Crazy Joe Jackson was on Larry King Live last night and discussed — what else? — Michael.  The elder Jackson was pretty adamant in letting King’s audience know that he didn’t abuse Michael and that rumors of Joe beating his children are somehow related to the days of slavery.  I’m starting to wonder if JJ doesn’t have a little pill habit of his own.

Also, in a seemingly unintentional act of irony, Joe praised his own parenting skills — he made no mistakes — and pointed out that most of Michael’s childhood friends are now dead due to their lifestyles.  Sigh.

Sony’s movie studio has bid $50 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights to a film based on rehearsal footage for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” comeback concert series, according to a person familiar with the bid.

The person said Monday that the bid came after several studios, including Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox, were shown footage starting early last week. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the bidding had not been completed. None of the studios would comment on the record.

The winning studio would produce the film with Jackson’s concert promoter, AEG Live, and his estate. It would go a long way to helping AEG Live recoup some of the $30 to $32M it spent producing the concert before Jackson died.

Sony’s bid is on par with the cost of making a mid-range budget movie, and is offset by the fact that the Sony group of companies would benefit from the music licensing rights attached to the film.

This bid strikes me as relatively low, honestly. A movie like this has the potential to be cult-style successful, and will easily do hundreds of millions of dollars in DVD and digital sales, not to mention the throngs of people who will check it out in the theaters. Plus the soundtrack — which Sony’s music arm will have rights to as well.The film itself will cost next to nothing to make, because the footage already exists. If Sony scores this deal for $50M — even considering they’ll have to split some of the revenue with AEG and the estate — they’re making out like bandits.

To be fair, Omer Bhatti has been on the scene and claiming to be Michael Jackson’s son for years now.  But now that the King of Pop is dead, Bhatti is asking for a DNA test.  Not to lay claim to Jackson’s fortune  – of course not — but to settle the burning question that lurks in the mind of him and, well, no one else:  Did Michael Jackson father a child 20-something years ago via a Norwegian one-night stand?

Some sources say that Michael referred to Bhatti as his son after meeting him in 1996.  A young Omer wowed MJ with an impression of the singer.  For years, this kid has been living on and off at Neverland Ranch and was seen visiting Katherine and Joe yesterday.

Obviously, Omer Bhatti had some sort of relationship and connection with Michael Jackson.  But biological?  I’m not so sure about that.  

In closing, I’d like to congratulate myself for exercising restraint and not using the term “the kid is not my son” even once.  It was tempting.

I’ve decided to title every piece that I write about the Michael Jackson debacle as “Of Course …”  It’s all so frigging predictable.  The DNA tests, the court battles, toxicology reports, and tribute songs — if a screenwriter was working on a script for the Michael Jackson biopic, this is exactly how it would be written.  Except this constant dramatic merry-go-round of revelations is actually happening. 

Needless to say, there was no shock when I learned that LaToya raced to the studio to record a song about Michael.  Cutting a single — it’s what the Jackson family does.  Now, I’m not an expert in music and I’m sure I’m not using the right terms, so bear with me.  LaToya Jackson’s soon-to-be-released single, “Home” is — hmm … what’s it called? — oh, a studio-manufactured piece of vacuous crap.

Pardon the ineloquent title. I’m just…speechless.

Detroit — Police officials criticized the use of a four-car police escort for two hearses jammed with stuffed animals in memory of Michael Jackson on Friday morning as it headed to Woodlawn Cemetery.

Detroit police officials couldn’t say how much the escort cost the city…

The escort guided the hearses from the funeral procession through red lights.

Mourners had left the toys and other items at the Motown Museum on West Grand Boulevard since the singer died June 25. After sitting outside for three weeks, the toys were not safe to donate to a children’s museum or orphanage, museum CEO Audley Smith said.

“We have now concluded that it would be best to bury the items,” Smith said Friday morning.

Once at the cemetery, the toys were unloaded from the tops of the hearses and from boxes inside the vehicles. They were then placed into clear plastic bags and then inside donated vaults. The cemetery donated the equivalent of three graves for the vaults.

Jackson’s songs from more than 40 years of performing played over speakers as a service was held. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough“ played as the hearses arrived and “Ben” as the service ended. About 50 people were present…

Really America? Really?

I promise you, it’s short, sweet and doesn’t involve any lawsuits.  Yet.

TMZ has uncovered a recording of  a song titled “A Place With No Name”.  It was recorded by Michael Jackson in the past few years.  Now, if you don’t have speakers, or you’re at work and can’t listen to this track right now, it’s America’s “Horse With No Name” but with different lyrics.

Take a listen here and by all means, let me know what you think!

Guys, you aren’t going to believe this!  Remember the other day when I told you all about LaToya Jackson and her allegations of murder regarding her brother Michael?  She was really full of opinions and gave a four-hour interview to News of the World.  Not only did she claim that MJ was offed, she seemed to know who the guilty parties were. 

Well, this is a pretty earth-shattering revelation, but I guess LaToya was paid for that interview.  I know, I know … I was shocked too!  It’s just impossible for me to fathom that any member of the Jackson clan would try and turn a profit from the death of one of their closest loved ones.

In other really weird Michael Jackson news, for some unknown reason Us magazine thought it would be a good idea to release never-before-seen video footage from MJ’s 1984 Pepsi commercial taping.  It’s a clear close-up of Michael’s hair catching on fire.  Watching people who are unknowingly ablaze holds no interest to me, but lots have emailed wanting to see it.  Use your own judgment, but if you want to see it, here you go.