What Happened to Michael Jackson Part 2: The Allegations
Allegations without evidence can be a Death Sentence
In Part 1 of this series, we examined Michael Jackson's increasingly contentious relationship with Sony Music and how financial pressures put him in a vulnerable position by the early 2000s. When Jackson publicly called Sony CEO Tommy Mottola "a devil" and "racist" in the summer of 2002, he was taking an enormous risk by challenging one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry. Within months, Jackson would find himself embroiled in new controversy following the Martin Bashir documentary, eventually leading to his 2003 arrest and 2005 trial.
We are not going to be able to talk about the 2003 stuff yet, because we need to have an understanding of the first charges that came in 1993. We have to go deep on this. Part of why we are so susceptible to manipulation by the media and powerful financial interests is because we don’t have deep enough knowledge to be able to combat this control. Very powerful forces wanted us to believe MJ was guilty, when if you follow the money and motivations it becomes clear what really happened here.
Square One
If you want to go straight to the source, Danny Wu did incredible work on all of this in his documentary Square One which you can watch here (83 min). It would also help to have a psycological and medical history of Michael Jackson to better understand aspects of his story. His lost child hood, his physical appearance controversy, etc. Danny Wu’s documentary does get into some of that.
Evan Chandler (Father of Jordan Chandler)
To understand Jordan Chandler’s accusation in 1993 we have to start with his father Evan Chandler who is the key figure in this saga. Evan and June Chandler divorced in approximately 1985, when Jordan was around 5 years old.
This timeline means that Evan and June had been divorced for roughly 8 years by the time the allegations against Michael Jackson emerged in 1993. During those 8 years, Evan had limited visitation rights with Jordan while June was the primary custodial parent.
Evan Chandler established himself as a dentist in Beverly Hills with a practice that catered to celebrity clients and he pursued his screenwriting ambitions on the side. Through his dental practice's celebrity connections, he met and became friends with screenwriter J. David Shapiro. Chandler and Shapiro collaborated on the screenplay for "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," which was released in 1993 (coincidentally the same year the allegations against Jackson emerged).
Jordan Meets Michael Jackson
Jordan and his mother met and befriended Michael Jackson through Jordan’s step father David Schwartz. David Schwartz owned a rental car company in Los Angeles and when one of his associates saw MJ on the side of the road with car trouble she helped get MJ to David’s agency. When David found out MJ was coming he called June to have her bring their daughter and his stepson to meet him. June Chandler shared a story with MJ of how Jordan had drawn a picture of him and got MJ to exchange phone numbers. They began talking and developed a friendship. June Chandler (Jordan's mother) then began encouraging the friendship between her son and Jackson. Jackson started spending time with the family, inviting them to Neverland Ranch and on trips.
Evan, who was absent at this time and behind on $70,000 in child support had a new family and was not all that interested in seeing Jordan, until he found out about the MJ friendship. Evan first met MJ in May 1993 and became very friendly with him. He ultimately tried to get MJ to build on a wing of his house or build him a new house so he could stay more often. It became clear that none of that was going to happen and Evan grew distraught about MJ not returning his calls.
June dropped the bomb on him that she, Jordan, and Jordan's half-sister were thinking of going on Jackson's "Dangerous" world tour with him. This possibility of Jordan being out of the country and his influence dropping outraged Evan and that is when he started acting in an irrational and threatening manner.
Evan Shows his cards
In June 1993 Evan Chandler hires attorney Barry Rothman, known for aggressive litigation tactics rather than family law expertise. On July 7 he takes Jordan for his scheduled visitation, but refuses to return him to his mother at the scheduled time. Evan had begun making strange comments and threats to June and made her and David nervous. On July 8-9 David Schwartz (Jordan's stepfather) recorded phone conversations with Evan Chandler in which Evan states "There will be a massacre if I don't get what I want" and "This man [Jackson] is going to be humiliated beyond belief". You can listen for yourself right at 22:13 on Square One if you want to hear it. He talks extensively about how he is using his “nasty” lawyer to get what he wants, and if he doesn’t get it MJ will get destroyed and June will lose custody of Jordan. He spefically says its irrelevant to him if it helps Jordan. Instead of going to police, Evan went to a lawyer “the nastiest son of a bitch I could find”.
While Jordan was in Evan’s custody he started having him see his attorney Barry Rothman for several coaching sessions. Evan had not made any claims against MJ and had denied claims until this period of time with his father. On July 16th Evan sedated him for a dental procedure with a drug called sodium amytal, a drug which makes people massively suggestible. This was reported in a seminal article in GQ October 1994 by Mary A. Fischer, a highly respected investigative reporter. Jordan changed his story about Michael Jackson through the course of this coaching and this unethical use of sodium amytal.
Extortion Time
Instead of going straight to the police, as you would expect a parent to do in this scenario, his attorney Rothman contacts Jackson's representatives demanding a $20 million settlement before going to authorities. MJ’s legal team offers Chandler a deal for 3 scripts, $350,000.00 per script to give Evan and his son Jordan a chance to reconnect because they will be able to write them together. Evan had put in the extortion paperwork that MJ had taken the affections for his father away from Evan by causing him to be star struck. Rothman refused this counter offer. This legal negotiation was interrupted August 16th as June had filed an Ex Parte Motion in court over custody of Jordan so Evan had to appear in court. Evan didn’t say anything about molestation in the court hearing to the family law judge, and the judge ordered him to return Jordan back instantly.
Criminal Case
Evan didn’t return Jordan as ordered. He took him to a child psychiatrist that he had already queried regarding a hypothetical child abuse case, hastily triggering criminal proceedings. This triggered one of the biggest press frenzies in U.S. history with ratings of the news channels going through the roof. Everyday there was a new MJ story, and the media ran with everything. They started waving around 10’s of thousands of dollars for anyone that could say anything bad about MJ.
The criminal investigation process ultimately triggered searches of MJ's property and forced him to undergo nude photography by the police. These photos of MJ’s body were taken to try to corroborate Jordon’s physical descriptions. In the end there was a smoking gun that Jordan’s descriptions did not match. The Linden affidavit from detective Linden, a Santa Barbara investigator exposed that Jordan had claimed that MJ’s penis was circumcised when it was in fact not.
There was a criminal and a civil case brought. The criminal case stalled out with insufficient evidence. The civil case was allowed to continue despite that fact that the criminal case should have legally happened or been dismissed first. The criminal case can put you in jail for life whereas the civil case is only for money.
Legal Trap and Settlement In January 1994
Jackson's legal team found themselves in an impossible position. The judge's ruling that the civil case would proceed before the criminal investigation was complete created a no-win scenario:
If Jackson testified in the civil case, his testimony could be used against him in the criminal investigation to get around his alibis etc.
If he refused to testify by invoking the Fifth Amendment, it would appear suspicious to both the court and the public
Faced with this legal trap, Jackson's attorneys advised settling the civil case for approximately $15-25 million with no admission of wrongdoing. This decision, while legally sound, would haunt Jackson's reputation for the rest of his life. The settlement's aftermath is particularly telling: Jordan Chandler used the money to legally emancipate himself from both parents at age 16, and authorities in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties never filed criminal charges despite their extensive investigation. Perhaps most significant was California's 1994 decision to change its law to prevent civil proceedings from preceding criminal ones in child abuse cases. This was a tacit acknowledgment that the legal process Jackson faced was fundamentally unfair.
The FBI's Role
What many people don't realize is that the FBI extensively investigated Michael Jackson for over a decade. Following the 1993 allegations and continuing through the 2005 trial, the Bureau conducted multiple searches of his properties, monitored his activities, and even assisted local authorities with their investigations. After Jackson's death, the FBI released over 600 pages of files under the Freedom of Information Act, revealing that despite years of scrutiny, they never found evidence supporting criminal charges or possession of illegal materials. This thorough federal investigation, conducted by an agency with vastly more resources and expertise than local police departments, turned up nothing.
Part 3
There is fertile ground here for me to write more and get into subsequent charges, however I think you have enough now to know that a corrupt media, corrupt legal process, and a disgusting star-struck dentist destroyed MJ, rather than MJ’s own actions in 1993. Subsequent charges against MJ follow similar patterns and rely heavily on the fact that MJ settled with the Chandlers in their civil case.
Part 3 will reveal the shocking truth about MJ's medical and security team when he died, and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his will.
Timeline:
May 1992: Jackson meets June and Jordan Chandler
Late June 1993: Evan Chandler hires attorney Barry Rothman, known for aggressive litigation tactics rather than family law expertise
July 7-11, 1993: Jordan Chandler stays with his father Evan for scheduled visitation, but Evan refuses to return him to his mother June at the scheduled time
July 8-9, 1993: David Schwartz (Jordan's stepfather) records phone conversations with Evan Chandler in which Evan states "There will be a massacre if I don't get what I want" and "This man [Jackson] is going to be humiliated beyond belief"
July 11-14, 1993: Custody dispute escalates as Evan attempts to get Jordan to make accusations against Jackson
July 16, 1993: The controversial dental sedation incident allegedly occurs, where Evan Chandler administers sodium amytal to Jordan during a dental procedure
Late July 1993: Initial accusations against Jackson emerge, but only after Jordan's extended stay with his father
Late July 1993: Jackson hires private investigator Anthony Pellicano who interviews Evan Chandler
August 4, 1993: Attorney Rothman contacts Jackson's representatives demanding a $20 million settlement before going to authorities
August 17, 1993: After Jackson refuses to pay, allegations become public and Los Angeles Department of Children's Services and LAPD begin investigating
August 21-22, 1993: Police execute search warrant at Neverland Ranch while Jackson is on tour
September 14, 1993: The Chandlers file a civil lawsuit against Jackson
November-December 1993: Judge rules that the civil case would proceed before the criminal investigation was complete, creating a legal trap for Jackson
January 25, 1994: Jackson settles the civil case for approximately $15-25 million, with no admission of wrongdoing
1994: California changes its law to prevent civil proceedings from preceding criminal ones in child abuse cases, acknowledging the problematic sequence Jackson faced
Sources
Square One: Michael Jackson | Full Documentary by Danny Wu
Was Michael Jackson Framed?: The Untold Story That Brought Down a Superstar by Mary A. Fischer