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Other motives are often at work when the prospective defendant is a star. "You get a peculiar asymmetry on matters of reputation," says Professor Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago Law School. "The strong are subject to the depredations of the weak, but they cannot effectively retaliate in kind. That's one of the problems of being rich and famous." Another problem, Epstein says, is that "many celebrities start to think that ordinary rules don't apply to them. A likelihood of serious misconduct may rise."
SO FAR, THE JACKSON CASE IS A TANgle of maybes, omigods and say-it- ain't-so's. Both the star and the boy are figures who cry out to be believed. An edgy Hollywood has not rushed to Jackson's defense. Though Sony, with which he has a multizillion-dollar movie and music deal, and Pepsi have offered tepid support, many of Jackson's closest colleagues were conveniently on vacation when they might have spoken up for him. His unauthorized biographer will testify, however. "I believe all these charges will be found to be ludicrous," says J. Randy Taraborrelli (Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness). "I've seen so many extortion attempts against the Jackson camp, and they never turn out to be worth anything." While researching his book, Taraborrelli says, "every damn butler, housekeeper, chauffeur and chef wanted $100,000 for their insights into his private life. I've written about Diana Ross, Cher, Carol Burnett and Roseanne Arnold, but I never had that experience with any of my other books. And that was just me, a biographer. You can imagine what it's like for him with his millions."
No one is so vulnerable as a superstar -- except, possibly, a young boy who worships the star and wants to be near him at any moral cost. Both could be scarred for life. The wounds of abused children have been well documented; so have the welts of performers caught fooling around unbecomingly in the klieg light of publicity. Paul Reubens jettisoned his career as gooney kid Pee-wee Herman when he was caught masturbating in a Sarasota, Florida, theater. After Woody Allen jilted Mia Farrow for Farrow's adopted daughter, he found his reputation as a world-class filmmaker carrying the asterisk of a smirk.
Could the same fate befall Michael Jackson? "Woody Allen was Humpty Dumpty," says Guyer, "and now Michael Jackson is. They won't be put back together again. Whenever Michael Jackson pats a child's head, it will be looked at in a different way. This is reminiscent of the Salem witch trials. But we're a global village now, and the whole world is watching."
The children are watching, Michael. They want to believe that you'd never hurt them -- that you are their best, sweetest, secret friend.
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