This CNN video is obviously from earlier in the evening, before Michael Jackson’s death was confirmed.  Brian Oxman, family spokesperson, confirms that Michael had been abusing medications in epic proportions.

“As someone who served as Michael Jackson’s publicist during the 1st child molestation incident, I must confess I am not surprised by today’s tragic news.

A human simply can not withstand this level of prolonged stress.”

Michael Levine, former publicist to Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson has passed away at the age of 50, apparently from cardiac arrest.

Well, this seems surreal to report this to you, and I was hoping the media outlets had it wrong, but it is true.  The King of Pop is dead at 50.  When paramedics arrived at his home, he had no pulse and they were unable to revive him.

In a career that spanned four decades, Jackson was at times deeply loved and widely reviled.  He had 13 number one hits as a solo artist.

I tried explaining the level of Michael Jackson’s fame, as it was in the 80’s, to my son and could not.  There was not one current artist I could think of that could compare to what Michael was at the height of his fame.

He is survived by three children:  Michael Joseph, Paris Michael Katherine and Prince “Blanket” Michael.

I’ve already read so many mixed messages in response to this news, but regardless, prayers sent out to the Jackson family.  It’s a tragedy.

Details are still way sketchy so I’ll put updates on this post as they come in, but TMZ is reporting that Michael Jackson has been rushed to the hospital, a victim of cardiac arrest.  More soon…

UPDATE: TMZ is reporting that, per conversations with Michael’s father Joe, the singer “is not doing well.”

No, don’t worry. Nobody won more than eight Olympic golds during one Olympics. That honor still belongs to Michael Phelps and his size 14 penis.

Rather, students at William & Mary College have broken the record for the most people to dance to the singer’s “Thriller” simultaneously in one place. The 242-person routine was organized by longtime Jackson fan Kevin Dua, who was notified Friday by Guinness World Records of the accomplishment. The previous record was 147 people in an event held last summer at a British secondary school.

Dua, 21, spent the better part of the school year orchestrating the event, which was held April 19. “I’ve been a Michael Jackson fan since I was 5 years old. It was something I grew up around,” Dua said Friday in an interview.

Well. Now I know what I’m doing with my summer. I’m going to need 243 people, a boom box, and a whole lot of beer. Who’s in?

It was poised to be the auction of the century, but a last-minute settlement between Jackson’s production company and the auction house means it’s not going to happen after all … at least not yet. Jackson had originally tried to sue the auction house, but an LA judge put the kibosh on that.

I’m so bummed! Now I won’t get to buy any of his “Disneyana.” Or that creepy, creepy poem he wrote about playing with little children.

Oh well. Give it another couple of years. This shit’ll be back on the auction block.

When hundreds of thousands of people shell out their hard earned cash in the midst of a recession to watch a reanimated corpse dance that’s a sign that the world is about to end, right? BBC tallied the numbers and came up with this:

 

Tickets sold at a rate of around 11 per second, promoters said – when they went on sale to the public on Friday.

Some 360,000 tickets were sold to registered fans before sales opened on Friday morning.

Organisers say the This Is It tour has become the fastest-selling in history, with people from as far away as Japan, Belgium and Dubai queuing up to purchase their tickets.

 

I will admit that as a child I got caught up in the MJ fever. Up until about the age of 5 I insisted that he was my actual father, and my parents were just “holding” me for him. But that was back when it appeared genetically possible for him to be related to a black person. 

Would any of you buy tickets to see “Peter Pan” in action?