W
henever the world loses one of its stars, the reaction has a ripple effect, with people uniting in some form of public grief. Yet with every passing, there are always those conspiracy theories that the deceased is actually alive and in hiding, having faked their own death. If popular legend is to be believed, an 80 year old Elvis Presley is happily sipping Piña coladas on a secret Island along with Bruce Lee, Tupac and Jimi Hendrix. On June 25th, as the world joined us in mourning, a small group decided that Michael Jackson had made the decision to check out of public life and check in to the Piña colada party.
Like the majority of us, I’ve accepted that Michael Jackson passed away on June 25th 2009 and continue to process a world without the greatest entertainer. I’ve refused to give airtime or page space to the ridiculous idea that Michael is still alive and ‘in hiding’ or ‘leaving clues’ because ultimately, this is not the Michael Jackson I know, the Michael Jackson you know, or Michael Jackson at all. So imagine my surprise when I came across a Facebook page that supports the notion that Michael is alive, sharing MJVibe’s video we made for ‘Xscape’. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But then I noticed they’d screen-capped one of the hands from the video where an actor sticks an ‘Xscape’ flyer on the wall, but they’d suggested that it was in fact MICHAEL’S hand. What was most shocking to me, is that it (of course) wasn’t Michael’s hand….It was mine! I reported the image and told the page to take it down, telling them it was my hand and I could prove it. Their response? “That’s your opinion”….Madness.
I can’t say for sure if the people who buy in to a type of death hoax actually believe it themselves, or are just part of a group looking to be ‘different’. But for sense of logic, let’s discuss a few points in relation to the notion of a hoax.
Firstly and most importantly is the impact faking his death would have on those closest to him. To suggest that Michael would abandon his children, the very beings he dreamed of having, to disappear in to hiding, not returning in extreme cases such as Paris’s personal struggles is offensive to Michael himself and clearly affirms that those promoting such an idea never really understood the man at all. It infers that whilst his children were standing on stage crying at his memorial, he was sitting in the audience secretly laughing to himself. It’s a notion that suggests Michael is too selfish and uncaring and that’s not the Michael Jackson I knew. Partner this with the devastation to his fans all around the world. The idea that he would cause global grief to escape in to hiding? Well I think again we can all agree, Michael Jackson simply wouldn’t do that to his fans. This is a man who fed us on the long days outside his hotel, who gave us blanket and pillows at night, who invited fans in to his home, who gave us such wonderful gifts; he cared for his fans and he simply would not do this to us.
Secondly, there’s a belief that despite faking his death, Michael continues to leave clues to a possible return. Let’s be logical about this by suggesting for a minute that Michael had been part of an elaborate hoax, clearly he would have had a serious reason to leave his children, his family, his fans and his career behind to go into hiding, so why on earth would he then leave clues to a possible return or location? Surely those would be the actions of a very disturbed, uncompassionate person, who eyes the results of game play above the welfare of his family. Again, that’s not Michael Jackson.
Yet ignoring these two factors doesn’t cover the extent of the cover up that has clearly not
been considered by those on the hoax quest. For example, a long list of people involved in
Michael’s scheme would have to include: The entire Jackson family, The Michael Jackson Estate, The entire LAPD, 200 cast and crew of This Is It, The coroner’s office, the judicial system, his staff and his friends, to name but a few. In a world where any Michael Jackson story is hot gossip, to buy in to a death hoax, we’re to believe that close to 1,500 people are ‘in on the secret’ with not a soul yet slipping up.
As time has passed and we’ve been privy to more details about Michael’s final days, and on the surface, it’s almost understandable that a man under such immense pressure and strain would seek a way out. But faking his death wasn’t it and those of us who think clearly and logically comprehend that June 25th was not Michael’s time to go, he was taken…gone too soon.
The fundamental point here is the emotional connection that’s attached to such a suggestion. As outlined earlier, not only is it callous to suggest that Michael was so selfish and emotionally detached from his life that he would lead his children to believe he was no longer alive, but it’s offensive to the rest of the fan community, who have worked hard to push forward and uphold Michael’s legacy, keep his memory alive and continue his many different messages. It suggests all this has been in vein; that it’s not needed because Michael is going to return and we’re all going to act as if the last six years never took place. They did and they were very, very real.
With Iconic, we always like to present you with different ways to think about things associated to Michael, but here, on this topic, I’d say there is no room for discussion. It’s time this offensive, disrespectful claim that Michael is alive, stops. In his lifetime his detractors took so much away from him, please don’t take his chance to rest in peace away from him too.
On June 25th 2009, the world lost a great entertainer and an incredible human being. Along with the rest of you, we’ve learned and continue to discover so much about this phenomenal man. It’s these discoveries that we can use now and forever to tell future generations about a man that lived and died in our life time and how extremely privileged we were to be a part of his journey.
This article was written with MY own hands, as featured in MJVibe’s ‘Xscape’ video.
Pez.
Written by Pez Greaves for Iconic Magazine Issue 18 ‘Superhero’ available here
Please do not copy this article in whole or in part without permission.
As your best friend, colleague and someone who has been there with you on a large part of your MJ experience I have to say I love this article! When we met outside his hotel back in 2005 we instantly clicked and like many of the fans who were stood chanting his name, had a common cause to praise, admire and continue the legacy of Michael Jackson to the best of our capabilities.
We like everyone else had to feel the painful sensation of having our hearts broken and our dreams of seeing more of Michael dashed by the painful news announcements. The thing is we experienced many hoaxes in the past that depicted Michael as sick, broke or worse…dead. It was this time that there was no denying the rumours and the entire world was shocked to it’s core when we lost the greatest entertainer and celebrity humanitarian we had and will ever witness.
I’m proud to have been a part of Michael’s journey from the late 80s as a small child right to the end of his life. We as fans have the ability to keep his name in lights and showcase the great side of Michael Jackson and in that way he can live forever but it is time that we accept the sad situation that Michael is no longer with us and we can be at peace that he is most definitely resting in the most amazing place possible.
As. A long time MJ fan, spanning 4 decades. I am 100% convinced MJ did not fake his own death. Fans who say otherwise aren’t really fans at all if they think MJ would do this sort of thing, to his family, friends and fans., some who have sadly taken their own lives as they could not live without Michael. They need to accept he’s gone and let him rest in peace. But celebrate his life in a dignified way, for the musical geneous and humanitarian he was.