I initially was hesitant to get this book because the title alone, A Real-Life Fairy Tale: Michael Jackson and Me, looks like a title for a Michael Jackson fanfiction. I used to read One Direction fanfictions during my freshman year of high school, but I grew out of that phase quickly. Then I heard about Arus Tee’s story on a YouTube channel called, MJFANGIRL TV, where she talks about meeting Michael and supporting him during his 2005 trial. Stories like that highlight Michael as a human being through his fan interactions. Tee’s story encouraged me to purchase A Real-Life Fairy Tale through Amazon a week later. Ironically enough, the author of the book, Talitha Linehan, met and became friends with Tee through the Michael Jackson fan community.
Linehan recounts how she first discovered Michael through The Wiz (1978), her first time seeing him live on the Dangerous tour, him noticing her on the HIStory tour, supporting him during the 2005 trial, and meeting him multiple times from 2000 to 2009, including on June 25, 2009 when he returned from rehearsals for the ill-fated This Is It shows. Before diving further into my review, I want to highlight that this book is not for everyone! The way Linehan talks about Michael makes it seem like he was her lover and all the stuff about him caressing her cheek, making her heart flutter, it was a lot to take in. It’s still a lot to take in as I’m typing all of this out. Early in the book when Linehan talks about her destiny to love Michael, I was like, “What the hell am I reading?” Yet, I couldn’t stop reading it! Her feelings for Michael were genuine and I give her mad props for telling her story because that must not have been easy for her to do.
It was cool reading about the life of a Michael Jackson fan. Saving enough money to attend multiple shows on the HIStory tour, queuing up to get the best spot at the shows, traveling out of the country (Linehan is from Ireland) to see Michael for events in and outside of the U.S., and meeting some of his crew members, including guitarist Jennifer Batten. Plus, reading Linehan’s book was the closest thing I got to experiencing Neverland Ranch, Michael’s home that unfortunately became the “crime scene” for the child sexual abuse allegations against him. Speaking of the allegations, my favorite part of the book was when Linehan talks about the 2005 trial, which was the result of a fabricated and misleading documentary, Living with Michael Jackson (2003), created by Martin Bashir. Unsettlingly enough, Linehan met the accuser, Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time, during her first visit to Neverland in February 2003; she hung out and had dinner with him and his siblings.
Linehan was lucky to secure a media pass to the courthouse throughout the entire trial, meaning she got to see everything that went down with Michael, District Attorney Tom Sneddon, and the journalists who were obsessed with bashing Michael at every chance they got. Or should I say “bashiring” Michael at every chance they got? Bad joke? Ok, nevermind! Linehan recalls a conversation she had with a young journalist from a British tabloid who said she was incredibly busy during the first half of the trial printing sensational headlines, as a result of the prosecution team presenting their case. But when the defense team had their turn to prove Michael’s innocence, the editor was less interested in the case. Some journalists gave false statements to sway the public opinion against Michael, despite there being evidence saying otherwise. Luckily, not everyone was convinced of the lies that the media were adding fire to. A Santa Maria local who Linehan befriended said he was 90% sure that Michael was guilty, but after attending several court sessions, he was convinced that Michael was innocent and Sneddon had a personal vendetta against him.
Michael’s comedian friend, Chris Tucker, gave a testimony against the Arvizo family. You see, it was revealed that Gavin’s mother, Janet Arvizo, was a money hungry devil, as she committed perjury previously and defrauded the welfare system of about $18,000. The icing on the cake was Gavin admitting during his testimony that he was upset at Michael for distancing himself from him and his family following the release of Bashir’s documentary. That led to Sneddon teaming up with the family to sue Michael under the premise that he was abusing Gavin after the documentary’s release. Tucker sensed that there was something suspicious about the Arvizo family and warned Michael to stay away from them, especially Janet. During the cross-examination, Sneddon held up a photo of Tucker with the Arvizo family, but when Tucker asked if he could have the photo after the trial, Sneddon responded with, “That depends on whether you’re a good boy or not” (page 104). Despite the shock in the courtroom at Sneddon’s out-of-line comment, it garnered very little coverage in the media because all they cared about was taking the King of Pop down. Michael was acquitted of all charges on June 13, 2005 and though Linehan never asked him about the trial throughout their friendship, he brought it up few times, including a late-night conversation in September 2008 with a tear-jerking statement from Michael (pages 107-108):
“My mother always told me, Katherine [Jackson] always told me that. She used to look at me across the room and say, ‘You’re just like me. You’re going to get hurt. You’re going to get used. There are people who are going to use you.’ I didn’t know there were people in the world like that, so evil. I thought that was just in the movies. I didn’t know they existed in real life. I trust people. I always see the best in people. I can be so naïve. So during the trial, there were evil people, but there were also so many beautiful people that came out, beautiful people like you.”
During the trial, Linehan also had her fair share of hardships which include losing touch with a friend she met on the HIStory tour, being exposed to fan politics, pursuing her dream of moving to Los Angeles, and replaying the possibility of losing Michael forever. It was during this section of the book that made me look at Linehan in a different light. Knowing Michael went through hell during the trial, all she wanted was for him to get away as far as possible and find peace within himself again. Though she just moved to America, she was willing to never see Michael again, if it meant he was safe and happy. Linehan wasn’t one of those obsessed fans who invaded Michael’s personal space nor was she one of those fans who wanted Michael all to herself like some psycho. She actually cared for him and wanted him to feel loved because that’s the type of person she was. Of course, fate would allow her to meet up with Michael again in 2007, but at the time, she was willing to step back and give him his space, so props to Linehan for that!
Also in Michael’s defense, Michael loved his fans. That’s why in some ways, he encouraged his fans to follow him wherever he traveled to. Linehan, in particular, had this bright light that Michael discovered through their early encounters and grew very fond of her. Even his kids grew fond of her; heck Paris Jackson used to talk to her about Hello Kitty. I’m not a Michael Jackson expert, but I know that Michael was a broken human being, even more so after the trial. Therefore, it was hard for him to accept love and that he was capable of receiving such love from anyone, including his fans. Linehan did everything in her power to make sure he felt love through her letters, gifts, and hugs. As a result, Michael felt safe with her.
Another cool thing about A Real-Life Fairy Tale was learning about what Michael was like as a father. He spent every moment he could with his children (Prince, Paris, and Blanket; the latter now goes by Bigi), making sure they did everything together as a family. Besides love and affection, he also made sure to give them the childhood he never had. It was actually Elizabeth Taylor’s idea to have the children wear masks in public and though the press shamed Michael for covering their faces in public, he had a good reason to do so. He wanted to protect them from the media scrutiny and harm he suffered from since his Jackson 5 days. Michael admitted to Bashir that he was terrified about his children being kidnapped and murdered if they were identifiable. Linehan says that Michael raised his children by himself with only help from their nanny Grace Rwaramba; he taught them to be kind and respectful, but also to have a sense of innocence and wonder.
Probably the eeriest part of the book was the This Is It era, which if you watch the documentary film, This Is It (2009), it’s like watching a ghost deteriorate further before your eyes. Michael actually called Linehan on March 3, 2009 at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, to say he just landed in London for the press conference to announce the This Is It residency at the O2 Arena in London, England. This part of the book was extremely frustrating to digest because it became painfully obvious that AEG Live, the concert promoter for the shows, didn’t give a dang about him. First of all, buyers were only limited to purchasing four tickets for the entire tour. Second of all, most tickets, especially the ones seated in the front rows of the venue, went on sale not to the public directly, but through a ticket resale agency called Viagogo, which was charging a ridiculous amount of money for tickets. This meant that the people in the front rows wouldn’t be filled with Michael’s hardcore fans; they’d be filled with rich people who could afford to pay the expensive ticket prices. Don’t even get me started on the number of shows increasing from 10 to 50!
On May 29, 2009, Michael admitted privately to a group of fans, including Linehan, that they got the schedule wrong too. It was supposed to be, “Show, day off, show, day off, show, day off” (page 237). I’m not exactly sure what the scheduled dates were, but it became obvious that Michael was overwhelmed about preparing for the shows. “I work so hard. But I’m only one man. There is only so much I can do,” says Michael (page 237). The fans knew something was up, which is why Michael’s entourage were told to keep them away from Michael after a British tabloid posted what Michael said at the May 29th meeting because AEG Live didn’t want any more bad press about him being unhappy with the residency. To quote one of Michael’s songs: “Anything, anything / Anything for money / Would lie for you / Would die for you / Even sell my soul to the devil.” Not only was Michael stressed and not sleeping properly, but on June 21st, Linehan’s group received an email from a French fan named, Marika, who visited Michael with another fan earlier that month to give him a handmade jacket and said he was “scary skinny” and practically “a skeleton” (page 246).
I won’t dive further into the efforts Linehan and the fans did to try to keep Michael alive because it’s really sad. Early in my journey down the Michael Jackson train, I was bummed about the This Is It shows not taking place; I even said in “My Favorite Songs from July 2026” blog post that it would’ve been great exposure for Orianthi, one of the guitarists for the residency. But after reading about all the stress Michael was under to perfect the shows, jeopardizing his health as a result, I’m slowly changing my belief that This Is It shouldn’t have been a thing in the first place. He kept telling Linehan that he was doing the shows for his fans, but really he didn’t owe them anything. His health should’ve been his number one priority, but AEG Live only saw him as a way to make profit. I don’t even care that Michael was going to play “Dirty Diana;” he did it on the Bad tour and those performances were never going to be topped!
To wrap up this review, I’ll say again that A Real-Life Fairy Tale: Michael Jackson and Me is not for everyone because a lot of the encounters between Linehan and Michael give off fanfiction vibes. But it’s a beautiful story from someone who genuinely loved Michael and wanted him to be happy. It’s a story like no other and with an open mind, it’s definitely worth checking out, especially for those who are interested in checking out the 2000s era of Michael Jackson’s life. I’ll give A Real-Life Fairy Tale: Michael Jackson and Me a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars!
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Lana
Lana Teramae | Me, Myself and Time 
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