hard time imprisoning them for non-monetary crimes…
    PREDICTION: When MJ is acquitted by a jury of black folks in Santa Maria he will join OJ in searching for the real culprits… Perhaps a new reality TV show will have two victims of a justice system gone mad helping other celebrities while searching for the real criminals… Robert Blake can’t join cause he’s nuts.

  4. Jay Gilert Avatar
    Jay Gilert

    I suggest you (Jeff and everybody) see a movie recently out on DVD called “Capturing the Friedmans.” Especially the extra footage on Disc 2.
    It’s a documentary about a respected family that suddenly was charged with an avalanche of child molestation crimes. And as the story progresses we see that an over-ambitious police force looking for big notches in their guns can easily trump up charges and manipulate children into detailed but untrue claims of molestation. Cops in this movie cheerfully describe how easy it is.
    While none of us can say with confidence whether Jackson has committed crimes, we should not forget that unscrupulous prosecutors and police do exist, and one of their tactics is to threaten people close to the defendant. Another is to put scenes into kids’ heads and then call it testimony. I’m no fan of Jackson, but none of us should automatically trust these government officials either.

  5. Tim Avatar
    Tim

    Or, to add to Jay’s suggestion, rent “Indictment: The McMartin Trial”, about the outrageous tarring of an entire family by false child abuse allegations. Brilliant.
    BUT Michael Jackson hardly fits in the same category — here is a middle-aged man who sleeps in the same bed as young male children, in a bedroom with alarms that alert him to approaching visitors, and who dangles his baby out of a window to fans. He’s guilty of being a weirdo, there’s no doubt about that, and only his celebrity and cash stands between him and the slammer…

  6. ed Avatar
    ed

    Hmmm.
    I’m curious. Speaking as someone with no legal knowledge or training isn’t there a reasonable means of enabling legal protection? Couldn’t members of a “posse” be accrued the same status as therapists, spiritual guides, etc? Isn’t there a legal principle that forbids, unless there are extraordinary circumstances, forcing such people to testify?
    Frankly if Jackson is guilty then he should hang. If he isn’t then that prosecutor MUST hang. There have been far too many incidents of prosecutorial overreach and excess in America. It’s time the pendulum swung the other way.