The real reason Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley got divorced
The so-called King of Pop shocked the world by marrying the King's daughter in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic in 1994. Yes, we are talking about Michael Jackson and Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. Despite the fact that Jackson had previously been linked to other artists, including model Brooke Shields and actress Tatum O'Neal, Lisa Marie possibly marked their first romantic relationship that made headlines for audiences.
Many people criticized the relationship, and there were plenty of reasons why the public believed that the marriage was nothing more than a perfectly designed publicity stunt. However, the couple set out to show that their union was rooted in love, but the dynamic didn't last. Lisa Marie told Jackson to "Beat It" file for divorce in January 1996, just 15 months after their wedding, CNN reported. What happened to this high profile pair? We have all the juicy details on the real reasons Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley got divorced.
Was it all a publicity stunt?
Michael Jackson was still reigning as the King of Pop when he married Lisa Marie Presley, but you wouldn't know that judging from his music sales. The Los Angeles Times, citing SoundScan, reported that sales of Michael Jackson's last album at the time, HISTORY: Past, Present, and Future Book I, were "disappointing," noting that "sales in the United States were less than 2 Million Copies ”through the end of 1995. Compare it to his 1982 album Thriller, which remains the best-selling album of all time, with more than 33 million copies sold worldwide, as of 2018. Did Jackson marry Presley to increase his star power and boost his album sales into overdrive?
A decline in Jackson's music career may not have been the only reason people believed this marriage to be a sham. At the time of their wedding, Presley was also trying to start her own music career. What better way for two artists to get much-needed attention than to embark on an orchestrated romance that is sure to get people talking?
Together but apart
Two people fall in love, start building a life together, and live happily ever after, right? That was not the case with Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. According to a 1996 piece in The Washington Post, "The newlyweds reportedly lived apart in their respective mansions, but appeared together, naked but tastefully wrapped, in Jackson's video" You are not alone. " Can you say thirsty?
This independent arrangement allegedly made sense to those closest to the couple, including Adrian McManus, who worked as Jackson's personal maid at his Neverland ranch. She told the Daily Mail that while Jackson and Presley were dating, she "never saw them have a real genuine romantic interaction." McManus reportedly noted that Presley visited Jackson's house a couple of times, but "he didn't even stay in his room that I can remember; Michael always made her stay in the guest unit or Rose Room. Take this housekeeper's dirt with a grain of salt, but these kinds of reports certainly explain why superstar spouses got divorced so quickly.
She supposedly gave him an ultimatum
Soon after they got married, things supposedly started to unravel for Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson. Towards the end of their brief union, Presley was apparently at his wits' end as well. In a 2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson's ex identified the exact moment that, in her opinion, things got worse between her and her husband. Presley told the talk show that she gave Jackson an ultimatum: it was "the drugs" and the "vampires" or her. Hope for? Vampires?
Winfrey clarified that by "vampires," Presley meant "sycophants" and the people Jackson kept in his life who allegedly took advantage of him. Presley claimed that Jackson made his decision by pushing her away, so what's a girl to do? It didn't take long for Presley to take the necessary steps to end their marriage for good, but did he manipulate the situation by walking out the door?
Timing is everything, and Presley may have won that game
When Lisa Marie Presley filed for divorce in 1996, she may have felt that the only person who was shocked by the decision was Michael Jackson ... but not for the reasons one might think.
When Karen Faye, the pop star's hairstylist and makeup artist, testified during the Jackson family's wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live, she reportedly dropped a bombshell on Jackson and Presley's breakup. According to CNN, Faye claimed that Presley begged Jackson not to file for divorce, and the pop star reportedly relented and promised not to. The next morning, news broke that Presley had filed for divorce, allegedly blinding Jackson in the process. Faye claimed that the King of Pop was upset by Presley's plan. Apparently in Hollyweird, timing a divorce announcement is everything, at least in the court of public opinion, but in the grand scheme of things, it did. Does it really matter for this couple?
She felt 'disposable' around him
Although there was reportedly some resentment at the time of their divorce, Lisa Marie Presley insisted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that Michael Jackson "was not a bad person." However, she apparently knew things between them would never work out, in part, because Jackson actually reminded her a lot of her father, the late Elvis Presley. When she realized all the drugs and doctors that were in and out of Jackson's life, she was truly scared. "I felt it was disposable," he said. And it was the same with my father.
Presley also said that she often felt she had no voice in her marriage, and that she was upset that people who were close to Jackson would not stand up to him either. Jackson's ex described finding herself in a difficult situation, believing that expressing her concerns would only lead to more problems. Because if you did, you'd be out. It's very simple, ”she said.
She says he pressured her to have a baby.
Marie Presley told Oprah Winfrey that Michael Jackson began pressuring her to have a baby from the beginning of their marriage. Presley already had two children from her five-year marriage to musician Danny Keough. "I wanted to [have a child], but I just wanted to make sure," he said. Make sure of what? Thoughts flashed through her mind about potentially having to go through a custody battle with Jackson, which is not exactly what most people think after the blaze of her own wedding.
Shortly after finalizing their divorce in the summer of 1996, it emerged that Debbie Rowe, a nurse who worked in Jackson's doctor's office, was pregnant with Jackson's baby. "I know he was there the whole time telling him he would," Presley alleged. "He was coming to tell me, 'If you're not going to do it, Debbie said she would.'
Jackson and Rowe were married the same year their divorce from Presley was finalized. They reportedly had two children together, Prince Jr. and Paris Jackson, before separating in 1999. Mirror. Lending credence to Presley's concerns, Rowe ended up embroiled in a bitter custody battle after Jackson's death in 2009.
Did he have ulterior motives?
Michael Jackson's former maid, Adrian McManus, described the King of Pop's relationship with Lisa Marie Presley as "strange" in an interview with the Daily Mail. McManus believed that Jackson was using his wife because of her iconic family tree, in particular the fact that she is the daughter of the legendary Elvis Presley. "He thought he could manipulate Lisa Marie to get his father's music catalog, Michael wanted his father's songs, not her," McManus alleged.
McManus said that he "felt sorry for Lisa, as she was really in love with him, and she got carried away by Michael's nice and playful side." When McManus allegedly saw a note on Jackson's "to do" board that read, "I have to get the song list for Elvis," she believed he knew exactly what his real motives were for the marriage. Is it possible that when Jackson realized she couldn't get her hands on Elvis's music catalog, being married to Presley no longer seemed like a good idea?
They tried to reconcile
After their divorce was finalized, Michael Jackson jumped straight into another marriage and pregnancy with the aforementioned Debbie Rowe, but according to Lisa Marie Presley, she and her ex continued to try to work things out between themselves. Presley told Oprah Winfrey in 2010 that although their relationship was in trouble, they spent the next "four years" after the divorce trying to reconcile. Presley said she continued to travel "all over the world with him for years." Finally, she decided she "had to push him away," Presley said. "I was not moving forward with myself."
Presley admitted that even after she left Jackson, she was still "very" in love with him. She said she thought filing for a divorce would wake him up. "I left it to step on the ground," he said. “I was trying to take a stand and say, 'Come with me. Do not do this'". She later referred to her decision to leave Jackson as a "stupid move" and insisted that their relationship had been real.
