Michael Jackson almost made a deadly mistake according to a former Mafia boss.
In the 80s, the former child star didn’t want to work with the agents his dad Joe Jackson initially set up to run the Jackson Family concerts because he got into a fight with his father.
However, the Thriller star almost got the family into hot water as the company he wanted to axe was owned by one of the most feared and violent Mafia families in New York.
READ MORE: Drugs, death and Michael Jackson – tragic story of band behind Pass The Dutchie
Former New York Mafia boss Michael Franzese opened up to The Sun on how he flew all the way across the US to California to give Jackson an offer he couldn’t refuse.
(Image: Getty)
Mr Franzese was a trusted leader in New York’s Colombo crime family and in a new interview, he revealed the institution had extensive ties within the music industry.
He explained: “Somebody very close to me represented a lot of talent — Marvin Gaye, Dionne Warwick, the Detroit Spinners and The Supremes.
“We had a deal with Michael Jackson’s father Joe to represent them on the 1984 Victory tour. Then, out of nowhere, Michael changes his mind and hires another agent because he got mad at his father.
(Image: Getty Images)
At the time, Michael was a trusted caporegime in the community, a position like a captain, and he was reportedly one of the biggest money maker’s since Al Capone.
The Franzese family featured in the Scorsese flick, Goodfellas where he was played by Joseph Bono, who later went on to star in another of Scorsese’s mob movies, The Irishman.
However, when Michael learned that the firm would be dropped by the worldwide star, the Mob member flew from New York to Los Angeles by private jet to meet with Jackson and the “new” agent.
(Image: Getty Images)
He added: “I told them, ‘We will respect Michael and we will work out a deal. If you can’t do that, there won’t be a tour.”
He added: “The guy would have got scared and he would have told Michael, ‘I can’t do the tour and better go back to the other guy’. That’s how it would have worked.”
The Victory Tour went on to earn millions of dollars as the Jackson’s toured across Canada and the USA.
(Image: Newsday via Getty Images)
But mob boss Michael insists he was not in the business for the money as other business dealings were earning the Colombo family between $8 million and $10 million a week.
Michael Franzese later went on to be the youngest member on Fortune Magazine’s 50 lists of the richest mobsters in the US, coming in at number 18.
Since then, 48 of those on the list have since died, some were reportedly shot whilst other members died in jail.
(Image: REUTERS)
The ex-gangster is embarking on a nationwide tour in 12 towns and cities across Britain to tell his remarkable story.
The tour was launched by a famous TV anchor and journalist Trevor McDonald, whom he met when Sir Trevor made his 2015 documentary special on the Mafia.
Michael became the first member to walk away from a life of crime without police protection and survive, going on to even become a father to seven children, despite his own father previously approving a mob warrant for his death.
(Image: WireImage)
The ex-mobster explains: “In that life, if you die of old age and you die free you have really accomplished something.
“There’s a lot of respect sometimes but there is a lot of backstabbing and betrayal. Violence is part of life.
“My biggest regrets are the guys that were close to me who got themselves in trouble and I couldn’t save them. If you are messing around with somebody else’s wife or daughter you are dead, that’s it.
READ NEXT:
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
