Joe Jackson has found a great new way to exploit his son Michael’s movie and his death, all at the same time.
Jackson Senior is having a fundraiser for HIMSELF at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Oct. 27, the night before Michael’s “This Is It” film opens around the world. He says he’s screening the film for a select group of his fans!
The tickets are $3,000, and Jackson will be there in Las Vegas to meet and greet these lucky people. It’s called a Platinum VIP event.
More importantly, he’s altered Sony’s trailer for “This Is It,” using it as a video invite. The video is above.
It begins: “Hello, I’m Joe Jackson. I’d like to invite you to see my son’s movie.”
Here’s the invite to Jackson Senior’s party, too.
This reminds me of another time when Joe tried to horn in on Michael’s spotlight back in September 2001. On the morning of Michael’s 30th anniversary concert, Joe called a press conference to announce he was starting a video company. It never happened, but it was just about Joe. He is a remarkable fellow. Can he get away with it? Why not? That is, until the lawyers show up!
October 15th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Oddly, this makes me feel better. What this means is that he is hurting for dough. MJ always knew that whatever he gave his mother would trickle over to Joe, but that was before they REALLY broke up (their marriage is in name only). Hopefully, Papa Joe has to hustle instead of getting a handout.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Joe, Joe, Joe…
How pathetic.
October 15th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
How can one not choke on the words “honor Michael and his father’ in the same sentence? This MJ Fan wants to know what charity Daddy Joe is raising this money for? *hint hint* ANYTHING FOR MONEY!Wonder if this is what Rebbie was talking about on Twitter?
I’m sorry, but this is Michael’s Day…. not Joe’s. Would be rather humorous if MJ’s fans boycotted & protested the theatre that night. (nods to Vegas MJ fans)
Team Branca and Sony– sic’em!
October 15th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Absolutely tasteless.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Hmm. Making money out of a movie/tour he was objecting to not so long ago…
October 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Joe Jackson is quickly running out of moves and time. It makes me wonder if he was behind the trial balloon floated to the press this week that the Jackson kids would be part of the Brothers’ A&E reality show.
By the way that show was in the works before Michael died. Initially it was to chronicle the Jackson 5 getting back together for who knows how many shows. And once again Michael had told them he didn’t want to be part of it.
I feel bad for them, but the sad fact is without Michael and now I guess you have to include his kids no one is very much interested in them any more as entertainers. God help him, but they should move on, turn the page, start the rest of their lives.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Jacko fans are the only people in the world who would be stupid enough to attend such a freak show/shake down. Good luck Joe. Keep on doing what a Jackson does.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Roger why do you care what Joe does? Michael is just as much trouble dead as he was alive according to you. And Paul you sure do spend a lot of time talking and reading about a guy you don’t like. No life?
October 15th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I wasn’t aware that Joe Jackson owned the rights to the film. I thought Sony bought the rights for $60 million. I had no idea that a family member who doesn’t own the rights can provide a private screening of this film before it opens and sell tickets to make a profit for himself.
How did he get a copy of the film to run at this private screening in a casino? Did Sony give him permission for this? And did they allow him to profit from a film THEY own? What’s going on here?
October 15th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I am still stunned by this story. Something is amiss. Joe Jackson cannot personally profit from a private showing of this film. Can he?
October 15th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
This doesn’t surprise me. Joe has always been a hustler. The truth is, if it weren’t for Joe, we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion, J5 wouldn’t have been famous, Michael might have enjoyed his childhood and still be living in Gary…
Anyway, like most things Joe is doing these days, I think it’s tasteless and I don’t think many people will support it.
But I totally disagree with Tuesday Afternoon, the Jackson brothers do have a very lucrative market to tap into if they are interested in performing their old hits as a nostalgia act, even without Michael. It’s not on the same megastar scale as Michael, but it sure beats stocking shelves at the supermarket!
October 15th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
joe jackson is still keeping his pimp hand strong. what a classless dude!
Sony and/or MJ’s estate should put a stop to this
October 15th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Rebbie Jackson’s Twitter post:
Keep your eyes and ears on the tube and net. all will come to light sooner than you all may think okay. I love you all very much.
9:32 AM Oct 13th from web
May or may not have anything to do with this– but, well…. methinksitdoes.
See the Vegas fans outside the Palms on the 27th! Be there!
October 15th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Hi BNS & Pat – Joe Jackson does not need Sony’s blessing to do this. (Nor can SPE or the estate do anything to prevent it. Sadly, bad taste is not against the law.) Brenden Theatre Corporation has the distribution deal w/ SPE to show their films. Joe Jackson’s deal is with BTC and the Palms H&C. If there are people willing to pay/attend, technically they would paying $3k to attend a “private party” hosted by (or celebrating) Joe Jackson. It’s a loop hole and perfectly legal. Joe in turn covers the rental costs for the theatre (with includes the ticket price – thus SPE still gets paid), the Palms H&C get their promotional cut, and everything else goes in Joe’s pocket. (Though I’ll bet you Joe has set up a “shell” company to collect his profits and creatively dance around the tax man!) Be well.
October 15th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
“In honor of Joe Jackson”? Are they nuts?
Seriously – this man suffers from some kind of disorder, and I am not joking or being sarcastic. There is something fundamentally wrong with him.
Michael Jackson avoided his father. Jermaine’s common wife said in her book that family was invited to take a look at Neverland when it was purchased, she and Katherine among them. Katherine wondered why Joe was not invited, and Michael replied: “You know why”.
Now he is dead and his image placed beside Joe’s on that theater invite. I can’t believe my eyes.
It’s a wonder Michael didn’t become a raging pop star monster, wrecking hotel rooms with a father like that, devoid of empathy. He could as well have – that would have earned him less pain, contempt and mocking than (gulp,the horror!) building an amusement park and being polite to people.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I won’t take credit for giving you this story but I will laugh out loud and say Joe the Hustler … you want to feel sorry for the guy based on how the media treats him but whenever he pulls these stunts, it just brings a distaste to your mouth and your mind to call him out for being pathetic … My God how can you feel sorry for him … he deserves all the nasty things the press has to say about him … if I defend him one more time may God strike me but then again it is hard to see him portrayed as a bad guy when he surely needs the money especially since Mike isn’t here to help him out anymore … I’m on the fence … what would Michael Jackson do in this situation? Probably help his father behind the scenes. Better the family makes the money than strangers only … I gotta keep convincing myself in that manner or else I will go crazy with disgust.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:59 am
Sorry, but this is misinformation. The Palms Casino and the Brenden Theater are selling VIP hotel packages a part of the Oct 27 pre-screening. Joe Jackson will be honored by the Brenden Theater on that night. Guests who buy VIP package# 4 will get a meal by a celebrity chef and Joe Jackson will attend. There are other extras in VIP packages #1-#3 but Joe is not a part of them.
You hate the Jacksons so much you create lies when the truth is right in front of you. The Palms is selling these tickets. Sure, they will more than likely comp Joe’s meal but he doesn’t need a room because he lives in Vegas most of the time.
The bottom line is Joe and any of the Jacksons can do whatever they want because they are adults. It amazes me how people think they have the right to dictate how someone other than themselves should live. Opinion is one thing but seriously it’s like some people are living and breathing the Jacksons and that’s pretty creepy.
October 16th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Just when you think Papa Joe can’t stoop any lower he goes and surprises you once again. This man is unbelieveable. Thank God those kids are being kept away from him or he would be pimping them in some cheesy show too. RIP MJ.
October 16th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Thanks mjuls for the legal information and research, I can always count on you.
The whole thing is pretty dismal considering that the film is advertised world-wide as ‘first and limited showing’, in the European papers it was announced that over Christmas the movie will be shown’in theaters everywhere’.
Since MJ’s death Joe Jackson has become the bullseye of a very tangled relationship but the guy doesn’t seem to care about world opinion… so just shake our heads in despair, that’s my advice.
Marymaudehenry
October 16th, 2009 at 3:04 am
I’m in Europe and will se the movie end of October.
Samurai, I saw your earlier post about this story.
Joe is a bad guy AND he needs money. (Well, MJ said he tried to be a better father in later years, but he keeps doing this stuff we see now.) Of course I don’t know anything really, but I doubt MJ would help his father behind the scenes – he’d give his mother enough so she can help him, if she is so inclined. I suppose that’s why she gets such an extraordinary big chunk of the estate. He wouldn’t include siblings or his father in the will, but he knew maybe his mother would feel terrible if she couldn’t help them.
October 16th, 2009 at 3:06 am
And I’m still upset he had to pay for his own funeral. If he woke up today, that would hurt him. I bet he would have preferred a small private funeral that family members WANTED to pay for.
October 16th, 2009 at 3:13 am
He should have died June 25th, not Michael. That’s the travesty here!
October 16th, 2009 at 3:42 am
Lucykevin: A startlig thing to say – but perhaps it would have been good for Michael Jackson to have some years of his life without his father.
October 16th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Thanks for the explanation MJULS.
So this scheme is exploitation at its height. Did this man ever care about Michael? I think not.
Roger – let me amend your earlier disgusting statement into something closer to the truth: Michael is being used as much in death as he was used in life.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:54 am
That makes me SICK! Poor Michael.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:56 am
OMG,now I see where Jermaine gets his self-centeredness from.Granted Joe did get the kids started but Michael went out on his own and did just fine!That was due to HIS talents and hard work,not Joe’s.Every time I see a video of the J5 it saddens me so much because when you see Michael you know what was really going on behind the scenes with his father.It wouldn’t surprise if Joe wasn’t raised the same way.I don’t like what the man did but he is 80 years old now,I just can’t bring myself to pick on an elderly person.I did see an interview Joe did a few months back and I actually heard him say he was proud of Michael,I wonder if he ever told Michael that??
October 16th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Anna,
Sad to say, but it the remaining Jackson Brothers had a “lucrative market to top in to” they would have done so these last twenty five years. Barbara Walters just said on “The View” yesterday when ABC did their documentary on the family years back there was very little interest ratings wise.
October 16th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Your late on this one. The other tabloids had this concocted story three days ago. They also omitted it was the Palms Casino selling hotel packages, not Jackson. At least you are all consistent.
October 16th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Why would anyone in their right mind support The Palms and Brenden Theatres’ decision to honor JOE Jackson the night of the premier of MICHAEL Jackson’s movie?
Complain to Brenden Theatres and The Palms!
October 16th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Wow, and he will get his star, good Lord…. I have no comments on this, it’s sick.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:36 am
This guy is just plain disgusting…who would be stupid enough to give one cent to this guy. He was & always be nothing & just trying to make himself seem important & make some money off his sons death.
October 16th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Not sure THIS is much worse than releasing a movie of cobbled together rehearsal footage. Is the movie itself really to “honor” Michael Jackson? Really? Or is it to make a quick buck. MJ is a cash machine for a lot of very loathsome and greedy people.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:40 am
What a creep this guy is. He has no conscience whatsoever.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:46 am
One thing you can say about MJ, he knew what he was doing when he wrote his will. His mom gets 40% and after she passes — nada! to the siblings and dad. It all goes to the kids. How much you wanna bet the kids are being pampered by family members, even though they may not like them?
October 16th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
OMG!!! Does this man have no taste, no morals. no scruples??????. Please fans- boycott this ludicrous man and his equally ludicrous scheme to make money from Michael’s memory. IS there no end to his scheming and bad taste.
Love you Michael and miss you a whole bunch.
October 16th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Karen, I like Jacko’s music just fine. I even feel sort of sorry for him at times. It’s his delusional, dumb as hell fans that I can’t stand. To say that they need to get a life is like saying Jacko is feeling a little under the weather lately.
October 16th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Tuesday Afternoon,
Yes they could have been touring casinos like so many of the nostalgia acts – Paul Anka, The Pointer Sisters or Gloria Gaynor for instance. These are acts that may not have extremely widespread appeal but that a certain segment of the population still want to see. An audience for a reality show or interview is much different than for a concert, especially in a smaller venue. I think that the Jacksons were just waiting for Michael all these years, which is sad. I think they always thought that they would eventually all get together again and now, part of their grief with Michael’s death is that it really will never happen. But they could have sung and performed all their hits without Michael and made quite a bit of money.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Does anybody know if Joe has a gambling habit? Does he owe on gambling debts?
October 16th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Sally, I was wondering the same thing…Let’s see, lives in Vegas, always needs money, the signs are there.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Paul, you didn’t know Michael Jackson and what his plights may have been and you don’t know his fans save for two or three, so maybe your perceptions of both are a little off. And if you like MJ’s music, just be grateful he wrote it and stop mocking him by calling him names he didn’t want to be called. You don’t need to consider his private life or his fans
October 17th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Paul …you are an idiot … Why don’t you talk the same about Elvis’s fans as well … they are just as crazy.
October 18th, 2009 at 7:17 am
Michael must’ve been adopted… because it’s impossible he had ANYTHING to do with that JERK named Joseph Jackson! LMAO@the old fart!
4give me Michael ~ it’s just ENOUGH!!!!!
Love & light, Faith
October 18th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Sorry y’all…but when I saw Michael holding his Dad’s hand and his Mother’s hand together at the molestation trial, that was pure love. Whatever “issues” MJJ had with his dad growing up, that one photo told me everything. “You Joseph are my father, the one responsible for me being here, and I will always love you.” Joseph is 80 years old and if he wants to enjoy the fruits of MJJ’s labor, I’m all for it. Will or no will (and that’s questionable since the will was from 2002) Joseph Jackson is the patriarch of the Jackson clan. Michael was hangin’ with the wrong folks that tried to tear him apart from his family. Michael was too weak of an individual to remember that Family comes first — and Family will be there for you in the end when all the chips are down — and all the false people that said they loved you at the height of your fame and dumped you when you fell down. No, Joseph, enjoy your night!
October 18th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Tatiana, I think you are painting a very rosy picture. I don’t know about you, but if I had been in Joe Jackson’s place, I would not have laughed and made tumbs up the day after Michael’s death, I would have been on the floor crying. I would have said thank you if someone would have honored me, but I would not have been able to come. Family is not always there for you – sometimes they are the very thing you need to get away from. How he could “enjoy” the fruits of MJ’s labor now is beyond me.
I’m glad they held hands, but what happened after that? Anything? We don’t know. Hopefully, but it doesn’t seem that way, or MJ would have been happier.
October 19th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Hmmm….. Paul, just who is it that needs a life? Sounds like you just read these threads to cause trouble. So, I’ll just ignore you now.
Where was Joe when Michael needed an intervention?
I don’t feel the least bit sorry for him. He’s pathetic.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Axon, no not rosy – that photo didn’t lie. And what happened after that? No, we don’t know – but neither can we guess on MJJ’s happiness – his kids seemed to make him happy (as shown in photos) and countless reports of insiders. We did not see Joe and Michael behind the scenes. People grieve differently. It probably was inconceivable that his son was dead. We did not see Joe behind the scenes. And some men in that age category were not reared to cry in front of everyone. Joe may have had his cry alone or with one of his friends. I’m just not ready to throw Joe under the train. That’s Michael’s daddy forever.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I don’t think the picture lies. And he may have cried inside when his son died, what do I know. I posted a link to an article under a later post in this column, to give a more balanced picture of Joe.
But it’s very hard for me to perceive launching a new company the day after my son’s death as a way of grieving. Or laughing and making thumbs up. When death occurs, it’s so final you’d expect old emotional walls to come down at some point. This was his baby that he had had a hard time even hugging, though he hugged his daughter Vonna (according to MJ in a taped telephone conversation).
I think he did abuse his son very badly, that he did not show him much affection and that sadly the reconciliation probably did not go deep enough, or MJ would have felt better during his last years and not run off to Bahrain and then Ireland for years.
Now I’ve posted so frequently here I’ll have to stop!
October 26th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
If anybody should profit from Michael Jackson’s film, it should be the man that made him, his father, Joe Jackson. Michael Jackson told a close source that “I would not be the business man I am if it wasn’t for my dad.” He made this comment this year about his dad. Before there was Motown and the Jacksons, there was Joe Jackson; before there was Sony and Michael Jackson, there was Michael and Joe Jackson; before there was Jermaine Jackson and Motown, there was Joe Jackson and Jermaine; before there was Janet Jackson and ??? record label, there was Janet Jackson and Joe Jackson. Joe Jackson said that if Michael was still with him, he would not have suffered none of the abuse scandal and career problems because they would have had to get pass him to get to his son. And, quiet as its kept, Joe Jackson was trying to save his son’s life for the past year before Michael Jackson’s death. The only problem was, nobody would listen to him. He was Michael Jackson’s dad in every sense of the word (protector, disciplinarian, teacher and he loved his son). You cannot love Michael Jackson and hate his dad. Michael is very much like his father, Joe Jackson.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Redemption: The Truth Behind the Michael Jackson Child Molestation Allegation book proves that Michael Jackson was NEVER a child molester. Author Geraldine Hughes worked for Chandler’s attorney in 1993 and witnessed the extortion scheme, launched as child molestation when MJ refused to pay them $20 million for a movie deal. Get your copy of Redemption on Amazon.com and find out how the FALSE child molestation allegation began.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Truth is, Michael didn’t like Joe Jackson or Sony records.
I doubt he’d want either promoting his music.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Makes me wonder why it is taking so long to charge this doctor.
I saw a video where Michael said he didn’t fired the Thoeme guy who tried to keep him from his family and friends, also who wouldn’t tell him how much money he had etc…. This is it wasn’t a good title for Michaels concert tour because it made evil and greedy people see an opportunity to make more money off of him he was dead. He is dead right? I personally wish he was alive somewhere and has told everyone to take a hike! Yep.. That would make sense.
People don’t appreciate good until its gone anyway.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Typo Michael said he fired Thoeme . From what Michael said, I can understand why. Joe Jackson is some king of character too..