Things are not going so well for Michael Jackson on the home front either. In addition to his legal troubles and trying to stay out of jail, his finances are a mess, and now the staff at the Neverland Ranch are suffering as well.
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Not only have the bills for phone and electricity gone unpaid at Neverland, and for two weeks in a row the hired help has not received their meager paychecks from the multimillionaire.
Who knows what's up now. Michael Jackson's brother Randy controls Jacko's finances after taking the job over from brother Jermaine and the Nation of Islam last year. And Randy is reported to be highly unpopular with Michael's loyalists.
According to a news report on Foxnews.com, "it costs around $350,000 a month to run the 2,700-acre ranch, including staff, maintenance and the zoo. That breaks down to roughly $75,000 a week."
In addition to the chunk of change Jackson needs to pay staff and bills at Neverland, the report mentions that "Jackson owes $350 million to Bank of America in loans." Not that Michael is poor: "He also has income derived from album sales. He's still selling about 15,000 total CDs and DVDs a week (mostly of "Thriller") and publishing royalties on his own music."
Thriller! That album came out 22 years ago and still sells bigger than most of the pop stars today.
, Meanwhile back at the trial . . .
Last week the jury was shown a video of Jackson' bedroom (a.k.a. The alleged "scene of the crime"), shot by a Sheriff's Department photographer. It showed a "sparkling" bedspread, pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Temple, several TVs and stacks of videos.
But then it went into two side rooms: The "doll room" and the "toy room," which were filled with dolls, mannequins and figurines of such characters as Bat Man, Superman and C-3PO, Boba Fett and R2-D2 from "Star Wars." And dozens of child-sized mannequins.
Despite the oddities around Neverland, I'm still wierdly obsessed with that umbrella and I ask why anyone needs shaded from the sun in order to walk a few steps from the SUV at the curb to the court building. Plus that fact that he doesn't even carry the umbrella himself. It's like it's some kinda symbolic version of the giant fern leaf shading a great pharaoh.
This week at trial, the little accuser dude's younger brother (age 14) has made some contradictory statements on the stand. I don't know how much we can read into that. It's almost to be expected, since 14-year-olds can't even remember what they did at the mall last Saturday.
Meanwhile back at the trial . . .
Last week the jury was shown a video of Jackson' bedroom (a.k.a. The alleged "scene of the crime"), shot by a Sheriff's Department photographer. It showed a "sparkling" bedspread, pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Temple, several TVs and stacks of videos.
But then it went into two side rooms: The "doll room" and the "toy room," which were filled with dolls, mannequins and figurines of such characters as Bat Man, Superman and C-3PO, Boba Fett and R2-D2 from "Star Wars." And dozens of child-sized mannequins.
Despite the oddities around Neverland, I'm still wierdly obsessed with that umbrella and I ask why anyone needs shaded from the sun in order to walk a few steps from the SUV at the curb to the court building. Plus that fact that he doesn't even carry the umbrella himself. It's like it's some kinda symbolic version of the giant fern leaf shading a great pharaoh.
This week at trial, the little accuser dude's younger brother (age 14) has made some contradictory statements on the stand. I don't know how much we can read into that. It's almost to be expected, since 14-year-olds can't even remember what they did at the mall last Saturday.
Comments
Although Michael Jackson's finances may be depleting, he is still wealthy. I believe most of America would rather see this guy pennyless. Why....well, let's just say that people that are less fortunate are a bit envious over the success of others. It doesn't bother me one bit if King Tut holds Michael's umbrella. So what! If he wants to walk around like he's a Pharoah, he has that right. It certainly doesn't harm my assets.
Another thing, there's no contradiction in the truth. A 14 year olds mind can remember more than you think. I remember being 14 and boy did I tell more lies at that age than I could ever tell as an adult.
Posted by: Melody Moraman | March 11, 2005 6:19 AM