Travis Payne interview

[rainny]

Hello,


I'm watching it. I read either here or on the TINI forum

that one of the red flags that MJ wasn't well had been

that he gradually went to rehearsals later during day

and sometimes not at all.

According to Travis, it was him who was going to MJ's

house at 2:00 pm for rehearsals.

 

[Mechi]

Randy Phillips said in a telephone interview also that Michael sometimes didn't show up at all or didn't show up in time. They had a 'serious' talk about it... as Randy had to explain to Michael that all these ppl waiting actually costs money.
Think it's in one of the three parts of this interview on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rauHdberFw8

So I guess what's true for sure is that Michael missed at times starts of rehearsal or didn't even go there at all. Who got him there... well as it seems to have been more often I guess different ppl got him at different times.
If Randy told Michael 'whatever' seriously... be sure that was not adding to their friendship. Michael was used to being the king... if ppl have to wait ppl have to wait. I'm sure he thought like that and was used to it like that. Gosh I know that from only my boss behaving exactly like that. I always think it's simply not polite lol as I was brought up differently but well... everybody is treating her this way that it simply is her right. So I strongly guess that it wasn't any different with Michael.
But as AEG was paying a lot for the concerts in advance... or let's say everything for him... they surely had a way of creating some pressure on him.

Maybe Travis was send cuz he had his ways to get Michael to do something? just some kind of a good connection probably...

 

[rainny]

Thank you, Mechi


About Michael being respectful or not of other people's time,

I have heard contradicting stories.

Anyway....

Did the reason for him being late to This is It rehearsals or not showing

up at all have to do with him not feeling well as suggested by

some?

 

[Mechi]

Thank you, Mechi


About Michael being respectful or not of other people's time,

I have heard contradicting stories.

Anyway....

Did the reason for him being late to This is It rehearsals or not showing

up at all have to do with him not feeling well as suggested by

some?

Well the only thing I read indicating that could be the fact that all ppl involved in TII were not allowed to talk about it unless they have official permission to do promotion for the movie, like Ortega, Phillips etc.
They all had to sign some confidentiality stuff... I'll see if I'll find the link to which journalist said so... I think it was the LAT? but I'm not sure... there was an article somewhere, where it says that even in the movie in a part even Ortega sounds more than worried when telling Michael to please hold on or something? I know I've read that made the journalist ask other ppl who have been there about Michaels condition at the rehearsals in general and also when showing up 'late' but they have all turned him down and told him that they can't talk or even are not allowed to talk about anything.

 

[Serenity3104]

Honestly I think the fact that he was showing up late or not at all tells us something. Like you, Rainny, I have read many stories or interviews with ppl about how respectful Michael is/was of practice/recording time, often times apologizing profusely. This doesn't sound like the same Michael. So what was really going on? Was he not feeling well? Was he so anxious about not wanting to do the shows that he "dragged" into rehearsal or just chose not to go? Depressed? Distraught? Pressured? I really wish I knew....

Mechi, I totally get what you're saying about the "bosses" attitude and maybe Michael was like that at times, I don't know, but its hard for me to believe. I can't recall WHO told the story but the other guy named Michael, whom MJ asked did he know what their name meant, and it meaning "most like God" and that they couldn't be egotistical about it, it kind of contradicts the "big boss" attitude as far as the time issues go, now wanting everything to be perfect is a different story lol.

 

[rainny]

Those who saw that Michael was no longer leaving the

house by 2:00 pm must have seen whether Travis was

going to MJ's house or not. If he was, it solves part of

the mistery in that they were now rehearsing at home.

Doesn't it?

We do know with certainty that MJ showed up a couple

of hours late to Uri Geller's wedding and the press conference

conference in London although the second could have

been planned (?).

 

[Autumn II]

Well the only thing I read indicating that could be the fact that all ppl involved in TII were not allowed to talk about it unless they have official permission to do promotion for the movie, like Ortega, Phillips etc.
They all had to sign some confidentiality stuff... I'll see if I'll find the link to which journalist said so... I think it was the LAT? but I'm not sure... there was an article somewhere, where it says that even in the movie in a part even Ortega sounds more than worried when telling Michael to please hold on or something? I know I've read that made the journalist ask other ppl who have been there about Michaels condition at the rehearsals in general and also when showing up 'late' but they have all turned him down and told him that they can't talk or even are not allowed to talk about anything.

The "hold on" statement was in the TII movie, when Michael was on the cherry-picker (crane elevated above the audience). I found that VERY strange at the time, when I saw it in the movie. In performances Michael would go high above the audience, and sometimes hang off the cherry-picker just holding on with hands and feet. It always seemed quite dangerous to me! (Remember the incident where the Asian guy jumped on the cherry picker WITH Michael and Michael held onto him?)

So in the movie, Michael gets on the cherry-picker. Ortega told him to "hold on," more than once. He sounded quite worried. But why? What possible reason would he have to think that Michael would FALL off of there? Unless he passed out or something? Michael was standing, and the cherry-picker was moving very slowly. Given what he did on it during performances, and how athletic that was, WHY would Ortega think there would be any risk during a rehearsal? Made no sense, unless he was worried about Michael's state of consciousness or balance? And if he was to "hold on" during rehearsals, he surely would be doing very athletic things during an actual performance? Made no sense. . . . .

 

[funkyfish]

I thought ortega told him to hold on cause it was the first time trying the cherry picker out..so it was more about worrying about the cherry picker malfunctioning rather than mj falling off?
That said it was the first time mj had been on one of them in 12 odd years, maybe ortega was a little worried..the last thing they needed was something to go wrong on the cherry picker...they'd already postponed some of the shows... Idk i just like kenny lol.

 

[rainny]

So in the movie, Michael gets on the cherry-picker. Ortega told him to "hold on," more than once. He sounded quite worried. But why? What possible reason would he have to think that Michael would FALL off of there? Unless he passed out or something? Michael was standing, and the cherry-picker was moving very slowly. Given what he did on it during performances, and how athletic that was, WHY would Ortega think there would be any risk during a rehearsal? .

Like Funkyfish has said, I too thought there were trying

the cherry picker, and that it must have been the reason.

Having said that, MJ didn't seem o.k to me in some parts

of those rehearsals, and I do think the follower fans were

concerned for a reason.

 

[kasume]

Maybe late arrivals aren't new to him.

I remember hearing he arrived three hours late for his TII announcement.

And since it was brought up that Michael missed rehearsald or was late,
in the past, did Michael ever miss rehearsals or arrive late?

And about the cherry picker, I thought Kenny was just being cautious since it's been while that Michael's got on one.

 

[indranee]

I don't think it's that black and white. he was obviously not "hale and hearty". he was 50, almost 51. getting ready for a grueling set of shows. getting ready for a time zone change (we know he hated that). getting ready for a comeback that, to a lesser man, would be cause for canceling the whole thing. but he pressed on.

watching the movie, it seemed to me he still loved and adored being on stage. when the juices were flowing, he was loving it... LOVING IT. his smiles and gestures and words and just... his entire being told me that.

but that doesn't mean he was eating well (he wasn't), getting enough sleep and staying calm. something was obviously wrong and he wasn't dealing with it well. hiring Murray was just one sign.

anyway, I can't deal with this right now so I'm gonna stop talking about it. it's too painful.

 

[Mechi]

Well the only thing I read indicating that could be the fact that all ppl involved in TII were not allowed to talk about it unless they have official permission to do promotion for the movie, like Ortega, Phillips etc.
They all had to sign some confidentiality stuff... I'll see if I'll find the link to which journalist said so... I think it was the LAT? but I'm not sure... there was an article somewhere, where it says that even in the movie in a part even Ortega sounds more than worried when telling Michael to please hold on or something? I know I've read that made the journalist ask other ppl who have been there about Michaels condition at the rehearsals in general and also when showing up 'late' but they have all turned him down and told him that they can't talk or even are not allowed to talk about anything.

Well I can't find the article anymore. It wasn't the LAT and I didn't save the link. I am sorry. Just remember it was a journalist thinking Michael didn't seem too well during reahearsals...

 

[kasume]

I don't think it's that black and white. he was obviously not "hale and hearty". he was 50, almost 51. getting ready for a grueling set of shows. getting ready for a time zone change (we know he hated that). getting ready for a comeback that, to a lesser man, would be cause for canceling the whole thing. but he pressed on.

watching the movie, it seemed to me he still loved and adored being on stage. when the juices were flowing, he was loving it... LOVING IT. his smiles and gestures and words and just... his entire being told me that.

but that doesn't mean he was eating well (he wasn't), getting enough sleep and staying calm. something was obviously wrong and he wasn't dealing with it well. hiring Murray was just one sign.

anyway, I can't deal with this right now so I'm gonna stop talking about it. it's too painful.

I agree with you, but there was going to be no time zone change. Michael was going to live in London for those months he performed. I think the house was already picked out. I was happy when I found that out, that way he didn't have to deal with time zone changes.

 

[MJJLaugh]

I saw the 5+ parts of the Travis Payne interview and I now believe that
a) Travis is good guy who really admires and respects MJ, this is clear from the way he talks about him and their encounters
b) EVERYONE,under contract with AEG, had a gag-order and could only say positive things but there are (tiny) disprecancies: he said at one point that his health was fine and his weight was at the level MJ wanted it to be. Yet, he later also reports that in the 3 extra hours on the DVD you will see MJ eating all the time. Kenny was cutting up his chicken and they did all sorts of things and planned scheduled breaks to make sure that MJ would eat.

To me, these actions contradict his spoken belief that his weight was fine. They were concerned about him and wanted him to eat, made sure that he ate, planned breaks and lunches so that MJ would eat.

Travis is a good guy, as is Kenny and I trust both of them yet I also believe they have been told by higher powers what to say and what not to say in interviews.