Jacksons Furious At Funeral Coverage
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WENN.com
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Saturday, September 05, 2009
Randy Jackson has hit out at the media after some outlets deployed helicopters to cover his brother Michael's private funeral ceremony -- demanding they pull the footage from any future broadcasts.
The King of Pop was laid to rest at the Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park on Thursday evening, more than two months after his tragic demise in June.
Following the star-studded public memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in July, only a select group of family and close friends was allowed to the outdoor ceremony.
Macaulay Culkin, actor Chris Tucker, and best friend Elizabeth Taylor were some of the attendees at the outdoor ceremony, which saw around 200 guests pay their last respects to the "Thriller" hitmaker.
But despite allowing cameras in to record the guests arriving at the ceremony, the Jacksons are furious that some press organizations sent helicopters to film the funeral.
The late superstar's brother Randy has spoken out -- insisting a private family gathering was no place for the world's media.
In a statement, he says, "As a family, we are all aware of how Michael's life, and his death, touched so many around the world. It is why we held a public memorial in my brother's honor. And it is the reason we chose to release a small amount of footage leading up to yesterday's ceremony at Forest Lawn.
"I was dismayed last night and again today at the coverage I saw on television of our ceremony for Michael. We had asked the media to respect the privacy and the sanctity of this event; to give us one moment of privacy to mourn as a family out of the public spotlight.
"Unfortunately, despite a no-fly zone around Forest Lawn, many media organizations decided to ignore our wishes. They employed helicopters that not only surreptitiously recorded our private family ceremony, but also severely disrupted it."
"I therefore ask today that media organizations airing helicopter footage of the ceremony we held for my brother immediately pull that footage from their air and refrain from airing it in the future."
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