I haven't been too up to date on this website over the past couple of weeks. In fact, even though I'm a big enough Oprah Winfrey fan to run this "Everything Oprah" website I'm an even bigger Michael Jackson fan.
I've been patiently waiting and hoping that Oprah would send out some sort of public statement regarding Michael Jackson's death. Even a Twitter Tweet saying 'R.I.P. Michael." But she hasn't said a thing, and from what I've been reading online I'm not the only Oprah Winfrey fan who is upset and disappointed by her silence.
Her 1990's Neverland Ranch interview video with Michael Jackson is being blocked on You Tube due to copyright infringement yet she has made no effort to let Michael Jackson fans watch the video on Oprah.com. Fans can't even purchase the video of the positive and revealing interview in the Oprah store.
I'm not sure what to think about Oprah's decision to remain silent. Some say perhaps Oprah thinks he was actually guilty of child molestation, others say she is probably planning a huge tribute show on Michael Jackson, others think that she's keeping quiet out of respect for the Jackson family.
Personally none of these reasons make sense to me. How hard is it to send out a message on Twitter to let Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jackson fans know that she's sorry he died?
Anyway, I'll be doing my best to continue on with this website (and get back to watching the Oprah Winfrey Show), and I hope that Oprah will come forward soon to make even a short statement regarding Michael Jackson's death just as so many celebrities, and even President Obama, has done over the past couple of weeks.
UPDATE - September, 10, 2009:
During an interview which aired last night Oprah Winfrey said that she sent Michael Jackson's family flowers and her condolences and she wishes that she was his friend. Oprah will be dedicating a show on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 to Michael Jackson's memory. You can read more about Oprah's comments on Michael Jackson here.
Has she tweeted about any of the deaths this summer? I'm not a fan of Oprah but alot of people wait to discuss their opinions until she has had her say. So I would like to know if she's been equally unavailable for the others who have died.
Posted by: LisaD | July 18, 2009 at 04:25 PM
I too have been disappointed with Oprah's silence. I assumed she would do some type of a tribute show, or perhaps rerun the interview. It is sad indeed to think that perhaps her silence is due to thinking he is actually guilty of these heinous crimes.
I think it is probably related to the sexual abuse scandal that happened in her school in South Africa. That was so horrible and she was deeply saddened by that. Perhaps the perception that some people unfortunately have and will always have about MJ puts Oprah in a delicate situation. Just as Obama chose his words carefully in his reaction to MJ, Oprah would be roundly criticized by the MJ haters for supporting him, i.e. being insensitive to sexual abuse of children, as was the case in South Africa.
I do not know if my theory is really the reason, but it just really saddens me to think that it is because she believes him to be guilty. I, like Oprah, am a survivor of sexual abuse as a child, and I never ever believed that MJ would harm a child. Of course I don't know for sure, no one does, but that is my strong, gut feeling, that he is innocent of all of those lies that were motivated by extortion for his $$$. The haters can flame away, but I just don't believe that he is guilty. I hope Oprah doesn't either. She is such a big part of our culture, with any huge event that goes on. Her silence is almost insulting.
Posted by: Rebecca | July 18, 2009 at 06:31 PM
>Has she tweeted about any of the deaths this summer?
LisaD, the thing is, Michael Jackson is not "anyone".
Posted by: Anna | July 20, 2009 at 05:57 AM
Who, more than you Oprah, is in a position to defend Michael's innocence to the WORLD, and make known all the good that he did for so many? We have all been made aware of the "Oprah Effect". All you need to do is have a show dedicated to presenting the facts as they really were. Read the book "Michael Jackson Conspiracy", Oprah! It's an accurate account of what actually happened at his trial taken from official court documents! Watch the videos "The Footage You Were Never Meant to See" and witness how the press can be a bunch of savages in for the kill. You owe him that!
Posted by: Lesley | July 23, 2009 at 12:23 AM
How convenient. All the negative comments on this subject about Oprah have "disappeared".
Posted by: Lesley | July 23, 2009 at 03:31 PM
Lesley,
I'm really disappointed by your judgemental comment, I haven't removed any comments at all but I did change my website theme which may have prevented comments from showing up for a little while.
Since I'm the one that wrote the blog post about being disappointed in Oprah it would be pretty strange of me to delete other's opinions on Oprah.
I just hate rude people.
Posted by: Administrator | July 23, 2009 at 05:00 PM
I apologize. I don't hate any people, though I may not always like their behaviour.
Posted by: Lesley | July 23, 2009 at 09:29 PM
I don't think that MJ is just anyone. I am enraged that every "star" and "personality" did not come forward to praise this man and his numerous accomplishments. However, he silence on his death is leading to a belief that he was a child molester. I think one of her researchers needs to get reading.
I think that it is important to address some of the misconceptions because people who believe that MJ was a pedophile base that opinion upon false information. I cannot change the views of people who think they know the truth. However, I can pick them apart by letting them know what is true and what is fiction.
A lot of people think that MJ settled the 1993 suit with money from his own pocket. However, when I've explained to people (mostly other lawyers like me) that the money was actually paid by MJ's insurer, the payout made a lot more sense. In doing a quick mathematical calculation, I've estimated that in 1993, it would have cost the insurer over $10 million to defend MJ for 365 days. The 2005 investigation and trial was 572 days. Plus, in 1993, there was also a pending civil suit. Civil suits can drag on for years. A conservative estimate would be 3-5 years. No insurance company is going to pay $20 million annually for defense when they can settle and be done.
Non-lawyers seem to think that an insurance company cannot make you settle. However, insurance is to provide you with an attorney and pay for any judgment. It does not exist to guarantee you a day in Court. Therefore, once you are sued, the insurer can make any settlements that are in their best interests. Since they are in the business of making money, settling for less than defense costs in in their best interests. I've been defending clients through insurance companies for ten years. The only policy that I have ever encountered that required 'consent' was a physician's malpractice policy. Physicians against whom Judgments are made, are placed in a national data bank. Therefore, it may hurt their professional reputation if an insurer settles because it appears to be an admission of liability. In MJ's case, there was no national data bank, but rather the Court of public opinion. His lack of control over the settlement is a key point in refuting the haters.
The next one, and it truly confounds me, is the erroneous belief that Jordy Chandler accurately described MJ's privates. The tabloids and regular jerks claim, how could the kid describe MJ's penis if he had not seen it? However, as Lisa Marie once said, when the description did not match, the news papers only printed a tiny article detailing that fact.
The Smoking Gun claimed that it had an affidavit by a police officer describing Jordy's description of MJ's penis. I won't get into the legal technicalities of that form of double hearsay, but I will say that the affidavit indicated that Jordy's description included that MJ was circumcised. MJ was not circumcised. To me, that detail was the most important reason that the DA in 1993 would not have been able to proceed in 1993. Who could have made so integral a mistake if they had really viewed his penis?
Jordy Chandler made his statements of molestation only after having been given sodium amytal by his father. Known to implant false memories and permit suggestions to replace memories, Jordy Chandler may never come forward and admit that his allegations were a lie because he may actually believe them.
it is important to recall that the DA scoured the earth (literally) looking for another witness to corroborate molestation claims in 1993 and came up with nothing.
Next, Martin Bashir. To me, it is so significant that MJ came on national television and said that he allowed children to sleep in his bed. This was not a salacious detail that came out in cross examination, but one that MJ freely admitted and reiterated to Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes. Strange? Yes. Criminal? No. What criminal would go on national television and admit that he was committing a crime? If MJ had understood how people would take such a statement, perhaps he would not have said it. However, regardless of how it is viewed, it came from his own mouth.
I won't go into the background and character of the Arvizos who clearly were grifters. However, prior to the MJ criminal action, the attorney for JC Penney, who the Arvizos had sued, claimed that the children appeared to have been coached in their testimony. By the way, JC Penney also settled when the Arvizos made claims of security guard brutality and sexual misconduct.
It's also no secret that the Divison of Children found that there was no wrongdoing by MJ long before the trial.
Finally, this one is pretty crazy to me too, the MJ, OJ comparison. OJ got away with murder therefore a not guilty verdict is not worth the paper its written on. I watched almost every minutes of the OJ trial waiting, patiently, for one piece of evidence. As a former FBI wannabe, I know alot about true crime and criminal investigations. One of the first things that the police do when there has been a murder and they've found a suspect is to pull out the pipes in the shower in case the criminal attempted to wash any evidence away. It's standard procedure. According to OJ and the limo driver, OJ was in the shower immediately before he came down to go to the airport. Therefore, everyday, I asked, "was there blood in the pipes?" When the prosecution rested, there was no evidence of blood in the pipes. To me, that had reasonable doubt written all over it. Minor problem: there was blood in the pipes. That evidence could not be introduced because the police had conducted a search, which included removal of the pipes, without a warrant on the night of the murder. After the acquittal, George magazine published all of the precluded evidence. I'm sure that there are other pieces of evidence that are relevant, but that one piece of evidence really struck me.
With MJ, ten warrants were executed upon him for several residences including Neverland. Therefore, the police had every opportunity to find incriminating evidence but found nothing.
I would note that now the deputies are showing photographs depicting various sedatives. If MJ had so many sedatives, why did he try to give the kids "Jesus Juice"? he could have just knocked them out with the sedatives. Most likely, it's because these children did not know about the drugs that were present in the house. The DA probably left the drugs out of the case because it would run counter to his theory.
Again, we cannot change the minds of people who think they know what happened. Although when people claim that he was a molester, I immediately say, "Are you the witness that Tom Sneddon was looking for? He really needed to know what evidence you have, particulalry because he had no evidence."
Sorry for the long post.
Posted by: LisaD | July 29, 2009 at 09:19 AM
LisaD,
I just have one comment for you. Bravo, Gyrrrl!!! BRAVO!!! If ever I need an attorney, I'm coming to get you chick!!! You just did the dag on thang, here me?! Well said, well said indeed. You need to go on the news and blow all of them out of the water with this! Those people are so jealous of MJ and are beyond in love with tearing him up, down and everyway which-around! You should have heard them going on and on about the Rolls Royces, Rolls Royce Limousines and Bentleys carrying the Jackson Family to the Memorial Services. Saying things like the services were too lavish, a "spectacle", "overly opulent" and all such nonsense. What were they supposed to show up in, I ask you? Fruit wagons and donkey carts? Really. As for Ms. Winfrey, I’m going to say this, and then I’m going to leave the subject alone. I must confess, I’m a bit baffled that Ms. Winfrey hasn’t said a mumbling word about our beloved, Mr. Michael Jackson. Truely I am confounded. However in retrospect, I don’t suppose that anyone should be surprised. Please, don’t get it twisted. I’m not judging Ms. Winfrey. I have always believed that each persons actions judge him or her in our walk through this test we call ‘life’. Having said that, I will comment on what I have witnessed. I had for the moment believed that I must have missed the tribute that “of course” Ms. Winfrey must have given him. Apparently I was gravely mistaken. At this point I really wouldn’t want one from her if it’s all like that. I’m remembering when Ms. Winfrey built that school in Africa. Instead of giving all the glory and honor to God for blessing her with the tools to do his will, she took the glory for herself like “looky what Oprah can do” with an honorable mention thrown God’s way. And let us not forget when she renounced Christ on her show. Remember that bit when she said she was in church, the minister was preaching about God being a jealous God, and her galactically IGNORANT behind thought that meant that God was jealous of her?!!! Like the CREATOR of heaven and earth has the time or inclination to be jealous of his creation. I suppose someone should have sat her down and told her that GOD is jealous of HIS PRAISE, HIS HONOR, HIS MAJESTY, HIS GLORY being given to anyone who is as full of sin and beyond less than worthy(all of us) instead of to him where it is all rightfully due. God is jealous when we don't acknowledge his place fully and CORRECTLY in our lives. So seriously, I really don’t know what, if anything, anyone is expecting from her pertaining to Michael Jackson. Basically, Oprah is all about Oprah. I also noticed that our President wasn’t able to comment directly on Michael’s passing; his press secretary did it for him initially. And when memeber’s of the press asked if the President was going to comment, the press secretary commented that he had just said what the President’s comment was. I was deeply saddened by this although I understand it. Look at the ignorant way that some behaved when they learned President Obama’s middle name. They more than likely would have attacked Pres. Obama for paying any kind of tribute at all to Mike directly. I noticed that our President had to be half way around the world in Russia, and not on American soil before he said anything directly(in his own cool way) about Michael Jackson at all. And I don’t believe that was his fault, I feel that the way the American public has behaved towards Mike to date has a LOT to do with how Pres. Obama’s comments were delivered. And I must confess, that even though it hurts my feelings pretty badly, I think that the Speaker of the House made a very wise decision in not allowing the debate to open on the House floor to honor Michael Jackson ‘for right now’. We don’t need to have politicians behaving in an unseemly hateful fashion towards Mike at this moment, although I do believe this should definitely be picked up at a later date and passed. I also noticed something recently that made my 15yr old very sad. I took her to see the Jonas Brothers on July 13,(Also the day Mike was supposed to start his tour). Anyway, we were both sad but I was trying to cheer my baby up. During the concert, the Jonas Brothers came up out of the stage, constantly plugged themselves (this is in addition to singing their songs), and went out over the audience with a lifted crane. Now who came up with the whole coming out of the stage bit, and going out over the crowd in a lifted crane? Why, Michael Jackson, of course. My daughter turned to me during the concert with the look of a wounded soul on her face and said, “Mom, I know that you can’t please everyone with what you do in life, but we’ve just lost someone so very precious to us all and the Jonas Brothers didn’t even mention Michael Jackson. I thought they were supposed to be these really nice Christians. And what’s with all of this plugging themselves. It isn’t necessary to brainwash us. We’re already here, so that must mean we’re admirers of their work. It’s not necessary. But okay, that’s showbiz I guess. I thought that they would at least pay tribute, sing one of Michael’s songs to show their last respects, SOMETHING! They used ideas of his in their show and they can’t even mention him? I know that the public shouldn’t put their expections off on what they think celebrities should or shouldn’t do, but they couldn’t be bothered to mention him at all. It’s too bad that they didn’t understand that a lot of us are really brokenhearted about Michael not being with us anymore and if they would have shown some genuine compassion, even just a litle bit, we would love them all the more for it. But I guess not. I’m not having such a good time after all.” And with that, she just turned away. I didn’t know what to say. So I just hugged her. She’s right about one thing though. People are going to be whatever they are going to be, and there is no point in expecting anything more than that from them. Period. Oh, one more thing. If anyone has a problem with my mentioning God an/or Christ, I understand that this problem exsists. However, it’s just going to have to be exactly that, your problem.
Posted by: T. Evans | July 30, 2009 at 01:33 AM
LisaD,
Thank you for taking the time to share your post! I have contacted the Oprah show to inquire why there has been no acknowlegement. We'll see if there is a response.
Posted by: Lesley | July 31, 2009 at 04:19 AM
I read yesterday that Oprah has said that she will not comment on Michael Jackson or on Chris Brown because she does not promote people that hurt children or beat women. If this is true (her position on Michael), I see her as choosing to remain ignorant and judgemental on the subject. She should get the whole story before condemning anyone.
BTW, there is a website I want to share for anyone that appreciates MJ:
http://www.mj-upbeat.com/UpbeatAdditionalNews.htm
Posted by: Lesley | July 31, 2009 at 04:57 PM
I am very disappointed with Oprah!
MJ was still a great human being in so many,many many area's of life in general.
I think she has judged him guilty from the start.
I think she hopes it will just fade away and be forgotten. But I a a huge MJ fan, for as long as Jaskson 5. And he will not be forgotten.
I personally have watched, read , heard, all sides of all the stories out there about this molestation, and I have come to the conclusion he was framed and it was a bunch of people who have been trying take him down for a while.
This is a celebrity world he lived in, so ya I can see it being true. MJ stood up for himself in so many negative situations and never gave up.....from my experiences, people don't like ya when you stand up your rights and speak up too.
Now back to Oprah, I have always preferred the Oprah from many years ago, when she was more REAL.
She has become very judgmental with guests on her show who have disorders and such. Her attitude has changed a great deal....and I blame money and fame.
She most likely does not want to be associated with the MJ story period.
MJ also paid her a great deal of money for the interview so he could set the record straight with the media.
Sham on her for not at least saying R.I.P. MJ!
Posted by: themagicsinheaven | August 03, 2009 at 02:20 AM
I HATE oprah for not saying anything. Oprah needs to know that she is NOTHING compared to Michael Jackson. She is a judgmental, assuming bitch and I'll never watch her show again. Michael said that only people with dirty minds think of molesting children. Oprah obviously has a perverted mind.
Posted by: mary | August 05, 2009 at 07:01 PM
You know, Oprah's one to judge other people. Why isn't she married? Why doesn't she have children? What's wrong with her? I assume that because she's holier than thou, no media outlet would take her on. However, I think she's a fat, disgusting, judgmental, b'yotch. I'm done with her.
Posted by: You will be forgotten--MJ will not | August 07, 2009 at 06:19 PM
I can't believe Oprah for what she is doing to Michael. I for one will never watch another episode again. R.I.P. Michael I love you and you will never ever be forgotten.
Posted by: Ann | August 13, 2009 at 09:28 AM
UPDATE:
Oprah Winfrey said that she sent flowers and her condolences to the Jackson family and that she wishes that she could have been Michael Jackson's friend. You can read more about this update at
http://www.everythingoprah.com/2009/09/oprah-finally-talks-about-michael-jacksons-death.html
Posted by: Administrator | September 10, 2009 at 09:41 AM