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Michael Jackson in 1988

In 2003, American singer Michael Jackson was accused of participating in Voodoo rituals by journalist Maureen Orth.

Background and context

Jackson and Spielberg

See also: Production of Hook

Steven Spielberg directed the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

In June 1981, Michael Jackson recorded E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, an audiobook and soundtrack album to accompany the 1982 Steven Spielberg-directed blockbuster film of the same name. The album was released by MCA Records in November 1982, the same month as Jackson's sixth studio album Thriller (1982). The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album was well received critically and earned Jackson a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children. Several months after the release of storybook album, it was rumoured and reported that Spielberg was to make a musical film adaption of Peter Pan that would star Jackson as the protagonist. The Jewish film director, however, stated shortly afterward that the pop singer would not play Pan in the movie, and that Jackson had never been under consideration for the role. Some reports, though, state that Jackson had been under consideration and that he had been in talks to play Pan. The idea was, ultimately, rejected by Spielberg, who went on to cast Robin Williams as Pan for the live-action film Hook (1991). Jackson was claimed to have been "extremely disappointed" and went to his bedroom, where he cried in darkness.

Several years later, in 1996, Jackson released the single "They Don't Care About Us". It was suggested by the media that the song preached antisemitism, as the lyrics to the track contained the verse, "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me". Jackson responded directly to the allegations, stating that the lyrics were not anti-Semitic but "about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked... I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking." Jackson re-released the song without the offending lyrics, and newpapers reported that it was done at the request of an "outrage[d]" Spielberg.

Jackson and Geffen

Entertainment mogul David Geffen had been associated with Jackson since the early 1980s and became an influential figure in the singer's business career. Jackson signed a development deal with Geffen's production company to star in a film, however, the two could not agree with each other on what to film and the plan to create a movie never came to fruition. Geffen was associated with NBC Universal's subsidary MCA, and he asked Jackson to appear at the opening of the Universal Orlando Resort in 1990. At the time, however, Jackson was negotiations with The Walt Disney Company to lend his name to a new robotic attraction at their theme parks. Jackson was told by the then-chief executive officer of Disney, Michael Eisner, that if he agreed to any deals with Universal, he would never be associated with Disney again. Jackson's loyalties were divided between his friendship with Geffen, and his eagerness to be involved with Disney. Journalist J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that the stress caused by the situation became so severe that Jackson suffered a panic attack and was admitted to hospital for a short time.

Jackson and the media

See also: Media reaction to the 1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Jackson

The minute I started breaking the all-time record in record sales—I broke Elvis's records, I broke The Beatles' records... The minute [Thriller] became the all-time best-selling album in history—in the Guinness Book of World Records—overnight they called me a freak, they called me a homosexual, they called me a child molester, they said I tried to bleach my skin. They [did] everything to turn the public against me. [It was] all a complete, complete conspiracy. You have to know that. I know my race, I just look in the mirror. I know I'm black.

Michael Jackson at a 2002 anti-racism rally.

Several factors from the mid-1980s are said to be linked to Jackson's strained relationship with the media. At this time, the singer's Thriller had been released for several months and had been recognised as the biggest-selling album of all time by Guinness World Records. In 1985, Jackson purchased the rights to most of The Beatles' songs, as well as to tracks recorded by Elvis Presley. Journalist Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote that some members of the black community felt that with the success and acquisition, the African American singer "had stepped beyond accepted racial parameters for a black" and, thus, became a "marked man" for the white media. Activist Dick Gregory reiterated these concerns, writing, "A black man owns (the music of) two of the most important music figures in the world and anytime something is played by either of them, Michael gets paid." He added, "[Michael]'s a good man and I feel that he's been the target of a conspiracy to destroy his career. In my opinion, there are people who have a financial interest in bringing Michael down."

Other aspects of Jackson's life, including his behaviour, changing appearance and personal relationships, became a focal point for media mockery and helped to shape a widely held view of Jackson as an eccentric. Tabloid newspapers dubbed the singer "Wacko Jacko" and ran with several unsubstantiated stories regarding him. One story stated that Jackson wanted to purchase the large intestine of Elvis Presley, with the "fecal matter" still intact. A second suggested that the singer had considered attempting to purchase Marilyn Monroe's skeleton, which he would then have had dressed in a bikini and put on display at Hollywood Boulevard, charging interested customers $15 a glimpse.

When Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse in 1993, claims of media bias against the singer arose. Newspapers were condemnded for using sensational headlines to draw in readers and viewers when the content itself did not support the headline, accepting stories of Jackson's alleged criminal activity in return for money, accepting confidential leaked material from the police investigation in return for money paid, deliberately using pictures of Jackson's appearance at its worst, a lack of objectivity and the use of headlines that strongly implied guilt on Jackson's part. In 1994, the musician's insurance company settled a civil suit with the singer's accuser out of court for $22 million. The criminal investigation into the child abuse claims was subsequently closed due to lack of evidence and Jackson was not charged with a crime. In the wake of the case, the entertainer's commercial appeal and public image declined.

Voodoo claims made by Orth

Maureen Orth claimed that Michael Jackson had a Voodoo chief called Baba ritually sacrifice multiple cows as part of a ceremony to curse the singer's former friends.

Maureen Orth claimed in a April 2003 Vanity Fair article that Jackson had underwent a "blood bath" in Switzerland in 2000 as part of a ceremony to curse and kill 25 of his former friends who he now considered "enemies". This group of people included Spielberg and Geffen; the only two named in the article. Orth alleged that the singer then ordered a Korean business adviser to wire $150,000 to the Mali bank account of a Voodoo chief called Baba, who subsequently sacrificed 42 cows as part of the extended ceremony. The chief was said to have assured Jackson at the time that those on the entertainer's hitlist would "soon be dead", and that Geffen could possibly be gone within the week. When Baba massacred the livestock, he purportedly said a series of chants and spoke the name of each of Jackson's enemies as he chopped off a cow's head. "David Geffen be gone! Steven Spielberg be gone!", were some of his alleged cries.

Orth stated that Jackson paid a six figure sum for his blood bath (or "ritual cleansing"), which involved the use of sheep's blood. The journalist expressed that this part of the ceremony was not oversaw by Baba, but a different Voodoo doctor, as well as "a mysterious Egyptian woman named Samia". According to Orth, Samia had sought out Jackson and given him a letter of greeting from a "high-ranking Saudi prince", reputedly Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the chief of intelligence in Saudi Arabia. The writer claimed that Jackson was taken by Samia to a basement in Geneva. There, she was said to have showed him $300 million in cash and promised the singer that she would give him the "free money", as well as a yacht and a villa. Orth stated that it was then arranged for three men to travel from Switzerland to Jackson's Neverland Ranch in California. At the property, Jackson and the men allegedly discussed a deal and the singer gave them $1 million in return for Samia's promised treasures.

Orth claimed in her article that Jackson thereafter had his Korean adviser liase at the Hôtel d’Angleterre in Geneva with a third Voodoo doctor. The Voodoo man was purportedly able to pull "money out of thin air", and he put on "a show of sound, lights and pigeons" for his Korean guest. He then led Jackson's advisor to a bathroom, where the tub was full of cash—reputedly amounting to $50 million—that the doctor claimed originated from the United States Federal Reserve. Orth stated that the Korean was told that Jackson would have to pay thousands of dollars for the blood of a number of fowl and small animals for another ritual, otherwise the money would "disappear". Orth claimed that "The sacrificial animals were already assembled at a location on the French-Swiss border, waiting to die to make Jackson's wishes come true." Reportedly horrified and disgusted, the advisor swiftly left.

Reaction

Orth's 2003 Voodoo claims have been reported in several tabloids, broadsheets, magazines and books, and have been met with widespread incredulity. Jackson biographer Darwin Porter writes that "[the story raises far more questions than it answers. It, in fact, makes no sense at all." The author continues, "What was the link between Switzerland and the voodoo priest in Mali? Where did the killing of the cows take place?" Porter adds, "[One] might ask an even more provocative question. Is this widely published story really true?"

Jackson's spokeperson at the time, Stuart Backerman, refused to comment on the claims. A representative of DreamWorks said that founder-Geffen would not comment on the reports either.

See also

• Michael Jackson's Thriller
• Zombie
• Yellow journalism

References

• Anderson, Jeffrey E. (2005). Conjure in African American Society. Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0807130923.
• Campbell, Lisa (1993). Michael Jackson: The King of Pop. Branden. ISBN 082831957X.
• Campbell, Lisa (1995). Michael Jackson: The King of Pop's Darkest Hour. Branden. ISBN 0828320039.
• Grant, Adrian (2009). Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781849382618.
• Guest, Lynton (2006). The Trials of Michael Jackson. Aureus Publishing. ISBN 1899750401.
• Jackson, Kathi (2007). Steven Spielberg: A Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313337969.
• Jones, Jel D. Lewis (2005). Michael Jackson, the King of Pop: The Big Picture: the Music! the Man! the Legend! the Interviews!. Amber Books Publishing. ISBN 097497790X.
• Porter, Darwin (2009). Jacko, His Rise and Fall: The Social & Sexual History of Michael Jackson. Blood Moon Productions. ISBN 1936003104.
• Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Terra Alta, WV: Headline. ISBN 0330420054.

External links

• Official website of Maureen Orth