Tuesday, June 30th 2009 // The Rundown // News & Gossip, Say What?! // 10 COMMENTS
Can’t wait to see!
Two weeks before he died, Michael Jackson wrapped up work on an elaborate production dubbed the “Dome Project” that could be the final finished video piece overseen by the King of Pop, The Associated Press has learned.
Details on the project are scarce. Two people with knowledge of the project confirmed its existence to the AP on condition that they not be identified because they signed confidentiality agreements.
They said it was a five-week project filmed at Culver City Studios, which 70 years ago hosted the classic film “Gone With the Wind.” Four sets were constructed, including a cemetery recalling Jackson’s “Thriller” video.
Producer Robb Wagner, founder of music-video company Stimulated Inc., did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the project.
It’s unclear what final form or forms the video project will take. According to Stimulated’s Web site, the company also was hired to produce screen content for Jackson’s planned comeback concerts in London.
Source: Fox
Shooting the project lasted from June 1-9. Now in post-production, the project is expected to be completed July 15.
Monday, June 29th 2009 // The Rundown // News & Gossip, Say What?! // 101 COMMENTS
It’s been said that Jay-Z is the reason we didn’t see Chris Brown on stage at the BET Awards.
At tonight’s BET Awards, a collection of artists came together to commemorate Michael Jackson’s career and the legacy he left behind. Rumor has it that Chris Brown was among those who were to take part in the tribute, but was pulled at the last minute.
The rumor was fueled by one of Chris Brown’s dancers, who tweeted “Jay-Z is mad childish. Never keep a person from paying there respect.”
The award show’s producer, Ron Weisner, told Billboard.com, “A day and a half ago, we had one show and today we have a whole other show. Overnight, literally, it changed. The show was completely rewritten, we booked additional people — we’re trying to address a very unfortunate situation.”
“It’s something we had to deal with at the very last minute,” Weisner added. “I wish we didn’t have to, but it’s just a fact of life.”
Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father, made an appearance at the awards show, saying, “I just wish he could be here to celebrate himself. Sadly, he’s not here, so I’m here to celebrate for him.”
Source: Examiner
Let’s hope this isn’t true….
Monday, June 29th 2009 // The Rundown // News & Gossip, Say What?! // 22 COMMENTS
Grace Rwaramba, 42, speaks out about Michael Jackson’s history of drug use.
“I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it,” Rwaramba said, referring to drugs. “There was one period that it was so bad that I didn’t let the children see him,” she is quoted as saying. “He always ate too little and mixed too much.”
Questioning statements in Rwaramba’s Times of London interview and insisting some quotes were taken out of context, Mallika Chopra, the daughter of a spiritual teacher, writes on her website Sunday: “For the record, Grace never pumped Michael’s stomach. She has no idea how she would even do such a thing.” She also says of Rwaramba, “Grace is more than my best friend – I refer to her as my sister.”
Rwaramba even reached out to Michael’s mother and sister for help:
Having at one time proposed a drug invention for Michael, and contacting his mother Katherine and sister Janet for their help with it, the nanny found herself fired by Michael. “He didn’t want to listen,” she says, “that was one of the times he let me go.”
In Jackson’s employ for more than a decade, Rwaramba started as an office assistant to the pop star before becoming a nanny to his three children: Prince, now 12; Paris, 11; and Blanket, 7. She was last fired by Michael in December, and claims that when she visited the children in April, she herself had to buy balloons for Paris’s birthday, because Michael was so broke.
“Michael had no idea about money,” Rwaramba says, citing a $1 million offer he received to appear in Japan. “By the time everyone took their share,” she says, “he ended up with $200,000.”
She also spoke on Michael’s hidden cash:
According to Rwaramba, on Friday, the day after Michael died, his mother Katherine called her from Michael’s Holmby Hill house and asked where he kept his cash. “She said, ‘Grace, the children are crying. They are asking about you. They can’t believe that their father died. Grace, you remember Michael used to hide cash at the house. I am here. Where can it be?’ ”
Rwaramba advised looking “at the garbage bags and under the carpets.” Then, said the former nanny, “She said, ‘Grace, where are you? Come. I will pick you up from the airport.’ She sounded so strong. So strong!”
Source: People
Rwaramba recently arrived in Los Angeles from London, originally from Rwanda. She’s expected to be interviewed by LAPD detectives investigating Jackson’s death on Thursday.
