Jackson's death returns his father to spotlight

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-30 10:35

In Michael's 1988 book "Moonwalk," he called his father "a mystery man to me," but also noted that he "wasn't forced into this business by stage parents the way that Judy Garland was."

"I did it because I was compelled to do it, not my parents or my family, but by my own inner life in the world of music," he wrote.

However, he also noted that his father was incredibly strict with his children, some would say abusive, beating his children if they missed a step or note during rehearsals.

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Michale Jackson: King of Pop

Years later, in the interview with Winfrey, Michael's tone was different. He said that his father beat him and that "just a look would scare you."

Michael said that he would get physically sick — as a child and as an adult — just at the sight of his father. He also spoke of emotional abuse.

"I was so shy I would wash my face in the dark," Michael said, referring to an acne outbreak. "I wouldn't look in the mirror and my father teased me. I just hated it. I would cry every day. He would tell me I'm ugly."

Appearing still fearful of his father, Michael repeatedly turned to the camera during the interview and said, "Sorry, Joseph."

Michael always believed that he had missed out on childhood and sought to experience it again as an adult. He surrounded himself with children and built an amusement park at his Neverland Ranch, his nearly 3,000-acre California property named after the Peter Pan fantasy island.

Joe Jackson disputed his son's claims of abuse, telling the BBC in 2003: "I whipped him with a switch and a belt. ... I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick."

In a 2005 interview with The Associated Press, Jackson said: "Katherine whipped Michael more than I did." He also acknowledged driving his children hard: "When they said they didn't want to go, I pulled them by the hand and said, `We're going. We're going to do this.'"

Michael's brother Jermaine defended their father in a 2005 interview with Larry King: "We grew up like any other black family. You did something, you got your butt tore up ... you got a spanking." Added Jermaine: "He kept us off of the streets."

Joe Jackson's parenting is likely to be brought up in court as part of the request for custody of his grandchildren.

It was Joe Jackson who brought the Jackson 5 to a deal with Motown Records and helped build the solo careers of Michael and Janet. By the 1980s and the mega-success of "Thriller," Michael was operating professionally on his own. All of Joe Jackson's children eventually cut professional ties to their father.

"It's not a secret that Michael had conflicted feelings about his father," said J. Randy Taraborrelli, a friend and biographer of Jackson's who is now working for CBS News. "He spent a lot of his adult life looking for ways to keep his father out of his business affairs. So I'm not 100 percent sure that he would be happy his Dad is so involved. But I'm also not sure what their relationship was like in recent years."

Joe Jackson remained president of Jackson Family Entertainment Inc. and opened the Joe Jackson Talent Agency. In 1999, he filed for bankruptcy.

In 2005, he launched Joe Jackson's Hip-Hop Boot Camp, a rap contest meant to find "the best hip-hop artist in the world."

"Everybody is liking hip-hop now," Jackson said then. "I'm gonna have to clean it up a little bit — all that vulgar language out there."

Taraborrelli cautioned against underestimating Joe Jackson, who he said wants to preserve his son's legacy more than anything.

"When Michael became a father, that changed his perspective about his relationship with his own father," said Taraborrelli. "He began to rethink some of his animosities about his parents and his childhood. He began to realize what it's like to want to protect your son."

At Michael's 2005 molestation trial, his father accompanied him, holding his hand while walking to court.

On Sunday at the BET Awards, Jackson spoke vaguely of a new record company he is launching with Marshall Thompson, lead singer of the Chi-Lites, as a partner. He again discussed the label at a news conference Monday in front of the family's Encino home, along with the Rev. Al Sharpton.

That he would use such an opportunity for self-promotion struck many Jackson fans as inappropriate. Negative reaction flowed across the Internet, where people on Twitter and various sites called Jackson "shameless" and "self-serving."

But Sharpton defended him: "Some misinterpreted why Mr. Jackson went and what he said. He said it and went because he wanted to send a signal to the world that the Jackson family is going to continue doing what Michael did: give music and love to the world across all boundaries and across all nationalities."

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