Jackson Wanted Boy To Leave The Country, Family Friend Says
12.23.2003 3:29 PM EST
Man says he received frantic calls from alleged victim's mother.
Michael Jackson asked the boy who eventually accused him of molestation to flee the country after a documentary aired showing the two holding hands and discussing sharing a bed, a friend of the boy's family says.
Jamie Masada, owner of a comedy camp for underprivileged kids and the man who got the boy in touch with Jackson, said he received frantic calls from the alleged victim's mother after Martin Bashir's "Living With Michael Jackson" interview aired in February (see "Jacko's Bizarre Behavior Examined In Two New Documentaries").
"They had got her a passport for her and her kid," said Masada, who emphasized he is doing interviews to let the public know the boy is sick and in need of a kidney from someone with O negative blood. "They wanted to send her out of the country so they [wouldn't have to] meet the press or something. ... They wanted to send them to Brazil or South America or somewhere."
The mother apparently stayed at Jackson's Neverland Ranch for three to four weeks following the documentary's airing.
"She called me a week [after it aired]," Masada recalled. "She said, 'I can't talk to you. They're watching my phone. I gotta hang up.' She called me again, a couple of times more, [saying] against her will the kids are up there and they have Michael's people emptying her apartment and putting everything in a storage room. She was scared. She didn't know what was happening. She would hang up. She wouldn't talk. I didn't know what to do or what was happening, and I got several phone calls like that from her."
When the mother finally left Neverland, Masada introduced her to an attorney, and within weeks the family formally accused Jackson of molestation (see "Michael Jackson Wanted On Multiple Counts Of Child Molestation"). After the documentary aired, the mother also told Masada she was not aware of what she was signing when she agreed to let her son appear on the program and that she feared she would lose her children because of it.
"Child welfare came after her and wanted to take the children away," Masada said. "They interviewed her. I said, 'Just go out there, they know you are a good person.' "
Masada has never met Jackson but has known the family for several years and speaks highly of them. "[They are] very caring, very hugging, all [three] of the kids," he said. "To me they come across as very simple and religious people."
Masada visited the family a month ago in a new apartment.
"The kids are sleeping on the floor, it breaks your heart," he said. "They don't have anything. ... Several well-known comics said, 'We'll give you blank checks, you put as much as you want and cash it and give the kid's family whatever they want.' I went to the mother and I told her, 'Do you want some money? A lot of my friends, they want to help, the comedians they are giving people.' And she said, 'No, no, their friendship is more than anything. Thank them, but I don't want anything.' "
Masada has owned the Hollywood comedy club the Laugh Factory for 25 years. For the past 19 years he has also run the comedy camp where he met the boy and his brother and sister four years ago. The boy, who was 10 at the time and not sick, spent every afternoon for a summer at the Laugh Factory, quickly wining over the hearts of Masada and his staff. "He's very bubbly, very joyful, very honest. You know, he'll come in and say, 'Hi! How are you?' He'll hug you. ... Every comic that comes in here, he would hug them."
Masada kept in touch with the family after camp and soon learned the boy had cancer. He began visiting the boy almost daily, sometimes bringing along comedians. One day the doctor told Masada the boy wasn't keeping down food and had only three to four weeks to live. "I told him, 'If you eat something I'll introduce you to everybody, I'll get you in a film, whatever you want,' " Masada recalled. "And he said his wish was to meet Adam Sandler and Chris Tucker. I gave him some cantaloupe and ice cream crushed up and it came up. His stomach couldn't take it. I said, 'OK, if you hold it in and eat it, I will introduce you to whoever you want to meet.' And at that moment, he was watching MTV, a video with Michael Jackson. He said, 'I want to meet Michael Jackson.' I said, 'It's done. You eat, you hold it in, you meet Michael.' I gave him three spoonfuls. I kept saying, 'Michael Jackson, remember.' And I kept feeding him, and he ate."
Masada later arranged for the boy to spend the day on a movie set with Sandler, who took him to lunch and bought him a TV. Chris Tucker took him shopping. Masada also set up a local television interview with the boy about needing a rare blood type and asked Jackson's handlers to make sure the singer watched.
"I got there the next day and his face was lit up," Masada said. " 'Oh, guess what? Michael called me.' He was very excited about it. I was happy about it. ... I heard later on that he went to Neverland with his brother and his father to meet Michael Jackson and I said, 'Great.' "
The boy continued meeting with Jackson, but Masada never worried, even though the singer had been accused of molestation in 1993 (see "Papers Detailing Jacko's Molestation Allegations Surface").
"First of all, my concern was [the boy's] health," Masada said. "Any time I called him I never asked him, 'Did you go to Neverland?' ... And second of all, I didn't really give it that much thought, because in this country, I guess you are not guilty until they find you guilty. I didn't really think of any of that at all."
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1483878/2...?headlines=true
12.23.2003 3:29 PM EST
Man says he received frantic calls from alleged victim's mother.
Michael Jackson asked the boy who eventually accused him of molestation to flee the country after a documentary aired showing the two holding hands and discussing sharing a bed, a friend of the boy's family says.
Jamie Masada, owner of a comedy camp for underprivileged kids and the man who got the boy in touch with Jackson, said he received frantic calls from the alleged victim's mother after Martin Bashir's "Living With Michael Jackson" interview aired in February (see "Jacko's Bizarre Behavior Examined In Two New Documentaries").
"They had got her a passport for her and her kid," said Masada, who emphasized he is doing interviews to let the public know the boy is sick and in need of a kidney from someone with O negative blood. "They wanted to send her out of the country so they [wouldn't have to] meet the press or something. ... They wanted to send them to Brazil or South America or somewhere."
The mother apparently stayed at Jackson's Neverland Ranch for three to four weeks following the documentary's airing.
"She called me a week [after it aired]," Masada recalled. "She said, 'I can't talk to you. They're watching my phone. I gotta hang up.' She called me again, a couple of times more, [saying] against her will the kids are up there and they have Michael's people emptying her apartment and putting everything in a storage room. She was scared. She didn't know what was happening. She would hang up. She wouldn't talk. I didn't know what to do or what was happening, and I got several phone calls like that from her."
When the mother finally left Neverland, Masada introduced her to an attorney, and within weeks the family formally accused Jackson of molestation (see "Michael Jackson Wanted On Multiple Counts Of Child Molestation"). After the documentary aired, the mother also told Masada she was not aware of what she was signing when she agreed to let her son appear on the program and that she feared she would lose her children because of it.
"Child welfare came after her and wanted to take the children away," Masada said. "They interviewed her. I said, 'Just go out there, they know you are a good person.' "
Masada has never met Jackson but has known the family for several years and speaks highly of them. "[They are] very caring, very hugging, all [three] of the kids," he said. "To me they come across as very simple and religious people."
Masada visited the family a month ago in a new apartment.
"The kids are sleeping on the floor, it breaks your heart," he said. "They don't have anything. ... Several well-known comics said, 'We'll give you blank checks, you put as much as you want and cash it and give the kid's family whatever they want.' I went to the mother and I told her, 'Do you want some money? A lot of my friends, they want to help, the comedians they are giving people.' And she said, 'No, no, their friendship is more than anything. Thank them, but I don't want anything.' "
Masada has owned the Hollywood comedy club the Laugh Factory for 25 years. For the past 19 years he has also run the comedy camp where he met the boy and his brother and sister four years ago. The boy, who was 10 at the time and not sick, spent every afternoon for a summer at the Laugh Factory, quickly wining over the hearts of Masada and his staff. "He's very bubbly, very joyful, very honest. You know, he'll come in and say, 'Hi! How are you?' He'll hug you. ... Every comic that comes in here, he would hug them."
Masada kept in touch with the family after camp and soon learned the boy had cancer. He began visiting the boy almost daily, sometimes bringing along comedians. One day the doctor told Masada the boy wasn't keeping down food and had only three to four weeks to live. "I told him, 'If you eat something I'll introduce you to everybody, I'll get you in a film, whatever you want,' " Masada recalled. "And he said his wish was to meet Adam Sandler and Chris Tucker. I gave him some cantaloupe and ice cream crushed up and it came up. His stomach couldn't take it. I said, 'OK, if you hold it in and eat it, I will introduce you to whoever you want to meet.' And at that moment, he was watching MTV, a video with Michael Jackson. He said, 'I want to meet Michael Jackson.' I said, 'It's done. You eat, you hold it in, you meet Michael.' I gave him three spoonfuls. I kept saying, 'Michael Jackson, remember.' And I kept feeding him, and he ate."
Masada later arranged for the boy to spend the day on a movie set with Sandler, who took him to lunch and bought him a TV. Chris Tucker took him shopping. Masada also set up a local television interview with the boy about needing a rare blood type and asked Jackson's handlers to make sure the singer watched.
"I got there the next day and his face was lit up," Masada said. " 'Oh, guess what? Michael called me.' He was very excited about it. I was happy about it. ... I heard later on that he went to Neverland with his brother and his father to meet Michael Jackson and I said, 'Great.' "
The boy continued meeting with Jackson, but Masada never worried, even though the singer had been accused of molestation in 1993 (see "Papers Detailing Jacko's Molestation Allegations Surface").
"First of all, my concern was [the boy's] health," Masada said. "Any time I called him I never asked him, 'Did you go to Neverland?' ... And second of all, I didn't really give it that much thought, because in this country, I guess you are not guilty until they find you guilty. I didn't really think of any of that at all."
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1483878/2...?headlines=true