When Lenny Kravitz took Jermain Jackson’s place
In September 2001, Michael brought two concerts to the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his solo career in the entertainment industry. Many well-known artists and figures performed at these events, including Michael’s brothers—or, in other words, the former Jackson Five group.
Roger Friedman wrote in a note that Lenny Kravitz—who had a joint song with Michael titled Another Day on the album Michael—was almost going to go on stage at these celebrations instead of Jermain Jackson. Jermain was not willing to accept a fee similar to the others; $1,500 plus flight and hotel costs was not enough for him.
At Michael’s request, Frank Cassio—one of Michael’s friends—went to Lenny Kravitz to replace Jermain in the group. In the end, Jermain gave in and joined the group. Friedman also quotes from Stacy Brown, one of the two authors of the book Michael Jackson: The Man Behind The Mask, who is known poorly among the fan community due to her statements about Michael:
"Michael had brought all family members, including Jermain and his lover, to New York by plane. A fierce fight broke out among the family at the hotel."
Roger Friedman points out that Randall Sullivan, in the book—a new biography he wrote about Michael Jackson—did not go into these events. He says:
"He said he didn’t read Frank Cassio’s book and he didn’t talk to Stacy Brown. Brown had helped Bob Jones, an old Michael Jackson employee, with her book (The Man Behind The Mask). Jones wrote this book after Michael fired him without informing him, after 30 years of service." [For more information, refer to the end of the text.]
Friedman wrote that David Gest, Michael’s friend and producer of the Madison Square Garden concert, in a statement on July 24, 2001, had wished him success in his solo career while announcing that Jermain would not be present at the Square concert. Friedman says this statement made Jermain come to his senses and accept performing at the Square with the same suggested fee.
Friedman refers to an article published at the same time by ABC. The news agency wrote:
"It seems Jermain wasn’t playing around. Recently, a statement signed by him and his brother Randy was released that criticized the high cost of Madison Square tickets and criticized Michael for wanting to share the stage with other artists."
Then, on Friday, David Gest issued a statement exempting Jermain from participating in the program. Of course, this statement did not mention Randy, and his status remained unclear.
On Monday, the other brother, Marlon, announced in a statement that Randy would be present at the concert:
"I’m really sorry for the misunderstanding my brother Jermain caused. We all wish Jermain success in his solo career."
On that same day, David Gest’s spokesperson announced that Mr. Gest was only looking to hire people who would enjoy and be thrilled to be part of these shows. Gest’s interpretation of Jermain Jackson’s statement is that he truly did not want to be present at this concert.
Jermain Jackson first left his brothers’ group, the Jackson Five, in 1975. After that, Randy took his place in the group that was later renamed the Jacksons. The last collaboration between the brothers happened on the Victory Tour in 1984, when all six brothers came back on stage together and Michael promised that this would be the last time he would be aligned with them.
eMJey: In his book, published before the 2005 trial, Bob Jones claimed that he had seen Michael abusing children. He denied it in court. (Read more).
His book is mostly assumed to be a tool for revenge against Michael Jackson. Stacy Brown also collaborated with him on this book. In the 2005 trial, Bob Jones, as a witness, admitted that Stacy Brown had asked him to add exciting lies to the book, and Brown also confirmed that Bob Jones had made such claims against his former boss, Michael Jackson, due to financial needs.
One month after Michael was acquitted in the 2005 trial, Stacy Brown wrote that Michael would not be alive for the next ten years:
"I’m surprised that what happened to Elvis (death due to drug use) hasn’t happened to Michael Jackson yet. He’s at the end of the line. With his 180-centimeter height, he only weighs 40 kilograms—he’s not healthy. I don’t think he’s the kind of person who would commit suicide; I don’t think he would point a gun at his own brain. He’ll probably die one day by accident from an injection... This is the saddest story in the history of pop music, and he still hasn’t died."
A few days before publishing this article, Brown said that if the jury members had been Black, they would have sent Michael to prison. In her view, Michael had no popularity among his own race because he ignored them.
Of course, this is wrong, because Michael was one of the fighters against racial discrimination toward Black people. With his music, he erased racial limitations for Black people after him. And according to the statements of the documentary maker and director, Spike Lee—who made BAD 25—he has always been accused by white people of racism because his skin color became lighter. They claimed that since Michael didn’t want to be Black, he was making his skin white. Today, the truth of this matter has been revealed to everyone. Michael Jackson had lost his skin color due to a disease called vitiligo.
Source: eMJey.com / Showbiz411 & ABC News