Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: The Tragedy Of Michael Jackson

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach wrote an opinion piece on the Michael Jackson child molestation charges for The Jewish Week. The former friend and adviser for the King of Pop said, “What really upset them was when I pushed Michael to publicly distribute books to poor children in Newark. I knew how much Michael loved children, so this puzzled me. But lecturing me in Michael’s hotel suite, his manager told me: ‘Shmuley, you want to make Michael normal. What you don’t understand is that he’s famous because he’s not normal.’ Humans are not gods, and when the public expects them to be gods, they must conceal or dismiss their humanity in an effort not to appear to be ordinary. It is against this backdrop that much of Michael’s bizarre behavior must be understood. But while some view Michael as the most obvious example of an irresponsible celebrity, and he must indeed take responsibility for his actions, I believe that people like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera are not far behind. Their antics have sexualized our children.”