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Online Lottery Announced for Jackson's Public Memorial | Today's News: Our Take | 7/3/2009 New
An online lottery will distribute only 17,500 tickets for Michael Jackson's public memorial service at Los Angeles' Staples Center on Tuesday.
About 1.6 million people registered for the lottery during the weekend. Each of the 8,750 people selected will get an exclusive code and instructions on how to obtain two free tickets. read more 18 Comments
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Jermaine Jackson: "I Wish It Was Me" | Today's News: Our Take | 7/2/2009
In a tearful interview on NBC's Today show, Jermaine Jackson said he should have died instead of his brother, Michael, whose death last week remains under investigation.
"I wish it was me," he told Today's Matt Lauer, who sat down with Jackson on the grounds of his late brother's Neverland Ranch. "I always felt that I was his backbone, someone to be there for him."
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While the Jackson family confirmed no public memorial service would take place at Neverland this weekend, Jackson said he hoped the 2,500-acre ranch would be his brother's final resting place. "This is his home, he created this, why wouldn't he be here?" he told Lauer. Jackson's interment at Neverland would require an exception by local officials because burials are restricted to cemeteries. (Should Michael be buried at Neverland? Vote in our poll below.)
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Michael Jackson's Will: Mother or Diana Ross Should Care for His Children | Today's News: Our Take | 7/1/2009
Michael Jackson said in a 2002 will filed Wednesday that he wanted his mother, Katherine, to care for his three children in the event of his death — and that he wanted Diana Ross to raise them if his mother could not.
The will, filed in a Los Angeles court, leaves his estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, the details of which were not made public. But TVGuide.com has learned it includes Jackson's children, members of his family, and charities. It does not include his father, Joseph Jackson, with whom Jackson had a strained and tumultuous relationship.
The will excludes Deborah Rowe, who bore Jackson's two older children. Her attorney, Marta Almli, said Rowe had no comment.
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The will's executors, attorney John Branca and Jackson family friend and music executive John McClain, said in court documents they were "not certain of the value of the estate" but estimated it at more than... read more 23 Comments
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Michael Jackson Drug Speculation Continues | Today's News: Our Take | 7/1/2009
Accounts of Michael Jackson's drug use fueled speculation Wednesday about the cause of his death, including one from his former nurse who said he opposed recreational drugs but sought a powerful drug to overcome insomnia.
The accounts emerged as a will Jackson wrote in 2002 was submitted to a Los Angeles court.
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Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counseling, told The Associated Press that Jackson was plagued by insomnia and pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be dangerous. read more 2 Comments
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Strange Questions Emerge About Jackson's Children, Finances | Today's News: Our Take | 6/30/2009
Like so many things in Michael Jackson's life, the questions about his estate and custody of his children have become complicated and mysterious — and no one, not even his family, knows what to believe.
As his parents sought control of his estate, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Jackson's most recent will, written in 2002, divided his estate between his mother, three children and charities, apparently cutting out Joseph Jackson, the father with whom he had a strained and tumultuous relationship.
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The report came amid news reports saying not only that Jackson might not be the biological father of his children, but that the woman who gave birth to them might not be their biological mother.
TMZ reported that Jackson was not the biological father of any of his three children, while Us Weekly claimed the father of his two older children was Los Angeles dermatologist Arnold Klein. The site also said police sought to speak with Klein about any drugs he may have prescribed to Jackson, but a police spokeswoman declined to comment on the report to TVGuide.com. read more 32 Comments