[vienna]

When OJ Simpson was found not guilty in the criminal courts (he was found guilty of wrongful death in the civil courts), I recall seeing a program where a high profile Civil Rights advocate, whose name I cannot recall, himself Black, made a statement that angered some of the other Civil Rights advocates who had been trying to frame the OJ criminal decision as a blow against perceived White injustices towards Blacks in the US justice systems; the Civil Rights advocate said the trial of OJ was not a blow for Black justice, but was simply a case of another famous, well-connected, privileged, famous person using their position to wriggle out taking responsibility for their misdeeds and/or criminality and had nothing to do with race, just more to do with wealth, power, and social standing; no Black and white, just green. The guy who made the statement took a lot of flack and was, basically, pretty much drowned out by the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons and their minions. The thing is the guy was right: at the level of the wealthy, famous, and connected, the only recognized color is green. If you can make money for them or connect them to some one or something that will, a very blind eye will be turned to whatever morally, or legally, reprehensible things you do; however, if you get caught out, they will run for cover and disavow faster than a New York minute...

Living in and around Hollywood for the last half century, and having moved in some of the circles occasioned by the 'rich and famous', I can testify there is an awful lot of dodgy business going on and what you may have seen or heard of in the press is just the smallest tip of a very large iceberg. The things the privileged get away with is truly appalling and an awful lot of what they do is common knowledge in the entertainment community and, also in the legal community of the police, lawyers, and courts. Taking OJ as an example, he often had members of the LAPD, from patrol men to senior brass as guests at his home and lavished them with comforts; it is little wonder that, when calls were made from his home report instances of domestic violence, little or nothing was done by the self same LAPD. As far as the lawyers go, there is a sort of loose 'mutually assured destruction' environment in the upper circles where, if one of the members is faced with their dirty laundry becoming public, they hasten to support that member's cause, not because they care about the innocence of the member, rather it is their concern their own dirty laundry will also see light...

I have seen and heard of all sorts of dodgy or illegal activities committed by celebs and the powerful here in Hollywood. I have witnessed LAPD cops deliberately refuse to act against perpetrators because the person was 'connected' be it within the industry or within the local government. It used to be production companies would hire off-duty, but still active on the force moonlighting officers, as security on locations, as security for residences, or as "fixers", a situation leading to levels of corruption that eventually led to the imposition of a ban on active duty officers taking off-duty jobs in the industry, a decision which did not sit well with the officers, at all; now, the security positions are held, mainly, by retired LAPD officers, which means they still have connections to the force and can 'smooth over' any problems the privileged may face. The cozy arrangement also applies to the aspects such as the recording industry, etc. ...

When Michael Jackson died, there was an immediate circling of the wagons by a whole slew of interested parties. The Jackson family called in a lot of markers to ensure details of Jackson's death and any of his prior criminality didn't see the light of day. At the time of his death, he was preparing for a comeback tour; the deal also called for both live and studio recordings to be issued and documentary films of the tour and Jackson's life to be released; the deal was especially critical for Jackson who was some USD $400-500 million in debt against a net worth of about USD $230 million; just the annual interest load alone was about USD $30 million, which he was legally required to pay. The major player in the tour deal, both as a principal financier/promoter and broker for all related deals with record labels, etc., was the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), a very major entertainment and real estate firm; in Los Angeles, among its holdings, is the Staples Center arena; those in GB might know them as one of the developers of the The O2 in London. When Jackson died, AEG faced a staggering loss on their investments in Jackson. AEG immediately went on the warpath, using its sizeable power and influence to stifle reportage of anything detrimental to the Michael Jackson 'brand'; here, in LA, a never before seen campaign was waged to drown out negative press coverage of Jackson's death and life. I had never seen anything like it: it was swift, ruthless and complete as could be; AEG immediately after Jackson's death, began a full out campaign to 'immortalize' Jackson and fanned Jackson's fan base int o a frenzy. AEG was hell-bent on getting back every single cent they had invested in Jackson and more. The effort included preemptive action to squelch and/or mitigate whatever effects statements of Jackson's victims or critics might make about Jackson. There were very few who would speak up out of fear of legal action or, in the case of those in the industries, incurring the vengeful wrath of the powerhouse AEG that might affect their current or future dealing with AEG. In Jackson's case, the lack of outrage over Jackson's pedophilia wasn't due to his race and the only color that really mattered was green...

Jackson had been long engaged in suppressing negative reportage of his activities and, at the same, time seeking to self-aggrandize his reputation, a conduct well in keeping with his sociopathic narcissism. He spent a lot of money here in Hollywood, greasing the palms of local authorities and entities; back when it was easier to buy a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, he paid off the administrators of the Walk to get his star placed squarely in front of the fame Grumman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd., the most prime location of all; at the same Jackson wanted to have a giant mural created of his likeness on the full side of a six-story office building located directly across the street from the Chinese theater; initially, the project was refused since the building is on the list of he National Trust for Historic Preservation and could not be altered without the approval of the Trust's administrators, the National Park Service; suddenly, and mysteriously, the project was approved, over much public objection, and the mural's base work was started; at the time the mural was reported as being funded by an "admirer" of Jackson, but it eventually it came out the "admirer" funding the mural was Jackson, himself. I remember seeing the mural work going up in the early 90s. However, a very large wrench hit the works: reports of Jackson's pedophilia and other unsavory activities, accompanied by both criminal and civil litigation, became public knowledge and the mural was stopped; the base work remained on the side of the building until the building, itself, was bought by the Disney companies and they had the base work stripped off, thus ending Jackson's self-memorial...

Jackson became damaged goods at that time and was relegated to 'back-burner' status by the industry: they didn't particularly like him, but he was still a revenue source for a lot of them. If you have enough wealth, influence, and power, those who depend on your largess will cover for you because it is also in their best interests. There is an old saying: "Money is the best deodorant". Lots of green can dull the stench of depravity, immorality, and, even, criminality to those who benefit from you; but, once your sins outweigh your worth to them, they will turn on you so fast your head will spin, and they will turn particularly fast if they can either profit from the turning or shield and/or deflect from their own dark secrets...

Harvey Weinstein was able to keep the accusers at bay due to his own wealth and the influence he held over so mny he interacted with in the business; no one wanted to risk their own fortunes by doing the right thing and calling him out; however, once he had been outed and posed a liability to their own fortunes, they ran for the hills and left Weinstein to twist slowly in the wind; Harvey Weinstein was no longer Harvey Weinstein...


A bit of irony is that many of Weinstein's, and Jackson's former supporters who turned on them are very likely guilty of the same if not worse crimes; its just that they have been able to cover theirs better because they still have power, influence, and wealth...


...and, their color is still a sweet smelling green...







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