LaToya Jackson releases a new memoir, which contains details about the final days of Michael Jackson and more tidbits about her life with their family and her former husband.
“Starting Over” hits bookshelves today, June 21, which is also the release date of LaToya Jackson’s new EP record by the same name. The 55-year-old gained new fans this year after starring on the fourth season of Donald Trump’s NBC reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
Her new book “sheds new light on the dynamics of the Jackson family and discloses the truth behind the curtain of secrecy and intrigue that has surrounded her brother Michael and the rest of the Jackson children,” a message on LaToya Jackson’s website said. “She will explain her estrangement and her gradual reconciliation with one of America’s most famous families.”
LaToya Jackson had said on her Twitter page earlier this month that she “left nothing out” of “Starting Over,” the follow-up to her 1991 book “La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family.”
“Every question about me you ever wanted answered, is in this book!” LaToya Jackson Tweeted.”This is my autobiography, it’s tells everything that has happened in my life since my last book in 1991, 20 years ago. I’m reading it now in my hotel room in Las Vegas and I can’t believe as I read it over again all that I’ve written, WOW!”
LaToya Jackson is the older sister of Janet and Michael Jackson and grew up with them, their brothers and their parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson. Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and LaToya Jackson have said in the past their father was abusive, which he has denied.
Michael Jackson died in 2009 at age 50 and LaToya Jackson joined her family, including the singer’s three children, on stage at a Los Angeles tribute ceremony that was broadcast around the world.
She says in her book that she learned a lot about her brother’s well-being in the days before his death and that his daughter Paris told her that “Daddy was always cold” and that “he would always cry,” according to the Associated Press.
LaToya Jackson told OnTheRedCarpet.com in 2010 that she planned to continue some of her late brother’s charity work.
Dr. Conrad Murray faces a September trial after being accused of involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s death. He has pleaded not guilty. LaToya Jackson says in “Starting Over” that she confronted Murray in the hospital shortly after her brother was pronounced dead and that he gave her only “evasion and excuses.” He has not commented.
LaToya Jackson writes that following her brother’s death, she found his bedroom “torn to pieces,” with furniture overturned and items scattered about, the AP said.
The book “Starting Over” also contain details about LaToya Jackson’s “journey to hell and back at the hands of her former manager and husband, Jack Gordon.”
She has said in the past that Gordon, who is 20 years older than her, forced her to marry him, controlled her life for about 10 years and also physically abused her. Gordon had denied her allegations. He died in 2005 at age 66.
LaToya Jackson began her entertainment career early. She starred with her siblings on the CBS variety show, “The Jacksons” and began a solo career in 1980. She appeared on the short-lived CBS reality show, “Armed & Famous” and on the British reality series “Celebrity Big Brother.”
On “The Celebrity Apprentice,” which shows celebrities putting together marketing campaigns to try and sell a product while winning money for charity, LaToya Jackson was deemed a consistently weaker player when compared to more dominant personalities such as Star Jones and NeNe Leakes. Country singer John Rich ultimately won the season.
“Starting Over” the music EP is a project that has been in the works since 2003. LaToya Jackson has said it is also autobiographical. Check out a promo for LaToya Jackson’s book and EP below.
