MICHAEL JACKSON - LA TOYA JACKSON: 'MICHAEL CALLED DAD TO DEAL WITH BULLY BOSSES'

LA TOYA JACKSON: 'MICHAEL CALLED DAD TO DEAL WITH BULLY BOSSES'

MICHAEL JACKSON turned to his father JOE for help when he felt pushy music executives were trying to bully him, according to the King of Pop's sister LA TOYA.
The Thriller hitmaker frequently spoke about the troubled relationship he shared with his father, claiming Joe often beat him and forced him to pursue a career in the limelight from a young age.
But the superstar's sister La Toya insists father and son repaired their fractured relationship in recent years, and she claims they had become so close, Michael called on his dad to help put music promoters in their place just weeks before his death in June (09).
She says, "Michael had a wonderful relationship with my father.
"About two or three weeks before he passed he was having this really big meeting with all these people that were working with him and he said, 'Joseph, I need you to come, I need you to be there because I'm not liking anything these people are doing with me, I want you to be there and tell them like it is.' He even wrote a note to say, 'I must call Joseph to have him there.'"
Her comments contradict those made by the King of Pop's manager Frank DiLeo, who insists Joe called for the summit meeting La Toya is referring to - and insisted his own business manager, Leonard Rowe, take over his son's affairs.
DiLeo recalls the Thriller singer telling him he signed a document Joe Jackson put in front of him, giving Rowe control, because "my dad was standing over me".
But, according to AEG Live boss Randy Phillips, who masterminded Jacko's ill-fated comeback, the meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles backfired on Joe, and prompted Michael to end his brief relationship with Rowe.
Phillips, who was present, told Rolling Stone magazine, "When Joe saw that it wasn't going his way, he got in my face. He said, 'If it weren't for me there wouldn't be a Michael Jackson.'"
The publication reports the King of Pop fired off a letter to Rowe after the heated meeting, writing, "You do not represent me and I do not wish to have any oral or written communications with you regarding the handling of my business and/or personal matters."