JOLIE LEVINE ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON according to Christopher Andersen’s “Unauthorized” book

Jolie Levine was mentioned in James Safechuck’s lawsuit as Michael Jackson’s employee at the time he befriended Michael and this is reason enough to find out more about this woman and what she has to say about her former employer.

Michael’s haters value Jolie Levine so much that they made a special video about her, trying to create an impression that she is a supporter of Safechuck’s lies. But after looking into each of their claims I am absolutely not sure that she is. The video is made in the usual haters’ style of mixing half-truths with half-lies and discarding everything that doesn’t fit their pattern, however when you look at the whole story the impression is different.

While researching the subject a lot of small but interesting other details came my way too, so this post will not be only about Jolie Levine but will cover a wider field of truth about some moments in Michael Jackson’s life. 

JOLIE LEVINE

First of all, let’s make it clear that Jolie Levine is not Quincy Jones’ daughter. The girl who worked for Michael is of Asian descent and is a different Jolie Levine. She coordinated production of the Bad album in 1987 and was Michael Jackson’s personal assistant for two years.

Jolie Levine in the prime of her career

Rumor has it that she might be the secretary mentioned by an anonymous but knowledgeable insider who once posted a message on the National Enquirer board (see this post for details please) and commented on Michael Jackson’s affairs with women.

The insider said that before June Chandler (what a surprise) Michael was also involved with a groupie/secretary.

The insider was naturally bombarded with questions from curious fans who were dying to know who the secretary was and the insider only added that the secretary was of Asian descent leaving the rest of the job to the fans.

Well, with Jolie Levine the timing, profession and even the Asian descent fit the description, however since this is all we know about her possible affair with MJ we will leave it at that, and proceed to her professional career.

After Michael Jackson Jolie Levine worked in the music industry as a freelancer production coordinator for 30 years and helped a great number of performers to create their albums. Her work experience is indeed impressive and the list of her many projects places the time when she worked for Michael Jackson at the beginning of her career:

Year	Album	Artist
2011	1986-1991: The Warner Years	Miles Davis	Production Coordination
2011	A Very Special Christmas, Vols. 1-2		Production Coordination
2011	The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams		Project Coordinator
2011	Ximena Sariñana	Ximena Sariñana	Contractor, Production Coordination
2010	Christmas in Harmony	Wilson Phillips	Production Coordination
2010	Come and Get It!	Eli “Paperboy” Reed	Production Coordination
2010	Nightmare	Avenged Sevenfold	Contractor, Production Coordination
2010	We Are Born	Sia	Contracting, Production Coordination
2009	Hello Hurricane	Switchfoot	Project Coordinator
2009	Holy Smoke	Gin Wigmore	Contractor, Project Coordinator
2009	Holy Smoke	Gin	Contractor, Project Coordinator
2009	Kris Allen	Kris Allen	Project Coordinator
2009	Mi Navidad	Andrea Bocelli	Coordinating Producer
2009	My Christmas	Andrea Bocelli	Contractor, Production Arrangement
2007	Beowulf [Music from the Motion Picture]	Alan Silvestri	Contractor
2006	B’day	Beyoncé	Music Contractor
2006	Charlotte’s Web [Music from the Motion Picture]	Danny Elfman	Production Coordination
2006	Dreamgirls [Music from the Motion Picture]		Contractor
2006	James Taylor at Christmas	James Taylor	Contractor
1993	Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux	Quincy Jones	Production Coordination
1993	Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]	Danny Elfman	Project Coordinator
1987	Bad	Michael Jackson	Contractor, Production Coordination
1985	The Color Purple [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]		Coordination
	Different	Ximena Sariñana	Production Coordination
	The Tale of Despereaux [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]		Contractor

.

So what does this woman have to say about Michael Jackson?

The answer depends on who you listen to. Almost all sources are indirect, so what you hear is mostly the interpretation of her words and not what Jolie Levine really said.

The worst of haters’ versions comes from a book called ‘Michael Jackson: Unauthorized’. It was written by a certain Christopher Andersen (not to be confused with Christopher Anderson, founder of the Male survivors website) and is a sort of a bible for Michael’s haters – it is the first source they rush to in case they need a quote to “prove” the dirt they are throwing at Michael.

“UNATHORIZED” HATRED

The book was supposed to be Michael Jackson’s biography and was published in November 1994. Just two months prior to that a year-long investigation of the Chandler case had been closed without bringing any charges against Jackson.

Considering its content and time of release the book seems to be a retaliatory blow to Michael for the prosecution being unable to do away with their enemy and for so long a time too. Its obvious goal was to show to the public that the two grand juries who looked into the “evidence” contained in the book must have been complete imbeciles if they looked and looked at this sea of mud but still found nothing to indict Michael for.

Christopher Andersen

Indeed,  Christopher Andersen collected every drop of filth ever told about MJ and presented it in a concentrated form.

The result was a book “hating Michael with a passion” as was noted by one of its readers.

What’s especially interesting is that besides everything gossip and tabloids could offer at the time, the book also included observations about Michael “relieving himself in his pants” and “molesting Bubbles”, which immediately gave away Victor Gutierrez as the author’s inspiration – the only good thing about Gutierrez is that his style is easily recognizable in everything he puts his hand to.

And this means that Christopher Andersen was also making use of VG’s “findings”, either directly or via Diane Dimond who was their primary collector, only he did it two years before Gutierrez released a book of his own (in 1996).

So what you hear from Gutierrez you also read in Christopher Andersen’s book, with the big difference though that Gutierrez has the reputation of a liar and a “sleazebag”, and is suspected of being a pedophile himself, while Christopher Anderson is a journalist of some repute who worked for the Time and People Magazine.

Disreputable lies retold by a seemingly reputable source is actually a very effective means of their promotion. This method took Gutierrez’s tales to a new level and now allows Michael’s haters to repeat them without having to disclose the shameful source they originally came from.

Readers were very much impressed by Andersen’s writings (the quotes are from the Amazon site):

• The made up stuff is some of the craziest I have ever read… Michael relieves himself in his pants… and then someone is quoted saying he may have molested bubbles?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME.. Dont waste your money on this book…
• He obviously hates MJ with such passion, I could feel it in the way the book was written. Completely Filthy!
• The author’s attitude is: No matter what MJ do, he writes something bad. I hope this is out of the personal hatred of the author rather than pleasing the mood of general readers in US at that time. If MJ did not cry when he presented a gift to the sick, he was heartless. If MJ stayed in his limo parked near the grave of his grandmother, MJ is said to want to enjoy A/C instead of joining the funeral.  His implication that MJ’s using of others’ melody for his songs is also a serious one. Garbage!

A note on the stealing-the-melody issue – the woman called Crystal Cartier sued Michael Jackson for all profits from his Dangerous album (22 million pounds) accusing him of using her melody for the Dangerous song.

Michael was deposed and sang a bit of it in court explaining how he composed his music and thus turned it into a separate hit.  MJ was producing melodies in a fountain and never heard Crystal Cartier’s version before he recorded his. “Never in my life. I’m more than positive. It’s the honest truth”, Michael testified.

The case was thrown out of court but for the author of “Unauthorized” it doesn’t matter, of course.

Readers continue with Andersen’t book:

• No valid sources at all, its all lies. The pictures are good but he tries to turn them into something they aren’t. ALSO, he took the smooth criminal music video and the Thriller music video and tried to convince the readers that Michael Jackson has an obsession with “The mafia and the occult”. I mean what the –c-?! He also tries to convince you that Michael Jackson was the cause of Benny Hills death, but gives no explanation at all!!! I am utterly disgusted at the perversion that this man sustains. Some of the “sources” that are the people he asked ARENT EVEN REAL PEOPLE. Don’t waste your time effort or money on this world’s longest tabloid article. It’s garbage, and so is the author that wrote this.

Sorry for the interruption again, but the Benny Hill story needs a comment too. Some screenshots from London newspapers saved for us by the Michael Jackson Archives show that Michael and Brett Barnes indeed visited Benny Hill in hospital in February 1992 where Benny was recovering from a heart attack, only the outcome of the visit was exactly the opposite of the one described by Andersen.

Michael brought Benny Hill flowers, embraced him and said: “Great to see you at long last”. He asked him about the way he made his comedy sketches and was so “mesmerized” by Benny that he kept repeating to him “You’re my hero”.

Michael wondered if he would be in a video with him (Benny agreed) and invited Benny to stay with him in Neverland next time he came to Los Angeles. Michael also told him that he watched his shows every day and had hundreds of his videos. And he asked for Benny’s photos which would have place of pride in his home.

When Michael left Benny said that Michael was “one of the most genuine people you could wish to meet”. His friend revealed: “Benny is much happier now. He’s had a great night’s sleep and is back to his joker self. Michael’s visit was the tonic he needed”.

Benny Hill’s angel. “Michael’s visit was the tonic he needed”

One of the articles called Michael “Benny’s Angel”. This angel came right at the time when Benny Hill needed him most – his program on TV had been axed and this is when he really began to die, as his friends said.

Two months later, in April 1992 Benny Hill died of kidney failure, however his last days were surely much brighter due to Michael’s visit and his genuine appreciation of Benny Hill’s talent.

So Michael absolutely wasn’t “the cause of his death” as Andersen claims it – in fact he helped Benny to live a few more happy days or probably weeks.

Isn’t it amazing that we and Andersen use the same sources, but come to opposite conclusions? Oh my God, and what if Andersen always turns facts into their opposite?

Readers of Andersen’s book continue with their comments on the author’s views about MJ:

• In between all this drama, he’s got his hands down (or over – depending on the price) some kid’s pants with nary a care if DeBarge (Janet’s drunken, drug addled husband), his momma, LaToya (now there’s a reliable source), or any of the maids, butlers, bodyguards, drivers, secretaries, managers, business partners saw him. So besides all of the above, he was apparently an exhibitionist, too. It’s a wonder Michael feeling up some kid wasn’t broadcast on the 6 o’clock news every night. 
• If half of this stuff was true, then Michael hired a bunch of amoral sub-humans to work at Neverland and they should have all been rounded up en mass and tried and convicted in a court of law for aiding and abetting crimes against children. Whoever they told these stories to should have been dialing 911 instead of paying them cash.

All reviews were helpful but the last one is especially to the point – indeed, if half of Andersen’s stuff were true all those amoral sub-humans around Michael Jackson should have been tried and convicted in a court of law for aiding and abetting crimes against children instead of being rewarded for it by cash and attention.

Or is it probably not too late to do it now?

“UNAUTHORIZED” ABOUT JOLIE LEVINE

Finally here is a piece from Andersen about Jolie Levine:

“Jolie Levine had been in the record business for seven years first as an executive at Quest Records, then as a production co-ordinator on the ‘Bad’ album when Michael hired her to be his secretary in mid-1987. For the next two years Levine kept track of his schedule and his appointments, took his phone calls, served as his liaison with accountants, lawyers, managers in short, all the duties of any executive secretary.

Levine was also called upon to run personal errands for Michael to buy him clothes, household items, and, frequently, gifts for his friends. Levine would later recall picking out a present for Elizabeth Taylor, but far more often she was dispatched by Michael to buy toys for the young boys he had befriended. A card was always attached, and no matter whom the gift was for, it was addressed to “Rubba”.

Every two weeks or so, Michael himself would take his special friend on shopping sprees. Typically, they would arrange a visit to Toys ‘R’ Us or other toy shops after hours, then run up and down the aisles, picking out toys and games at whim. The tab during one such outing exceeded $25,000.

As his private secretary, Levine had accompanied Michael on most of the Bad tour. Whatever city they were in around the world, Levine says, she would walk into Michael’s hotel room and find her boss in bed with his young friend. There was always a second bed in the room, and it was, according to Levine and other witnesses, never slept in. When she saw Michael at the end of the day, her pyjama-clad employer would be back in bed in his hotel room again with his young companion.

At Neverland Levine was not surprised to see Michael continue the pattern with a constant stream of special friends. Away from the ranch, Michael’s then-private secretary referred to him as a “chicken hawk” slang for paedophile.”

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.music.michael-jackson/-5K_MP4DMeE:

Let us not handle the regular haters’ mantras about gifts for “special” friends and the name of Rubba which meant nothing and focus on serious allegations instead. And let us even assume that Jolie Levine really said all of the above. So what will her words convey to us once you brush aside the haters’ innuendoes?

Look at the statement about her walking into Michael’s hotel room and always “finding her boss in bed with his young friend”, for example.

If Jolie Levine could so easily observe the scene in “whatever city they were in” it means that either the door was not locked or Michael freely opened it to everyone knowing that he had nothing to hide. On the other hand, if Michael opened the door he couldn’t be in the bed, could he? So this leaves us with the option that the door was open and anyone of his entourage could enter it at any time. Indeed, Michael must have been an exhibitionist – contrary to everything we’ve ever heard about him.

In short, it is utterly ridiculous even to discuss it. Those who take these stories seriously must be pretending that they don’t know the way of life Michael had when he was on a tour. He was always confined to his hotel room and when his assistant entered he was most probably always sitting on the bed watching TV – alone or with his travel companion.

All of us know that his ventures into the outside world were nothing short of a catastrophe. That 1992 trip to London (when he visited Benny Hill) also had an episode when the crowd knocked Michael to the ground and he pleaded to be left alone “with a look of terror on his face” as the papers said, before his minders ushered him and Brett Barnes to “the sanctuary of the Dorchester [hotel]”.

Michael was mobbed and knocked to the ground when he was in London in 1992

The hotel was a sanctuary of course, but it was also a place of Michael’s confinement as he had to stay in his room for all hours of the day except the time of his performances.

And while he was there in complete isolation or in the company of a friend, he was mostly watching TV or playing video games – naturally from the bed as the best vantage point in every hotel room.

These hotel habits were acquired by Michael in early childhood and evidently stayed with him forever, because when he was at home the routine was also the same – all those present would also hang out in his room in Neverland and group together on the bed watching TV from there and sometimes dropping off asleep as Macaulay Culkin described it.

This is the only life-style Michael Jackson knew and who can blame him for never having a chance for knowing anything different?

THE PYJAMA/PAJAMA ISSUE

And what’s so wrong about Jolie Levine entering her employer’s room and seeing him “pyjama-clad” there? It was nothing extraordinary for Michael – he was always pyjama-clad when he was staying in his hotel room.

See, for example, the way he was dressed in a Buenos Aires hotel when Michael was on the Dangerous tour (1993) and was hanging out with the Cascio brothers:

Michael Jackson with the Cascio brothers in Buenos Aires (1993)

These photos are my favourites.

The pyjama-clad Michael is crawling out into the balcony with two boys around him playing with paper aeroplanes – oh, the scene has indeed all the makings of another media “freak” story about MJ.

However what it really tells us is how terribly unfree Michael was and how little we know of his isolated and forced lifestyle.

Imagine yourself not being able to come out into the balcony and having to crawl there so that paparazzi don’t see you.

And all of it still being in vain as they are taking pictures of you anyway – from the building opposite the hotel room (or otherwise we wouldn’t be looking at these photos now).

As to pyjama it was indeed Michael’s favourite home wear. It was so habitual for him that he sometimes even rehearsed in this attire as his “This is it” footage showed it.

And the pyjama episode in court also happened only due to the fact that Michael was wearing his home clothes when he was taken to hospital but had to be quickly rushed to the courtroom and had no opportunity to change – if he was 5 minutes late the judge was going to send him to jail.

Actually the things we have to discuss here are so small and petty that they wouldn’t be even worthy of attention if it were not for haters’ constant insinuations about everything Michael ever did and said.

Even if we consider the pyjama matter closed haters will still not let us go and will demand an answer why Michael travelled “only” with teenagers. After all Jolie Levine saw no other but Jimmy Safechuck in Michael’s room, so why didn’t Michael choose someone of his own age as his travel companion?

But who said that he didn’t? Michael often had older people as his companions on the tour, only no one is telling us about it as it doesn’t fit their story.

I myself learned about it quite by chance.

MICHAEL’S TRAVEL COMPANIONS

Prior to Safechuck, for example, Michael travelled with the grown-up Jimmy Osmond.  The photo of young Jimmy Osmond was published in the papers covering Michael’s Japan/Australia leg of the Bad tour and accompanying it was a note that Jimmy Osmond was Michael Jackson’s “new pal”.

Osmond was actually working as Michael’s agent on the tour but the papers implied something different of course. To make their stories about “boys” consistent with their understanding of Jackson they even reduced Osmond’s age by five years and said that he was nineteen though according to my calculations he was already twenty four in 1987  (Jimmy Osmond was born in 1963). Michael was just five years older than him.

It is also interesting to note that though Jimmy Osmond accompanied Michael for several months during the Bad tour Jolie Levine is quoted speaking only about Safechuck and never saying a word about Michael’s earlier travel companion on the same tour.

New pal. “Michael flew in [to Japan] with his new friend Jimmy Osmond, now 19, the youngest of the Mormon singing clan”

When you look at the suppressed facts at one end of the story and the exaggerated information at the other end of it, any normal person will realize that the distortion of the picture is an intentional one, and that even the mistake about Jimmy Osmond’s age was not a chance one – when Michael was travelling with older companions the media deliberately reduced their age to squeeze them into the group of under-age youngsters.

The same was done with Deepak Chopra’s son Gotham who travelled with Michael on the Dangerous tour in 1992. Chopra was seventeen at the time, however some media shamelessly reported that he was thirteen:

“His son Gotham Chopra had traveled at the age of 13 with Jackson as a roadie on his Dangerous tour.”

Gotham Chopra said about it:

“When I was about 17, Michael invited me on the road with him – he was heading out to Europe on the biggest rock concert at the time (Dangerous tour) and wanted company. People would ask me if I had endured anything strange or awkward with him. I’d answer truthfully that in all of my years with him, in every single moment, Michael was nothing but dignified and appropriate, never once doing anything that would be deemed scandalous with me. It was really that simple.” 

http://intentblog.com/writing-songs-my-friend-mike/

It seems that for the media all boys travelling with Jackson have to be “thirteen” as otherwise the lie they are building around Michael will be falling apart.

And no matter who Michael travelled with his behaviour was always impeccable – with Gotham Chopra,  Jimmy Osmond, Brett Barnes, the Cascio brothers and Safechuck who is actually the only one out of these people who is now telling horrible tales about his old friend.

For those who know only the standard media story about MJ’s companions here is short memo on who travelled when with Michael Jackson (the list will be supplemented if we learn more):

• On the first leg of Bad tour in Japan and Australia (autumn 1987) Michael travelled with James Osmond. On the second leg of the tour he travelled with  Jimmy Safechuck and his parents (in summer of 1988 and then at Christmas time with several months back to school in between). Jolie Levine must have worked for Michael on both legs of the tour, but Christopher Andersen’s fantastic book quotes her solely on Safechuck.

• Four years later, on the first leg of the Dangerous tour Michael Jackson travelled with Gotham Chopra (in summer of 1992) , and in autumn the same year with Brett Barnes and his family. On the second leg of the Dangerous tour (in autumn 1993 when the Chandler scandal was in full swing) Michael was accompanied by the Cascio brothers whose presence helped him to survive through those horrible times.

None of these other people who travelled with Michael ever said a bad word about him, however haters remember only Safechuck. Is it what they call the whole truth?

Now that we know that Michael had travel companions of all ages haters will grab us by our lapels again and demand why Michael invited teenagers on his tours at all (not always, but at least on some occasions). Wasn’t it more suitable for him to have a companion of approximately the same age rather than a teenage boy?

WHY TEENAGE BOYS AT ALL?

It seems that the answer to the question is provided by Gotham Chopra. Initially he was absolutely thrilled by a chance of travelling together with Michael, but soon enough he got bored and even claustrophobic sitting with him in a hotel room day after day.

Seventeen-year olds want to see the world and seek adventures and entertainment, and this is what happened to Gotham Chopra at some point – he began to grow envious of Michael’s crew who were free to go wherever and whenever they wanted to and spend their time at night clubs bragging about their escapades the next day.

You won’t believe it but Gotham Chopra was actually so tired of the simple pleasures of TV and videos Michael himself was confined to that he even offered himsef to do some work on the tour.

Michael didn’t object to his travel companion running away from him and was an avid listener to the stories of his adventures, however the end result of Gotham Chopra’s flight was that while all of them were thoroughly enjoying themselves he had to stay in his room all alone.

Children are a different kind in this respect.

Michael Jackson in Buenos Aires with the Frank and Eddie Cascio on the Dangerous tour

They don’t go to night clubs and are perfectly okay with watching movies, playing video games or engaging in pillow fights all day long.

They are not even that much interested in sight-seeing and certainly won’t choose work over flying paper aeroplanes from the balcony.

They also prefer to hang out and have fun throwing pillows to the crowd.

And since Michael was a big kid himself and their lifestyles coincided so much, children surely made a better company for him than the bored adults.

When you read Gotham Chopra’s description of Michael’s usual tour routine try to imagine yourselves in his shoes (seriously) and only then decide whether you as an adult would choose to live the way Michael had to live for months:

“During the show itself, sometimes I’d hang around just off the stage watching Michael kill it. The man knew how to perform and it was like a meditation to just to witness it. At other times, I’d hang in his dressing room, outfitted to the nines with candy, orange juice, and video games.

After the show, Michael would retreat back to the dressing room too and then be forced to stand around awkwardly and greet VIPs, celebrity guests, sponsors and others who’d earned backstage privileges. It was easy to see that he was far more comfortable singing and dancing in front of a 100,000 strong than socializing with a dozen.

After those formalities, he and I would retreat back to his hotel, usually the biggest and best suite in the whole city. Michael almost always had the place stocked with old movies, more candy, and more orange juice. Even as thousands of adoring fans chanted his name from the streets below, we’d chat about music, movies, video games, girls, and occasionally the meaning of life.

But then something unexpected happened. The awesomeness wore off for me. Believe it or not, I started to get bored of just sitting up in that suite wiitting up in that suith MJ. And then I started to feel claustrophobic. I was seventeen years old, in freaking Europe, surrounded by a rock band, sexy dancers who could bend in all sorts of ways and backup singers who hit octaves I fantasized about. They liked to rage every night after the show and openly talked about their exploits the following day. Soon enough, I gained the courage to ask Michael if he minded if I slipped out with some of the others after his shows.

Not only did he say it was okay, he encouraged me. Outfitted with his fedora, sunglasses, and tour jackets, getting the best table at the best restaurants, into the VIP sections of the hottest clubs, and the adulation of all the local girls was easier than could be imagined. Often when I got back from a night on the town, Michael would call me in my hotel room and summon me. I’d head up to his suite and proceed to narrate my night’s misadventures to him and debrief him on all the latest gossip surrounding his band. I didn’t really need to dramatize my exploits, but I did anyway because I knew that he was living vicariously through me and I was happy for it.

For years, I wore the badge of that summer and my many exploits over it boldly and boastfully. Then of course, as time passed and Michael became embroiled in scandals involving teen boys, all of a sudden my summer as his teen sidekick didn’t have the same glamour to it. Now it was a stigma, something I treasured but certainly did not tout.

http://intentblog.com/remembering-my-friend-michael-jackson/

The above provides a lot of food for thought, but what struck me most is that people got restless, bored and even ill if they tasted just a bit of Michael Jackson’s life. And I don’t even know who of Michael’s adult friends would agree to drop everything and share his hotel confinement for several months in a row.

In another interview Gotham Chopra said that though the public was having a great time Michael had to live in a bubble and suffered from incredible and extreme isolation:

GOTHAM CHOPRA: On one hand as a 17-year-old kid, being with Michael Jackson on this rock tour, it was amazing, but gradually as time went by, I started to realize that, you know, all these millions of people and these hundreds of people on the tour, they`re having a great time, but he is in a bubble. He`s extremely isolated after the shows in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

He would retreat up to his penthouse hotel, and he would essentially be by himself, watching movies, drinking orange juice. There would be people, literally, hundreds of people downstairs, chanting his name all night. He would occasionally sort of stick his hand out or peek outside and wave at them. They would go crazy, but that was his existence. It was incredibly isolating.

PINSKY: And you were up there some of the time with him watching movies, hanging out?

CHOPRA: At first I was, because he had asked me to there, and it was cool to have that sort of access. Gradually, it was kind of boring, to be honest.

PINSKY: Yes.

CHOPRA: And so, I asked out of that. I started working on the tour and hanging more with the dancers and the band and all of that.

PINSKY: So, you`re 17. How old was Michael?

CHOPRA: I think he was in his early 30s at that time.

PINSKY: Did that seem peculiar to you that a 30-year-old wanted to hang out with a 17-year-old?

CHOPRA: You know, not on the face of it. And I mean, I had — you know, not the way I knew Michael which is while he may have been 30s, I related to him, he related to me. We talked about the same things. We talked about sports. We talked about movies. We talked about women, those sorts of things, and it just seemed sort of normal. My parents were comfortable with it, and so, I never had any reason to question it. And by the way, it was well before all of the scandals and all of that. <> In my presence, I mean, he was impeccable with his behavior, and thats all I have to really go by.

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1110/17/ddhln.01.html

“Impeccable behaviour”, “chatting about women”, “extreme isolation after the shows”, “living vicariously through others”, “talking about the meaning of life” – how different is all of it from anything we hear about MJ from the media and his haters! I sometimes wonder if they know at all the unique human being they are trying so horribly to describe.

You will agree that all above innuendoes were sheer nonsense which under normal circumstances would not have required any attention at all. However Jolie Levine’s story contains one episode which is supposed to be a killer and is meant to totally demoralize anyone who speaks in support of Michael Jackson. In Christopher Andersen’s interpretation the episode is as follows:

 “Away from the ranch, Michael’s then-private secretary referred to him as a “chicken hawk” slang for paedophile.”

Oh, that was indeed a strong statement. Did Jolie Levine really say it?

DID SHE SAY IT?

If we are to believe a LA Times article the word “chicken hawk” was indeed pronounced by Jolie Levine. However stopping at that would be telling half the truth only.

Firstly, Andersen is trying to create the impression that Michael’s secretary always called Michael that way while in reality Jolie Levine pronounced the word just once. And secondly, she later disavowed it and explained how it happened.

The LA Times article mentioning this episode was published on January 11, 1994 and was actually devoted to Larry Feldman who submitted to court the new Chandler’s declaration and some excerpts from depositions including Jolie Levine’s (this was done for publicity sake though officially it was in support of his motion to seek Michael’s financial records).

In her deposition Levine said that she used that word when the police were interviewing her and explained that she was caught off guard, angry and surprised. And though she used the word she didn’t really mean it.

Also please note that according to Michael Jackson’s defense the papers filed by Larry Feldman misrepresented the sworn statements, so what Jolie Levine really said and in was situation it happened remain unknown to us.

The article said:

Lawyer Seeks Jackson Financial Records : Investigation: Attorney for the boy allegedly molested by the singer files partial transcripts of depositions telling of bedroom activity and photos. Jackson’s counsel says the papers misrepresent sworn statements.

January 11, 1994|JIM NEWTON | TIMES STAFF WRITER

…Among other edited depositions filed Monday in connection with the lawsuit is one taken from Jolie Levine, who worked as Jackson’s secretary for two years starting in 1987. Levine told the lawyers that she called Jackson a “chicken hawk,” a slang term for a pedophile, when police interviewed her about the allegations against her former boss.

“And when you told that to the detectives or the police, you meant by that that Michael Jackson was a pedophile, correct?” asked Robert Turner, an associate of Feldman who also is representing the boy.

“I was caught off guard, angry, surprised,” Levine said. “I didn’t really mean saying that.”

Full story: http://articles.latimes.com/1994-01-11/local/me-10709_1_michael-jackson

Michael’s haters are laughing at Jolie Levine’s explanations, but in their place I wouldn’t be so quick in disregarding them – especially considering Safechuck’s current story that the employees of Michael Jackson’s companies “knew of the abuse”.

First ask yourself in what situation you would be “caught off guard, angry and surprised”. The answer is:

• You would be caught off guard if you faced something totally unexpected and new to you, something you never knew or thought of before.
• You would be surprised if you didn’t believe what you were told.
• You would be angry if you were accused of turning a blind eye on what happened and were considered an enabler in these activities. And you would be even angrier with your employer because it is due to him that you got into so unpleasant a situation and at the beginning of your career too.

And please note that we know absolutely nothing about the context of Jolie Levine’s words. The defense lawyers did say that Larry Feldman misrepresented the sworn statements, so for all we know the context of her statement could be even as follows: “If he turns out to be a chicken hawk, it has nothing to do with me. I had no clue”.  And you will agree that if she said it that way the same word would acquire a totally different colouring.

Was all of it possible? Absolutely.

But even no matter what Jolie Levine initially said (and disavowed later) and in what context it happened the crucial point in the story is that she reacted to police questions with surprise.

The surprise is very important here as it is overturning everything Christopher Andersen and other MJ haters previously said about her.

The surprise means that Jolie Levine found nothing extraordinary about Michael’s behaviour when she entered his room and saw whatever she had to see there. The surprise means that she did not think a single bad thought about Michael  and this is why the police accusations took her so much off her guard. The surprise means that Jolie Levine never noticed anything suspicious and therefore could not know of the “abuse” Safechuck is now claiming in his lawsuit.

Safechuck and Robson can say whatever they like about everyone in MJ’s company “knowing” of their alleged abuse, however Jolie Levine’s reaction shows that the allegations were an unexpected shock to her.

So even a person who had a close and daily contact with Michael never saw anything which Christopher Andersen and other haters (who were never there) are so gloriously describing…

(to be continued)