Chapter 21 - The Comeback King
Fall 2008. Michael is happy and healthy. Dancing and recording. Wheelchair photo - was an act. Michael trying to make everyone think he wasn't ready or capable for comeback.
"Because no comeback is truly a comeback until the odds seem impossible."
"Michael got stronger and stronger, week by week, and he shed weight when I didn’t think he had any more to lose. Again, some people point to this “thinness” as if it were a disturbing sign, but he had shrunk ever since the trial and his fitness regime made him skinnier. It was also normal—after each tour he ever did, he’d lose three inches off his waist. Michael was simply shedding weight because of those daily four hours of dance."
"In late 2008, he was so fit that, further down the line—eight weeks before he died—when he bumped into a friend in a doctor’s office, he lifted his shirt and said, “Have you seen my six-pack?”"
Michael's plans: New house in Vegas as a new neverland, his kids see him perform. make money from tour to pay his debts. Performing in China after TII. Do Superbowl. 2 tours of "back by popular demand" concerts till 2014. TII was the beginning not the end. 5 year plan.
Still worried if the tickets would not sell, tested the waters with 10 in Europe. Wasn't sure about USA reaction to him.
Flashback to after trial and time in Bahrain: Although Jermaine was instrumental in the deal with the Prince, he's cut off and it becomes a deal between only Michael and Prince Abdullah. Prince pays for Michael's lifestyle in Bahrain. Michael in good faith believed these to be gifts and he didn't realize it was part of his contract. Michael thought he was to do one album but the contract was for music,musicals,movies, books etc. So as he doesn't want to be owned by anyone he leaves. Prince sues Michael. Jermaine can't believe Michael signed a contract without reading.
A lot of lawsuit against Michael worth $100M. Sony loan now $300M. Sony has the option to buy his 25%. Good news Michael buys 5% share from Branca. Jermaine thinks "once great business relationship" between Branca and Michael floundered as Branca wasn't exclusively on Michael's side (conflict of interest idea). Struggling to pay Neverland's costs, salaries, animal costs. Ranch shut down in 2006.
Summer 2006 Michael received a set of documents that showed that some individuals were deliberately getting people to sue Michael to force him into involuntary bankruptcy. Jermaine never saw the documents. don't know what happened to them.
Michael trusted a less people. There was one person he thought as a friend and advised him unofficially since 2001. Michael was often a guest at his house. One sleepless night during his war with Mottola , Michael overhears this person on the telephone with Mottola saying not favorable things.
Michael wanted to play "Willy Wonka" but the role went to Johnny Deep. 2007 "Crystal City" - Neverland theme park and Jackson Academy of performing arts in Middle East. 4 meetings but they didn't have the money to fund it.
2007 when in Africa in a business meeting trying to find a backer for the project, a friend mentions Tohme Tohme as a guy "who knows a lot of people". March 2008 Jermaine and Halima goes to meet Tohme. Not charming but gracious. Jermaine discusses Crystal City to Tohme without mentioning Michael. 4 meetings with Tohme. Tohme says he'll try to come up with oil-rich investors to fund $6billion and report back.
Neverland foreclosure news. Jermaine worries that Michael would need to sell his catalog to save Neverland. He decided to call Tohme. Halima says "you hardly know the man". April 2008 Jermaine meets with Tohme , tells him the situation and asks if he knows anyone that can help. Tohme says Tom Barrack / Colony Capital would help and "he'll make sure of it". Jermaine goes to Las Vegas to talk to Michael. Security doesn't let Jermaine in. He goes to a hotel and comes back 3 times, still they don't let him in. He calls Katherine who calls Grace who lets Jermaine in. Jermaine complains about the security not letting him in. Michael tells him he'll make changes soon. Jermaine tells Michael about Tom Barrack.
"I know that my sister La Toya has said she wished she could have “protected” him from the likes of Tohme-Tohme, but had she known the history and the dire reality of the situation, I doubt she’d have held such an opinion."
Jermaine takes Tohme to meet Michael. Michael talks with Barrack on the phone. Meeting with all of them is set. Shortly before foreclosure Barrack pays $23M and gets 50% ownership at Neverland. Barrack and Tohme are heroes. Tohme becomes Michael's manager. Tohme looks over Michael's finances. Cash poor, asset rich. a lot of expenses.
2008 summer Michael shows Jermaine the photos of the house he wants to buy in Vegas that belonged to Prince Jefri of Brunei. He saw the house in 2007, decided to buy it in 2008 and was in negotiations in 2009 to make a $15M down payment for it funded by his TII contract.
Michael and Barrack get along very well. Barrack wants to open a thriller tower in his Hilton hotel. Michael asks him if he wants to partner with him on Sony/ATV catalog. Jermaine doesn't want to leave Michael vulnerable to Barrack and Tohme so he tries to recruit lawyer Joel Katz and Michael agrees. Tohme turns against Jermaine as he brings in a lawyer. Neverland auction. Michael approved it thinking only furniture in storage will be sold. He did not want Neverland would be dismantled and his personal possesions be sold. Michael soon fires Tohme.
Jermaine says before his firing even Tohme turned into a gatekeeper not allowing him to see Michael.
“I don’t understand why you keep coming around. Your brother does not want to see you. If someone does not want to see you, I wouldn’t keep humiliating myself and showing up . . .”
March/ April 2008 dinner with Barrack is when TII idea started. TII is one way to earn big money or he would have need to work at McDonald's as he told Karen Faye. Jermaine says Michael long dreamed a residency tour - in Paris. Tohme reaches out to AEG and Live Nation. Jermaine knows AEG because he talked to them in 2004 about a Broadway musical about Jacksons life story. 2008 Barrack seals the deal with Phil Anschutz of AEG for TII that came with a minimal payment of $36.5M with an upside potential of $300M. 3 movies were a part of it as well as the $15M Vegas home. Also an agreement to do spot concerts as well as 2 tours. One of the tours would be a Jackson 5 reunion tour because Katherine had told Michael that before she died she wanted to see her sons tour together one last time. One more solo tour as final curtain call. He said he would retire from music at when he was 55 years old and then only focus on Hollywood for movies.
TII announcement. Michael being late, not staying long etc. Jermaine says earlier that day Michael learned that guitar player David Williams died.
May 14, 2009 Family day. Katherine and Joe's 60th anniversary surprise. Michael is 4 weeks into TII rehearsals.
"When I spoke with my brother at the Indian restaurant, there was no question that he was fit, healthy and focused. He was skinny, but only in an athletic sense, and the photos that still stand on an end table in my living room confirm it. More importantly, he was genuinely excited about “doing something special for the fans” and there was talk of special guest appearances by the likes of Slash and Alicia Keys. At least, that was an idea he had been toying with."
"The only thing he complained about was that he’d signed up to do “10 shows only” as advertised but somewhere along the line, due to the demand tickets, AEG had added an extra 40 dates. Even they sold out within five hours on-line. Michael said no one had checked with him first, but at no point did he give me the impression that the schedule was too punishing or beyond him, because it wasn’t. Not for a man in his condition."
"He always had breakfast and dinner with his kids, and while they went to bed at around 8 pm, he soon followed around nine. He had been sleeping soundly (his insomnia was only ever tour induced) and he seemed the most centered and content I had seen him in years."
"When it was time for him to leave, everyone hugged and said their goodbyes. “You’re all coming to London, right?” Michael asked us. “Yeah! We’ll be there!” I said, as we all did. “Okay, everyone. See you in London!”"
to be continued.
one more chapter left. It's about Michael's death, what happened during TII rehearsals, funeral.
(note: I looked over Jermaine is saying that Michael was down to 136lbs from 150-155lbs)
