Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 29, 1993 TAG: 9308290062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
In the past week, Jackson's face and descriptions of child molestation allegations have appeared in newspaper and television broadcasts on several continents.
The publicity, said experts in star handling, is enough to sink any career, even one of Jackson's magnitude.
Lee Solters, Jackson's normally talkative publicist, is strangely quiet these days. Instead of returning to Hollywood to handle Jackson's public relations crisis, Solters chose to remain on tour with his client, who turns 35 today.
By week's end, Pepsi-Cola International, sponsor of Jackson's "Dangerous" concert tour, had retooled previous statements of unequivocal support. Such distancing is common for the giant corporation, which lost no time in dropping boxer Mike Tyson after his then-wife, Robin Givens, accused him of beating her.
"Given the seriousness of the allegations and the sensitivity of them, we're following the situation very closely and our future plans will depend on the course of the investigation," said a Pepsi corporate spokesman, Ken Ross.
Los Angeles talent agent Charles H. Stern was more blunt. "His career as a spokesman is over. No one remembers the retractions. All they remember are the allegations."
According to confidential documents, a 13-year-old boy told Los Angeles child welfare workers that Jackson had oral sex with him during a four-month relationship that began in February. Police opened an investigation Aug. 17.
The entertainer has denied any wrongdoing, and his handlers contend the allegation arose out of a $20 million extortion attempt by the boy's father, a Beverly Hills dentist. Jackson attorney Howard Weitzman said police told him the father is the target of an extortion investigation. Police have refused to discuss the extortion charge.
by CNB