The Missing Bed Blunder
Oct 23, 2022
I love the built-in Snipping Tool in Windows. It allows you to effortlessly capture screenshots of any website you visit and share your exciting discoveries with others. However, when misused, it can become a powerful tool for spreading misinformation.
For example, Twitter user, Michael Jackson's Fact Vault (@MJsFact_Vault), along with her numerous accounts including @RaspberryR3d, frequently inundates the Twitter-verse with manipulated videos and cropped screenshots in an attempt to "prove" Michael Jackson's innocence.
Whatever James, Jordan, Jason, Gavin and Wade have said, there’s a good chance that MJs Fact Vault has created a thread highlighting their “lies”, though it should be noted, these threads are often copied from others and lack context and the most basic investigative research.
I've previously written a complete blog post titled "The Tell-Tale Splotch: Debunking MJs Fact Vault." This post serves as a rebuttal to her thread, in which she attempts to expose Thomas Sneddon's statement regarding Jordan Chandler's description of Jackson's genitalia. If you're interested in a quick lesson on basic English definitions, I suggest giving it a read.
Another thread that caught my attention earlier this year is titled "The Evolving Memory Of Wade Robson," which unsurprisingly includes a multitude of cropped screenshots and edited videos.
MJs Fact Vault tweeted:
The Evolving Memory Of #WadeRobson
In Wade Robsons complaint(s) he said the alleged abuse started on the SECOND night after his sister wanted to sleep upstairs because she supposedly expressed concern about sleeping in a bed with Michael.
View original tweet here.
The thread in general, is a mess, and lacks structure. I can’t even figure out what she is trying to achieve, other than creating another victim shaming thread by quibbling over whether Wade said he was abused the first, second or third night, et cetera.
A prime example that MJs Fact Vault doesn’t fact check their own “facts” (or at the very least, hopes that others won’t) is the the CBS This Morning interview, featuring James and Wade.
MJs Fact Vault tweeted:
In the CBS interview with Gayle King Wade said that nothing happened the first two nights and that the abuse started on either the first or second night of he and Michael being alone once his family had left to go to the Grand Canyon.
View original tweet here.
Out of a 29+ minute video, MJs Fact Vault has presented a one minute and 11 second version, in which Wade states, "nothing particular happened that night," which obviously "proves" that Wade is flip-flopping all over the place and can't get his story straight.
Watch her version below.
However, if you continue watching the full version of the video, Wade makes it clear that Jackson started touching him, such as "hand on his leg, lots of hugs, kissing his forehead, and rubbing his hand," during the first two days. Unless you're obsessed with glorifying celebrities, it's fair to say that this type of behaviour from a grown man toward an unrelated child he'd only just met is most definitely a form of grooming and abuse.
Watch the segment below.
You can watch the full CBS interview on YouTube.
Anyway, let’s move on to the missing bed thread, which again lacks context and even relies on the testimony of Jackson's former housemaid Blanca Francia and her son Jason.
MJs Fact Vault states:
In #WadeRobson 4th amended complaint, he claims that he slept in a bed with Michael Jackson at his Westwood apartment!
Page 8 point 19 docdro.id/Fuu3Xj5
#MJInnocent #Leaving Neverland #LiesOfLeavingNeverLand
View original tweet here.
And:
However Blanca Francia testified in 2005 that there were NO beds at Michael Jacksons Westwood apartment.
Jason Francia also never mentioned any beds, just sleeping bags!
docdro.id/n2eWIDu
#LeavingNeverland #LiesToldByWadeRobson #LiesOfLeavingNeverLand #MJInnocent
View original tweet here.
That's about it. It was a quick fire two-thread tweet, supposedly exposing Wade Robson once again.
It's puzzling why she would use their testimony as the absolute truth, especially when both of them accused Jackson of child molestation, with the mother reportedly receiving a 2+ million dollar settlement in '94/'95. But I guess when you’re defending a questionable individual who shares a bed with boys, you've got to scrape the barrel to prove an unfounded point.
It's not just MJs Fact Vault who uses the “missing bed” testimony to demonize Wade. I've also heard it from at least 10 to 15 other Michael Jackson stans over the last few years. In fact, its origins can probably be traced back to Vindicate MJ, a Michael Jackson glorification blog run by a real-life Russian misinformation troll who posted a blog post titled: “THE MISSING BED in Wade Robson’s crime story” way back in February 2015.
Neither MJs Fact Vault, who uses the phrase "in an investigation details matter" as their Twitter header image on their other account, nor Vindicate MJ, known for their lengthy posts, expand on the reason as to why Blanca Francia stated there was no bed in his Westwood apartment or why she was asked the question in the first place.
The real answer is far more disturbing than Wade Robson lying about a bed with four legs and a headboard.
Blanca Francia, originally from El Salvador, relocated to the United States in 1975. She commenced her work as a housemaid for Michael Jackson, primarily at the Jackson Havenhurst family home from 1986, Michael's apartment, known as “The Hideout” on Wilshire Boulevard, and eventually full-time at Neverland from 1988. Despite the opportunity to hire a local housemaid after his full-time move to Neverland Ranch, Jackson financially supported Blanca's move with her young child, Jason, from Los Angeles to the Santa Maria area. Was it an act of generosity, or had Jackson taken an unhealthy interest in a single mother with a fatherless young child?
It's also worth noting that Blanca Francia's native language is Spanish, and her use and understanding of English was, at best, average.
You can read their testimonies in full here and here.
To save time and boredom, let’s just skip straight to their statements that there was no bed in Jackson's apartment.
The questions were asked by Ron Zonen.
2 Q. Okay. Was there a bed at that residence?
3 A. No.
4 Q. Never?
5 A. Never.
6 Q. The whole time that you were cleaning there?
7 A. Yeah.
Even her son, whose testimony preceded hers, also made the same statement.
4 Q. Let me go back to the second event. In the
5 second event we’re talking about, you were in a
6 sleeping bag?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Was there a bed in that room?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Was that Mr. Jackson’s bedroom; do you know?
11 A. I don’t know.
12 Q. Was there a television in that room?
13 A. Yes.
As mentioned earlier, there's no explanation from MJs Fact Vault as to why Jason and Blanca were asked specific questions about a bed in his hideout apartment.
Firstly, you have to understand that the foundation of Michael Jackson’s defence concerning the sleepovers was that it always happened in a super king-size bed - the biggest bed in the world, in fact.
Wade Robson, Brett Barnes, and Macaulay Culkin have all made similar statements concerning the “sleepovers” well before the trial.
In this 1993 Anthony Pellicano-directed video, both Wade and Brett say they “slept on one side of the bed while he slept on the other.” Despite both of them being from Australia, with no more than a year between them, neither Wade nor Brett spent a single night in bed with Michael Jackson together, according to their own testimonies. It’s quite incredible that they would mirror each other’s statements, which was recorded on separate days.
Just before the 2005 trial, Macaulay Culkin gave an interview to CNN, where he stated: “I don’t think you understand. Michael Jackson’s bedroom is two stories with three bathrooms,” giving the impression that it was impossible to have a touchy-feely bed relationship. He also goes on to state: “if somebody had done that to my kid, I wouldn’t settle for money, I’d want the guy in jail.”
Macaulay Culkin would go on to testify that he regularly slept in the same bed with Michael Jackson, that he would fall asleep from exhaustion at Neverland Ranch, and had little to no knowledge about other boys or the sleepovers, which in some cases, also included Jackson occupying their single-size beds at home.
Jackson's hideout apartment wasn’t what you would call a fully furnished home. It had a sparse amount of furniture and wasn’t really used as a full-time living space by Jackson, at least during the first years.
Blanca, whose main job was to clean the family Havenhurst home, also cleaned the apartment, where her son Jason was invited along, mainly on the weekends. Jackson took a keen interest in Jason, and it wasn’t long until Jackson and Jason were spending close contact time together. With no Neverland Ranch or that super king-size bed yet, Jackson invited Jason into his makeshift bed consisting of blankets on the floor and a single-size sleeping bag.
Blanca Francia went on to testify:
25 Q. Okay. Now, what did he -- I asked you what
26 he slept on, and you said a sleeping bag. Describe
27 the sleeping bag for us. What kind of a sleeping
28 bag was it? 5016
1 A. A regular sleeping bag that you sleep on.
2 Q. Sleeping bag for one person? For two
3 people? How big?
4 A. A regular one.
5 Q. Just a regular sleeping bag?
6 A. Yeah.
22 Q. Did you ever see Jason on or in the sleeping
23 bag?
24 A. One time.
25 Q. Was Mr. Jackson there?
26 A. Yes.
27 Q. Were they on the sleeping bag or were they
28 in the sleeping bag? 5017
1 A. They were on the sleeping bag, yeah.
2 Q. On top of the sleeping bag?
3 A. Yeah.
4 Q. Could you see their body -- bodies, both of
5 them?
6 A. Not Mr. Jackson’s.
7 Q. Why not?
8 A. Because it was covered.
9 Q. Okay. So the sleeping bag covered Mr.
10 Jackson.
11 A. Yeah.
12 Q. How about Jason? Where was Jason?
13 A. He was in the sleeping bag, too.
14 Q. He was in the sleeping bag.
15 How were they positioned relative to each
16 other? Do you know what I mean? Were they facing
17 each other? Were they facing away from each other?
18 Do you recall?
19 A. I remember this time he was this -- on this
20 side, and my son was on this side. And I got there
21 about three or four times, and one time he was -- my
22 son was --
23 MR. MESEREAU: Objection; nonresponsive.
24 THE COURT: It’s kind of hard to tell. Maybe
25 you could start with another question.
26 MR. ZONEN: Yes, I can.
27 Q. I asked you initially how they were
28 positioned. In other words, were they facing each 5018
1 other? Were they facing away from each other? Do
2 you recall? When you saw them the first time.
3 A. The first time, my son was just laying
4 there.
5 Q. Okay.
6 A. But on one time, because I was cooking for
7 Mr. Jackson, I was doing some lunch, or snacks, or
8 something --
9 Q. I’m sorry?
10 A. I was cooking some snacks.
11 Q. Snacks. Okay.
12 A. Popcorn.
13 Q. Okay.
14 A. I don’t remember.
15 Q. Are we still talking about the same event,
16 the same day?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Okay. So when --
19 A. Hmm?
20 Q. When you first saw your son in the sleeping
21 bag with Mr. Jackson, did you say anything to your
22 son at all when you first saw him in the sleeping
23 bag?
24 A. I told him to come up, outside, and eat,
25 because I wanted to feed him.
26 Q. Okay. And did he?
27 A. No.
28 Q. All right. What did you do? 5019
1 A. He say, “I want to stay here.”
2 Q. Okay. What did you do?
3 A. And -- well, I got mad. And I said, you
4 know, “You got to get out to the kitchen,” and he
5 didn’t wanted to.
24 Q. When you asked him to come out to go eat, in
25 what language was that?
26 A. I think I said it in Spanish. But then I
27 want Mr. Jackson to understand what I was telling
28 him to do, and so I guess I said it in Spanish and 5020
1 English. I don’t remember.
2 Q. So you’re not certain at this point?
3 A. No.
4 Q. All right. Did he get out of the sleeping
5 bag?
6 A. No.
7 Q. What did you then do? Did you leave the
8 room or --
9 A. I left the room and I proceed to do my stuff
10 and --
11 Q. Okay. And what happened then?
12 A. Then I went back and -- and then he was
13 eating, but he was -- oh, I took something to eat to
14 him.
15 Q. Okay. When you came back out, was he still
16 in the sleeping bag with Mr. Jackson?
17 A. Yeah.
26 Q. BY MR. ZONEN: How old was Jason, to your
27 recollection, at that time, as best you can recall?
28 A. Probably like eight. Probably eight. That 5022
7 Q. And Jason was born on, if I’m not mistaken,
8 May 30, 1980?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Is that his birth date?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. When you moved to Neverland in 1988, he
13 would have been about eight years old?
14 A. Yeah.
15 Q. And you believe this was before?
16 A. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
17 Q. Okay. Do you know if Mr. Jackson ever gave
18 Jason money?
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. Do you know on how many occasions?
21 A. That I remember, because it was -- to me, it
22 was a lot of money for a little kid. At the hideout
23 he gave him some money.
24 Q. Do you know how much money he gave him?
25 A. From what I remember, it was two
26 hundred-dollar bills.
27 Q. Two 100-dollar bills?
So, in a nutshell, on at least one occasion, Blanca Francia witnessed Michael Jackson and her son, who was no older than seven or eight years old at the time, inside a single-size sleeping bag. Even when she politely tried to get her son out of the sleeping bag by telling him his dinner was ready, Michael Jackson didn’t appear to be concerned or in any rush to end the inappropriate arrangement.
And remember, MJs Fact Vault is the one who quoted Blanca and Jason Francia's testimony, so she must believe this is true.
Okay, so it appears that MJs Fact Vault and others have succeeded in proving that Wade Robson lied about there being a traditional four-legged bed with a headboard, base, and mattress in Michael Jackson’s apartment, but also reluctantly concede that Jacko did, on one occasion, snuggle up with a seven-year-old boy in a single-size sleeping bag.
I’m sure there are lots of people, especially those in Third World countries, who sleep on nothing more than blankets and pillows laid on the floor but still call it a bed. After all, don't animals lay on a bed of hay?
That being said, there’s a chance that a “traditional” bed was added at some point to his Westwood apartment.
Blanca Francia only worked for Jackson between 1986 and 1991. Her full-time job in cleaning his apartment only lasted for about one year before she relocated near to Neverland Ranch. All of the questions concerning the absence of a bed were in relation to the time that Jason spent at the apartment, which was before Jackson moved permanently to the ranch in '88.
1 Q. And describe that location for us, if you
2 would.
3 A. What do you mean?
4 Q. Tell us what it was like, his apartment.
5 A. Oh.
6 Q. Or his residence. How many rooms in it; do
7 you know? Do you recall?
8 A. Three. It had a master bedroom, and two
9 other rooms, bedrooms.
10 Q. Did it have a living room?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. I assume a kitchen?
13 A. Kitchen, and another little room.
14 Q. Okay. At least a couple bathrooms?
15 A. I don’t remember.
16 Q. You don’t recall --
17 A. No.
18 Q. -- how many bathrooms?
19 A. I don’t remember.
20 Q. It’s okay. Do you recall for what period of
21 time you cleaned that residence?
22 A. For about a year.
23 Q. Was he living at that residence during that
24 time, Mr. Jackson?
25 A. Yeah, he totally move his --
26 Q. I’m sorry?
27 A. He totally move from Encino to that hide --
28 to that place. He move his office to -- to near 4982
1 that location.
Questions by Thomas Mesereau.
10 Q. Okay. And you stopped working for Mr.
11 Jackson in approximately 1991, right?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And you never worked for him since you
14 stopped working in 1991, right?
15 A. No. I never went back.
16 Q. Okay. Now, you testified that in the
17 apartment owned by Mr. Jackson that you referred to
18 as “The Hideout,” there was no furniture, right?
19 A. Uh-huh.
20 Q. Was there any bed in there at all?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Okay. And approximately when were you
23 cleaning that apartment as part of your work?
24 A. Do you mean how long would it take me to
25 clean or --
26 Q. No, no, let me rephrase it.
27 During what period of time do you remember
28 you were going to that apartment and cleaning it? 5058
1 A. Probably a year. I don’t remember.
Jason, who was born in 1980, confirms he was eight or nine years old the last time he went to the hideout apartment, which is consistent with the permanent move he and his mother made to Santa Maria in '88.
15 Q. But the apartment that you’re describing is
16 a single floor? There’s no upstairs or downstairs
17 to it?
18 A. Oh, yeah.
19 Q. And this is a large building in Los Angeles?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. All right. When do you think was the last
22 time that you had been to that building?
23 A. When was the last time I was there?
24 Q. Yeah.
25 A. I’m thinking nine, eight.
26 Q. Age eight or age nine?
27 A. Yeah.
Blanca Francia does state that she still occasionally cleaned the hideaway apartment after her permanent move to Santa Maria, but only for about a year afterwards, which would take it up to 1989.
Questions by Ron Zonen.
8 Q. And did you have an apartment that was
9 someplace in Los Angeles at that time?
10 A. He?
11 Q. You.
12 A. Oh, yeah, I did.
13 Q. So during the time that you were going to
14 the hideout regularly --
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. -- you had an apartment.
17 And I think that you had testified that even
18 after you moved to Santa Maria, there were still
19 occasions that you went back to clean at the
20 hideout?
21 A. Many times, yeah.
22 Q. Do you know for approximately how long after
23 you moved to Santa Maria?
24 A. Probably a year.
If we read the documentation that MJs Fact Vault has provided, it clearly states that the Robsons first visited Neverland Ranch in February 1990.
And the following Monday, the family went to stay at Jackson's Westwood apartment, where Wade spent the night, while his mother and sister stayed at the Holiday Inn across the road.
Even though Blanca Francia's last cleaning duties occurred sometime in late 1989, it had been well over a month, and well over a year since her son, Jason, visited the apartment. In other words, Blanca Francia probably had no idea whether a traditional bed was or wasn’t there when Wade Robson first spent the night. Some may interpret her earlier testimony, where she said “never” followed by “the whole time you are cleaning there,” as a blanket statement that there was no bed up to 1991. However, this would be incorrect, as she later clarified that she wasn’t involved in cleaning the apartment during her final years.
To sum things up, neither Blanca Francia nor her son, Jason, have contradicted Wade Robson. Neither of them had any knowledge as to whether there was a traditional bed in February 1990. If there wasn't, that means that Wade Robson, just like Jason, and perhaps many before and after them, snuggled up in a single-size sleeping bag on a makeshift bed with Michael Jackson.