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[-] casmael@lemm.ee 72 points 9 months ago

Didn’t it turn out MJ wasn’t actually a sex pest 🤔 ?

[-] MossyFeathers@pawb.social 105 points 9 months ago

Yeah. The kids came out later and talked about how their parents pressured them into making shit up. Iirc they said he was a weird guy, but he never touched them inappropriately. It was too late at that point though. People had already made up their minds and the response was generally, "well, but I'm sure he has. Just 'cause they weren't molested doesn't mean he didn't molest other kids. He seems like a kid molester."

[-] DharmaCurious@startrek.website 64 points 9 months ago

In the court of public vibe check he was guilty regardless of what actually happened. Poor dude's life was tragic. I'm not normally one to feel a whole lot of sympathy for the mega rich, but MJ was a good one.

[-] MossyFeathers@pawb.social 42 points 9 months ago

Yeah. From what I've heard his brain was either kinda stuck in "child mode" or it easily reverted to it due to the trauma and abuse he received growing up. He could act like an adult if he had to, but he was a child pretending to be an adult so to speak. A lot of his life was the result of trying to experience a childhood he didn't get to have as a result of being in the Jackson 5.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 23 points 9 months ago

He did bring a llama to a studio session with Freddie Mercury though.

[-] TootSweet@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

And then there was the time he rented a whole grocery store so he could have the experience of shopping for groceries. Ordinarily it seems like a fucked up entitled billionaire conspicuous consumption thing to do. But MJ gets a pass in my book.

[-] drbluefall@toast.ooo 24 points 9 months ago

Honestly, if I was never really able to experience the life of a normal person, and craved that experience for even a moment, I'd probably be willing to drop a lot of money too.

[-] dandroid@dandroid.app 14 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I think it helps that he wasn't mega rich from his own wishes. His dad forced him to perform until he got mega rich.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 45 points 9 months ago

I think he was never a sex pest, but was just absolutely fucking crazy.

It actually seems like he was having platonic, stunted mind sleepovers with children, literally to live out a childhood he desperately wanted.

Is that appropriate? Probably not.

Is it a crime? Apparently also no.

[-] awwwyissss@lemm.ee 25 points 9 months ago

Not taking sides, but he cleared out a grocery store and paid people to pretend they were random shoppers just so he could have that normal experience.

[-] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 17 points 9 months ago

I really don't know and haven't followed any of it very closely. But his music is top shelf.

[-] RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

I would like to think that he wasn't, but it's undeniable that either way it was creepy what he was doing.

[-] Fogle@lemmy.ca 6 points 9 months ago

It made sense to me when someone said everything he did was because he was basically robbed of childhood and made to perform for a living since he was like 7

[-] RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

That's what my dad said.

[-] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world -4 points 9 months ago

Where's the proof? Last I heard there were thre same accusations by the same person who has been proven to be a liar. The actual abused kids in Hollywood say he wasn't a pedo, so it's hard for me to believe that one kid with his scammer mom.

[-] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 3 points 9 months ago

I feel like this entire thread forgot about the closet

[-] Ronnie@lemmy.ca 11 points 9 months ago

Those claims are incredibly misleading. It's all in the court cases submitted as evidence, the pornography he had was not CP was not illegal to own. The sole reference in the article you linked isn't even online anymore, and other instances claiming this are tabloid sites like Daily Mail, etc.

[-] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 9 points 9 months ago

I remember seeing the video of it when it originally came out and it was some weird shit. His bodyguard said it wasn’t a closet and was instead a panic room. They had people that would parachute into the ranch and security would tell him to hide in there. He put things in there that brought him comfort and uhh… whatever else.

[-] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

Big if true. Thought that last few sentences threw me off, when the prosecutor states factually that the material was used for grooming, where did she get that info?

In any case, he's got such a mysterious story, since kids life Corey Feldman and McCauley who actually were abused by many, say that MJ was not an abuser. Yet he's got a closet with child porn, so I don't know what's going on with the guy

[-] Ragdoll_X@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It's been a long time since I've researched anything on MJ, but I vaguely remember reading that they found the fingerprints of both MJ and some kid on porn mags that he had. Showing porn to kids is one of the main methods of grooming that child predators use, though I don't recall if they were adult magazines or CP magazines - not that either option would be good, really.


Edit: So after looking at this article on the fingerprints and this one on the CP they found, the story is a bit more complicated than that.

Do keep in mind that this blog is obviously very biased in favor of MJ, trying to downplay the fact that he kept magazines with nude photos of children, and speculating about what "real grooming" would look like and why MJs actions supposedly don't match what the author personally thinks a real attempt at grooming should be like.

If anyone wants to abide by the interpretations of this blog specifically be my guest, but I sure as hell still wouldn't let my kids near MJ.

[-] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 7 points 9 months ago

He always struck me as a troubled dude that was shaped by being a child star. It was like his escape hatch was to revert back to a child-like state and thus his closest friends… were mostly children. I was pretty split on that whole thing because I was such a fan as a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s. Insanely disgusted by it, but also saddened because he was a product of a toxic environment that we’ve seen time and time again is not a good place for children.

[-] Pinklink@lemm.ee 27 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I’m so confused. I came to comments for clarification and just found the same as always: a mish mash of conflicting unsubstantiated accounts. To this day I don’t know what is true about all this

Edit: okay a quick search came up with Wikipedia article talking about FBI investigations into all this. According to the FBI, which confiscated hard drives and did multiple investigations, MJ was never found to have searched for or have possession of CP. idk how much we trust them in general, but that’s what they said

[-] The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website 10 points 9 months ago

I'd believe that either way, honestly. I wouldn't be surprised if he rarely used computers.

[-] lawrence@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

I thought the assistant had said that Michael Jackson had already died. I completely missed the "other option".

I like this interpretation better

this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
351 points (91.3% liked)

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