Idol Chatter

The legacy of Michael Jackson continues as the memory of his passing still remains fresh in our minds. Say a prayer for him and for the Jacksons as they grieve and mourn the death of a son, a brother, and family member: “Dear God, Divine Spirit of love and compassion, Please grace us with your…

My heart goes out to the families, friends and fans of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Billy Mays. I’m not sure I can remember a time when four celebrities passed away so close to each other, and it’s made for a week of mourning, reflections, and retrospectives on television, especially on the news…

Earlier today Jermaine Jackson gave a press conference addressing the few known details surrounding his brother Michael’s death. At the end of his emotional speech he says, “May Allah be with you Michael, always.” Interestingly enough, many media outlets, including The New York Times and ABC News Australia are misquoting this expression of faith. The…

Valentine’s Day 2001 I spent with Michael Jackson and 3,000 of his most adoring fans. At the time the “King of Pop” and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach had started an initiative called “Heal the Kids” which aimed to “restore children’s ‘birthright of nurturing care’.” That evening the two were hosting a panel discussion on how parents…

Michael Jackson’s music is everywhere in the air in New York City today. Walking along this morning, his songs were pouring into the streets from the doorways of shops. There was a crowd of about ten people, outside, singing “I’ll Be There” at the top of their lungs. Even my snooty Brooklyn coffee shop had…

I join with the legions who are mourning the death of Michael Jackson today. As Neil Diamond would have written–and will likely add to his stage version of the song–Michael is “Done Too Soon.” His was a genius that went unmatched when he was in his prime. And his was also a story umatched in…

All movies based on successful novels are going to suffer by comparison with the book for those that have an attachment to the book. Jodi Picoult’s bestseller “My Sister’s Keeper” was a deeply moving, thought-provoking novel that touched women, in particular, of all ages. It certainly is Picoult’s best novel in my opinion, so when…

The marketing department over at video game company Electronic Arts (EA) are geniuses! As promotion for an upcoming video game, Dante’s Inferno, they staged a fake protest outside their recent video game conference in Los Angelos. According to the website Game Politics, protestors carried around signs that read, “EA = anti-Christ” and “My high score…

What a sad day in celebrity news. First Farrah Fawcett’s death and now Michael Jackson Media outlets–including TMZ are reporting that the 50-year-old pop star has died after suffering from cardiac arrest. Michael Jackson wrote this piece for Beliefnet in 2000 titled, “My Childhood, My Sabbath, My Freedom about growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness,…

Even though I am a film buff, I would be the first to say that the Oscars is slowly but surely marching itself into pop culture obscurity. Yesterday’s announcement that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will “broaden the tent” by including ten pictures in the Best Picture category, doubling the category in…

More from Beliefnet and our partners