How bitterly ironic that the remaining members of The Jackson 5 are in the middle of performing what, with dark humour — or monumental cynicism — they have christened The Unity Tour.
Few people, however, are buying the sham. Without the group’s one true talent — their late brother, Michael — the tour has been something of a flop, with 11 of the 27 concerts in the U.S. being cancelled because of poor ticket sales.
And even the most cursory examination of the internecine hostilities being waged within the warring clan gives the lie to the facade of familial harmony.
Indeed yesterday, in yet another astonishing development, police were called to the home of the family’s absent matriarch Katherine amid reports of a fight involving family members at her Los Angeles mansion.
Officers are investigating a possible case of battery at the property after three of the late singer’s siblings arrived and reportedly sought to leave with his children, who live there with 82-year-old Mrs Jackson, their legal guardian.
Although police would not name those involved, an entertainment news website published a photo of Janet Jackson and her older brother Jermaine engaged in what was reported to be a heated argument outside the house in the upmarket suburb of Calabasas.
According to reports in the U.S., the siblings and another brother, Randy, arrived at the house and wanted to leave with the singer’s three children, Prince Michael, 15, Paris, 14, and ten-year-old Prince Michael II, who is known by the nickname Blanket.
And as the civil war engulfing the family intensified, Sandra Ribera, Mrs Jackson’s lawyer, claimed the singer’s children had been taken to another location.
‘Jackson family members ambushed Katherine’s home after their vehicle tore through security gates on the tail of the SUV containing Michael’s children,’ Ms Ribera said.
Another website published footage of what it claimed was Janet Jackson attempting to take her niece Paris’s mobile phone during the alleged ‘ambush’.
There were even reports yesterday that the executors of Jackson’s estate will ask a court to appoint a temporary guardian for the children, who are the main beneficiaries of their father’s will.