A graceless exit for the King of Pop

The title of his weakest album says it all. Michael Jackson is history.

It’s tempting to think that Jackson’s career hung in the balance of this trial, that an acquittal could redeem him. But let’s face it: What remains of that once glorious career is now largely fueled by fond memories of the past, kept alive by a small core of fans who will continue to blindly back their man.

Jurors considered a simple matter of his guilt or innocence, but the public conclusions about Michael's reputation are far more complex.  It's not a matter of overlooking his rough edges, because Americans have shown that we'll forgive all sorts of scandal.

It's that most of us just don't want to listen anymore.

This isn’t to say he'll become a total recluse, or that he’s destined for financial ruin — though both could happen. Despite the perennial concerns about him going broke, Michael surely will have enough money to remain more or less comfortable and salvage most of his unique lifestyle.

Neverland alone is worth between $50 and 100 million, a tidy little piece of real estate.  His 50 percent share in the Sony/ATV music catalog — which gives him the royalties off songs not only by the Beatles but Elvis, Destiny’s Child and a host of others — will continue to bring him millions each year.

While huge loans remain outstanding on Neverland and the Sony/ATV catalog, the loan holder recently cut a new deal to ratchet down fears that Jackson would lose his magic kingdom.

A forensic accountant told jurors that Jackson was in dire financial shape, outspending his income by $20 to $30 million a year. That also may be true, and Michael might have to trim his holdings, add some lean to his lifestyle, lay off some Neverland railroad engineers.

But someone will always buy a few of his albums — be they new or reissued.  His fans outside the United States have always boosted him, even when his fortunes at home were flagging. There's always Tokyo.

A fallen icon
What's irretrievably lost is his place as a beloved mainstream American icon. You can’t look at the photo of MJ receiving an award from President and Nancy Reagan and not consider how far he’s fallen.

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In the 1980s, before we had Paris Hilton, O.J. or Bill Clinton to show us that dignity and celebrity don't necessarily intersect, Michael Jackson was a hero. He gracefully transcended racial and social boundaries. He was cooler than cool.

And then, slowly, it all went away. The coolness turned to weirdness, and the weirdness turned from charming to fetid.

The first allegations in 1993 that Jackson had an untoward fondness for boys were unsettling, but they came and went, even if suspicions lingered. 

He got hitched to Lisa Marie Presley the following year, and our speculation turned to that curious romance, and whether it was a romance at all. Perhaps not, because it dissolved so quickly, less than two years later.

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