November 21, 2003

Jackson Family Concerned Not Just For Michael, Friend Says

By Jennifer Vineyard (MTV.com)

In the wake of Michael Jackson's surrender and arrest, his family members are just as outraged as he is about the molestation charges.

Their concern, a family friend said, extends not just to the superstar, but also to the littlest ones within their extensive clan, whom they say are sometimes misrepresented as supposed "evidence" to show that the singer has an unhealthy interest in young children. Granted, Jackson does invite children other than his own to visit Neverland, but much of the time, the children shown at the singer's side are actually family.

"[Michael] has 27 nieces and nephews," said family friend Stacy Brown, who has often acted as a liaison between the Jackson family and the media. "And a lot of times, what people don't understand and are never told is that a lot of those kids [seen photographed and videotaped with him] are his nieces and nephews. They go to the ranch, they go to Neverland quite often, and are with their uncle often and love him. And he loves them."

But he can't protect them from the vast amount of media coverage of this latest scandal. Since many of them are grade-school age -- and attend public school -- they can't easily be shielded from the reports.

"It's horrible," Brown said. "They have to hear, they have to be teased and hear lewd comments about a close family member. And even some of this, they hear it from the teachers. It's not right."

Brown said the family's concern -- besides supporting Jackson -- is how to explain the whole drama to the kids. He said one nephew in particular, who is "very very distraught," keeps asking him, "Why are they doing this to him?"

Echoing similar comments that Michael's brother Jermaine said to CNN earlier Thursday (November 20), Brown said, "This is what the media wanted to see, this is what [Santa Barbara District Attorney] Tom Sneddon wanted to see, this is what the authorities wanted to see - Michael Jackson in handcuffs. They got what they wanted."

What the family wants to see is quite the opposite. The Jackson family, Brown said, believes that the singer is the victim in these allegations, which is why several members of the family joined Michael in Las Vegas shortly before his surrender in Santa Barbara -- including Jermaine, their mother, their father, and notably, LaToya Jackson, who had been the lone holdout of the family in standing by her brother during the 1993 child-molestation allegations.

"[LaToya] was led to do and say things that she certainly did not feel were true, but she was forced to do those things because of her ex-husband," Brown said, referring to her ex-manager Jack Gordon, whom she divorced in 1997 amid allegations that he physically abused her. LaToya had made statements that she would "not be a silent collaborator of [Michael's] crimes against small, innocent children," which she later recanted. "What I was told and I know it's true is that LaToya was there with Michael and her family in Las Vegas these last few days, supporting her brother," Brown said.

The Jackson family intends to hold a press conference soon, to more visibly support Michael, with details to be announced.