The grieving sister of superstar Michael Jackson reveals to Dylan Howard the family’s hurt at the Hey Hey blackface skit – and their fears about the upcoming documentary on Jacko’s life.
Still grieving after the sudden loss of her megastar brother, La Toya Jackson escaped to the United Kingdom earlier this month for a much needed break, almost four months after the King of Pop died. But when she returned to her Beverly Hills mansion and turned on the TV for the first time, La Toya never expected to be confronted with the send-up that shocked the world: the “Jackson Jive” performance on Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
“The last thing I expected was to turn on to CNN and find a blackface skit about my brothers from Australia,” La Toya tells Woman’s Day.
“It sent memories of Michael flooding back.
“My first reaction was that it was not sensitive to circumstances surrounding the death of my brother. It was insulting, to be honest, and deep down, that is what all my brothers thought about it.”
Diminutive La Toya, who bears a striking resemblance to her more famous sibling, was one of Michael’s closest confidants in his final years.
Now, in her first one-on-one magazine interview since the singer’s death, La Toya is speaking out about the global outrage sparked by the parody, and Harry Connick Jr’s impassioned race lecture to a live TV audience.
“I want to thank Harry Connick Jr for defending America, Michael and my brothers,” she says. “I don’t think the performers realised what they were doing. How could someone do that, considering what has happened, and think it would create laughter?”
While La Toya, 53, has taken aim at the six Sydney doctors who painted their faces – and “who should have known better” – she has leapt to the defence of a besieged Australia.
Responding to the world condemnation of our country as a “racist backwater”, La Toya declares it a “gross overreaction” and believes Michael would have forgiven those involved.
