Thread by @PhoenixLaNegra

Nice piece of investigative journalism. Very revealing on how Weinstein was routinely pulling the strings to keep damaging info from getting out by using his connections with certain individuals working in the press.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

In the article, Dylan Howard – Chief Content Officer for America Media Inc., Editor-In-Chief for the National Inquirer & former Editor-In-Chief of Radar Online – was named as one of the press members recruited by Weinstein.

Speaking of Radar Online, they were the outlet who published that horrifically damaging and FALSE story about Michael Jackson having illegal porn, complete with a PDF file containing actual court documents that had been tampered with and purposefully mislabeled as child porn.

That brings us to the next Michael Jackson issue in the exposé. A gossip columnist, AJ Benza, stated that he’d publish sensational stories about other celebs as a favor to Weinstein in a bid to keep media focused attention elsewhere; MJ was explicitly named in the article.

After doing a quick Google search, sure enough, several things written by Mr. Benza about Michael Jackson over the years can be found; none of it positive.

In 1997, Benza expresses anger that Margret Maldonado, mom to 2 of Michael’s nephews, has severed ties with him due to a defamatory comment Benza made about MJ in another article: nydailynews.com/archives/gossi…

Benza wrote that Margret would often intervene to keep derogatory stories about MJ from being aired/printed, but now since Margret has cut ties w/ him, Benza ends the article with a threat to MJ.

“I’m gonna miss you, baby. But Michael is gonna miss you more. Ready. Aim. Fire.”

Benza also stated he had a hand in breaking the Jordie Chandler story and that he had a direct line to June Chandler.
He likened the endless Jackson stories to a “faucet with no off valve.”

In a blog post written the day after Michael passed, Benza goes into detail about how he (and Linda Stasi, et. al.) were amongst the first to pour gasoline on the Jackson/Chandler story in 1993. Again, he states he had direct contact with June Chandler (and LaToya Jackson, too).

A Chicago Tribune article about Benza reported he was making $250K/yr by 1996, mostly by selling stories to ‘Hard Copy’ and ‘A Current Affair.’

It’s already well-known amongst fans how much ‘Hard Copy’ was manipulating the narrative considering the allegations against Michael.

‘A Current Affair’ doesn’t get talked about as much, but they were equally as unrelenting in their Jackson-related coverage to the point where Michael’s attorney’s felt he needed to sue them.

Linda Stasi, currently working for NY Daily News, was described by Benza in the aforementioned blog as his mentor and boss.

Stasi has written her share of inflammatory articles about Michael over the years, and helped steer the Chandler story in 1993 along with Benza.

Just last year, Linda Stasi wrote an article where she strongly implied that Michael was responsible for the death of his sister-in-law, DeeDee Jackson, and he had her killed because she knew his secrets.
🤦🏾‍♀️🙄

Going back to the NY Times article about Weinstein, it’s reported that Weinstein would grant business perks to those who covered for him; Benza got a book deal.

Guess whose name is mentioned right out of the gate in the book’s description on Amazon.

Also going back to the American Media, Dylan Howard and Weinstein connection, Weinstein reportedly had strong ties to AMI CEO, David Pecker.

Pecker described Howard as a “driving force” of AMI’s success on celeb stories in recent years. Howard has also been recently promoted.

Interestingly enough, Dylan Howard, is facing sexual misconduct claims of his own – again.
He was first accused on 2012; an internal investigation by AMI declared Howard was not guilty of anything “serious.”
AMI has stated they are standing by Howard regarding these new claims.

Now, I don’t want to be a hypocrite b/c I do believe in “innocent until proven guilty”, HOWEVER, given Howard’s past behavior – covering for Weinstein, the connection to ROL, the repeated bashing of MJ on TV, etc – his moral integrity is certainly questionable, at the very least.

So, in wrap, what we have here is a gossip columnist’s admission of using sensational Michael Jackson tales to deflect heat from Harvey Weinstein.
A gossip columnist who admitted to breaking the Chandler story in 1993.

A gossip columnist who, in 1997, threatened to publish negative stories about MJ b/c Margret Maldonado upset him.
We have the fmr. editor of Radar Online who, too, admitted covering for Weinstein & whose company put out one of the most pervasive & damaging stories about Michael.

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I’d be in a frenzy right now with all of these revelations. Coverups and deflections – these are the things Internet conspiracies are made of.

The Michael Jackson saga is a case where the truth really is stranger than fiction. #downtherabbithole