Jacko's Future: He'll Move to Europe
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
By Roger Friedman
Jacko's Future: He'll Move to Europe
Jay Leno testified today in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial; Chris Tucker is expected shortly.
This morning, the Jackson defense team may also present former teachers of the accusing boy and his brother, who will probably not have the nicest things to say about these boys — an opinion shared by many.
With Jackson's trial winding down, every indication is that he will be acquitted, or that the jury will be hung (at least on the issue of child molestation).
One thing looks pretty certain: he won't be convicted. There's too much reasonable doubt.
(Also scheduled for today: a granddaughter of Marlon Brando, and the two youngest Cascio children, siblings of Frank Tyson.)
Sources of mine say that Jackson, who seems disconnected from the world, understands one thing: There will be people who won't be so happy to see him moonwalk out of the Santa Maria courthouse a free man. What will he do?
Those who are in the know tell me that Jackson is already planning an almost instant move to Europe or Africa.
Whether it's temporary or permanent is up in the air, but the pop star knows he has to take a breather from the United States if he wants to rehabilitate his career.
This isn't just some wild speculation. Jackson is serious, and so is everyone around him.
Of course, such a move would be expensive, and there are already reports that he's secretly sold Neverland for $35 million. (My sources deny this is true, but you never know.)
At the rate things are going, Neverland will have to be sold anyway. Jackson can no longer afford the 100-person staff, the zoo, the carnival, the groundskeeping or the exposure.
Such a sale would certainly free him up to go find solitude and solace elsewhere, at least for the time being.
An acquitted Jackson would also raise the question of the future of his recording career. Many people say he has no reasonable expectation of selling records here.
For the moment, they are probably right. But Americans love a comeback, and in five years Jackson's child molestation scandal will be a distant blip on the radar.
In the meantime, Jackson will have to be educated about the realities of the record business circa 2005.
He currently has no recording contract. His insiders agree with my thesis that he still thinks someone, somewhere will offer him "the biggest contract in history."
Those days are over, I'm afraid. If Jackson wises up, he'll start his own record label and get independent distribution.
But where will he go in Europe? There's talk of Paris, and some have said Africa is being mentioned a lot.
Brother Jermaine Jackson spends a lot of time in Saudi Arabia, but Michael a) doesn't like the hot sun and b) doesn't much care for Jermaine.
My money is on Paris or London, where he has legions of fans.
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