Michael Jackson’s parents should not get custody of his kids. Custody of Michael Jackson’s kids is now up in the air, and three parties have surfaced: Michael Jackson’s parents, the kids’ nanny, and Debbie Rowe, mother of the two oldest kids. Heaven forbid if custody of Michael Jackson’s kids goes to his parents.
Maybe you don’t know this, but Michael Jackson’s father abused his children. In fact, Wikipedia says that Michael Jackson, as a boy, was so afraid of his father, that upon simply seeing him, he’d get nauseous and even vomit. Joe Jackson reportedly once held Michael upside down by one foot and repeatedly hit him in the back and butt. In the 1992 movie, “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” Joe Jackson is characterized as a cruel, unloving man who exploited his children for money and fame.
In the movie, the king of pop hid from his father under a bed. He’d whip them like a maniac if the kids didn’t get dance moves “right.” Michael Jackson HIMSELF had stated that his father routinely beat and ridiculed him. And where was Michael Jackson’s mother in all this?
She stood by like a wuss and did absolutely nothing, no mama bear instinct whatsoever. It says a lot about a woman’s character when she marries a violent man (Sorry, I won’t believe that Joe Jackson was this loving, patient, reasonable and wonderful man before they married); stays married to him despite his abuse of the kids; and makes nine kids with him. This is a weak, subservient woman married to a violent man. She could have called the police. She could have gathered the kids and left. This is what many women in this situation do. The kids were getting beatings long before they became famous.
A weak woman and a violent man should not get custody of Michael Jackson’s kids. They are entitled to visits with the grandkids, and at that, Joe Jackson’s interaction with his grandkids should be supervised. I will say this: In that 1992 movie, when Joe Jackson is frantically searching the house to give Michael a beating (he’d use a thick tree branch), and Michael was hiding, his mother finally intercepted and pleaded with her husband to stop beating the boy.
I don’t know if this is how it played out in real life, but in the movie, from that point on, the beatings stopped. However, by then, the damage had already been done to Michael Jackson’s developing mind – damage he carried well through adulthood. One person after another, in the media blitz that has resulted from his death, has stated that upon meeting Michael, there was this emptiness in his eyes, this vulnerability, frailty and sense of hopelessness and darkness — all while at the same time, he’s been described as being gentle, kind and compassionate.
Rather than blame show biz on the king of pop’s self-destructive behavior, we should blame his parents. Is it possible, however, that Joe Jackson realizes his mistakes and at some point in the past, became a brand new man? Based on the movie, the legacy of Michael Jackson’s bizarre behavior, and things the pop king has stated, Joe Jackson’s problems were not something that could simply be realized and then brushed under the rug. The elder Jackson had some serious temper and character problems.
And they are “non-reformable.” Michael Jackson’s parents may be old and frail-looking now, but it’s not hard for an old man to beat a young child. There’s no reason to believe that Joe Jackson is no longer capable of scourging Paris Jackson’s behind if she misses a key on the piano, or shoving Prince into a wall if he misses the basketball hoop or didn’t finish his milk. Or ridiculing the daylights out of them. According to Wikipedia, he’d push his boys into walls, and deliberately trip them.
I’m not saying that Wikipedia is the gospel, but the king of pop himself has verified the abuse; the movie depicted it; and LaToya and Janet have also had their share of problems that could best be explained by growing up in a toxic family environment. I don’t know what kind of custodial mother Debbie Rowe would make, or the nanny, for that matter. But one thing’s clear: Custody of Michael Jackson’s kids should NOT go to his parents!