Breaking News: Michael Jackson’s Body Will Be At Staples Center!

Michael Jackson‘s body will be brought to the memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, sources involved in the planning said.

A motorcade leaves the Jackson family home in Encino, California, early Tuesday.Jackson‘s family and closest friends attended a gathering at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills on Tuesday morning before going to the public memorial.

Teddy Riley, a singer who worked closely with Jackson on several albums, said Jackson family members told him the casket will be driven in a procession from Forest Lawn to the arena.

A second source familiar with the planning also said the King of Pop‘s body would be delivered to the arena.

“It wouldn’t be fair for the fans who are going to appear and be here at the Staples Center not to see his casket,” Riley said.

An army of fans poured in to Los Angeles from places far-flung, hoping to collectively mourn their idol in a massive ceremony.

Parking lots in the area raised their prices, some as high as $30. Airports in Southern California saw a spike in bookings. And several movie theaters in the area announced special screenings of the event, which also will be carried live by some television networks and Web sites.

Police put up concrete barriers around the center, allowing only fans with tickets to the star-studded event to enter.

The first fans — those holding the best seats — began entering the arena at 7:30 a.m. The service is set to start at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. ET).

The stage is set up on one end of the Staples Center’s converted basketball court.

Michael Jackson: The Memorial
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see full schedule »Wide steps lead up from both sides and two transparent podiums are posed on either side. Drums sit in the background and small floral arrangements rest against the front of the stage, where three rows of chairs form a semicircle.

Police would not say what kind of security measures they have put in place. The cash-strapped city has said it will foot the bill for law enforcement. 

Until the last minute, the Jackson family remained tight-lipped about where the singer will be buried, but signs pointed to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills after several carloads of people, La Toya Jackson among them, visited the cemetery Monday.

Tuesday began with a private gathering at the cemetery. A motorcade of mostly sports-utility vehicles was seen departing Jackson‘s parents’ Encino, California, home early Tuesday. California Highway Patrol officers then closed down ramps to the 101 Freeway leading from Encino toward Hollywood.

The procession pulled into Forest Lawn about 15 minutes later. Jackson’s family and his friends began entering the chapel, which can hold about 1,000 people.

The Staples event is expected to feature singers Mariah Carey, Usher and Stevie Wonder.

Also participating will be basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson; singers Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Smokey Robinson; and activists Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Al Sharpton, according to an announcement released on behalf of the Jackson family.

Two notable absences will be actress Elizabeth Taylor, a longtime Jackson friend, and Debbie Rowe, Jackson‘s former wife and the mother of his two older children.

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Taylor, in a message posted on Twitter and verified by CNN, said she declined an invitation to speak because she “cannot be part of the public whoopla.”

“I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others,” Taylor tweeted. “How I feel is between us. Not a public event.”

Rowe planned on attending but decided against it, said lawyer Marta Almli.

“The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael’s legacy,” Almli said.

Fans congregated in downtown Los Angeles, outside the Staples Center regardless of whether they had tickets.

On Monday, organizers used a computer to choose 8,750 names from 1.6 million people who registered for tickets online. Each received a pair of tickets, for a total of 17,500 tickets.

Just 11,000 of those are for seats inside the arena. The other 6,500 are for viewing the memorial telecast across the street at the Nokia Theater. The Jackson family set aside an additional 9,000 Staples Center seats to give out, organizers said.

Two fans waiting to get in to the service Tuesday were surprised at their good fortune.

Michelle Mann and Basra Arte, both 18, flew in from Vancouver, British Columbia, to honor Jackson. They stood outside the Staples Center, brimming with excitement and celebrating the generosity of a complete stranger.

“It’s overwhelming,” Mann said. “We can’t believe that we’re here.”

The two had appeared on Canadian television and said they planned to fly to Los Angeles for the memorial service even though they didn’t have tickets. Six hours before their flight, 15-year-old Karlo Karanan, who’d seen them on TV, tracked them down and gave them his.

“I’m looking forward to being in the presence of other fans,” Arte said. “The energy is going to be amazing.”

Source: CNN

Just In: Michael Jackson’s nanny Speaks Out!

In Jackson’s employ for more than a decade, Grace Rwaramba started as an office assistant to the pop star before becoming a nanny to his three children: Prince, now 12; Paris, 11; and Blanket, 7. She was last fired by Michael in December, and claims that when she visited the children in April, she herself had to buy balloons for Paris’s birthday, because Michael was so broke.   “Michael had no idea about money,” Rwaramba says, citing a $1 million offer he received to appear in Japan. “By the time everyone took their share,” she says, “he ended up with $200,000.” In another line she said that routinely had to pump out the singer’s stomach after he’d ingested a dangerous combination of drugs. “I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it,” Rwaramba tells The Times of London, referring to drugs.

“There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him,” she is quoted as saying. “He always ate too little and mixed too much.” “For the record, Grace never pumped Michael’s stomach.She has no idea how she would even do such a thing,” Chopra spiritual teacher, medical doctor and Jackson’s longtime friend. He also says of Rwaramba, “Grace is more than my best friend,I refer to her as my sister.”

Having now arrived in Los Angeles from London, Rwaramba, who is originally from Rwanda,is expected to be interviewed by LAPD detectives investigating Jackson’s death on Thursday, according to People. Rwaramba at one point proposed a famliy drug intervention for Michael in Vegas, and went so far as to contact his mother Katherine and sister Janet for their help with it. But when Michael found out about her efforts, he fired her. “He didn’t want to listen,” she says, “that was one of the times he let me go.”

According to Rwaramba, on Friday, the day after Michael died, his mother Katherine called her from Michael’s Holmby Hills house and asked where he kept his cash. “She said, ‘Grace, the children are crying. They are asking about you. They can’t believe that their father died. Grace, you remember Michael used to hide cash at the house. I am here. Where can it be?” Rwaramba advised looking “at the garbage bags and under the carpets.” Then, said the former nanny, “She said, ‘Grace, where are you? Come. I will pick you up from the airport.’ She sounded so strong. So strong!” Katherine Jackson grandmother announce that she will grow the kids but now Debbie Rowe ex wife wants the kids after she give up the custody for her kids for 8.4 Millions $. “They are not Michael’s children artificially inseminated by an anonymous donor, I never had sex and did not share a bed during the three year marriage.” Money really can change you…

People close to him, his family they will lie about him on interviews for money, so who really cries for him? Who really loved him? Only fans? Money really can change people.

For more about Michael, click here.

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“Who should get the kids? The grandparents, the nanny, the ex-wife, or other and if other who?“

Just In: Michael Jackson at Neverland will not happen

A plan to bury Michael Jackson at his sprawling Neverland Ranch fizzled Wednesday, leaving details about his funeral undecided as another mystery was solved: His newly unveiled will says his mother should raise his children, or failing her, Diana Ross.

The investigation into the singer’s death, meanwhile, deepened late Wednesday when the Drug Enforcement Administration was asked to step in by the Los Angeles Police Department, a law enforcement official in Washington told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

The changing funeral circumstances thwarted many Jackson fans who had descended on the estate in the rolling hills near Santa Barbara with the hope of attending a public viewing.

“We’re terribly disappointed,” said Ida Barron, 44, who arrived with her husband Paul Barron, 56, intending to spend several days in a tent.

“We were going to listen to music and watch Michael Jackson DVDs and party all night long, not just to have fun, but in memory of Michael Jackson,” Paul Barron said. “Now we’re going to have to just go home.”

Jackson‘s 7-year-old will, filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles court, gives his entire estate to a family trust and names his 79-year-old mother Katherine and his children as beneficiaries. The will also estimates the current value of his estate at more than $500 million.

Katherine Jackson was appointed their guardian, with entertainer Diana Ross, a longtime friend of Michael Jackson, named successor guardian if something happens to his mother. Ross introduced the Jackson 5 on the Ed Sullivan Show in the late 1960s and was instrumental in launching their career.

Meanwhile, Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine said a public memorial was in the works for Jackson but wouldn’t be held at Neverland. In addition, it appeared more likely that a funeral and burial would take place in Los Angeles, a person familiar with the situation told the AP.

But the person, who is not authorized to speak for the family and requested anonymity, said nothing was planned for Neverland, at least through Friday.

The person said billionaire Thomas Barrack, who owns Neverland in a joint venture with Jackson, sought an exemption to bury the singer at the ranch. But the person says it’s a complicated process and it couldn’t be done for a burial this week.

“The family is aware a Neverland burial is not possible. They are expected to make decisions about whatever funeral and memorial service” will take place, the person said.

Heavy construction equipment and workers were seen passing through the wrought-iron gates of Neverland on Tuesday. It wasn’t clear what they were doing. The property is about 120 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

At once a symbol of Jackson’s success and excesses, Neverland — nestled in wine country — became the site of a makeshift memorial after his death.

In Los Angeles, Jackson’s lawyer John Branca and family friend John McClain, a music executive, were named in the will as co-executors of his estate. In a statement, they said the most important element of the will was Jackson‘s steadfast desire that his mother become the legal guardian for his children.

“As we work to carry out Michael’s instructions to safeguard both the future of his children as well as the remarkable legacy he left us as an artist, we ask that all matters involving his estate be handled with the dignity and the respect that Michael and his family deserve,” the statement said.

The will doesn’t name father Joe Jackson to any position of authority in administering the estate.

The executors moved quickly to take control of all of Michael Jackson‘s property, going to court hours after filing the will to challenge a previous ruling that gave Katherine Jackson control of 2,000 items from Neverland.

Paul Gordon Hoffman, an attorney for the executors, told Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff his clients are the proper people to take over Jackson‘s financial affairs. He called Katherine Jackson‘s speed in getting limited power over her son’s property “a race to the courthouse that is frankly improper.”

Judge Beckloff urged attorneys from both sides to try to reach a compromise.

“I would like the family to sit down and try to make this work so that we don’t have a difficult time in court,” the judge said. A hearing on the estate was set for Monday.

The will, dated July 7, 2002, gives the entire estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust. Details of the trust will not be made public.

The documents said Jackson‘s estate consisted almost entirely of “non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalog of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony ATV, and the interests of various entities.”

Jackson owns a 50 percent stake in the massive Sony-ATV Music Publishing Catalog, which includes music by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers.

Jackson was recently in shaky financial health. In the most detailed account yet of the singer’s tangled financial empire, documents obtained by The Associated Press show Jackson claimed to have a net worth of $236.6 million as of March 31, 2007.

Jackson, who died June 25 at age 50, left behind three children: son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11; and son Prince Michael II, 7. Debbie Rowe was the mother of the two oldest children; the youngest was born to a surrogate mother, who has never been identified.

Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship Monday. A judge held off on requests to control the children’s estates.

Rowe, who was married to Jackson in 1996 and filed for divorce three years later, surrendered her parental rights. An appeals court later found that was done in error, and Rowe and Jackson entered an out-of-court settlement in 2006.

Neither Rowe nor her attorneys have indicated whether she intends to seek custody of the two oldest children.

Source: Yahoo!

Just In: Michael Jackson’s Will Filed!!

Michael Jackson’s Will Filed In Court….

Jackson nominated Diana Ross to serve as children’s guardian if his own mother is unable.

Michael Jackson‘s will was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday (July 1), revealing the late singer’s wishes for his estate and the three children he left behind.

In the will, which was drafted in 2002, Jackson called for family attorney John Branca, accountant Barry Siegel and music executive and long-time friend John McClain, to serve as co-executors of the Michael Jackson Family Trust, an estate established to manage all of the King of Pop’s assets. According to The Associated Press, Jackson estimated his worth at more than $500 million at the time he completed his will. Documents obtained by the AP reveal Jackson‘s estate consisted of “non-cash, non-liquid assets, including primarily an interest in a catalogue of music royalty rights which is currently being administered by Sony ATV, and the interests of various entities.”

The original documents were prepared for Jackson to sign on March 22, 2002, but the pop star — who died unexpectedly last Thursday after suffering from cardiac arrest — didn’t complete the paperwork until July 7, 2002.

In the will, Jackson nominated his mother, Katherine Jackson, to serve as guardian of his three children. On Monday, a judge granted Katherine temporary custody of the children, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11; and Prince Michael Jackson II, 7. In the event Jackson‘s mother was unable or unwilling to care for the children, the singer then called for Diana Ross, an early mentor to Jackson, to be the guardian of his kids.

Debbie Rowe, Jackson‘s ex-wife and the surrogate mother of his first two children, was specifically omitted from the will. The mother of Jackson‘s third child remains unknown.

“I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson,” the will states.

As co-executors of the Michael Jackson Family Trust, Branca, McClain and Siegel have the right to sell or mortgage any property Jackson owns and to invest state funds as necessary. They will probably have their hands full with the host of lawsuits and debt Jackson left behind.

Branca and McClain issued a joint statement to the press earlier today, reiterating Jackson‘s desires for his children to be placed under his mother’s care.

“The most important element of Michael’s will is his unwavering desire that his mother, Katherine, become the legal guardian for his three children,” the statement said. “As we work to carry out Michael’s instructions to safeguard both the future of his children, as well as the remarkable legacy he left us as an artist we ask that all matters involving his estate be handled with the dignity and the respect that Michael and his family deserve.”

According to TMZ, Siegel resigned from his role as executor in 2003.

The will states that if one of the men refuses to serve as co-executor, a replacement does not need to be named. Should all three men decline, together they could nominate a new executor.

There is no mention by Jackson in the will of where or how he wished to be buried.

Source: via MTV