Michael Jackson fans defiant as abuse claims loom over anniversary -

[PS1gamenwatch]

Michael Jackson fans defiant as abuse claims loom over anniversary

Defiant fans are preparing to mark 10 years since Michael Jackson's death as fascination with the King of Pop remains undimmed despite lurid claims of child sex abuse. On Hollywood's Walk of Fame, the singer's star continues to draw a constant scrum of selfie-snapping tourists, while nearby

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AFP.com

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Defiant fans are preparing to mark 10 years since Michael Jackson's death as fascination with the King of Pop remains undimmed despite lurid claims of child sex abuse.
On Hollywood's Walk of Fame, the singer's star continues to draw a constant scrum of selfie-snapping tourists, while nearby souvenir shops, street performers and even tattoo parlors report a brisk trade in all things Jackson.
Across the street at Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, a statue of the singer is strategically perched above the box office to entice tourists. Staff at Madame Tussauds say Jackson's waxwork remains a top draw.
Yet according to the groundbreaking HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland," released earlier this year, it was just a few hours' drive from the heart of Hollywood that Jackson used his celebrity and glamor to molest young boys at his fairytale-themed ranch.
While most fans who spoke to AFP were aware of the documentary, the adoration fostered from growing up with the "Thriller" megastar's many hits supersedes all else.
"I came here actually only for him. I don't take pictures with any other star," said Dutch tourist Hooman Nazemi.
"Some stuff that they were saying in the doc was kind of hard, but you cannot say 100 percent it's true ... I just love him. I love him and I think everybody does."
Antoine Baynes, 31, a Jackson impersonator who moonwalks along Hollywood Boulevard for tourists' tips, said the allegations had done nothing to diminish his performances' appeal -- in fact, the opposite.
"After the HBO special came out I received just as much if not more attention than before. It kinda gave it publicity," he said.
"Honestly I've married people as Michael Jackson. I have two weddings to do this Sunday, to do as Michael Jackson!"
- 'Love Rally' -
The claims in the HBO documentary by two men who say Jackson sexually abused them for years as minors were not the first, but reignited the scandal after the star's fatal overdose at age 50 in 2009.
In his lifetime, Jackson denied all child sex allegations and his estate filed a $100 million lawsuit against HBO for "posthumous character assassination."
On Tuesday, the anniversary of Jackson's passing, die-hard fans from around the world have planned an "MJ Innocent Love Rally" through Hollywood to gather at his star on the sidewalk.
Other events include a "zombie dance" on Venice Beach and screenings of fan-made tribute films.
Those who cannot attend are invited to donate money for an annual ceremony placing roses by Jackson's grave in the nearby Forest Lawn cemetery.
Organizers did not respond to a request for comment, but claim on Twitter that a record of more than 18,000 roses have been bought this year.
Yet numbers signing up to the events' Facebook pages are conspicuously low, and pro-Jackson messageboards are rife with complaints about the lack of mainstream enthusiasm for anniversary events this year.
If the controversy has dampened commemorations -- with Variety reporting that TV networks and producers have pulled the plug on long-planned anniversary programs -- Jackson's commercial clout remains substantial.
T-shirts, keyrings and coasters bearing the singer's likeness remain on prominent display at Hollywood tourist stores lining the boulevard, outnumbered only by images of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.
Of a dozen such shops visited by AFP, only one had removed Jackson memorabilia from its shelves, citing a decline in interest.
And for some die-hard fans, a throwaway souvenir just won't cut it.
"We get people asking for the silhouette, with the hat, sometimes his signature," said tattoo artist John Lopez.
"Maybe five or six each year. It's no different this year."

 

[Poiseon]

The regular people of Hollywood are almost more disgusting than the stars that rape children. I'm astonished that the niggers' star hasn't been smashed to shit by an angry parent with a sledgehammer.

 

[The Pink Panther]

Wacko Jacko smoked a lot of tobacco and fucked kids bareback-o.

 

[Anonymous For This]

Hollywood is a shithole. I love cinema, so went earlier this year when I had a day in LA.

Overpriced attractions, shitty tourist momento stores all over the place, homeless fucking everywhere, and plenty of wannabe rappers wanting to "donate" their hot CDs to you. Hollywood Museum was pretty okay, though. Disappointing horror section, but otherwise okay.

Vegas does a better job of being Hollywood than Hollywood does. And I fucking hate Vegas.

 

[I Love Beef]

Hollywood is a shithole. I love cinema, so went earlier this year when I had a day in LA.

Overpriced attractions, shitty tourist momento stores all over the place, homeless fucking everywhere, and plenty of wannabe rappers wanting to "donate" their hot CDs to you. Hollywood Museum was pretty okay, though. Disappointing horror section, but otherwise okay.

Vegas does a better job of being Hollywood than Hollywood does. And I fucking hate Vegas.

Wow, fuck. Is Amoeba Music still okay to go to?

 

[Marco Fucko]

Spoiler

 

[Dom Cruise]

Just my two cents, there's enough reasonable doubt over where he was guilty or not and it doesn't really matter anymore when he's been dead for a full decade.

Just let people enjoy his music and the memories, he's now more legend and icon than man, just like Elvis or Marilyn Monroe.

A HOO HOO HOO!

 

[Sīn the Moon Daddy]

The regular people of Hollywood are almost more disgusting than the stars that rape children. I'm astonished that the niggers' star hasn't been smashed to shit by an angry parent with a sledgehammer.

The entire industry is little more than pedos and their enablers. Even the homeless are guilty in Hollywood.

Luckily fire will purify even the most dreadful heathen and leave his soul ready for judgement.

 

[Dysnomia]

The allegations make him immortal. People are fascinated by the whole Wacko Jacko thing to this day and there probably won't be another celebrity like him in terms of media attention and public obsession. At least not in the near future. The Kartrashians, Biebers and Beyonces are just nowhere near the same.

But some fans are just so into MJ that they won't even entertain the idea thst he might be guilty. But they only know the public image and not the real man.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

What's the actual scoop on MJ's crimes? I heard that his victims were coached to say things, then I heard they were paid to keep quiet, and it's been back and forth like that since forever. People come out and say it didn't happen years later and then it's back to he did do it. Is there anything concrete that can't be denied?

 

[Dom Cruise]

I'm astonished that the niggers'

To be fair he literally became white.

The allegations make him immortal. People are fascinated by the whole Wacko Jacko thing to this day and there probably won't be another celebrity like him in terms of media attention and public obsession. At least not in the near future. The Kartrashians, Biebers and Beyonces are just nowhere near the same.

But some fans are just so into MJ that they won't even entertain the idea thst he might be guilty. But they only know the public image and not the real man.

I entertain the possibility that he might have been guilty, but I personally can't say for certain and don't think it matters that much anymore.

What's the actual scoop on MJ's crimes? I heard that his victims were coached to say things, then I heard they were paid to keep quiet, and it's been back and forth like that since forever. People come out and say it didn't happen years later and then it's back to he did do it. Is there anything concrete that can't be denied?

I could be wrong but I believe it's basically a giant clusterfuck and impossible for any semblance of truth to come out.

 

[Captain Ahab]

If an average Joe did sleepovers with kids, he’d be working as a fleshlight in prison. No one would listen to his arguments. It’s insane that people are defending this bleached nigger. Talk about double standards for the elite.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

Yeah, good, statues for child rapists, but let's make sure not to have any memorials of historic figures in case they didn't live by our advanced morals.

MJ was a kiddie rapist and his defenders are pesos if they would have let a kid sleep with him.

 

[Gordon Cole]

It's still kinda hilarious how people could see a grown man being surrounded with different, unsupervised children and not question it at all.

 

[PL 001]

Normally I'm for being able to separate an artist from their work, enjoying what they put out while not agreeing with their choices. Lovecraft was a pretty virulent racist, even for his time, but I still enjoy his stories. Orson Scott Card has some backward ass views, still a good writer.

It's impossible for me to do that with a kiddy fiddler. Some things you shouldn't just try to look past.

 

[UE 558]

Get ready for truthspeaker to shit up this thread in 3...2...1

 

[Anonymous For This]

Wow, fuck. Is Amoeba Music still okay to go to?

I'm not a music or vinyl guy, so I can't speak to that. Didn't go in there.

 

[TP 200]

I think MJ may be the only celeb to truly benefit from living nearly his entire life out in front of the media. With all the shit that happened in these cases, if it was a person with a backstory nobody knew, we'd still be assuming the worst occurred, yet, with MJ, you can deduce that he's not a predator, but he's not wired correctly when it comes to dealing with kids. I think it goes beyond celebrity worship, although, that is something these people could take away from all of it. Stop worshiping these fucking people

 

[Malodorous Merkin]

That’s ignorant. You’re ignorant.

 

[Dysnomia]

To be fair he literally became white.



I entertain the possibility that he might have been guilty, but I personally can't say for certain and don't think it matters that much anymore.



I could be wrong but I believe it's basically a giant clusterfuck and impossible for any semblance of truth to come out.

Sadly, we'll likely never know the whole truth. With MJ dead there's no way to get anything out of his mouth anyway.

I have gone back and forth between thinking he is and isn't guilty for years now. I don't think I will ever have a definite opinion either way. And maybe that is what the media truly wants. Because it allows them to keep churning out documentaries until the sun explodes. If we knew one way or another what the truth really was then they would run out of steam.

Corey Feldman still maintains that MJ never touched him, as does Macauley Culkin. Feldman is a grifting snake though and he has a weird obsession with MJ. So who knows if he is telling the truth or not. Culkin is a fucking trainwreck too. But at least he isn't scamming money for a documentary that is never going to happen because he needs drugs and vacations.

Feldman maintains that the Santa Barbara police grilled him with the intention of getting a definite yes that MJ molested him. Instead Feldman outright named his abuser and they did nothing because that guy wasn't MJ. Who knows. I don't trust the vast majority of what Feldman says and he has proven in recent years that he is even more untrustworthy than I previously thought. But he could be right on this. That some people are just gunning for MJ to be guilty and don't care who they have to step on to make that happen.

I really don't know. Clusterfuck indeed.