The public family feud between Michael Jackson’s siblings and children regarding his massive estate, now has at least one participant expressing regret and 2nd thoughts.
A letter from Rebbie, Jermaine, Randy and Janet Jackson to the executors of Michael’s estate seems to have been the linchpin to the entire debacle. But the disappearance of family matriarch Katherine Jackson, who did not speak for 10 days to the grandchildren she is paid to raise, combined with the above named siblings rushing past security at the Jackson family compound in an attempt to remove Michael’s kids from the property, was the nail in the coffin.
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| Jermaine Jackson |
Fallout from the bizarre Jackson family battle has been severe. A court ruled that Katherine Jackson will no longer be the exclusive guardian of Michael’s children, granting shared custody to the children’s 34-year-old cousin, TJ Jackson. Rebbie, Jermaine, Randy and Janet Jackson are barred from the family home and cannot be within proximity to Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson. Janet Jackson, who had successfully remained removed from her family’s unique dysfunction over the years, has now taken a massive PR hit by getting dragged into the drama concocted by a faction of her siblings. And now, the court of public opinion has considered Rebbie, Jermaine, Randy and even Janet money-grubbing wing nuts, who only want their hands on Michael’s money — prompting Jermaine Jackson to react.
As of today, Rebbie and Janet have gone silent. Randy says he still intends to continue questioning the legality of Michael’s will (which left him and his other siblings totally OUT). But Jermaine has gone public with the following statement, hoping to sway public sentiment:
Yesterday, I had a phone call with my son Jaafar that broke my heart. He asked: “Is it true that we cannot visit grandmother’s house as a family anymore?” Enough has become enough… After much soul-searching, it is clearly time for us to live by Michael’s words about love not war. In this spirit, I offer this statement by way of extending an olive-branch. Accordingly, I rescind my signature from the letter which was sent to the Estate, and which should never have gone public. I still hold deep reservations about many issues involving the Estate, and I will continue to bring scrutiny and a resolute voice wherever we have cause for concern. But the way to address such matters is through the proper channels and via a private dialogue, not public conflict. Whatever the tabloid and on-line misrepresentations have led people to believe, my primary concern has only ever been rooted in the welfare of our mother in the environment where she lives. No-one on the outside has a clue about the stresses and pressures she has been under long before recent events and I, like everyone in the family, adore the ground she walks on. We are also still raw from the loss of Michael three years ago. The ever-present grief has haunted me with questions about whether we stepped off him too much or whether we did enough to help when a corporate world surrounded him. So when it comes to the well-being of loved ones, and especially our mother, we are perhaps understandably and unapologetically over-protective. As attorney Perry Sanders has since confirmed, a health check detected high blood pressure with Mother. Rest was the sole reason she went to Arizona. Prince even carried her bags down the stairs and urged her to rest-up, because we all come from the same caring place. When she was away, and with the children in the responsible care of Tito’s son TJ, there was never a malicious attempt to “block” the kids from talking with her. We simply worried that a call home would first entail, or lead to, conversations with individuals we are in dispute with and that would, therefore, increase pressure on Mother — and pressure was what a doctor said she didn’t need. This was why we went to the house in Calabasas to talk directly with the kids and merely discuss arrangements for them to meet with their grandmother. We were denied that access by security — and it was clear that mutual suspicions had allowed events to spiral out of control. I regret that events were ever allowed to reach such a stage. I regret any distress caused to Prince, Paris and Blanket. That was never, ever the intention of myself, Janet, Rebbie or Randy. Moving forward, the most effective way to best serve Mother’s welfare, and that of Michael’s children, is to start a collective dialogue, in private. Mistakes have been made and irrational things have been said on both sides in a highly-charged emotional environment. It is time for us all to draw a line in the sand and move towards peace, co-operation, love and healing. I truly hope that we can find it in our hearts to do so. Because above and beyond anything else, what matters…is family.
