As expected, Michael Jackson snubbed his entire family Thursday night and skipped a dinner honoring him and all of them in Los Angeles.
The dinner was hosted by BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) honoring the Jackson 5 and Janet Jackson. The organizers hoped the dinner would draw out reclusive, absentee Michael, who turned 50 last week.
But getting older hasn't made Jacko nicer or more loyal. He let Janet, Tito, Randy, Marlon and Jackie as well as his sisters LaToya and Rebbie and his parents Katherine and Joe show up and make fake excuses for him while Michael presumably watched cartoons at home in his pajamas surrounded by children.
To be fair, older brother Jermaine was also a no-show, but no one asked where he was.
Marlon Jackson quipped that Michael was "riding a camel in Egypt."
Most of the family has not seen or heard from Michael since his June 2005 acquittal on charges of child molestation and conspiracy. Since then he's lived in Bahrain, Ireland, Northern Virginia and Las Vegas. He's narrowly escaped personal bankruptcy, lost or settled various lawsuits and nearly had his Neverland Ranch taken away from him.
At least Thursday night's BMI dinner once and for all quelled the rumors that Jacko will reunite or tour with his brothers, especially Randy, with whom Michael has financial "issues." That ship has sailed now.
In some ways, it's a fitting ending for papa Joe Jackson, who didn't do himself any favors when he acted as Michael's taskmaster and over-dominating manager during the former pop star's formative years. Locking him in closets when he failed to perform properly, as my sources have said, and possibly worse according to reports, have left the 50-year-old mentally scarred and uninterested in any future relationships.
But Jackson is notoriously disloyal, something his crazed fans have never understood. As this reporter can verify, Michael Jackson left his surrogate dad and protector, Bill Bray, to die an agonizing death in relative poverty with little other than a volunteer caretaker and a hospital bed. Even when told that Bray was dying and needed help, Jackson ignored him. via
