I’ll join the media circus and offer my thoughts on Michael Jackson

I swore I was not going to beat this dead horse, but, lo and behold, here goes. Yes, folks, Michael Jackson is gone.

It’s been, to say the least, a controversial week. Some are comparing it to Elvis Presley’s death — both were on the brink of a comeback tour, both deaths have been speculated to have been the result of a drug overdose and, more importantly, both were gone too soon. And let us not forget, both were incredibly talented.

When I heard the news last Thursday evening, my daughter and I were waiting for my mom and stepfather to join us for dinner at Dairy Korner in Orange. I was checking Facebook for the heck of it, and when I saw the news, I nearly choked on my iced tea.

To verify, I then checked the MSNBC Web site on my phone. Of course, the rest of my group of friends had to know as soon as possible! Let the texting begin — I sent out a group message about the news and received mixed reactions.

If Michael Jackson had died 25 years ago, I would’ve been crushed. With the other 90 percent of the nation that had purchased “Thriller,” I found him to be incredibly talented. His videos were groundbreaking at the time that the music video was at the height of its popularity. The debut of the “Thriller” video was hyped, and deservedly so — it remains my favorite music video of all time.

Michael was so handsome and charming. His smile lit up a stage, and his legendary moonwalk was mimicked by some of us (a good friend of mine in eighth grade, Timmy Jackson, tried to teach me to moonwalk, to no avail).

Most people knew that Michael’s death was just the beginning of a three-ring circus. From the D-listers coming out of the woodwork (nice to see you again, Corey Feldman) to the multiple search warrants issued by LAPD to search the rented mansion in which he passed away, the games are just beginning.

Now it’s rumored that his three children are not his biological children and have never even been formally adopted by Michael. There was also a false autopsy report “leaked” by the British tabloid “The Sun.” It stated that his body was bruised and emaciated and that he’d lost all of his hair. Thankfully, the report was quickly found to be false.

From the controversy that surrounded Michael Jackson’s life, the events and rumors since his death are no surprise. Saying he was eccentric is a massive understatement. His sleepovers with young children that not only raised eyebrows, but resulted in two accusations of child molestation.

Being that Michael’s death has been such a headline-maker, let us not forget that we’ve lost a whole host of icons in the past week:

Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” was a staple in most of our homes, especially during times of slight insomnia.

There was Farrah Fawcett, who rose to fame in “Charlie’s Angels” and the iconic poster of 1977. Farrah gained my deep respect and admiration with the documentary made of her struggle with cancer — there was no glamour in the loss of her golden locks, but she showed that cancer is surely not glamorous.

And, without pitchman Billy Mays, infomercials will never be the same.

With any high-profile death comes the evilness of greed. We have yet to see who else will crawl out of the woodwork to stake their claim. Michael’s controversial stage father, Joe, took it upon himself at the BET Awards to hock a new record label. His grief is not palpable. From past interviews given by Michael, he tells of childhood abuse at the hands of his father, both physical and verbal. Now Joe Jackson wants to play the role of father of the year.

No matter your opinion of Michael, we can agree that we’ve not only lost an icon but a controversial figure.

Smith’s column runs every Friday on the editorial page.