From a secret birth to suing his own grandma, Bigi Jackson has been an enigma from the moment he was born.
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00:00From a secret birth to suing his own grandma, B.G. Jackson has been an enigma from the moment he was born.
00:07Michael Jackson's pride over the arrival of his third child, Blanket, was evident in interviews during the child's early life
00:15and indeed in the excitement that propelled the pop superstar to dangle him before the lens of the world's media that infamous day in Berlin.
00:23Michael's two oldest children, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson and Paris Michael Catherine Jackson,
00:28were the product of the King of Pop's relationship with Debbie Rowe, a woman that worked at his dermatologist's office who he befriended.
00:35The two had an arrangement in which she would bear his children, and they even married for a time.
00:40The couple divorced in 2000, with Jackson receiving custody of both children.
00:45B.G. was born several years later, on February 21st, 2002.
00:50He was born through a surrogate, with the identity of B.G.'s mother never being made public either during Jackson's lifetime or posthumously.
00:58Some outlets speculated after B.G.'s birth was made public that Rowe was B.G.'s mother,
01:03but Jackson's ex-wife publicly denied that she was involved in his conception.
01:08When it became public knowledge that Michael Jackson had had a third child,
01:12much of the reaction in the media revolved around the child's highly unusual nickname, Blanket,
01:17though the child's birth name, Prince Michael II, was very similar to that of his older brother, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson,
01:23Blanket was Michael Jackson's affectionate nickname for his youngest progeny.
01:27Jackson's explanations of why he had taken to calling his new son Blanket were various.
01:32In one interview with the BBC's Martin Bashir, he claimed that the word Blanket was an expression he used with his family members and employees.
01:42I say, you should blanket me, you should blanket her with something.
01:48However, the young man himself has admitted that he dislikes the name Blanket.
01:52He was reportedly bullied for it in his early life and has made steps to distance himself from it, preferring to go by the name B.G. from 2015 onward.
02:01The meaning behind this name is unclear, but he has gone by it almost exclusively for the last decade
02:06and is credited as B.G. Jackson in the film industry, in which he has written, produced and directed independent films.
02:13B.G. Jackson was just seven years old when his father died suddenly on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50.
02:20Michael Jackson's death came on the eve of a hugely lucrative 50-night comeback residency that was due to take place at London's O2 Arena, titled This Is It.
02:30Jackson's physical and mental health had been under scrutiny for many years.
02:34His reputation tarnished by allegations of child sexual abuse stretching back to the 1990s.
02:40However, the surprise announcement that the superstar was staging a comeback was greeted with wild excitement from fans.
02:47Sadly, few knew that the pressures of rehearsals were taking a devastating toll on Jackson's health.
02:52It was later found that he had been suffering from insomnia and was reliant on regular doses of drugs from his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray,
03:01to get him through rehearsals and to get him to sleep afterward.
03:04Jackson was later deemed to have died of propofol intoxication, and Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011.
03:12There's no way to adequately describe the loss of our beloved father, son, brother and friend.
03:19Despite the Murray ruling, the Jackson family, on behalf of Jackson's children, including B.G.,
03:25filed a wrongful death case against the This Is It concert promoter A.E.G.,
03:30who they claimed had a role in Jackson's death by hiring the doctor
03:34and not doing enough to check that their star was receiving adequate care during his attempted comeback.
03:39However, the Jacksons lost the case in 2013.
03:43The American entertainment industry has produced countless dynasties over the years,
03:48with the continued success of several extended families seeming to suggest that a great deal of talent is truly in the blood.
03:55Indeed, Michael Jackson's daughter Paris has followed in her father's footsteps and begun to make waves in the world of music.
04:02The boys in the family, on the other hand, have seemingly turned their backs on the spotlight.
04:06While Prince has preferred to stick to making online content rather than getting involved on the stage or screen,
04:12B.G. has been drawn to the other side of the camera and is looking to establish himself as a director.
04:17Speaking in the documentary Jacksonology, Our Story, he said,
04:21I can't dance or sing. I'm not that kind of person who sings and dances.
04:26Instead, B.G. and Prince have other interests.
04:29The two, who by their own admission have remained very close to one another as they've entered adulthood,
04:34have bonded over the years through a shared love of science and science fiction.
04:38And like many people of his generation, B.G. is reportedly deeply concerned with climate change
04:43and is passionate about educating society about its potentially damaging effects.
04:48Litigation and infighting have sadly not been rare events in the Jackson family.
04:53And though more than 15 years have passed since Michael Jackson's death,
04:57his relatives continue to battle over his estate, which today is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
05:03In March 2024, it was revealed that B.G. had filed a lawsuit against his own grandmother, Catherine Jackson,
05:10arguing that his father's estate, of which he is an inheritor,
05:14shouldn't pay Catherine's legal bills for an appeal she filed against what Billboard describes as an unnamed transaction.
05:21The transaction, outlets speculate, is likely to be a $600 million deal
05:26to sell a percentage of the King of Pop's music catalogue to Sony,
05:29a deal which would hugely enrich each of his inheritors.
05:33A statement from B.G.'s lawyers read,
05:35It is readily apparent that a reversal on appeal would be an extreme long shot.
05:40Given those odds, B.G. decided not to waste his resources to participate in an appeal.
05:45Nonetheless, Catherine has decided to appeal this court's ruling.
05:48That decision is not for the benefit of the heirs.