AEG Trial Day 7: Michael Jackson said before his death that God talks to him
On Wednesday, a female dancer and producer who had worked with Michael Jackson since 1987 testified in court that she had been worried about Michael’s health.
Alif Sankey, an assistant producer for the This Is It tour, said she had warned Kenny Ortega, the tour director, about this. She explained that Michael was very thin and wasn’t prepared for the tour. She said that once Michael arrived at a rehearsal wearing torn shoes with a hole in the heel; during the first week of June he missed several rehearsal sessions and was even thinner than before. Ortega was upset about Michael’s absence from the dance sessions. She also said that Travis Payne, the tour choreographer, had told Sankey that Michael complained to him about physical pain.
Sankey’s testimony took on an unusual tone when she said that God was speaking to Michael. Michael had told Kenny Ortega just days before his death that he could hear God’s voice:
“God talks to me all the time.”
These words—and Michael’s appearance—had made Sankey and Ortega cry during the rehearsal session.
“Michael didn’t understand why God was talking to him. Ortega and I were both crying. We were crying because he wasn’t speaking normally.”
Sankey’s testimony also made Michael’s fans in the courtroom cry.
Sankey said that on June 19, 2009—the day of the rehearsal, only six days before his death—Michael couldn’t speak normally. Katherine Jackson’s lawyer showed the jury a photo of Michael related to the stage costume fitting session. In the picture, he looked extremely thin. When Michael left the location to go home, tears had gathered in Sankey’s and Ortega’s eyes. On the way back home, Sankey stopped her car to call Ortega. It was past 1:00 a.m. on June 20.
“A very strong feeling told me that Michael was dying.”
“That night I was yelling at Ortega on the phone. I told him Michael needed to be admitted to the hospital right now.”
When Sankey testified about this, she became overwhelmed with emotion.
“I kept saying that Michael was dying, dying, dying—he was leaving us. He had to be admitted to the hospital. Please do something, please, please. I kept repeating it. I asked him why nobody was seeing what I was seeing. He said he didn’t know.”
Ortega then sent an email at 2:04 a.m. to Randy Phillips, the CEO of the company. Of course, Ortega had exchanged worrying emails before as well.
Sankey showed the jury the email she had written to Kenny Ortega in early June. In it, she reminded Ortega that they needed to improve Michael’s physical and mental condition as soon as possible. Sankey never received a direct reply from Ortega, but Ortega passed this concern on to AEG and kept them informed.
In her email to Ortega, Sankey wrote: “Please help me bring Michael back into that magical light. Let me help you help Michael find what he’s missing—his sacred cup.”
Brian Panish, Katherine Jackson’s attorney, asked Sankey whether anything came out of these emails—whether the company, after learning about her concerns, took action to protect Michael Jackson’s life.
Sankey answered: “No.”
Panish: “Was your concern that no action was being taken?”
Sankey: “Yes.”
Sankey continued: “I wanted him to be the same person with courage and awareness that he is—believe in himself, believe that we have faith in him, that he can handle anything.”
Sankey’s testimony showed that Ortega used Sankey’s words in many of his emails to the company.
In one of those emails, Ortega wrote: “Michael needs more attention and management. In my opinion, he really needs a specialist in nutrition and exercise therapy and massage for his muscle fatigue and injuries. He is not in great physical condition. I believe he is suffering and in pain.”
As a result of these email exchanges, a meeting was held at Michael’s home with Michael, Dr. Conrad Murray, Randy Phillips, and Ortega. After the meeting ended, Phillips sent an email to Ortega saying he believed in Murray’s performance:
“The more I work with him, the more my respect for him grows. He’s a very successful doctor; we’ve reviewed all his records. He doesn’t need this tour (= he’s not in it for money). He’s completely ethical and impartial.”
Panish asked Sankey to explain the email in which Paul Gongwer, the company’s executive, informed Ortega of his decision to speak with Murray. Sankey explained that Gongwer wrote in that email:
“We want to remind him that this company, AEG, is the one paying his salary—not MJ (Michael Jackson). We want him to know what our expectations are of him.”
Sankey said she judged Michael’s physical condition based on what she felt when she held him.
“Years ago, when I held him in my arms, his body was like marble. But when I held him in 2006 during a brief visit, it wasn’t like that anymore—he had become thinner.”
Michael’s last rehearsal took place on June 24, one day before his death, at the Staples Center. Part of the footage from security cameras taken that same day was shown to the jury. In the video, Michael walks past Sankey wrapped in a blanket. (Download)
Sankey said: “He didn’t look well. I asked him if he was cold, and he said yes.”
That night, Michael performed two songs: “Thriller” and “Earth Song.”
Sankey continued: “He did it. He rehearsed. But he wasn’t in full condition to perform the songs completely.”
The next afternoon, she stood in the rehearsal hall next to Ortega, while Phillips informed Ortega by phone that Michael had died.
Sankey said: “Ortega lost consciousness in our hands.”
Unlike the previous six days, this time the jury had a heavy courtroom atmosphere that gave way to the world of Michael Jackson’s art and creativity.
Alif Sankey said that in the video Smooth Criminal, Michael appeared. She said that appearing in this video was her first major role. She said the video shoot took three months. Sankey said watching Michael while he worked on his creativity had a positive impact on her. In court, a photo of her alongside Michael was shown. After showing the image, Katherine Jackson’s lawyer also played the Smooth Criminal video in court, and Michael’s voice and image made his mother cry again.
Sankey described Michael’s imagination as endless:
“When he drew something in his mind, it would happen. It was amazing. We saw his fantasies turn into reality.”
She also talked about working with Michael in the video “A.C.”:
“It was the first time. It was the first time, as a dancer, that I was impressed by his work and his attention to every detail. He cared so much about details and never overlooked anything. Working with Michael was a magical experience. Even now, my dream is to be able to create the same magic he created. Working with him was a dream that came true, and I will keep it like a treasure in my chest and engrave it in my mind forever.”
Michael was personally eager to perform in front of his children. Sankey also spoke about Michael as a father and his relationship with the children who “loved” him:
“Michael said he was excited about performing this tour. The thought that he could finally tell his children who he really was, and show them everything, made him very excited.”
“This Is It would have been a huge show. It was supposed to be very big, creative, and different. From my experience working with Michael in the past, I knew something would come out of it that nobody had ever seen before. Everything was supposed to be new and innovative.”
During questioning, Sankey accepted that her understanding of Michael’s situation was only based on short meetings, and that she had never had long conversations with the King of Pop. But Michael trusted her so much that he allowed her to spend time with his children, whom he protected fiercely.
The jury heard about Michael’s children’s relationship with their father and the love they had for him. Sankey explained that in the first days of June, the children came there every day with their father. During those days, Michael was busy recording his short films (Dome Project).
Sankey said that in one rehearsal session, next to Paris, Michael’s daughter—who was 11 at the time—sat down and chatted with her. Paris had a handbag filled with candy and pictures of her father.
“She had a handbag with her. She had given her lots of candy there and didn’t want her father to find out. She told me not to tell her father anything about the candy. She also had a whole bunch of framed pictures of her father in her bag.”
She continued: “The kids loved their father.”
Today, Trent Jackson was also accompanying Katherine in court. Another attendee was Lance Ito, the judge in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 trial. He and Judge Ito Palazuelos had planned to have lunch after the session.
The next day’s witness will be Karen Faye, Michael Jackson’s personal hairstylist.
Source: eMJey.com / The Washington Post & CNN
Sankey described Michael’s imagination as endless:
“When he drew something in his mind, it would happen. It was amazing. We saw his fantasies turn into reality.”
She also talked about working with Michael in the video “A.C.”:
“It was the first time. It was the first time, as a dancer, that I was impressed by his work and his attention to every detail. He cared so much about details and never overlooked anything. Working with Michael was a magical experience. Even now, my dream is to be able to create the same magic he created. Working with him was a dream that came true, and I will keep it like a treasure in my chest and engrave it in my mind forever.”
Michael was personally eager to perform in front of his children. Sankey also spoke about Michael as a father and his relationship with the children who “loved” him:
“Michael said he was excited about performing this tour. The thought that he could finally tell his children who he really was, and show them everything, made him very excited.”
“This Is It would have been a huge show. It was supposed to be very big, creative, and different. From my experience working with Michael in the past, I knew something would come out of it that nobody had ever seen before. Everything was supposed to be new and innovative.”
During questioning, Sankey accepted that her understanding of Michael’s situation was only based on short meetings, and that she had never had long conversations with the King of Pop. But Michael trusted her so much that he allowed her to spend time with his children, whom he protected fiercely.
The jury heard about Michael’s children’s relationship with their father and the love they had for him. Sankey explained that in the first days of June, the children came there every day with their father. During those days, Michael was busy recording his short films (Dome Project).
Sankey said that in one rehearsal session, next to Paris, Michael’s daughter—who was 11 at the time—sat down and chatted with her. Paris had a handbag filled with candy and pictures of her father.
“She had a handbag with her. She had given her lots of candy there and didn’t want her father to find out. She told me not to tell her father anything about the candy. She also had a whole bunch of framed pictures of her father in her bag.”
She continued: “The kids loved their father.”
Today, Trent Jackson was also accompanying Katherine in court. Another attendee was Lance Ito, the judge in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 trial. He and Judge Ito Palazuelos had planned to have lunch after the session.
The next day’s witness will be Karen Faye, Michael Jackson’s personal hairstylist.
Source: eMJey.com / The Washington Post & CNN