Diana Ross: Reasons for Not Attending Michael Jackson Memorial

Our friends in the mainstream media are at it again.

To have them tell it, Diana Ross doesn't want to have anything to do with the last will and testament of Michael Jackson – nor his glitzy Hollywood send off at the Staples Center.

But that doesn't appear to be true.

While Fox News reported that "the songstress was served quite the surprise last week when it was revealed Jacko named her as a secondary caregiver in his will," Ross said the complete opposite.

"Michael wanted me to be there for his children, and I will be there if ever they need me," the 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' songstress said in a statement obtained by The BV Newswire.

Since the late 1960s, when she introduced the Jackson 5 to the public via a Motown Records publicity campaign, Ross and Jackson have had a very close relationship. They appeared together on several major TV shows, starred in the 1978 movie 'The Wiz' and even collaborated on Ross' 1982 hit single 'Muscles.'

She often referred to him as her baby. See video below.

Thus, she was noticeably absent from yesterday's star-studded celebration of his life, which included the likes of Mariah Carey, Brooke Shields, Stevie Wonder and Jennifer Hudson.

"I am trying to find closure, " Ross explained saying that while she wasn't there in person, she was there in her heart. "I have decided to pause and be silent. This feels right for me. Michael was a personal love of mine, a treasured part of my world, part of the fabric of my life in a way that I can't seem to find words to express."

Fellow Motown Records icon Smokey Robinson read a special note Ross wrote for the occasion. "I hope, today brings closure for all those who loved him," she wrote, adding, "Thank you Katherine and Joe for sharing your son with the world and with me, I send my love an condolences to the Jackson family."

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