History of personal, legal woes

MICHAEL JACKSON’S personal and legal troubles over the years:

January 27, 1984: Jackson’s hair catches fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

1993: Jackson faces child abuse investigation that never results in criminal charges. He reportedly pays a multimillion-dollar civil settlement while maintaining his innocence.

November 13, 2002: Jackson testifies in a $21 million lawsuit against him by concert organiser Marcel Avram, who accuses Jackson of backing out of two concerts on New Year’s Eve 1999. Jackson has wide, ghostly eyes, unusually pale skin, and traces of a beard and moustache. He also appears to have a bandage hanging from his hollowed-out nose.

November 19, 2002: Jackson causes an international uproar when he displays his baby, Prince Michael II, to fans by dangling him briefly from a fourth-floor balcony in Germany. Jackson later calls the incident a “terrible mistake”, and Berlin authorities say the actions are not punishable.

February, 2003: In a television documentary broadcast in Britain and America, Jackson tells interviewer Martin Bashir he has shared a bed with many children not related to him. “When you say bed you’re thinking sexual,” the singer says during the interview. “It’s not sexual, we’re going to sleep. I tuck them in. It’s very charming, it’s very sweet.”

March 13, 2003: A Santa Barbara County jury rules that Jackson must pay Mr Avram $5.3 million.

November 19, 2003: A day after law enforcement agents raid his Neverland Ranch seeking evidence, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department says an arrest warrant has been issued for Jackson for multiple counts of child molestation.