A recent GQ article spoofing Michael Jackson has the singer demanding the magazine apologize and pull the issue from circulation.
In a statement released Friday, Jackson's representative, Raymone K. Bain, said Jackson is "furious'' about a series of photos featuring a Jackson impersonator in the magazine's May issue, now on newsstands.
The photos accompany an article called Where's Michael? which documents writer Devin Friedman's quest to find Jackson in Bahrain, the Middle Eastern country where he lives.
In one photo, a Jackson look-alike sits in a darkened movie theater amid a row of children. Another photo shows him standing in the desert draped in a black cloak and headscarf, with his trademark glittery white glove.
The statement said: "Mr. Jackson is furious that his image has been used in such a misleading way, and is demanding an apology from the editors of GQ, and its publisher, Conde Nast. Mr. Jackson is also demanding that the magazines be pulled from newsstands.''
Jim Nelson, GQ editor-in-chief, responded with a statement Friday: "It is very clear that the pictures in the story ... are satirical, whether it's a picture of a Michael Jackson imitator sitting in a Bahraini cinema or an image of The Gloved One standing flamboyantly in the desert."
Jackson, 47, moved to the Gulf state soon after being acquitted of child molestation charges in California last year.
Adding insult to injury, actress Denise Richards, who is seeking a divorce from Charlie Sheen, says she is no longer friends with Heather Locklear, in the next issue of People magazine.
Photos of Richards with Locklear's estranged husband, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, recently appeared in celebrity magazines. One showed Richards kissing Sambora.
"I wish Heather well,'' the 35-year-old said.
"Unfortunately, our friendship had to dissolve and I'm sad about that. The last thing I would want to do is create a media frenzy like this, especially as I'm trying to get through a divorce.''
Locklear, 44, filed for divorce from Sambora three months ago, citing irreconcilable differences.
Richards filed for divorce from Sheen last year after three years of marriage. The couple seemed to have reconciled after the birth of their second daughter, Lola, last year, but in January, they filed legal papers asking a private arbitrator to handle their divorce.
Last month, Sheen was ordered to stay at least 300 feet from his estranged wife and their daughters, 2-year-old Sam and 11-month-old Lola, except during supervised visits.
Richards alleged in court papers that Sheen pushed her, shoved her, and threatened her and her parents.
Sheen, 40, denied the allegations.
From knocked down to knocked up, reports claim that former reality TV star and Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith is pregnant.
In response, Smith's lawyer and spokesman, Howard K. Stern, issued a statement Thursday that makes the matter as clear as a blurred sonogram image.
"If Anna Nicole is pregnant, she obviously doesn't want anybody to know yet,'' Stern wrote. "If she's not pregnant, she's not denying the rumor because she thinks it's funny how much of a stir it's causing. She'll leave it up to you to guess which one it is.''
Smith, 38, has a 20-year-old son, Daniel, from her first marriage. Just this week, Smith won a judgment from the US Supreme Court that allows her to continue to seek part of her late husband's fortune.
Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. He died the following year. Since then, Smith has feuded with Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall, over her entitlement to the tycoon's estate.
Nothing like the spectacular, dramatic unraveling of a political party in Taiwan has unfolded before as has hit the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over recent weeks. The meltdown of the New Power Party (NPP) and the self-implosion of the New Party (NP) were nothing compared to the drama playing out now involving the TPP. This ongoing saga is so interesting, this is the fifth straight column on the subject. To catch up on this train wreck of a story up to Aug. 20, search for “Donovan’s Deep Dives Ko Wen-je” in a search engine. ANN KAO SENTENCED TO PRISON YET AGAIN,
When the Dutch began interacting with the indigenous people of Taiwan, they found that their hunters classified deer hide quality for trade using the Portuguese terms for “head,” “belly,” and “foot.” The Portuguese must have stopped here more than once to trade, but those visits have all been lost to history. They already had a colony on Macao, and did not need Taiwan to gain access to southern China or to the trade corridor that connected Japan with Manila. They were, however, the last to look at Taiwan that way. The geostrategic relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines was established
Sept. 9 to Sept. 15 The upgrading of sugarcane processing equipment at Ciaozaitou Sugar Factory (橋仔頭) in 1904 had an unintended but long-lasting impact on Taiwan’s transportation and rural development. The newly imported press machine more than doubled production, leading to an expansion of the factory’s fields beyond what its original handcarts and oxcarts could handle. In 1905, factory manager Tejiro Yamamoto headed to Hawaii to observe how sugarcane transportation was handled there. They had trouble finding something suitable for Taiwan until they discovered a 762mm-gauge “miniature” railroad at a small refinery in the island of Maui. On
When Sara (names in this story are changed to protect the sources’ identities) takes her daughter April out anywhere in Taiwan, she’s frequently asked the same question: “Is your husband Taiwanese?” Sara is white, and April has unmistakably Asian features. “My wife is Taiwanese,” she replies. If asked, she may then clarify that April is her biological child, Taiwanese by blood, and has two moms. This often creates more confusion, but it is a difficult reality for Sara, her wife Dana and April. While Dana has adopted April, the child does not have Taiwanese (Republic of China) nationality despite both of her
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