Rabbi Shmuley who consulted with Michael Jackson has releases a series of private conversations he had with the King of Pop. The Rabbi claims the conversations were recorded with Michael Jackson’s consent.In the tapes the superstar who liked to protect his image is portrayed as a vulnerable unhappy reclusive in the conversations.
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As the investigation into the death of Michael Jackson continues, for the first time, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach releases recordings of conversations he had with the late King of Pop in which Jackson claims he didn’t want to grow old.
Jackson fans will have the opportunity to hear these never-before-released recordings of the Gloved One in his own words on Friday, Sept. 25 on “Dateline,” when Rabbi Shmuley sits down with Meredith Vieira in an exclusive interview, prior to the release of his book: The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation.
The rabbi recorded these conversations — with Jackson’s permission — between 1999 and 2001. In them, Jackson reveals himself to be a lonely man, despite his celebrity.
Here are a few excerpts:
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF DISAPPEARING:
Jackson: Yeah, I would like to some kind of way to disappear where people don’t see me anymore at some–at some point, and just do my things for children but not be visual. To disappear is very important.
IF IT WEREN’T FOR CHILDREN:
Jackson: If it weren’t for children, I would choose death. I mean it with all my heart.
ON WHAT HE’S BEEN THROUGH:
Jackson: Anybody else would probably be dead by now, or a junkie, with what I’ve been through, Shmuley.
ON HEALING POWER:
Rabbi Shmuley: You feel that God gave you a certain healing power?
Jackson: Yes …and I’ve seen children just shower all over me with love. They want to just touch me and hug me and completely just hold on and cry and not let go…and mothers pick their babies and put them into my arms. “Touch my baby, and hold them, touch my baby, touch my baby.”
ON GETTING OLD:
Jackson: …when the body breaks down, and you start to wrinkle, I think it’s so bad…
Rabbi Shmuley: So you would die before that happens?
Jackson: I don’t want to grow old. [source]
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The tapes are Michael’s voice, but Boteach chose the most sensationalist things to air on “Dateline”. His & the interviewer’s commentary didn’t help. If you listen to only Michael’s words, you realize Michael wasn’t the freak a lot of people make him out to be. Some of what MJ said, like his comments on Madonna, were how he felt at the time. They should never have been aired. I highly doubt Michael wanted these tapes released in raw form. Books go through several editing stages & I’m sure, if Michael had had a hand in writing this book, he would’ve been much more cautious than Boteach was about what he released to the public. There’s a point in the tapes where a conversation between him & Janet is talked about. He would never have released that because now she’s been put in an awkward position with her family.
I am sooo angry, i only got through the first 60 pages of this book.. and i will NOT finish it in fact i may burn it… I had a lot of respect for rabbi shmuley until reading this… as a man of the cloth even his friendship has conditions.. Michael had a different world to the rest of us, no doubt and all he needed was someone to love him for him.. shmuley you walked out on him when he didnt do what YOU wanted… ppl in rehab have relapses, you cant change behaviour that has gone on for years in a short amount of time, it takes patience and love , No wonder he didnt trust anyone, even a man of the cloth had demands on how he should be and turned his back when michael didnt live up to it… True friends walk in when the rest of the world walk out… true friends have no conditions on their friendship , if something is happening they dont like .. they leave , but they call the next day to find out when the next coffee date is.. from what you write michael called you back , after the meeting about your demands.. and you turned your back on him. Please dont call yourself a friend of michaels, you are profiting off his world just like everybody else!!! so you are a hypocrite to judge how they delat with the loss of their brother and the worlds greatest entertainer by the memorial they held for the world, but you silently sit their writting and interveiwing and profiting from having met him, you had no right to disclose this personal stuff about michael who were you to him??? just another person that turned his back and profited from his world….