LAS VEGAS (CelebrityAccess) — Joe Jackson, the stern patriarch of the Jackson Family and the manager behind the Jackson 5, has been hospitalized in the final stages of terminal cancer.
According to TMZ, who first reported the story, Jackson, who is 89, has suffered from numerous illnesses in recent years, including suffering a stroke and heart arrhythmia in 2015 that left him with blurred vision.
The Daily Mail reported that several family members, including his wife Katherine and Jermaine Jackson, have been blocked from visiting their father in the hospital by Jackson’s ‘handlers’.
“No one knew what was going on – we shouldn’t have to beg, plead, and argue to see our own father, especially at a time like this,” Jermaine reportedly told the Daily Mail.
Joe Jackson played a key role in guiding his sons from challenging life situations in Gary, Ind. to international fame as the Jackson 5, helping to land the group a deal with Motown Records in Detroit and later launching his own label, Ivory Tower International Records.
As well, he underwrote the first professional steps of his daughter Janet, helping to launch her career with a record deal with A&M in 1982.
However, his relationship with Michael Jackson became increasingly strained as the younger Jackson developed a successful solo career and in 1984, Michael left the Jacksons (formerly the Jackson 5) amid allegations physical abuse against the elder Jackson.
Both Joe and Katherine have denied the allegations of abuse, but Joe conceded in an interview with the BBC that he “whipped” Michael “with a switch and a belt. I never beat him. You beat someone with a stick.”
