Jackson Note Showed Concern About Sex Abuse
March 11, 2004 -- Michael Jackson asked his sister-in-law to warn his nephews about the dangers of child molestation in a letter found in a warehouse filled with Jackson memorabilia.
The treasure trove of memorabilia — acquired by a New Jersey businessman following a dispute with the Jackson family over payment — is yielding items that may provide a better insight into the self-described King of Pop and how he thinks.
One of those artifacts is an undated note to his sister-in-law Dee-Dee, Tito's wife, who died in 1994. It shows he was concerned about the issue of child molestation.
"Please read this article about child molestation to T.J. and Tarryle [his nephews ]," the note reads. "It brings out how even your own relative can be molesters of children or even uncles or aunts molesting nephews and nieces. Please read. Love MJ."
It is not clear whether the note was ever received by Dee-Dee Jackson.
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In 1993, a 13-year-old boy accused Jackson of molesting him. Jackson, who denied the allegations, settled a civil suit filed by the boy's family. No criminal charges were brought.
Jackson now faces charges that he molested a 12-year-old boy who had stayed at his Neverland ranch. The singer has pleaded not guilty.
Among other artifacts in the warehouse are notes from Jackson to himself. Some of them concern Walter Yetnikoff, the former president of CBS Records who spent 15 years working with Jackson.
Yetnikoff recently released an autobiography, Howling at the Moon, in which he writes that Jackson referred to him as "good daddy" as opposed to biological father Joe, who Yetnikoff says Jackson feared.
"He once said to me, 'I've done all this stuff and my father has never said, 'Michael I'm proud of you.' So I said, 'Here, Michael, we're all proud of you. Give me a hug.' It was what he seemed to need at the time," Yetnikoff told ABCNEWS' Cynthia McFadden.
A Star, Not a Child
Yetnikoff told McFadden his impressions of the young superstar. "Michael was more vulnerable as a human being," he said. "He was already a star at 6.
"He says, 'It's hard for people like you to understand people like me. I didn't have a normal childhood. I only feel alive when I'm recording or I'm on the stage.' "
But Yetnikoff saw Jackson when he wasn't on stage as well. Those times, the former record executive said, were "weird."
"I mean he was a strange guy, a little baby," Yetnikoff said.
"We'd have parties and most of the time he wouldn't come down. Because he could not talk to you this way. He could dance on stage, he could tall you about his music, but he could not talk to you," Yetnikoff said.
What Kind of Play Time?
Jackson may have been ill at ease at social gatherings, but there was an exception to that. "Kids, he was more comfortable with," Yetnikoff said.
"I saw him with young people, some of them well known. He would disappear with one of these kids," Yetnikoff said. "Was it because they were playing pajama party, watching cartoons, being more comfortable? I really don't know. It looked like that. It did not look illicit."
Yetnikoff says he was not concerned with Jackson's behavior with children then, but he added, "That may have been because I blocked it out.
"But I'm telling you now it appeared to be he was going up to watch cartoons or whatever kids do together," he said. "But it could very well be that I was not going to look any further. Why should I? I might find the wrong answer. It seemed legit."
Henry Vaccaro, the New Jersey businessman who acquired the warehouse full of Jackson memorabilia, says the collection has been sold, packed up and shipped away. But many items can be seen on a pay-per-view Web site, Jacksonvault.com, set up by Vaccaro.