Was there ever conclusive proof that he porked little kids? Not that he wasn't mentally ill, but when you look at his life, I wonder if he just had an incredibly bizarre affection.

I was never a superfan but i grew up with his music too.

Can i just say that he was officially acquitted of all charges?
No fabulousness from Celine tonight unfortunately.

But as for MJ his story mirrors that of many other living legends and passed legends who became so famous they moved into these bubbles of removed reality.

I think Britney Spears would be in real danger of going this way if it werent for what happened in the past year; it's pulled her back to reality a bit - but she still doesnt mingle with people enough.

These celebrities just become too big to lead normal lives then have no option but to live in seclusion from the world, which is kind of tragic.

Two criminal cases brought against him, one settled out of court in a civil suit with an agreement not to pursue the criminal aspect, and the other was found not guilty. He's also the poster child for warning signs that somebody is a pedophile.

In whole, there is a pretty good body of evidence to suggest he was.

It was suggested but never confirmed.

He slept in beds with kids. Wrong and creepy, but he was also a 10-year-old mentally, so I do wonder what the fuck was up. Not to mention the total lack of physical evidence.

Though we'll probably find out for sure in the coming months.

NO! NO!!

Fuck man...this is depressing. RIP MJ

VH1 and MTV are playing the same thing; wierd.

LeBron is now the last of the kings.

Yup; it is. I literally cannot believe this; Ive been a die hard fan of his since I was 6. I feel so bummed.

He was charged twice with molesting boys. Twice! He settled out of court - paid a victim millions to keep quiet. Reportedly one of the kids could describe in detail his genitalia (the one he paid off). Throw in the creepy stuff - always hanging out only with boys of a specific age, sleeping in the same bed with them, building a house to lure them in, and all the other reports and rumors, and you've got more than something being just a little "creepy". Heck, that's tons more than we have to suggest OJ murdered his wife, and nobody thinks he's innocent, do they?

It's tougher to believe with a beloved figure who brought us a lot of joy, and I can understand the refusal to want to believe, but I've seen people convicted on far less, and this just wasn't a 1 time deal.

It's pretty tough for a non-pedophile to get charged twice for it, and to have to pay millions to shut somebody up for claiming you are.

Lets drop the talk about the pedophilia case and focus on him and his legendary status as a pop icon.

Sorry... didn't mean to derail the thread. It's just always awkward for me to watch somebody glorified that doesn't deserve it. I'll probably do the same when OJ is dead and people are talking how great he was. And, if I was alive when Hitler died, I'd probably rained on everybody's parade there too.

Anyhoo, I'll do my best to put his raping of boys out of my mind and concentrate on the important stuff. Like his moon walk... that was really cool! He was good at that.

That chimp too. What was his name? Bubba bubbles or something

idk about ya'll but I first heard about this during the afternoon right after I flipped two radio stations and wondered why there were MJ songs being played on two different stations at the same time then the dj on another station mentioned what happened.

disregarding about the controversy of his past, I've essentially been a jackson fan for a long time since I grew up on his music. I think I had a tshirt of his back in his thriller days and had his album on those big disks back in the day. I actually got chills and was feeling pretty sad singing along to his various songs being played on multiple stations as I flipped through them.

he was a music legend and this was quite a shock. He was Just 50 years old, but who knows how weak his body must have been after all those surgeries, drug addictions and what not. I always wondered how his death might impact the news of the day but never expect something to happen so out of the blue.

Bubbles! Another fond memory. Honestly, I like monkeys so much that I would have done anything to let Michael let me hang with Bubbles.

What if this was contingent on supporting another nose job?

With OJ we had DNA, bad alibis a glove and most importantly a guiloty verdict in a civil case.
You have one criminal trial with an acquittal and a case that settled. You had a witness claim he molested Macualy Caulkin and other children who all denied it. The child was the son of the Maid. The maid also knew what Michael's penis looked like. Only 2 children I am aware ever laid the claim that he was innappropiate and it was there parents who made the claim. The mother also contradicted herself.
The first case was civil if it was what they said why didn't they go criminal.....If you have a criminal verdict it is a slam dunk civil verdict. Whereas if you just want money you go civil and hope.
No doubt the guy was weird nto a doubt in my mind about that. It is also possible but I think unlikely that he was guilty.

I have worked on enough trials to know that a settlement in civil court means nothing. It can be about saving money, bad press or both.

I never really got into MJ's music. I briefly did in the mid 90's when I got a 2-disc greatest hits CD - History: Past, Present and Future - mostly to copy my cousin who also got it, but those CD's are long gone and have been for about a decade. I like his early hits, and I might download a couple of them tonight, but I was pretty much indifferent to his music. I'm like Korrgan, I was born towards the end of his peak so I never really got into it.

I can definitely appreciate and understand the impact of his death though (in terms of music). There will never be another Michael Jackson. And just look at ITunes. In just a few hours, five of his albums have already made the Top 10.

It's also a little weird to hear sports stations playing his music. I've been watching Red Sox coverage for the past 30 minutes and going into every commercial break they've played one of his songs.

If there was conclusive evidence that he did then I'm sure the police would have filed a claim. Come on, you're a police office, show your adversarial skills. Of course he was creepy and weird, no one is denying that. But he died today, so bring it up and a time where it is appropriate.

I'm not hugely affected by his death because I was born too late but I do think this is incredibly sad.

This is crazy difficult for me since I'm a huge fan but...

Album=Thriller (it produced Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', PYT, Human Nature, etc.)

Video=Thriller, duh

Song=Probably Billie Jean...but I have a soft spot in my heart for Man in the Mirror

Album = Off the Wall

Video = Black or White

Song = Black or White

Thriller (not an easy choice though), Black or White, Scream

Album: Thriller
Song: Beat It
Video: Smooth Criminal (the original video is simply freaking unbelievable)

As I said earlier in the thread, I was listening to his Dangerous album this afternoon like an hour before he died (creepy). But some of the songs on that CD are really underrated. Everyone loves Black or White, but Remember the Time and Give In to Me don't get enough credit.

FYI: Fox will reair the top 13 performance episode of American Idol from this season on Monday (it was Michael Jackson week).