July 20-26: All The Scandal You Can Handle
Scandals dominated the music headlines this week, like they do pretty much every week. Whether it was custody battles, (Kelis & Nas, Michael Jackson), allegations of domestic violence (Chris Brown & Rihanna, Michael's dad Joe Jackson, Amy Winehouse), or accusations of foul play (Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson yet again), musicians of all genres, both living and deceased, kept the tabloids busy this week.
First, Chris Brown finally issued his first real, detailed public apology for assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna in a now-infamous Grammy weekend altercation earlier this year. (No, his vaguely muzzled "I'm sorry for what transpired" statement back in February, and his odd "I'm not a monster" YouTube video a couple months ago, didn't really count.) On Monday, Chris--who has been sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labor, but will not do any jail time--released a personal video asking for forgiveness.
"I have told Rihanna countless times, and I'm telling you today, that I am truly, truly sorry, and I wasn't able to handle the situation both differently and better," Chris said in the seemingly sincere clip. We just hope that this apology's delayed timing had more to do with his lawyer's advice to keep his mouth shut until the case was closed--and NOT because Chris is preparing to release a new album this fall and wants to get back in the record-buying public's good graces before it drops.
In other assault/legal news, this week belligerent, beehived Brit Amy Winehouse was acquitted of assaulting a fan, dancer Sherene Flash, who asked to take her photograph. Prosecutors alleged it was a deliberate assault, but Amy claimed she'd merely pushed Sherene because she'd felt threatened. "I was scared," Amy explained. "I thought, 'People are mad these days, people are just rude and mad, or people can't handle their drink.' I think she was being overly friendly, but that was intimidating. I was scared. I'm not Mickey Mouse, I'm a human being." Amy also insisted that at "5-foot-2 1/2 or 5-foot-3," she is too short to have punched 5-foot-7, high-heel-wearing Sherene in the face. The judge ultimately decided to dismiss the case. Now let's hope Amy, cleared of criminal charges and newly divorced from her bad-influence husband "Blake Incarcerated," can stay out of trouble long enough to record her much-awaited follow-up to Back To Black.
Another headline having to do with abuse centered on Joe Jackson, the controversial father of Michael Jackson who was seen promoting his record label on the BET Awards red carpet only three days after his son's death. Six years ago, Michael told documentary interviewer Martin Bashir that when he was young he was so frightened of Joe it made him physically ill. However, this week Joe appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and denied any accusations of child abuse. Joe (who in 2003 actually confessed to the BBC that he whipped Michael as child) told Larry: "I raised him just as you would raise your kids. Harm Michael for what? That's my son, I loved him. The media say I beat my son, that's not true...Michael was never beaten by me."
This of course brings us to more Jackson family news, perhaps the strangest since it was (incorrectly) rumored that Joe Jackson was going to have Michael's orphaned children tour as the "Jackson Three." Now a 25-year-old Norwegian rapper named Omer Bhatti is claiming to be Michael's secret son, the result of a 1984 one-night stand. Omer did sit in the front row with the Jackson relatives during Michael's memorial service at L.A.'s Staples Center two weeks ago, and lived at the Neverland Ranch when he was a child in the '90s. Omer, who now resdies in Norway, also reportedly worked as a nanny for Michael's son, Prince "Blanket" Michael II (to whom Omer is said to bear a resemblance). Now he is currently seeking a DNA test to prove that he is Michael's "lovechild." (This whole scenario ironically brings to mind that "kid is not my son" line in "Billie Jean," huh?) When Omer's mother's husband Riz (who used to be Michael's chauffeur) was contacted by reporters, he said: "I told my wife, 'Just wait until the press see this. It's not a small thing.'"
In other custody/family court news, this week a judge ordered rapper Nas to pay his soon-to-be-ex-wife Kelis nearly $40,000 in monthly support. The order came down just one day after Kelis gave birth to her first (and, presumably, last) child with Nas, the rather blaxploitatively named Knight Jones. Kelis will receive $30,471 in spousal support per month, in addition to $9,027 in child support for baby Knight. The judge also ordered Nas to cover $45,000 in Kelis's legal fees. According to reports, neither Kelis nor Nas were in court when the judge's decision was made, and additionally, Nas was not at the hospital when Kelis gave birth. Said Kelis's publicist in a statement: "The beautiful baby boy and his mother are doing wonderful." (Well, with a lucrative court settlement like that...of course they are!)
In other legal news, this time again related to the ubiquitous-after-death Michael Jackson, the manslaughter investigation surrounding his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, continued this week. Both the aforementioned Joe Jackson and Michael's sister LaToya have suggested that Michael was the victim of drug-related foul play, and on Thursday this week a search warrant allowed police to seek "property or items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense." Court documents detailed items seized by federal drug agents and Los Angeles police from Dr. Murray's office, including the weight-loss drug phentermine, the muscle relaxant clonazepam, two computer hard-drives, emails, and a controlled-substance registration. As of this writing, the Los Angeles County coroner's office is not expected to release Michael's autopsy results until at least next week, and Dr. Murray has not been officially charged with any crime.
In other foul-play/medical news, a scandalous new book by Jimi Hendrix road manager James "Tappy" Wright suggests that the classic-rock guitar icon was murdered--and the doctor who examined Hendrix's corpse says such a scenario is "plausible." Tappy has claimed in the book that Jimi's manager, Mike Jeffrey, was heavily in debt and therefore took out a $2 million life-insurance policy on his star client. Tappy writes that Mike told him Hendrix was "worth more to him dead than alive," and he claims that a gang working for Mike burst into Jimi's apartment and forced red wine and painkillers down the guitarist's throat until he "drowned."
The on-call London doctor who attempted to revive Jimi on the evening of his death, Dr. John Bannister, said this week that Tappy's explanation of Hendrix's passing "sounded plausible because of the volume of wine [in Jimi's system]. The amount of wine that was over him was just extraordinary. Not only was it saturated right through his hair and shirt, but his lungs and stomach were absolutely full of wine. I have never seen so much wine...He had really drowned in a massive amount of red wine." No criminal charges were ever made against Mike Jeffrey or anyone else regarding Jimi Hendrix's death in 1970.
And finally, in other sad medical news, the Beastie Boys have cancelled their fall tour and postponed the September release of their album Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 due to the recent cancer diagnosis of band member Adam "MCA" Yauch. However, the good news is Adam's tumor (in his salivary gland and one lymph node) is "very treatable," according to a video statement that the 43-year-old rapper posted this week on the Beasties' website--and despite the tumor's location in his throat, he said it will thankfully not affect his voice. Adam revealed he will probably undergo surgery next week, followed by radiation.
We wish MCA a full and speedy recovery, and we wish you, dear readers, a pleasant weekend. Goodnight, and good music.
THIS WEEK'S TOP 10 STORIES:
1) Being Chris Brown Means Having To Say You're Sorry - He finally publicly apologizes in a new video.
2) Is The Kid His Son? - A Norwegian rapper claims he's Michael Jackson's secret "lovechild."
3) Doctored Evidence? - The manslaughter investigation surrounding Michael Jackson's personal physician continues as police search his office.
4) Kelis's Judge Gets Bossy - Her estranged husband Nas is ordered to pay her $40,000 a month in spousal and child support.
5) Hendrix & Hitmen? - A new book claims Jimi was murdered by a gang hired by the rock star's manager.
6) Beastie Boys' Tour Sabotaged - They postpone their career plans after Adam Yauch is diagnosed with "very treatable" cancer.
7) The King Of Pop's Dad Talks To Larry King - Joe Jackson goes on CNN to deny he ever beat his son Michael.
8) Winehouse Says No, No, No To Jail - Amy is cleared of assault charges.
9) The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Turns 25 - An allstar concert featuring Bruce Springsteen, U2, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Metallica is planned for the Hall's quarter-century anniversary.
10) A Very Phishy Halloween - Phish announce plans for a three-day Halloween weekend festival at Coachella's desert location.
stay breeze chris
And Joe Jackson, he for sure did beat Michael in fact his brothers, back up the abuse. Michael did not leave his father out of will for no reason at all. He hatd his father because of what he did to him.
Joe was a very abusive parent with his sons.