Mark Vincent Kaplan is shown on 6/5/08. Credit: WENN.com

The lawyer for Dr. Arnold Klein, the shifty dermatologist/plastic surgeon who counted Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor among his closest friends, says that Klein is probably the father of Jackson’s children. It’s worth noting that Klein’s lawyer is none other than Kevin Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, who seems just as eager for fame and notoriety as many of his clients. Kaplan seems to enjoy giving sensational quotes about his high profile clients to ensure that he gets maximum coverage, and his latest statement is a doozy. US Weekly is claiming in the title to this story that “Klein is ‘Well Aware’ He’s Father of Michael Jackson’s Children.” That’s not what Kaplan says, however. Kaplan told US that “There was a possibility that the two older kids could be biologically linked to Dr. Klein. And Dr. Klein was well aware.” That’s not a statement of certainty at all. Kaplan than went on to say that Klein won’t take a DNA test or try and raise the children. It sounds like all of this is being brought up due to Michael Jackson’s friend Mark Lester claiming Paris could be his biological daughter, as there’s a reference made to “concerns [over] the influence of other people” on the children’s guardian, their grandmother Katherine Jackson:

Dermatologist Arnold Klein knows he’s the father of Michael Jackson’s two oldest kids, Prince, 12 and Paris, 11, his lawyer admits to Usmagazine.com. [sic: read his statement, he doesn't definitely say this]

“There was a possibility that the two older kids could be biologically linked to Dr. Klein. And Dr. Klein was well aware,” his lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, tells Us when explaining why he was present at a guardianship hearing for Jackson’s children.

Us Weekly first confirmed from multiple sources that Klein — Jackson’s longtime dermatologist — is Prince and Paris’ biological father. Debbie Rowe, who worked for Klein for 23 years, is the biological mother, and was wed to Jackson for three years. (Jackson was also father to Blanket, 7, born to a different surrogate mother.)

Kaplan continues: “Dr. Klein wanted to assert a request that he had concerns. He had an agreement with Michael Jackson that if anything happened to Michael Jackson… Dr. Klein would do what he could to see that they were protected.”

Still, Klein won’t take a DNA test, Kaplan says.

“It would serve no helpful purpose for the children to be distracted from believing Michael Jackson is not the father in every possibility. It would be of interest to other people. It is not something Dr. Klein feels he is interested to establish. It would serve no purpose other than creating distraction or noise. It is not going to help the children,” he says, “other than to solve the answered question, which is a selfish motive to see who the ultimate provider of the 13 chromosomes [is].”

Klein does not want to challenge the [sic] Katherine Jackson’s guardianship of the kids.

“Katherine Jackson is responsible for the decisions and upbringing of the children,” Kaplan says. “And his concerns were the influence of other people around her.” (Kaplan does not name specific people Klein is concerned about.)

Klein has never officially confirmed he’s Prince and Paris’ father, but he hasn’t exactly denied it.

In a July interview on Good Morning America, he said he’s not their father “to the best of my knowledge.” The next day on Larry King Live, he admitted he once donated sperm but couldn’t answer paternity questions “one way or another.”

[From US Weekly]

Again, Kaplan is not definitely saying that Klein is the father of Paris and Prince Michael II, he’s only saying it’s a possibility and that they want to make sure other people don’t try and influence Katherine Jackson. This statement is a real departure from Klein’s past stance on paternity. In Klein’s Larry King Live interview in early July, he said that he was willing to take a DNA test and that if he was the father “I would spend every moment of the day with the children,” and would “absolutely” become their father. Now Klein is saying that there’s no use taking a DNA test and that Michael Jackson will always be their father. It’s strange that he would change his position so much in just a few weeks.

Yesterday Klein’s former nurse and the mother of Jackson’s two older children, Debbie Rowe, was seen visiting Klein’s office. She explained to the paparazzi that another doctor in the practice was a close friend and that it was his anniversary that day. When asked about the other people coming forward claiming to be the father of Jackson’s children she say “everybody wants their fifteen minutes I guess.” Does that include her former employer?

I really can’t think of anything I’d consider too strange to be legitimate when it comes to Michael Jackson. In fact since his passing we’ve gotten a lot of explanations for some of his bizarre behavior – but many of the people who surrounded him are still giant question marks. One of the biggest is Dr. Arnold Klein. It’s been rumored off and on that he’s the biological father of Michael’s oldest two children, Prince Michael and Paris. In fact there have been so many rumors about the children’s genetic parentage that I don’t think the general public has any clue who’s related to the kids and how. Arnold issued a non-denial denial a while ago, so he still might be the kids’ father. That’s one of those sentences that’s not a question but I feel I should end it with a question mark, because the whole thing is so strange.

To further add to Klein’s confusing relationship to Prince and Paris, he’s become super involved in their custody case for a guy that was just their dad’s dermatologist.

Why does Michael Jackson’s dermatologist want a say in how the King of Pop’s kids are raised? Acting on behalf of Dr. Arnold Klein, attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan made a surprise appearance in court today to express his client’s concern for the “education, health care and welfare” of Jackson’s two eldest children, Prince Michael and Paris.

Not that Klein, who still has never flat-out denied that he is the biological father of those kids, thinks that their grandmother Katherine Jackson shouldn’t be taking care of them. Klein is merely “acting on promises he made to Michael with respect to ensuring the long-term health and stability of the children and their ability to enjoy as normal of a life out of the spotlight as could be reasonably possible,” Kaplan and cocounsel Bradley P. Boyer said in a statement Monday night.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, who earlier today awarded Katherine Jackson custody of her three grandchildren and agreed to visitation rights for Paris and Prince’s biological mother (and Klein’s former assistant), Debbie Rowe, said that Klein had no standing to challenge his decision at this time.

But, the judge said, Klein can file court papers pertaining to his guardianship concerns, and his legal camp says they plan to do just that on Sept. 1. “Dr. Klein has always had a special relationship with Paris Katherine and Prince Michael, loves and cares deeply for these children and is looking out for their best interest,” Boyer and Kaplan said. “Dr. Klein has been involved with the children in sharing holidays and other special events and wishes to have the ability to continue his involvement as a very close friend of their father and offers his guidance and protection forever.”

So Kaplan and Boyer have deftly managed to explain without really telling us anything. How legal of them.

[From E! News]

It does seem like Jackson and Klein had a non-traditional doctor/patient relationship. We don’t know enough to say if it was unethical. Hypothetically, if Klein did donate the sperm that was used to inseminate Debbie Rowe, would that be a violation of medical ethics? It certainly seems like it would mean crossing several lines in the distance a doctor should keep. Yet it also seems like Klein had true compassion for Jackson – when he was describing the immense pain Michael endured due to his scalp burn, he did so in very empathic terms. He also spoke about Paris and Prince in glowing terms, and told Larry King, “If I was the parent, I would spend every moment of the day with the children.”

It seems like they had a friendship beyond their professional relationship. Does that mean Klein is the father of Paris and Prince? Not necessarily, though nothing has completely ruled it out. He could also just be a very close family friend. Obviously Klein’s lawyers statements certainly raise an eyebrow… and frankly when it comes to who conceived Jackson’s kids, I’ve run out of eyebrows to raise. Perhaps Klein himself isn’t sure if he’s their dad, and is saying so many ambivalent things while he tries to find out.

Radar Online has a new interview with a guy who was the live-in lover of Michael Jackson’s dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, for four months in 2006. They were dating for about a year before they moved in together, and met on a gay men’s website that has “Bear” in the title.

Yesterday Dr. Klein’s ex told Radar that Klein gave him about three prescriptions for Codeine to help him cope with pain in his back. He said that Klein had the prescriptions filled in his own name, not his name, and that it seemed suspicious. The guy insinuated that if Klein was so willing to give him a prescription for an opiate and to try to hide it that he would most likely do the same for his old friend Michael Jackson.

Today Radar has posted an interview in which the guy says that Klein told him he’s the father of Michael Jackson’s three children. Supposedly the mother of the two older children, Debbie Rowe didn’t know that Klein was the sperm donor until about a year before the divorce in late 1999. At that point, Prince Michael was two and Paris was just a few months old. Further complicating this story is the fact that Rowe used to work as a nurse in Klein’s office.

In a bombshell new interview, Paul Gohranson, a former live-in masseur and lover of Dr. Arnold Klein, tells RadarOnline.com exclusively that Klein told him as far as he knew, he was the father of all three of Michael’s children – including the youngest, Blanket.

In our explosive interview, Gohranson also says that Debbie Rowe — Michael Jackson’s former wife who gave birth to two of Jackson’s children – at first did not know that Klein was the sperm donor. Rowe had worked with Klein as his nursing assistant while he was treating Jackson for his severe acne.

Gohranson says: “According to Arnold (Klein), they (Jackson and Rowe) had come to a business agreement, marriage was supposed to be the cover to have the children. As far as what I understand was that Debbie was to not know who the sperm donor was, she was supposed to be led on that Michael donated the sperm because apparently, he hadn’t shared with her that he couldn’t have kids.”

Gohranson reveals Rowe found out it wasn’t Michael’s sperm about a year prior to the couple’s divorce. He says he does not know who told Debbie the truth.

Gohranson says: “Arnold (Klein) said they (Jackson and Rowe) were very happy together…. It was basically a vocal contract between the two and he would get the kids… When Michael Jackson exercised his part to get out of the marriage she either wanted to stay in the marriage or he was going to have to pay her a good hunk of money to keep his secret.”

Gohranson says Rowe didn’t tell Jackson that she knew he wasn’t the biological father of the kids until “it looked like the free ride was over.”

While Rowe did give birth to Jackson’s two oldest children, the biological mother of Blanket remains a mystery.

[From Radar Online]

Can we believe this guy or is he just trying to cash in on this high profile story with allegations? Dr. Klein’s statements on the issue of paternity have been strange to say the least. He told Diane Sawyer that “All I can tell you is to the best of my knowledge, I am not the father of these children.” In his next interview, on Larry King, he clarified that statement, admitting that he had donated sperm “once, to a sperm bank,” but saying that he “absolutely [did] not” donate sperm to Michael Jackson.

In that Larry King interview, Klein also said he was willing to take a DNA test and that “If I was the parent, I would spend every moment of the day with the children.” He praised them repeatedly, saying “These are the brightest children I’ve ever met, the best behaved children I’ve ever met.”

A sperm donor doesn’t have rights to his children in most cases, unless there is some sort of written agreement. The law is still being worked out in these cases, and given the custody issues, and the fact that there’s a lot of money at stake in child support, the paternity of his children is likely to come up. The fact that Jackson didn’t adopt any of his children, which presumably aren’t biologically his, might come up as an issue. TMZ claims that the two older kids aren’t even biologically Debbie Rowe’s, and that they were conceived with someone else’s eggs.

These kids didn’t ask for any of this, and they just lost the father who loved and cared for them. Let’s hope that their grandmother and/or aunts can take care of them far away from the many people who would use them for money in any way.

Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein went on Larry King Live last night. When asked if he was the father of Jackson’s kids he admitted that he’d donated sperm at one point, but said that if it was used to sire Jackson’s two older children with Debbie Rowe, who used to work in his office, he is unaware of it. Yesterday Klein told Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America that “to the best of my knowledge I am not the father.” Now we know what he meant.

From the way he words his response he definitely makes it sound like Jackson’s two older children were conceived by artificial insemination. In a 2003 interview for “Living With Michael Jackson, Part 2,” a rebuttal to the Martin Bashir series, Michael insisted that Paris and Prince Michael II were conceived naturally with Debbie (link leads to video, quote from Michael is at 5:20, Debbie’s is at 8:48) and Debbie said that “Paris” was named after the place of her conception. She didn’t explicitly state that she conceived the children with Michael, however.

Klein says that the issue of paternity for the Jackson children should be between the kids and whoever their biological father is. I guess we can assume it’s not Michael, which has long been speculated given their lighter skin coloring. He’s vague when it comes to the issue of what possibly happened to his sperm, and keeps talking about what a great dad Michael is to emphasize the point that the biological dad isn’t that important. Klein also says that if he’s the father he’ll take full responsibility for his children though, and he repeatedly praises them as very smart and well behaved:

KING: Now, what about all the rumors about you and the fathering of those children?

KLEIN: Here’s the most important thing. Michael loved those children as a father. Those children loved him as a father. As far as I am concerned, that’s the most important grouping that is.

KING: That’s not answering the question.

KLEIN: No, because I’m not going to answer it the way you want me to answer it, because…

KING: Well, you can say no.

KLEIN: I can say no, then. I will say no if that’s what you want to hear.

KING: No, I want to hear what you know.

KLEIN: What I will tell you is I think what’s most important thing about this whole thing, to end this thing, is that the most important thing in who the father is who the father is — who the children want their father to be.

And I will tell you this, I will say no, because the most important person to these children is how Michael loved them and how he loved his children and how they loved him. Because they would never pass him without saying, I love you, daddy. He would say I love you. I’ve never seen such emotional care…

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Earlier today, you said you couldn’t answer that one way or the other.

KLEIN: I still can’t answer it absolutely one way or another.

KING: So that means you donated sperm?

KLEIN: I once donated sperm. I don’t know that you have to know…

KING: You donated to him.

KLEIN: No, absolutely not.

KING: Oh, you donated sperm to a sperm bank.

KLEIN: Once, to a sperm bank. But I don’t think I should go over my legal affairs, because I think to the best of my knowledge, I’m not the father. I want to tell you that this discussion, however, is between Michael, his children and this person. It’s not to be discussed who the father is over national television…

KLEIN: if they want me to take a DNA test, they can have my DNA. I don’t care at this point.

KING: Your concern is the kids.

KLEIN: My concern is his kids because I’ve never met children like this. These are the brightest children I’ve ever met, the best behaved children I’ve ever met. They come over my house, they behave wonderfully. I know how deeply he loved them and how deeply they loved him.

KING: That’s obvious. KLEIN: I don’t want to destroy this relationship in any way, shape or form. I’ll tell you this, no matter what, I will protect these children…

KING: About the children, this is hypothetical. If you were the parent, this is hypothetical, would you go and talk to them? Would you do something about it? Would you let it ride?

KLEIN: If I was the parent, I would spend every moment of the day with the children.

KING: You’d become their father?

KLEIN: Absolutely.

[From Transcripts.CNN.com, emphasis added]

If you look at the photo US Weekly has of Dr. Klein with the children he really looks like he could be their dad. He has similar features and it seems like a distinct possibility. He’s being cagey about this whole issue and I would bet he knows more than just the fact that he once donated sperm to a sperm bank. What’s his motivation for talking to the press though? Does he hope to clear up some of the rumors about Jackson and make his memory a little more human to the public? In a moment I’ll cover more of this interview as Klein revealed quite a bit about Jackson’s health problems and the work he was doing to rebuild his face. Jackson went through a lot over the past twenty years and learning about it did help humanize him to me. I’m not sure that Klein is without his personal motivations for coming forward, though.

Michael Jackson’s longterm plastic surgeon, dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, was on Good Morning America today. You can view a short clip of his interview on ABC’s website and Radar Online has more. Dr. Klein slurs his words and one side of his face droops down slightly. It looks like he suffered a stroke at one point. (That’s just an observation and is not meant to be judgmental. Some people may speculate that he’s on something but it looks to me like he had a stroke.)

Debbie Rowe, the mother of Jackson’s two oldest children, met Michael when she worked for Dr. Klein. When Diane Sawyer asks Klein if he’s the biological father of Rowe’s children with Michael, his answer is revealing although he tries not to reveal much. He doesn’t give an unequivocal “no,” but he says several times “To the best of my knowledge” he’s not the father. It sounds like he might add more to that, because he says “Push comes to shove,” but then quickly follows up with “I can’t say anything about it, but to the best of my knowledge I’m not the father of these children. I can’t answer it in any other way… I don’t want to feed any of this insanity that’s going on…

People should know the depth of [Michael's] love for his children.”

US Weekly has photos of Dr. Klein with Michael and the children last Christmas Eve, and Klein confirms to Sawyer that he spent Christmas eve with the Jackson family. He says if he is the dad he’s unaware of it, but it sounds like he has his suspicions by the way he worded his response. US Weekly insists he’s the father of Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 12.

Klein also says he didn’t administer anesthesia to Jackson outside of an office setting, nor did he give him prescriptions for anesthesia drugs. He also sets the record straight about Jackson’s vitiligo and lupus, and about the extreme plastic surgery that completely changed his appearance:

On whether he’s the biological father of Paris and Prince Michael
“To the best of my knowledge, I am not the father of these children,” Dr. Arnold Klein told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer in a “Good Morning America” exclusive. “I can’t answer it in any other way. I don’t want to feed any of this insanity that is going around.”

US Weekly reported in the days after Jackson’s death that Klein, not Jackson, is the biological father of Prince Michael I, now 12, and Paris-Michael Katherine, 11, Jackson’s children with ex-wife Debbie Rowe.

Rowe worked for Klein, and it was in Klein’s office that Jackson met the woman who would become first a friend, then his wife, then the mother of his two oldest children.

Klein spoke briefly about them with “GMA,” remembering one Christmas Eve he spent with Jackson at his home where he was charmed by the singer’s “brilliant” children.

“The kids were so very happy and so beautiful,” he said. “Every time they would pass their father they would say, ‘I love you Daddy.’”

On Jackson’s addictions to prescription drugs
Klein also denied prescribing Jackson any of the powerful painkillers, including OxyContin and Demerol, that the singer was said to be addicted to. Klein also denied he was one of five Jackson doctors reportedly under investigation in connection with Jackson’s death and said he has not even been contacted by Los Angeles police.

He accused the doctors who prescribed addictive drugs for the pop icon of being “criminals.”

“I say that anyone who makes someone an addict or gives a person potentially dangerous substances directly to them to use, like propofol is a criminal,” Klein told “GMA.” “It becomes nothing more than a manslaughter, or something worse than that…”

Jackson was in Klein’s office three days before he died and seemed to be in good spirits, contradicting a report by Jackson’s nurse Cherilyn Lee who said the singer was in a horrific amount of pain.

“He was not in terrible pain when I saw him. He danced in the office, and he danced for my patients,” Klein said. “He was very muscular, and he was very, very happy and dancing.”

“I saw nothing at that point that would make me worry whatsoever,” he continued. “But I was always concerned about him because I was always worried about other doctors.”

Klein said Jackson, like many other rich and famous California patients, had no problem finding a doctor to get whatever he thought he needed.

“No matter what he wanted, someone would give it to him,” Klein said. “The very rich and the very poor and the very famous all get the worst medical care.”

Klein said that although Jackson did not confide to him a complete list of medications he was taking, he did have a talk about dangerous prescription drugs with the King of Pop many years ago.

In the days before OxyContin was available, Klein said Jackson requested an older painkiller that was more potent that even morphine.

“I said, ‘You can’t take that. It’s poison. Throw that in the trash,’” Klein said. “And I got him to throw it in the toilet.”

“But I can’t be there every minute,” he said. “I wish I could have been there every minute of the day.”

On Jackson’s vitiligo and overuse of plastic surgery
Klein said it was he who diagnosed Jackson with lupus and saw growing evidence of vitiligo, both autoimmune diseases that affect the skin.

“It blew me away because here I’m diagnosing the most famous person in the world ? with a very serious ailment,” he said.

As Jackson’s skin started to be marked with “severe speckling,” Klein said, something had to be done even out the tone.

“At the same time he was in the hands of plastic surgeons who didn’t know when to stop,” Klein said. “But he felt he was a piece of art, that his face was a piece of art.”

[From ABC News]

I really believe that Michael Jackson had vitiligo and that he used prescription lightening cream to make his skin appear more even-toned. (There’s a user-created video on YouTube which shows multiple photos throughout the years that reveal the extent of MJ’s condition.) As for Dr. Klein’s claims that he’s not responsible for Jackson’s extreme plastic surgery and other doctors did all that – it seems a little too convenient, especially since he’s also claiming that he advised him against prescription drug use and tried to get him to throw away his pain medication. This guy knows more than he’s letting on and is trying not to get involved. He’s not unequivocally denying he’s the older kids’ father, he’s saying he doesn’t know for sure. Now why would he phrase it that way and then go on to add how much Michael loves the kids?

Dr. Klein is shown at Liz Taylor’s 75th birthday on 2/27/07. Credit: WENN.com