To boost the number of alleged Michael Jackson victims, detractors of the entertainer often add people to their list of “victims” who are even more easily discredited than the ones we discuss in the main sections of this website. Two of those people that you will often see mentioned on those list of “victims” are Michael Jacobshagen and Terry George. See those names, for example, on a list of “victims” detractors circulate on social media:

The modus operandi of both men is to exaggerate a fleeting encounter with Jackson into much more, and capitalize on the imaginary friendship by selling stories to tabloids.

So let’s she what Jackson detractors and the tabloid media are not telling you about Jacobshagen and George.

Michael Jacobshagen

Michael Jacobshagen is a German man who claims to have been sexually touched by Jackson while allegedly accompanying the star on his HIStory World Tour and and regularly sleeping in his bed. “He never carried out an explicit sexual act on me, but there were sexual intentions” [1] – Jacobshagen claimed in an interview with the British tabloid, the Sunday Mirror in January 2019. He claimed that Jackson rubbed up against him in bed and because of that he called him his “Rubba Rubba friend” [1]. He claimed that the ways Jackson was touching him made him increasingly more and more uncomfortable. He also alleged that Jackson gave him a personally inscribed book with nude boys as a gift and that one time Jackson took off his shorts in the Jacuzzi and encouraged Jacobshagen to do the same, which he declined.

Jacobshagen never made these allegations until the media frenzy surrounding Leaving Neverland started in early 2019. In actuality, earlier he defended the star against such allegations, including in his 2013 book.

Then, in early 2019, when in the wake of Leaving Neverland selling sexual abuse stories about Michael Jackson became a lucrative business again, he started touring the tabloids with these new allegations. He went to the British tabloid the Sunday Mirror and then appeared on Australian television shows. Taking a page out Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s book he alleged that becoming a father is what made him realize that what allegedly happened to him was wrong. “Since I had a son, it made me look at everything in a different way and I realise now how wrong it was. Becoming a father changed my feelings” [1] – he told the Sunday Mirror.

However, Jacobshagen’s allegations are demonstrably false, starting with the fact that he was never on the HIStory Tour with Michael Jackson. It would have been very easy for the the media and Jackson detractors to fact-check this guy, but apparently the truth is just never a priority to them when it comes to Michael Jackson.

So what is the truth about Michael Jacobshagen? Who is this guy really?

Jacobshagen is a German “fan” (or we can call him ex-fan now, I guess) who did meet with Jackson once in 1998, when he was a child, along with many other fans, but that was the whole extent of their relationship. However, when he grew up he started to exaggerate this one-time meeting and eventually he ended up with a story about a life-long friendship, including claims of traveling with Jackson as a child on the star’s HIStory Tour (although initially he did not make sexual abuse allegations) and claims of being friends with Jackson up until his death. He even published a book about this supposed friendship in 2013, entitled “Will You Be My Friend”.

The reality is that Jacobshagen met Jackson once, in 1998, as a fan when the star stayed in Germany for a couple of days. Jacobshagen was just one of the fans who were running around with Jackson during those couple of days.

Shortly after that, Jacobshagen and his mother appeared on German RTL television, in a celebrity news program Exclusiv – Das Starmagazin, to tell about their experience of meeting Michael Jackson.

In the show Jacobshagen talks enthusiastically of meeting Jackson – and it is clear that is the first and only time that he has ever met the star.

Why is that important? Well, because Jackson’s HIStory Tour took place in 1996/1997. So of course, if Jacobshagen first met Jackson in 1998, then he could not have been traveling around with the star on the HIStory Tour in 1996/1997.

When called out on his lie, Jacobshagen tried to explain it away in a peculiar way: he claimed that Exclusive made it look like he just got to know Jackson in 1998 and they cut out the parts where he told them about their friendship since 1995. Why would Exclusive do that is never explained. Wouldn’t the story be more interesting if it was about an ongoing friendship, rather than just a one-time fan encounter?

The claim that he and his family did not want the media circus is a very dubious claim considering that only a couple of days after meeting Jackson in 1998 they gave an interview to one of the most watched television shows in Germany. If they did not want the attention then why didn’t they simply decline to be interviewed? Instead, they seemed pretty happy to be on television.

The fact is that no one ever saw Jacobshagen on the HIStory Tour with Jackson. Not Jackson’s real friends who really did travel with him on that tour, not his employees who were with him, not his fans. When Jacobshagen posted pictures on his website as “proof” of him being on the HIStory Tour with Jackson, it was another lie. He posted photos of Jackson with this blond-haired boy, claiming that it was him:

Except, it is not Jacobshagen, but Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis.

Jacobshagen not only extended his imaginary friendship with Jackson in a “backwards direction” in time (ie. claiming they had met earlier than they really did), but also in a “forwards direction”, claiming that he was friends with Jackson up until his death. There is absolutely no evidence of that. No one ever saw this guy around Jackson. However, there is plenty of evidence of Jacobshagen being a habitual liar and fantasist, who is trying to capitalize on his imaginary friendship with Jackson: publishing a book, giving interviews to tabloids (now with new sexual abuse allegations, that he never made before), and selling fake memorabilia.



In 2017, a German television program Akte 2017 dedicated a full report to Jacobshagen. The topic of the report was Jacobshagen forging alleged Jackson memorabilia, forging Jackson’s handwriting and then scamming Jackson fans by selling them fake items for a high price. The report can be watched here with English subtitles.

A summary of the report:

First they interview Jacobshagen who repeats his tale of being in regular contact with Jackson since 1998 and then up until his death. Jacobshagen claims that Jackson gave him all those notes that he is selling, to share with the world and the fans. Then they talk to another guy, a Swiss man, Thomas Käppeli who is a big Jackson fan and collector. He spent about 300,000 euros on notes and other memorabilia he bought from Jacobshagen. He started to be suspicious when he once remarked to Jacobshagen how he would like to have something that Jackson wrote about Switzerland, and with a marker rather than a pen. And, lo and behold, the next time him and Jacobshagen met, Jacobshagen brought five notes about Switzerland (“I love Switzerland” etc.) all written with a marker. So this was a big red flag for Käppeli as it was a bit too convenient. Then they show another fan, who noticed something on eBay. There was a “Bad” LP sold for 2 euros and Jacobshagen gave a positive rating for that particular item on eBay. Then a couple of months later this same LP was sold on Jacobshagen’s account – but by the time it was autographed supposedly by Jackson (even though he was dead), and Jacobshagen tried to sell it for 250 euros. The guy noticed it was the same LP because it had a yellow price sticker on it at the exact same location. Then another collector fan is interviewed who wanted to buy an autograph from him. It was on a photo paper that had a identification number on the back side. The guy then searched it on the Internet and it turned out that the particular photo paper was manufactured only years later, so that made him realize it was fake. Also Jacobshagen claimed on his website that a part of his income from these items goes to a particular foundation that fights against child poverty. The TV channel contacted the foundation and they said that they never had any connection with Jacobshagen. On the program they also have a criminal graphologist analyze Jacobshagen’s notes and she clearly says that they are fake. Then they have Thomas Käppeli meet him again, but this time they record the meeting with a hidden camera. During the meeting Jacobshagen admits that he doesn’t pay any tax after the “memorabilia” he is selling. Then the TV program interviews Jacobshagen again. Unsolicited he offers them “real Michael Jackson notes” for 1,000 euros. He claims to have been there when Michael wrote them. Then during the interview they tell him that according to a criminal graphologist his notes are fake. Jacobshagen doesn’t admit them to be fake, he says he has no idea why would the graphologist say that, he was there and they are real. Then they show Michael Jackson’s brother, Jermaine Jackson say he doesn’t have any idea who Jacobshagen is and he is very angry that he uses his family’s name for this. A former German Jackson associate, Dieter Wiesner says that Jacobshagen is a hard core fan and he thinks he really believes what he says, apparently hinting at a mental issue. At the end of the report they mention that meanwhile Jacobshagen took his website off the Internet.

From this 2017 German report, Jacobshagen’s modus operandi is very clear: claiming that he has been a long time friend of Jackson’s and forging his handwriting is one of his specialities. The book that he showed around the media with Jackson’s alleged handwriting, was just another one of his many forgeries. That Jackson supposedly called him his “Rubba Rubba friend” is a transparent attempt at attaching himself to old tabloid stories about Jackson. That Jackson called his friends “Rubba” is a well known fact, but it was the tabloid media that tried to turn that into something suggestive and sinister and they were the ones who came up with the interpretation that it was a reference to Jackson “rubbing himself against boys”. The reality is something completely different. It is actually a short for “Rubberhead” and according to a September 19, 2017 deposition of Mary Coller, a personal assistant for Jackson in the late 1980s, Jackson called everyone “rubba” and it was a term of endearment that he came up with his producer, Quincy Jones.

Jacobshagen has been infamous in the Jackson fandom for many years. Jackson fans have been warning each other of Jacobshagen’s scams way before he even made sexual abuse allegations against Jackson.

This one is from 2013:

This one is from 2015:

Last, but not least here is a great interview with a German Michael Jackson fan, Chantal Obrist where she talks about all the information that has come out about Jacobshagen over the years. She mentions that as of 2019 there is an ongoing criminal investigation in Germany against Jacobshagen for fraud.

Terry George

Terry George never filed a lawsuit against Jackson and in fact never reported his allegations to authorities but he was a frequent source for British tabloid stories in the wake of the 1993 Chandler scandal and has since been at their disposal whenever a tabloid story about Michael Jackson being inappropriate with children is required.

George, a disc jockey at the time, gained notoriety on August 29, 1993 when only six days after the Chandler case was first reported by the media, he appeared in British tabloids claiming that Jackson had been inappropriate with him in 1979, when Jackson was 20 and he was 13 years old.

George was a celebrity-obsessed teenager who regularly sought out celebrities, sneaked into their hotels to meet them, asked for their autographs and hoarded photos and taped interviews of them. As an adult George, among other things, ran a gay adult phone chat service, which is noteworthy considering the type of allegations he makes, as you will see. He still likes to present himself as someone associated with celebrities. According to George, he met Michael Jackson in a hotel in February of 1979 while the Jacksons were on tour in the UK. He actually taped an interview with Michael and his brother, Randy, which was later aired on local radio stations. After the interview, George claimed, Michael Jackson asked for his telephone number and Jackson then regularly called him for about three months. George alleged that during these phone calls Jackson was once inappropriate with him, speaking about masturbation and masturbating while he was on the phone with him.

In the article it is claimed that the phone contact ended when George’s parents realized that he had run up a high telephone bill calling the US. (Please take note of the fact that it was George who was calling the US and also that even according to his own story it was George who was stalking the star, not the other way around.) George then tried to reach Jackson from a phone box but claimed that Jackson would not take his calls: according to one of the original 1993 tabloid articles “it became clear his superstar friend didn’t want to know” [2].

George, however, kept stalking Jackson. According to the article, “the final rejection came four years later when Terry tried to rekindle their friendship when Jackson came to London again. Terry tracked him down and was even photographed alongside his idol, but now the management were on hand to issue the polite brush-off.” [2]

In the article George concludes that Jackson rejected him because he was no longer a child, however this contradicts the earlier claim that Jackson actually refused to take his phone calls four years earlier, when George was still 13.

In a 2003 documentary entitled Louis, Martin & Michael and made by British broadcaster, Louis Theroux, George spoke about his alleged “friendship” with Jackson. George proudly recalled his phone conversations with Jackson as a happy and joyful experience. It is Theroux who brings up his 1993 tabloid allegation that Jackson was inappropriate with him on the phone. George is reluctant to talk about that and claims what was printed “came out really without my authority” [3]. (Even though the tabloids in 1993 quoted him directly, not just some second hand source about his story.) When Theroux asks him if the story was true, George claims “parts of it are true” [3] but adds that papers twisted and sensationalized it. Then, after stating he did not want to talk about that because “it is well documented in the papers” [3], he tries to go back to discussing what a great “friendship” allegedly he had with Jackson. [3]

Unfortunately the contradiction between the story being “well documented” in the papers and the claim that papers twisted and sensationalized it, is not resolved in the interview and George makes no attempt to make it clear what parts of the story, according to his current position, are true and what parts are not.

In the Theroux interview, George also says that it is unfortunate that the focus of the media has been on this small detail of the story, when they had such a great “friendship” otherwise. We are to believe that when George went to the tabloid media with these claims, six days after the Chandler allegations became public, he did not know what impact this story would have and what people would focus on. In actuality, it is safe to say that this hook, the masturbation claim, is just what George needed to include in his story to be picked up and printed by the tabloid media at all and to lend George national and international notoriety. Why did he make his allegations in the tabloids, which are known to pay money for such claims, instead of contacting the prosecutors in the Chandler case?

In January 2005, on his website George criticized tabloids for rehashing his story from 1993 and claiming that he would be a prosecution witness at Jackson’s upcoming trial. Despite this criticism and George’s claim to Theroux that the original story had been released without his authority, sensationalized by the media and that the “small detail” about the alleged masturbation had received disproportionate attention, in February 2005, shortly after Jackson’s trial began, George appeared in Martin Bashir’s slanderous documentary entitled Michael Jackson’s Secret World and rehashed the original story that was printed in the tabloids in 1993, adding even more focus on the masturbation claim.

Although the tabloid articles in 1993 claimed that George was ready to help investigators in the Chandler case, he never did. Based on Jackson’s FBI files, the FBI monitored George’s claims in the tabloid media, but then the prosecution never used him. Either the prosecution did not consider him credible and/or he was not willing to repeat his claims under oath and subject himself to a cross-examination about them. In 2005, on his website, he vehemently denied media reports that claimed he would be a prosecution witness at Jackson’s upcoming trial. Instead of testifying at Jackson’s trial and subjecting himself to cross-examination he chose to smear Jackson in the media and in Bashir’s documentary. His platform to make allegations against the star was always only the media and mainly the tabloids which are known to pay money for such allegations. George never testified about his claims under oath and was never cross-examined about them.

In 2009, in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death, George once again made his rounds in the British media, now posing as a “friend” of the star and recounting stories with very questionable credibility. According to a June 28, 2009 Mirror article, George conveniently claimed that just before his death Jackson called him to apologize and they made up. “He phoned me out of the blue and we both made our peace about what had happened in the past. I’ve forgiven him for what happened” [4]. Not surprisingly, he had no evidence for this alleged phone call and once again we are just supposed to take George’s word for it.

George also used the opportunity to make false statements in order to promote a website he set up in 2005, Gone Too Soon, curiously bearing the name of a Michael Jackson song, although it has no association with the star.

“Terry also revealed that Jacko had taken a strong interest in the website he’d founded, Gonetoosoon.org – where users post tributes to people who die young. “He had been on the site and said he was touched to see some of the messages,” he said. “It had left him very sad and emotional.” [4]

On Twitter he likes to act as a friend of Jackson’s, often trying to attach himself to Jackson fans and hypocritically admonishing tabloids for “writing sh** about me and Michael Jackson” when he is the one feeding those tabloid stories.

So while there is no evidence of Terry George’s allegations (and consider that he often taped his conversations with celebrities), there is plenty evidence of his opportunism.

Sources:

[1] Patrick Hill – ‘Michael Jackson called me Rubba Rubba boy in bed and I now realise he abused me’ (January 27, 2019)

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/michael-jackson-called-rubba-rubba-13912812

[2] Tabloid articles of Terry George from 1993 attached to Jackson’s FBI files as released in 2009

http://vault.fbi.gov/Michael%20Jackson/Michael%20Jackson%2062%20File%20Part%201%20of%203/view (page 3)

[3] Interview with Terry George from the documentary “Louis, Martin & Michael” (documentary by Louis Theroux, November 16, 2003)

[4] First target of Michael Jackson’s obsession with boys says: ‘What he did was wrong.. but I forgive him’ (Mirror, June 28, 2009)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/first-target-of-michael-jacksons-obsession-402845