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Article alleges Jackson hid wine in cans

Michael Jackson gave wine to the 13-year-old cancer patient at the center of the molestation charges he's battling but concealed it inside a Coke can, according to an article in the March issue of Vanity Fair.

The incident reportedly occurred during a February flight from Florida and partially explains the charges of "administering an intoxicating agent with intent to commit a felony" that the beleaguered pop star is also fighting in court in Santa Barbara County, Calif., according to writer Maureen Orth.

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Orth reports that Jackson refers to white wine as "Jesus juice" and red wine as "Jesus blood," and usually drinks them out of soda cans so that nobody around him will know he's consuming alcohol.

Calls to Jackson's attorney Mark Geragos were not immediately returned.

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Orth, citing the singer's former business manager, Myung-Ho Lee, writes that only Jackson's "inner people know" his code names for the beverages, adding that it "tells you that the boy spent 'quality time' with Michael."

The boy and his siblings have said that "all the kids around Michael" knew about "Jesus juice" and that Jackson told them, "Jesus drank it, so it must be good."

Orth also says that on at least one other occasion, Jackson allegedly gave alcohol in soda cans to minors.

In the Vanity Fair article, Lee describes a similar incident involving a 13-year-old boy in Japan in 1998.

During his accuser's visits to Jackson's Neverland Ranch, Jackson is said to have told him that "girls are tattletales," making it clear that he didn't want the boy's sister or mother around, according to the magazine article.

Newsday is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.


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