Monday July 13, 2009

Michael Jackson’s father Joe wants the King of Pop’s children to embark on a world tour, it has emerged.

The Jackson patriarch is said to have approached Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and seven-year old Prince Michael II — known as Blanket — to hit the stage next year.

But family members are furious — and have accused Joe of trying to “exploit” the kids like he did Michael.

Jackson’s biographer Ian Halperin told British newspaper The Sun, “Joe wants the children to go on a world tour in 2010. He has also already offered recording contracts to two of Michael’s kids.

“Now he is talking about getting them the world’s best backing band and taking them on tour as The Jackson Three.

“One of the family members is livid. He is saying Joe seems intent to do this no matter what.

“He wants to exploit the kids the same way he did Michael.”

Joe, 80, recently revealed that he sees star power in his tragic son’s two youngest children.

“I keep watching Paris. She maybe wants to do something,” he said on Friday in an interview with Good Morning America.

“And Blanket, he can really dance.”

Michael’s last wish

The Man in Mirror hitmaker died June 25 after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles.

But before his death, Jacko was adamant his father wouldn’t be allowed near his children.

“Michael talked so much about his kids,” a source told American tabloid the National Enquirer. “He said he was doing his comeback concerts just for them. He hoped to give them financial security.

“It was as though he’d had a premonition of his own death. The one thing he wanted — and insisted upon — was that his father Joe didn’t get anywhere near his kids.

“With Michael dying, I know the last thing he wanted was for Joe to play any part in the raising of his children. He told me, ‘I don’t want Joseph near my kids. I don’t want him doing to them what he did to me.’

“He said, ‘My kids are the most important thing in my life. Everything I do, I do for them.’”

The source added, “Who would Michael want to raise his kids? He loved his mother dearly and Katherine is doing the right thing by seeking temporary custody of her grandchildren. He saw his sister Janet as being someone who could help his mom care for the three youngsters.

“They love Katherine and, with the exception of their nanny, Grace, she was the one person who spent the most time with them.”

Murder?

Michael’s older sister La Toya, 53, revealed this weekend her fears that the star was murdered — and she vowed not to rest until her younger brother’s “puppet masters” are behind bars.

“We don’t think just one person was involved in the murder. It was a conspiracy to get Michael’s money,” she told the News of The World. “I know who did it and I won’t rest until I nail them!”

“Michael WAS murdered,” she added. And we don’t think just one person was involved. Rather, it was a conspiracy of people. I feel it was all about money. Michael was worth well over a billion in music publishing assets and somebody killed him for that. He was worth more dead than alive.”

The official coroner’s report is not due for two weeks but La Toya already knows the results of the family’s own toxicology tests on the body and said: “I think everyone will be surprised when the results come out.

“I can’t discuss that any further because of the ongoing police investigation. But I can say newspaper reports that there was methadone in his body are inaccurate.

“He had many needle marks on his neck and on his arms, and more about those will emerge in the next few weeks. But nothing has changed my mind that this was murder and I won’t give up until I find out what killed my brother.

“A couple of years ago Michael told me he was worried that people were out to get him. He said, ‘They’re gonna kill me for my publishing. They want my catalogs and they’re gonna kill me for these.’

“I knew something terrible was going to happen.

“Michael was being inappropriately treated by people who got him hooked on drugs.

“I can’t say who I believe is responsible as I don’t want to jeopardize the police investigation. But not everybody had Michael’s best interests at heart. A month ago I felt Michael was going to die before he did his London concerts.

“I felt it would be foul play. I felt he’d never make the show.

“They tried to keep the family away at all times, even my dad.

“Michael was being controlled. No one could get through to him.

“We wanted to know why we were being kept away and my father Joe was always trying to get to see him. He tried so hard to be there for Michael. He was seen as a threat but he was trying to help. And if you keep the family away, you can conquer. It’s like they say, divide and conquer.

Tags: joe jackson, michael jackson