Neverland needs to be Never Again

Michael, Are you listening?

Congratulations, you beat it. Whether you're actually guilty or not is now irrelevant. A jury of your peers (which is a stretch for you) has spoken. People love celebrity trials. The verdict will be debated at the water cooler, the local bar, and the dinner table until much like that "We are the World" song, we just get sick of hearing it.

I'm not here to pass judgment. Only a few select people including yourself know the truth. What I do know is that people aren't holding you up on the same lofty pedestal they once were. Sure, you have the ones who tirelessly stood outside the courthouse waving banners and screaming your name. I doubt you'll be having those people over for a Sunday barbecue however. Some were fanatical to the point of just being downright scary. I liked you back in the 80's too, but get real... you've been pretty much a phantom in the music business for years now.

I do hope you're finally getting the message that people are tiring of your somewhat unhealthy adoration of children. It may be innocent, but it looks sick. Grampa used to say if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... chances are it's a duck. You're straddling the fence now of being labeled a pedophile, pervert, or at a minimum just downright creepy. Like many of the children you've frolicked with in the past have done... Michael, it's time to grow up.

Neverland needs to become "Never Again". I can promise you the world does not want to see you on Dateline or Larry King next week running on about how you just love kids and having them sleep in your bed is perfectly innocent. I suspect your family doesn't either. The only people who buy that load of crap are the ones riding your what used to be billion dollar coattails. And behind your back once their check has been cashed... they aren't buying it either.

People are very forgiving and love to see celebrities reinvent themselves. It won't happen next week but the possibility still remains that at some point in the future you may actually have an opportunity to entertain us and sell your music. It will only happen however if you get off this little kid attraction ride you keep seeking out. As much as it hurts I would distance myself from any child that is not my own, or at the least family. And I wouldn't sleep with any of them, ever.

Next time you just might get convicted if for nothing else, being stupid.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Michael, Are you listening?