Though it’s kind of a case of too little too late, Jermaine Jackson released a statement saying that he regrets making the Jackson family’s matters public by opposing Michael’s will and he will take his name from the protest letter that was sent to the estate.
“Mistakes have been made and irrational things have been said on both sides in a highly charged emotional environment,” Jermaine Jackson wrote. “It is time for us all to draw a line in the sand and move towards peace, co-operation, love and healing.”
Jermaine said he regrets that things were allowed to get to the point where it was causing distress to his mother Katherine and to Michael’s three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket. Because Jermaine and his siblings removed Katherine from the family home in Calabasas and brought her to Arizona for 10 days, a Los Angeles judge took away her guardianship and granted custody to her grandson T.J. Jackson, Tito’s son. Katherine and T.J. have come to agreement on shared custody, though it has yet to be approved by the judge.
The matter came to a head when Janet, Randy and Jermaine went to the Calabasas home to talk to the children and the matter escalated into a physical confrontation that was partially captured on surveillance video. Since then, the estate has barred them from visiting the house.
“Enough has become enough… After much soul-searching, it is clearly time for us to live by Michael’s words about love not war,” Jermaine stated. “Accordingly, I rescind my signature from the letter which was sent to the Estate, and which should never have gone public.”
He said he still holds “deep reservations about many issues involving the Estate” and “will continue to bring scrutiny and a resolute voice wherever we have cause for concern”—but in the future he will do it in private.
“My primary concern has only ever been rooted in the welfare of our mother in the environment where she lives,” he continues. “We are also still raw from the loss of Michael three years ago. … So when it comes to the well-being of loved ones, and especially our mother, we are perhaps understandably and unapologetically over-protective.”
Michael’s longtime friend Diana Ross, who was named in his will as a backup guardian after his mom, reportedly told the Associated Press that “All interests are best served if it remains private.”
A friend of Ross told the Daily Beast that Diana was surprised to find her name in Michael’s will. Although she’s fond of the kid, “Diana has no intention of taking those kids,” the source said. “She has her own life on the East Coast and wouldn’t want to uproot them to come live there. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone, particularly those kids.”
