Talk about a “Fame Monster!” According to FameCount.com, Lady Gaga has more Facebook fans than President Barack Obama.
At the time this article was written, Gaga has 10,559,057 fans, while Obama has 9,771,833 fans.
As it stands right now, Lady Gaga is well ahead of other celebrities in the Facebook fan race (with the exception of Obama). The closest competition are; Britney Spears (3.1 million), Ashton Kutcher (3.6 million), Taylor Swift (5.8 million), Selena Gomez (5.2 million) and even Justin Bieber (5.9 million). The only celeb beating Gaga is the late Michael Jackson with over 14 million fans.
I walk into the dressing room at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in Toronto to meet with pop singer and guitar sensation Orianthi. With her blonde hair tied in pigtail braids under a hat, she stands up to greet me. Orianthi reaches out one hand to shake mine, and in the other hand she holds a stuffed animal chicken. Apparently I am the only one in the room who finds this peculiar.
“I grew up with chickens and I want to have a chicken out on the road with me but I can’t,” she says, staring at the stuffed toy that now sits on the coffee table in front of her. “Everyone keeps giving me chickens, stuffed ones, so hopefully I’ll get a real rooster. That would be awesome. I’ve had chickens as pets since I was really young.”
At this point everyone in the room is giggling, including Orianthi and I. She flashes a gorgeous smile that lets me know she does not take herself too seriously. And for someone who became instantly famous for being Michael Jackson’s main guitarist in This Is It, that is no easy feat.
“A lot of people say that,” Orianthi says of the fact that even though she now has an established singing career of her own, she is still widely known as the girl who played guitar for Michael Jackson. “I don’t want to break away from that because I got to work with him for three months. … It was such an awesome time and I wish he was still around.”
No matter what money-making activities Katherine and Joe Jackson get up to for awhile, they likely won’t be pocketing the cash. TMZ is reporting that the family owes a South Korean newspaper, the Segye Times, more than $13 million.
The Segye Times had dished out $5.5 million to back a Jackson family concert series that never happened, and apparently the Jackson’s haven’t paid up. Trying to get their money back, in 1994 the newspaper sued and was awarded $4 million; jump ahead to 2010 and with interest factored in the Jackson’s are in the red for over $13 mil.
A lawyer for the newspaper tells TMZ that the company is looking to snatch up profits come in, including cash coming in from Katherine’s book, any movies that she helps to produce (she’s teaming up with Howard Mann right now), and all other sources of income.
Sources tell TMZ that the Segye Times will be in court in September attempting to squeeze anything they can from the estate’s bank account—which is reportedly also in big debt.
Chris Brown broke down crying during a Michael Jackson tribute last night at the BET Awards.
Brown was performing a MJ inspired dance at the BET Awards when he was overcome with emotion. Nevertheless, if you like Chris Brown or not, it was still an awesome routine. He starts crying around 4:30 in the video below, in case you’re interested.
Bidders from around the world cleaned up worth $1 Million worth of Michael Jackson memorabilia at an auction for the anniversary for his death.
One of the items that stood out was a crystal-studded glove he wore on his 1984 Victory Tour which sold for $190,000, reports PopEater.
The bidding that began Friday on more than 200 items was “unlike anything we’ve ever experienced,” said Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions, which ran the auction at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
Many of the items sold for 10 times their estimated value, including the glove.
“It just shows you Michael Jackson is the most sought after and most collectible celebrity of all time. It was just phenomenal,” Julien told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Joe Jackson is going after more than just Dr. Conrad Murray in his wrongful death lawsuit, which TMZ obtained a copy of.
The lawsuit reads that, “Mr. Jackson believes there are other parties responsible for Michael Jackson’s death but has not yet gathered sufficient information regarding their potential liability or responsibility.”
TMZ reports that the lawsuit also names Murray’s Houston clinic, Acres Home Heart & Vascular Associates, and his Las Vegas clinic, GCA Holdings. The suit reads, “Defendants conduct of attempting to conceal the multi-state supply of drugs and the use of their facilities in Texas and Nevada to obtain medications was an extreme departure from the standard of care.”
Joe Jackson also alleges that Dr. Murray withheld vital information that could have saved the king of pop, not letting EMTs know about the Propofol that he had given to Michael Jackson.
The lawsuit, which will be filed in a federal court on Friday, also states that Dr. Murray attempted to “clean-up the scene.”
This all comes on the one year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death.
As if to brace themselves for the emotional first anniversary of their father’s death, Michael Jackson’s children, Prince, Paris, and Blanket, escaped with their grandmother Katherine to Maui, reports People.com.
Spending a day on the island playing in the water, the three kids tried to enjoy the time away. Although her two brothers seemed to be making the best of it, Paris was seen to be having a noticeably difficult time.
A source close to the Jackson family says,”Early on, Paris didn’t think she could live without her father … she just didn’t know how she was going to function. But [Katherine] has been so supportive of her that Paris is much better.”
The source says, “You have to remember that everybody in that family was suffering from grief, so Michael’s kids never felt alone in it,” continuing, “That helped them to become stronger.”
The family is schedule to be in Gary, Indiana on Friday afternoon, where a monument honouring Michael Jackson will be unveiled outside of the home where the singer grew up.
Michael Jackson’s Encino estate will be on lockdown during the anniversary of his death. The LAPD is enforcing this as they are expecting an onslaught of Michael Jackson fans showing their respect by visiting the home, reports TMZ.
The LAPD reports there will be 30-40 police officers, both uniformed and undercover, patrolling the estate and the surrounding neighborhood on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
One of the precautions being taken is “no parking” around the surrounding area. There will also be a boycott on selling Michael Jackson merchandise in the area. The same rules will apply to the Forest Lawn Cemetery where Jackson is buried.
Nearly one year after his death, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine has spoken out in an interview about her son and the well being of her grandchildren.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Katherine Jackson says that Michael’s three children, Paris, Prince and Blanket, are living very isolated lives.
“They don’t have any friends. They don’t go to school, they have private lessons at home – but that will change in September, when they are due to enrol at private college. But they have their cousins and aunts and uncles around them constantly, and that’s helped them immensely,” says Katherine.
“To them, it’s normal, it’s the life they have known. They have a certain time to go to bed, then they get up and get dressed for lessons. They practise karate and swim, which they love.”
Michael’s daughter Paris, 12, has turned her room into a shrine for her father, she is surrounded by pictures of her late Dad.
His sons Prince, 13, and Blanket, 8, speak regularly about wanting to make their father proud. Apparently all three children listen to Michael’s music regularly.
The King of Pop’s memorial is finally going to be paid for, almost a year later, reports E! Online.
Michael Jackson’s private estate and AEG have come to an agreement with the City of Los Angeles to cover costs that were incurred for the Staples Center memorial last July.
They will donate $1 million to the city and provide an extra $300,000 to the Los Angeles Police Foundation to fund crime-fighting equipment.
Finally paying up, the $1.3 million cheque will cover the costs for LAPD services, permits and street closures, and expenses sustained by the Sanitation and Transportation Department.
It seems that the Moon Walk is the new black as more and more Michael Jackson merchandise is in the works.
According to TMZ, the King of Pop is set to star in a new video game that will essentially be a “dance karaoke.” Unlike many other ventures surrounding the deceased Jackson, apparently the pop singer’s estate is totally on board for this plan. Basically, gamers will see Jackson dancing on screen and then will be challenged to imitate his movements.
The game, currently untitled, will be available on multiple gaming platforms including Wii and Xbox 360. The Xbox version will include Microsoft’s new Kinect motion capture technology which will allow players to participate in the game without holding a controller.
Also in the Xbox version, the player will be judged based on full body moves; the game will process the player’s movements and display them on screen, dancing alongside Jackson.
If that wasn’t spectacular enough for aspiring Princes of Pop everywhere, the game also includes a karaoke feature which will allow players to sing along to Jackson songs and even funk up their voices with an autotune feature.
The game is being developed by Ubisoft (the same company behind Assassin’s Creed and Ghost Recon) and they have apparently secured permission from Jackson’s estate, so this is sure to go ahead. The game is scheduled to be released sometime before Christmas.
Have you ever heard the expression “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you?” Well Joe Jackson hasn’t, otherwise he would be smart enough to keep is mouth shut.
TMZ reports that Joe Jackson feels Katherine Jackson is responsible for Michael’s death. Joe justifies this view as Katherine refused to keep Michael “cheered up,” which resulted in his death. Katherine argues she didn’t want to invade his privacy.
Katherine’s lawyer, Adam Streisand, tells TMZ, “The world knows that Mrs. Jackson has always been a loving mother and grandmother, and that she and Michael had a very special relationship.” Streisand then drives it home: “The world also knows who Joe Jackson is and he seems bent on never letting us forget.”
Here’s where Joe may run into a huge problem. Joe isn’t included in Michael’s will, and the only person that’s been supporting him has been Katherine. Given Joe’s recent public comments, it’s hard to believe she will continue writing cheques.
Joe must be mentally unbalanced because what kind of idiot would blame Michael’s death on his Mother, and cut off his only supply of money?
Dr. Conrad Murray is getting a little love thrown his way, reports TMZ. The doctor, who is accused of killing Michael Jackson is scheduled to appear at a hearing in L.A. in order to have a date set for a preliminary hearing.
Pastors from the Houston area (where Murray does charity medical work) are organizing a rally in support of the doctor. The rally will be held at the Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, located in a poor region of Houston.
TMZ says that United States Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee will be there, along with what could be around 1,000 people there to support Dr. Murray.
The original plan was to bus people to L.A. in order to counter protests by MJ fans.
After Michael Jackson’s ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley’s, plea to MJ fans to cover the entrance to his mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery with flowers fell flat, a sunflower guy has come to the rescue, reports TMZ.
TMZ is reporting that Jackson’s burial place is getting a delivery of several thousand sunflowers—MJ’s favourite flower—courtesy of sunflowerguy.com. Although this seems like a clever way of getting some publicity for the flower company, it’s hard to argue against thousands of sunflowers. That’s pretty awesome.
The sunflower guy himself, Jason Levin, makes the donation after Presley’s complaint which she posted on her MySpace, upset that Jackson’s tomb only had a few bouquets, candles and gifts, reports TMZ.
Well, after today Presley should be content; these sunflowers should last awhile.
Peter Lopez, husband to actress Catherine Bach of “The Dukes of Hazzard” fame was found dead late Friday morning in Encino, Calif. E! Online reports.
Paramedics reached the home of Bach and Lopez, responding to a possible shooting report.
LAPD spokesperson Lt. John Romero comments, “We’re still in the early stages of the investigation, but what we gather is it’s an apparent suicide.” reports E! Online.
Lopez was a music attorney who at one point represented Michael Jackson.
Bach and Lopez were married in 1990 and have two children together.
As andPOP reported yesterday, Cirque du Soleil, the popular circus troupe that does shows in practically every hotel in Vegas, announced that it is creating a show around Michael Jackson’s music.
However not everybody is supporting this idea. Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father, is less than thrilled about the new show. “That’s something else, isn’t it?” Joe Jackson told PopEater when asked how he felt about his son inspiring a real-life circus. He added, “I won’t see it.”
On the other hand, Jackson’s mother Katherine supports the initiative. “Our family is thrilled that Cirque du Soleil will pay tribute to my son in such an important way.”
The Jackson estate will own half of the project, with the Montreal-based performance company as their partner.
Now that he’s gone, it seems everyone wants a piece of Michael Jackson.
Cirque du Soleil, the popular circus troupe that does shows in practically every hotel in Vegas, announced earlier today that it is creating a show around Michael Jackson’s music, reports E!Online.com.
The show will, undoubtedly, follow the same style as the widely popular The Beatles: Love and Viva Elvis.
They said the show will start off with an arena tour in late 2011 and will be followed by a permanent residency in Las Vegas in 2010 at an MGM Mirage Inc. property. A nightclub with the same theme is due to open around the same time.
“Having attended Cirque du Soleil performances with Michael, I know he was a huge fan,” said Jon Branca, co-executor of the King of Pop’s estate, in a statement.
Jackson’s mother, Katherine, added, “Our family is thrilled that Cirque du Soleil will pay tribute to my son in such an important way.”
The estate and the circus troupe will each own 50 per cent of the project, and share the production and development costs evenly.
The Michael Jackson casket myth has finally been solved. On July 7, 2009, you may recall a memorial for Michael Jackson at the Staples Center that was in front of thousands of people in downtown Los Angeles.
Jackson’s body was held in a $25,000 red casket throughout the service. However nobody actually saw the casket leave the memorial. This fueled speculation that Jackson was not really dead.
However TMZ has solved the mystery. Although the casket arrived in a hearse, the body left in a LAPD SWAT van. The van was then driven to a secret location where the casket was moved into a Forest Lawn Memorial van, which then drove the casket to the cemetery.
Thanks TMZ!
Part of the Jackson family was present at the Los Angeles Superior Court in downtown LA today for Dr. Conrad Murray’s hearing over his plead of not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter related to the death of legendary pop singer Michael Jackson.
But as they endured the almost two-hour hearing, younger brother Randy Jackson was a bit upset with the way the Jackson family was treated in the court room.
According to Access Hollywood, Jackson was rattled by the fact that the press recieved better treatment over the Jackson family members that were present- including Katherine, Joe, Jermaine, Janet and himself.
“Inside the courtroom,” he tweeted. “The press is getting preferential treatment and seating over us. They seem to have forgotten that we are a family.”
It’s amazing when you can make millions of dollars when you’re dead. TMZ is reporting that the Michael Jackson Estate has signed the biggest deal ever in music, worth up to $250 Million with a guarantee of $200 Million.
The MJ Estate inked the deal with Sony Music which will create 10 projects over seven years.
