Michael Jackson’s kids honored the late musician on August 29, in celebration of what would have been his 58th birthday.
Happy Birthday, Michael! pic.twitter.com/Hp7My9V1rr
— Michael Jackson (@michaeljackson) August 29, 2016
Jackson’s oldest, Prince Jackson, posted a touching sonnet about his father on Instagram, as Entertainment Tonight Online reported. “Happy birthday to the Man who was more than a legend. I love you,” he captioned it.
His second oldest, daughter Paris, retweeted her brother’s post and shared the same sonnet to her own Instagram, with a caption dedicated to both her brother and her dad.
“love this.. proud of you big brother. and happy birthday to the man that means more to us than anything and anyone ever could,” the 18-year-old wrote.
A few months ago, Paris also dedicated a new tattoo to her dad, who she called the “King of her heart.”
The youngest of Jackson’s kids, 14-year-old Blanket, doesn’t appear to have any online presence.
Some of Michael Jackson’s fellow artists also posted birthday messages for him online — some who worked with him personally, and others whose careers have been inspired by his.
. @michaeljackson would have been 58 today ? miss you Smelly ??
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) August 29, 2016
Happy Birthday to this wonderful and glorious creature!! ? The King! Gone too soon! ?? ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/CokMPDi1ag
— Madonna (@Madonna) August 29, 2016
Forever inspired by Michael Jackson
— The Chosen One (@KiDCuDi) August 30, 2016
??HappyBday king @michaeljackson i will never forget the moment i got to perform in yor memory with yor brothers?? pic.twitter.com/JRnHk48HGw
— Oritsé Williams (@Oritse) August 29, 2016
Happy Birthday ? #WeMissYouMichael
— Usher Raymond IV (@Usher) August 29, 2016
None of Michael Jackson’s relatives have commented on a tell-all book being released by Shana Mangatal. The 46-year-old has been a fan of Jackson’s since she was a teenager, and in the book she describes the alleged secret romance she shared with the singer.
As Yahoo! reports, Mangatal and Jackson were friends and more for about 20 years. Their personal relationship evolved into a business one as well when she began working on Jackson’s management team.
After Jackson died in 2009, Mangatal says that grief made it difficult for her to revisit their time together. Once she did, though, she found that the experiences she’d written about in her diaries were too special to keep hidden.
“As I was reading the diaries, I was, like, ‘Oh my God, there’s so much good stuff in here.’ [I thought] if the public knew these things, maybe they would think a little bit differently about Michael and have a different perspective on him,” Mangatal says.
In Michael and Me: The Untold Story of Michael Jackson’s Secret Romance , which debuted yesterday, 46-year-old Mangatal reveals the flirtatious side of the larger-than-life musician that very few witnessed.
“From the very first day that I met him [as a fan] at the afterparty for his concert in New York, he was flirting with me — from the very moment I met him. That told me a lot. And from then on, I knew that there was more to him than meets the eye, because it was clear that he loved the ladies. And he couldn’t hide it. Even if he tried to be child-like and innocent, he had that manly, macho thing in him that made him the flirtatious, sexy guy in real life.”
She believes strongly in his innocence, referring to accusations of child molestation that followed Jackson for years of his life. Jackson, she says, really connected with the children he spent time with, and it was never anything inappropriate.
“When you were with Michael, and you saw him with kids, you saw the relationship, and it was just so pure and innocent. It was really a wonderful thing to see, because … he became like a kid when he was with them. He was like a peer to them. So it was never like he was this adult preying on the children.
“He loved playing what they loved to do, which was play video games, watch cartoons, talk about girls even.”
The last time she saw him, Michael Jackson and his kids were at a magic show in 2006. Mangatal confesses that she doesn’t see herself ever being in a serious relationship again. Jackson, she said, left an impression that no one can follow.
“It’s hard when you’re with someone like Michael Jackson. It’s hard to go and start dating the guy next door. It’s nearly impossible, because you become almost addicted to this excitement,” she says. “I need someone with that same excitement and that same charisma that he had.”
In the coming days, it will be interesting to see whether or not Michael Jackson’s kids or siblings comment on Mangatal’s story.
[Photo by C.F. Tham/AP Images]