“Go to the guy down the street, because it’s not Michael Jackson”

This is a rumor that has persisted for so long, and I’m tired of seeing it when people bring up the Diane Sawyer interview. In 1995 with Lisa Marie, Michael was on Diane Sawyer and the subject of the allegations came up, he said regarding the idea of him being a predator “Go to the guy down the street, because it’s not Michael Jackson”

This obviously was him deflecting from what he’s done and suggesting that the idea that HE, Michael Jackson, could be capable of child molestation, was ridiculous. But people ran with this and thought he was trying to “warn” people about Sean Combs, aka, Puff Daddy, aka, P. Diddy.

“He was trying to tell us something the whole time!” “He was saying the truth here” “He KNEW and nobody listened!!!!” “Diddy lived across the street from him….” and any and all variations of this same sentiment have been plastered all over tiktok comments, youtube comments, twitter and more, but this simply is not true.

Throughout 1995 Michael Jackson lived and worked in California, and Diddy primarily lived in New York City or New Jersey, sure Diddy worked in LA on occasion but he didn’t buy any property there until 2014, long after Michael’s death.

Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson at Neverland in California, 1995

In the same month that Michael gave his interview to Diane Sawyer he had filmed the “Childhood” video, again, in Los Angeles.

I don’t know how this conspiracy theory started because Diddy had been a long time resident of new york and new jersey, Michael obviously went to NY and NJ many times to work there and stay at the hotel The Helmsley Palace in New York (Now called the Lotte Palace), and I guess you could say maybe that MJ was talking about when he was in New York or New Jersey, but… why? It’s a huge stretch, especially since he didn’t live in NY/NJ and when he did say this, he lived at Neverland.

When Michael was in New Jersey he often stayed with the Cascio family in/around Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes, and Diddy owned a mansion in Alpine NJ that is 30 minutes away, but it’s also… not down the street. (I can hear conspiracy theorists clawing at the windows because New Yorkers always say stuff is closer than it is, and maybe THAT is what Michael meant, but again, he wasn’t a New Yorker, and didn’t live in NY/NJ)

Michael and Frank in New Jersey in the early 1990s

Michael stayed at the Lotte Palace when he was in New York, he spent a considerable amount of time there and it is 28 minutes away from Alpine where Diddy owned a residence, but again… It’s not down the street. It’s actually “up” the street in a different city lol

Diddy also “designed and built” (lol im sure he did that himself) a residence in Saddle River, but this was in 1997 and he sold it the following year so it doesn’t matter, MJ couldn’t have been referring to that either, not only because it was two years after he said “the guy down the road” but because once more, Michael didn’t live in NJ.

Now Diddy DID live in New York City, he had an apartment on West Street which is 11 minutes away from the Lotte Palace, but west is not “down” or “up” the street. And he lived here in 2005, many years after Michael did the Diane Sawyer interview.

More places Diddy lived in NY were in the East Hamptons in 1998 and New Rochelle (Year Unknown).

Michael lived at Neverland until 2005 when he claimed it was ruined for him because the cops came back to search his property again, he never returned to the property and lived in various places until he lived in Beverly Hills, which was the mansion he died in.

I hear a chorus of conspiracy theorists saying that Michael frequented Franklin Lakes NJ, Yes, that’s true, that’s where the Cascio’s lived and as such…. he would spend a lot of time there.

Franklin Lakes is 31 minutes from Alpine NJ where Diddy had a residence, it is south, so I guess if you want to squint you can say it’s “down the road”, but Michael didn’t live in Franklin Lakes at the time that he did Diane Sawyers interview.

Michael reportedly lived here for 3 months though in 2007, many years after the words he spoke to Diane, and Diddy did not live near Franklin Lakes at all at this time period.

Michael Jackson and Eddie Cascio

Since Michael lived at Neverland at the time of this interview, many people have incorrectly stated that maybe Diddy owned a residence nearby, a startlingly silly thing to say because Michael bought this property BECAUSE it was so remote and isolated from any neighbors, he bought this property in 1988 and Diddy, although he likely stayed in the LA area before, allegedly only purchased property in the state of CA in 2014, nowhere near the location of Neverland.

There is a building right across from Neverland that is a school, and it’s been there since the 1950s, I don’t think Diddy lived at the Midland school in California lol, the only other things in the area are vineyards, not apartment complexes or other sex criminal’s mansions.

So was Michael trying to warn the public about the evils of Diddy in 1995? I seriously doubt it, Michael had never worked with Diddy and only met him once according to the photo taken when MJ crashed one of Diddy’s parties so he could meet Beyonce

MJ and Diddy, their first and only meeting as far as I know

Michael had no other interactions with Diddy as far as anyone in the public knows, I doubt he ever hung out with him or contacted him again after meeting Beyonce, if they had any type of relationship it was business related, or not at all, I don’t think MJ and Diddy would get along, they were both incredibly egotistical and would likely clash a lot. People love to show this photo as proof of something nefarious, like Jackson being involved in any of Diddy’s crimes, but a photo doesn’t mean anything, especially because the context of this photo was just because Michael came to the house. Michael came here with his friend Ron Burkle, and I think Ron or Diddy asked for the photo because it doesn’t seem like MJ is into it at all.

In any case, Diddy never lived down the street from Michael at any point in time, and was not living anywhere near Michael in 1995 when Michael implies that the person down the street is the real predator, not him, not sweet innocent Michael Jackson /s.

Also in searching for all this I found “Combs founded Daddy’s House Social Programs, an organization to help inner city youth, in 1995. Programs include tutoring, life skills classes, and an annual summer camp. ??? Ew, red flags everywhere.