Morning Piss: Dirty Diana Ross

Diana Ross didn’t make it to Michael Jackson’s memorial, and we’re pissed on M.J.’s behalf

By Ted Casablanca Jul 08, 2009 11:18 AMTags
Michael Jackson, Diana RossAP Photo

Thousands of people would have jumped at the chance to be at Michael Jackson's memorial yesterday—celebrities and notable folks included in those envious of who did attend.

So why, of all people associated with the King of Pop, wasn't Diana Ross there to pay her respects? A superclose (at times), lifelong friend to Michael and his ultimate idol, her absence struck us as downright rude.

"I am trying to find closure...I have decided to pause and be silent," was Diana's feeble excuse, revealed in a friggin' press release. She couldn't just hop on a damn private jet and show up? (I mean, if she can screw old friends like this, think Miss Ross is going to hesitate when it comes to screwing the environment?) Jackson, who felt so close to Ross he not only put her in his will but left his children to her—should his own mother pass—would have wanted his friend, his hero, to be there when it mattered.

She didn't have to get up and say anything, as a heartbroken Brooke Shields so eloquently did.

Diana sitting this one out spoke more words than if she had actually just been there, mourning in silent.

Unquestionably, there was tension between the two singing legends after M.J. didn't go to Ross' 1986 wedding to then-husband Arne Naess. Or was Jackson's ever-present obsession with Diana just too much attention for her to deal with on such a personal level? I have no idea if the two had even kept in contact since 2002, when M.J. put her in his will. But was staying at home a way to hide just how much their friendship had deteriorated over the years? Or did it magnify that fact?

Who cares? This is precisely when you let bitchy bygones be just that and you just damn well do the right thing. At the very least for the kids who could still legally be put in your care at some point.