Despite 'Unity' concert, Jackson family feud simmers
By Alan Duke, CNN
July 30, 2012 -- Updated 2212 GMT (0612 HKT)STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Randy Jackson remains on the attack against the men who run the Michael Jackson estate
* "I AM SO AFRAID FOR MY MOTHER..." Randy Jackson tweeted
* Estate lawyer sent e-mail banning Janet, Jermaine, Randy, Rebbie from mom's home
* "Katherine Jackson is completely free to talk to whomever she chooses," lawyer says
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Last week began with a missing person's report filed for Katherine Jackson but ended with Michael Jackson's mother attending a "Unity" concert by four of her sons.
In the days between, a complex family feud played out in headlines and on celebrity TV.
The 82-year-old Jackson family matriarch lost custody of the late pop icon's three children, who were placed into the guardianship of their cousin TJ Jackson, the 34-year-old son of Tito Jackson.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff suspended her as the children's custodian, saying she may be "prevented from acting as a guardian because of the acts of third parties."
Four of her children -- including Janet, Jermaine, Randy and Rebbie Jackson -- had taken their mother to an Arizona spa, but kept her whereabouts secret from their other siblings and Michael Jackson's children -- Prince, 15; Paris, 14; and Prince Michael II, 10, who's also known as Blanket.
Those involved called it an intervention to protect their mother from people abusing her, while Paris and Prince Jackson made it clear they thought their aunts and uncles were trying to gain influence and control over Katherine Jackson.
When Paris didn't hear from her grandmother for over a week, she tweeted "8 days and counting . something is really off , this isn't like her at all .. i wanna talk directly to my grandmother!!<|3"
Katherine Jackson returned home early last Thursday to find a house in turmoil.
"Although I am happy my grandma was returned, after speaking with her I realized how misguided and how badly she was lied to," Prince Jackson said in bitter Twitter posting attacking his aunts and uncles. "I'm really angry and hurt."
There was a "scuffle" inside Katherine Jackson's Calasasas, California, home last Monday after Randy, Jermaine and Janet approached Michael Jackson's children in what witnesses said was an attempt to convince them to leave with them. Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies broke it up and filed a battery report, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Despite a relative calm in the Jackson family feud that set in over the weekend, youngest son Randy Jackson remained on the attack Monday against the men who run the Michael Jackson estate, accusing them of trying to isolate his mother so they could control the heirs they are obligated by law to protect.
"And THIS IS WHY I AM SO AFRAID FOR MY MOTHER..." he said in a Twitter posting that linked to a story on the website of CNN contributor Roland Martin titled: "Janet Jackson, Others Family Members Barred From Mom's California Home."
Martin wrote on RolandMartinReports.com about an e-mail sent by estate lawyer Howard Weitzman to the lawyer for TJ Jackson just hours after Judge Beckloff appointed him guardian of Michael Jackson's children.
"Given the circumstances of the last two weeks, and in order to protect the children and Mrs. Jackson, the Executors believe that it would not be appropriate to allow the following individuals to enter the residence or its grounds and we instruct the security to preclude the following from entering the residence or the grounds: Randy Jackson and any of his children, Janet Jackson, Rebbie Jackson and any of her children, Jermaine Jackson, his wife and any of his children, Janice Smith, or anyone else who was involved in the recent events that led to Mrs. Jackson's separation from and inability to communicate with Michael's children, or any agents or representatives of any of these individuals," Weitzman wrote.
The e-mail was "given to the security is in compliance with Judge Beckloff's order and is not arbitrary," Schultz said.
"As for the family members who are on that list, they were either at the house on Monday, July 23, 2012 or in someway participated in the events surrounding that date," Charles Schultz, TJ Jackson's lawyer, said in reply to Martin's story.
"Katherine Jackson is completely free to talk to whomever she chooses and is free to come and go from the house with anyone whom she chooses," Schultz said. "This has been made completely clear to Mrs. Jackson and she has acknowledged that fact."
If Janet, Randy, Jermaine of Rebbie Jackson want to talk to their mother, who they took on an unannounced 10-day vacation to Arizona earlier this month, they can call her, he said.
"If anything, it sounds like the people who tried to manipulate her previously are continuing to do so via telephone," Schultz wrote.
Katherine Jackson's lawyer is preparing a court filing to ask Judge Beckloff to restore her as guardian of Michael Jackson's children through a plan where TJ Jackson would be a co-guardian.
Prince, Paris and Blanket approved of the arrangement, Katherine Jackson lawyer Perry Sanders said.
"Mrs. Jackson is extremely pleased with the prospect of enjoying the pleasure of raising Michael's children without the day-to-day tedium of items such as managing the large staff that goes with such a high profile family and focus her attention on being a grandmother and raising Michael's children," Sanders said.
The plan must still be approved by Judge Beckloff, who could put provisions into the custody order designed to prevent a repeat of this month's incidents.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/30/showbiz/jackson-family-peace/index.html
