Before the latest charges against him, Michael Jackson commanded sympathy due to his remarkable musical talent. But is this the end of the line, asks Brian Boyd
They're tearing down the billboard posters advertising his new album, they're cancelling the career retrospective TV specials, the promotional tour has been called off (not postponed) and his new single, One More Chance, is being pulled from radio playlists. Michael Jackson, already in financial difficulties due to the stunning commercial failure of his last few recorded ventures, is now facing multiple counts of child molestation. The massively talented artist has dug himself out of many a hole during his picaresque career but the gravity of these charges is disturbing even for the most casual of his fans.
It's grimly ironic that Jackson was in Las Vegas recording a video for his new single when the warrant for his arrest was issued - the single was written for him by r&b star R. Kelly, who coincidentally is also facing charges of alleged sexual misconduct with a minor.
On his arrival back from Las Vegas Jackson surrendered himself to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's office (the singer's Neverland mansion is in Santa Barbara), where he was booked, fingerprinted, autographed and checked for weapons. He was freed on bail of $3 million after handing over his passport.
This is the second child-molestation accusation brought against the singer in the past decade. The earlier charge, in 1993, was dropped when a 13-year-old boy, Jordy Chandler, who was staying at Neverland, refused to testify. Jackson maintained his innocence but reportedly paid a $20 million settlement the following year, and the case became inactive.
Since then - and specifically because of that case - California law has changed regarding young victims of sexual abuse. Now they can be forced to testify. In this case, the alleged victim is cooperating with the authorities.
Both Jackson and Chandler's family signed confidentiality agreements on the settlement of the 1993 case but sources in the music industry who have no reason to defend Jackson point to the role of Chandler's family in the case. They allege that the notoriously eccentric singer would have paid any amount of money to keep his personal affairs hidden from a high-profile court case and therefore felt compelled to settle against his will.
These new charges are, however, a lot more serious. They centre on a 12-year-old boy, known only as Gavin, who is suffering from cancer. Gavin features in Martin Bashir's ITV documentary, shot last year, and footage shows Jackson cuddling Gavin and telling Bashir that the boy sleeps in his bedroom.
After the almost surreal documentary was aired, Gavin's mother attacked Bashir for his portrayal of Jackson and praised the singer for his "constant support".
It is the nature of this "constant support" that Jackson's defence team will use when the case comes to court. It is understood that Gavin's parents sought out psychiatric help for the 12-year-old after he was unmercifully teased by his schoolmates about the nature of his relationship with Jackson. It is further understood that it was during these sessions with his psychiatrist that Gavin reported that the singer plied him with wine and "date rape"-style sleeping pills before molesting him. The psychiatrist relayed this information to Gavin's mother, who contacted the police.
The Jackson camp has been aware of the accusations for the last few months. The singer's legal team will argue that the charges were only brought after the singer withdrew his "constant support" to Gavin and his family - this "constant support" being financial.
"The mother is very screwed up," says a Jackson source. "There's videotape of her acting weird, too. And Michael was very kind to her, even getting an apartment for her boyfriend. When the free ride was over she ran to a lawyer."
Gavin's mother insists she is not looking for monetary settlement but wants justice served through the court system. The charges against Jackson - lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 - are punishable by three to eight years in prison.
Whatever about the prosecution/ defence court battle, the fact remains that it is highly, and dangerously, inappropriate for a 45-year-old man to admit on television that he shares his bed with a 12-year-old boy. Jackson's apologists argue that the singer just loves children and organising "pyjama party"-style sleep-overs. However, even if these "parties" are completely innocuous and simply the actions of a kindly, if disturbed, adult, the singer is compos mentis enough to know that, given previous allegations, he is inviting serious trouble - no matter what the motivation his legal team say is behind the claims.
Whatever about the court case outcome, one of the most gifted musicians of all time has now become little more than a carnival sideshow - Jackson's highly idiosyncratic behaviour now commands more attention than his musical output.
Post-Chandler and post-Bashir, Jackson has still been cut a lot of slack. "Short of Elvis, I don't think there's anyone who's had to go through what he's had to go through" says US music professor Glen Glass. "I think it's hard for us to imagine what kind of hyper-reality he lives in".
The argument that Jackson's bizarre upbringing somehow mitigates his behaviour with young children is troubling. "I think he surrounds himself with children because they can't exploit him the way adults do," says Steven Berglas, a US psychiatrist who has written books on the stress of success. "What you see among lots of famous people, like Howard Hughes and Michael Jackson, is that they get entourages to surround them."
Jackson's entourage consists mainly of bodyguards and children. Even to his fellow celebrities, Jackson remains an enigma. In this week's Time magazine, Russell Crowe tells of phone calls in which Jackson "used to put on these funny voices and then giggle, 'Oh, Russell, it's Michael' ".
At a dinner at Katharine Hepburn's home, she struggled to find a topic of conversation to engage Jackson, says author Scott Berg in his biography, Kate Remembered. Yet Hepburn was amazed by Jackson.
"He's an absolutely extraordinary creature," she said. "He's worked his entire life, entertaining professionally since he was three, and he's never lived a single moment, I mean not a moment, in the real world."
Before these new charges, Jackson commanded a deal of respect and understanding because he was a truly remarkable musical performer even though he quite patently had some serious psychological issues.
"Let me say this," one leading Los Angeles clinical psychologist was reported as saying yesterday. "I think Michael Jackson would be a very interesting patient to have."
That respect and understanding may soon be replaced by contempt and condemnation.