Michael Jackson’s brothers angered by Grammys snub

The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show

Michael Jackson’s children, Prince and Paris Jackson, accepted their father’s lifetime achievement award at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. The two were on stage with their cousins, Tarryl, TJ and Taj Jackson, of the band 3T. There may have been a very good reason why Prince and Paris were at the Grammys with their cousins instead of their aunts and uncles. Uncle Tito Jackson tweeted that he and his family were not invited to the Grammys and he sounded pretty bitter about it:

“So proud, my brother being honored tonight with the Lifetime Achievement Award,” Michael’s brother and former bandmate Randy wrote on his Twitter page. “My family would love to be there but, truth is, we weren’t invited.

“Do you want more truth? Let me be clear. When I said ‘my family’ I meant my brothers, sisters and parents.”

Michael’s three children — Paris, 11; Prince Michael I, 12; and seven-year-old Prince Michael II — aka Blanket — were there to honor their father but Randy is convinced the children were only invited as an afterthought.

“Randy was incandescent,” a source told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper. “He believed the Grammys only thought of including Michael’s children at the 11th hour as dad Joe Jackson complained there was no family representation.

“The brothers were hoping to attend and wear their silver gloves and matching suits to honor their brother. They feel insulted and hurt that they have been snubbed in this way. Michael would’ve wanted them there.

“The Jackson 5 was where the magic began. They’re a huge part of his story and felt they had been horribly overlooked.”

The eldest children took to the stage wearing black suits with red armbands to accept Michae’s award — which he was given for his contribution to the music industry, while Blanket remained backstage with his grandmother Katherine Jackson.

“Michael’s children themselves decided just Prince Michael I and Paris would speak on stage and accept the award on behalf of their dad,” the source said.

[From Showbizspy]

While I understand that Tito and his immediate family felt snubbed by the Grammys, it’s so typical of him and his father to make a big deal out of something instead of quietly sucking it up. If Prince and Paris made an appearance it was obviously approved by their guardian and grandmother Katherine Jackson. Plus the band 3T is made up of Tito’s three sons, who were on stage with their cousins! Maybe the Grammy officials wanted to honor Michael without turning the Grammys into a big Jackson family circus. I also doubt that Tito would have been content to sit on the sidelines and he probably would have made a stink out of not being invited to perform in the tribute.

There’s also the whole issue of the Jackson brothers trying to cash in on his brother’s death with shady business dealings, like a huge memorial concert that was promoted for a certain date, only to be postponed and moved to another venue. Jermaine announced in a press conference that certain artists would appear, after which some of those artists issued statements to the contrary. Tito now faces a potential lawsuit for another aborted memorial concert in Michigan. He was allegedly paid $7,500 for a concert that never materialized. I don’t blame the Grammy officials for trying to shut out Tito and his family. They’ve only shown that they’re only interested in self promotion. After all, Michael’s dad Joe plugged his own record company several times during interviews immediately following his son’s death.

A&E Launches - The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty Premiering Sunday Dec 13 2009

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

29 Responses to “Michael Jackson’s brothers angered by Grammys snub”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Praise St. Angie! says:

    “Maybe the Grammy officials wanted to honor Michael without turning the Grammys into a big Jackson family circus.”

    agree. it would have been all about MJ if they had been there.

    there have been enough memorial services for him, the Grammys is about OTHER people, too.

    off topic…wtf is up with Jermaine’s hair? is it a plastic wig like those creepy Duracell ads?

  2. lilred says:

    When oh when will they realize,it’s not about them?

  3. Kimble says:

    The brothers are just a bunch of freeloaders. No doubt they would have wanted to sit front and centre too!

  4. meeze says:

    “incandescent”?

    um… incensed?

    LOL!

  5. oxa says:

    Tito is another bloodsucker with a head fetish. Makes me think of a scene in the movie The Thomas Crown Affair when I see him with the ridculous hat on all the time.

  6. ogechi says:

    Sad to say this, Michael bros are bunch of disappointments if the stories are true.

  7. Schwety says:

    Michael and Janet are the only ones talented in that family.

  8. El Predicto says:

    Randy is to “incandescent” as Michael was post bleaching to “fluorescent”.

    The family is not the brightest bunch of bulbs.

  9. bella says:

    Like this should surprise them?! And Joe Jackson held an “exclusive screening party” when “This is It” came out, at $3000.00 a head. And they wonder why they weren’t invited? For real?!

  10. filthycute says:

    You left a note-to-self at the beginning of the article.

  11. elin says:

    @celebitchy the first paragraph is… different? Don’t know if it’s something you’d want to change or not, but there you go.

    Love/TA with this post.

  12. d says:

    What I have noticed about the brothers and father in particular is that it’s/are (problems, issues, events, whatever) always someone else’s fault, someone else’s conspiracy, and they are never ever wrong or to blame. And I’m thinking: BS!

  13. rreedy says:

    I smell a rat, don’t you? The whiff of self promotion gone south. I wish these Jackson parasites would crank on their own talent instead of their dead brothers’. Pretty pathetic. Their cousins needed the on-stage publicity. Excuse me while I open a window!!

  14. Sigh. says:

    “there was no family representation.”

    Wait. They were all so frekkin’ VEHEMENT about us believing Michael truly being their biological father (snicker), now they aren’t family representation enough?

    So now anything even remotely related to MJ always has to feature his ENTIRE family in bedazzled gloves? An A & E reality show (that further proves MJ obviously was the true talent and marketing master behind this family’s musical legacy from day one) is not enough?

    This why Janet stopped being a public part of this family immediately after MJ’s burial.

  15. Sincerity says:

    No wonder Michael decided to leave his affairs to be managed by people other than his relatives. His brothers had the same opportunities as Michael to build successful solo careers; however, doing so was not a “top priority” for them. These self-absorbed leeches couldn’t even get along long enough to produce a single reunion album while Michael was alive. If they were disciplined enough, they could have even continued as “the Jacksons” after Michael went solo. I really have no sympathy for these guys because they always seem to be very insincere.

  16. ell says:

    I fear that I’m alone in thinking that the brothers should have been on that stage. They loved Michael. They all supported and defended his reputation while the rest of the world, in their sheer ignorance believed all of the garbage that was written about him. I don’t believe that they wanted to promote themselves at all. Who better to acknowlege all of Michael’s good deeds and his contribution to the music industry than the brothers he worked with for years? Sorry to disappoint you but Michael loved his brothers.

  17. rreedy says:

    I am sure Michael loved his brothers, #16. Are you one of them?

  18. Cindy says:

    I don’t believe this article. If anyone watched the brother’s tv show, you will see that they would care less about being at the grammys. Maybe with the exception of Jermaine as he likes attention. All the info used on Tito is wrong.
    To the writer get you facts right. Tito is not from Michigan.

  19. Ruffian9 says:

    F-off Tito. Still/always trying to capitalize in your now-dead brother’s name. NOBODY cares what you want.

  20. Amy says:

    Family is family. MJ was their brother and that’s it.

  21. ccoop says:

    “The brothers were hoping to attend and wear their silver gloves and matching suits to honor their brother.”

    Translation: To get more face time on TV. Damn! Foiled again!

  22. Gigohead says:

    The Grammys was full of young talent the Old Jacksons are out. Young Jacksons is who folks wanted to see

  23. Amey says:

    Seriously what is the matter with you guys? I for onewould be very hurt and upset if my siblings and I, and parents… were not invited to a tribute for my sibling who had passed. This ridiculous cruel judging remarks regarding the Jackson family is just mean and unneccessary. Not to mention the ratings and historical performances those siblings have given at the Grammys. This family achieved the impossible, and all the siblings are talented. It just happens their brother is the greatest entertainer and philanthropist to date in the world. they are not bar hopping fame whores. They take care of each other. It doesn’t take long to research and become educated on the cold facts that the A& E reality show the brothers were in was already taping at the time of Michael’s death. Wearing suits and white gloves is just a media attention grabbing plan? With all the basically naked, tacky, attention grabbing Please. Leave the family alone. I think the glove, and respectful suits the family has been wearing, the kid’s arm bands, are a tribute to a beloved family member they are all grieving. It is disgusting that the sibs and parents were snubbed. Beyonce’s young nephew was present and dragged on stage. I don’t have an issue with that, but this unneccessary hurtful judgements of this family needs to end. Look in a mirror and judge yourself in the same manner. Let them grieve, and pleaselet that kind, gentle, amazing man finally be able to rest in peace. Enough.

  24. oh hey says:

    Let’s be fair here, not all of the family is griping. Notice Marlon isn’t in the picture or in the article. Although, I’m surprised Tito is making a big stink…if this story is true.

    “Incandescent?” I wonder if it’s one of these articles that was translated from English to another language and then back to English.

    I’d find this more believable if this were Jermaine or Joe the asshole father griping, he’s been trying to prosper from his brother’s death before his body was cold. That’s not to say that the family wasn’t insulted, and it has nothing to do do with old vs new, or how many tributes did or didn’t happen. Think for a minute, AMA and Grammys are having the first shows after his death. I think all the music award shows are done for this season, therefore, no more tributes.

    ETA: Why does poor Prince look like a mini Blagoavich?

  25. Darryl says:

    @ Meeze and El Predicto

    Incandescent:3. Characterized by ardent emotion, intensity

    The word was not used incorrectly. I only turn into the grammar police when others display hubris and stupidity. Google is your friend. So is a rich vocabulary.

  26. shadowd says:

    I agree with @Amey, if the Grammys was honoring Michael, then it is only fair to have his family there (excl the Father of course).

    Michael started with the Jackson 5, then after he became famous he toured with them, when he could have just off alone. When he won awards for his Thriller album, he had his Sisters join him on stage. He may not have liked his Father (with good reason), but he came from a very family oriented home, and no one can doubt that he loved his Mother, and though he disagreed with his Brothers on certain things, he was with them through the good and bad times.

  27. oh hey says:

    @Darryl

    Merriam Webster and Oxford are even better friends.

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incandescent

    http://www.askoxford.com:80/concise_oed/incandescent?view=uk

    Although you’re right in saying that the word wasn’t used incorrectly, it’s still a poor word choice. Most people associate the word with the primary meaning, especially for a newspaper which caters to a lower reading level.

  28. Kathy says:

    why is everyone hating on the jackson family? leave them alone! katherine jackson was invited to the grammys, she was backstage watching prince and paris onstage with blanket. this is ridiculous because michael’s children, tito’s kids and one of randy’s 4 kids genevieve jackson was there. i find it funny how they weren’t invited but randy’s daughter who isn’t even famous was invited…

  29. Luigi Iden says:

    BieberFact : Quando fez 1 ano quando Michael Jackson faleceu, Justin mudou seu background homenageando com uma camisa escrita sobre ele.