Joe Jackson, the patriarch of the Jackson family, posted a tweet Sunday night that seemed to reference his battle with terminal cancer — and also resembled a poetic and final farewell message.
“I have seen more sunsets than I have left to see,” the former talent manager, 89, tweeted. “The sun rises when the time comes and whether you like it or not the sun sets when the time comes.”
But his granddaughter Paris Jackson said that he couldn’t have penned the tweet because he’s too sick.
“[T]his is a beautiful tweet,” she wrote Sunday night, “though it upsets me to see whoever is in charge of this account taking advantage of it.”
“[M]y grandfather did not tweet this,” she continued, “I’m not sure if he’s ever used this account.”
this is a beautiful tweet. though it upsets me to see whoever is in charge of this account taking advantage of it. my grandfather did not tweet this. i’m not sure if he’s ever used this account. https://t.co/KU6jikCD7G
— Paris-Michael K. J. (@ParisJackson) June 25, 2018
The verified Joe Jackson Twitter account has over 28K followers and has been active since 2014.
When her followers expressed their confusion and requested further details, Paris added, “I was with him there’s no possible way for him to have tweeted it.” And, in response to a follower suggesting the 20-year-old go visit her grandfather, Paris replied, “we all have. I flew out this morning to be with him all afternoon and evening.”
She then thanked her supporters for the “love you’ve sent during this time.” Prior to this, she tweeted, “blessed to have a family that comes together the way the Jacksons do.”
What type of cancer does Joe Jackson have?
According to Page Six, Joe Jackson has stage-four pancreatic cancer, meaning it’s spread to other organs (typically the lungs or liver). His family is flocking to his bedside, making it seem like the end is near.
“He’s very, very frail, he doesn’t have long. The family needs to be by his bedside — that’s our only intention in his final days,” Jermaine Jackson, 63, revealed to Daily Mail last week, also noting that the family had been barred from visiting for the first few days of Joe Jackson’s hospitalization.
The headline of this Daily Mail article claimed the man was dying, but Jermaine posted a response on Twitter to clarify that his father is not “dying” as originally reported: “My father’s health is not good, but ‘dying’ is a harsh word chosen by headline writers, not me. For however long he has left, my mother, siblings, and relatives want to be with him, without hindrance.”
Joe Jackson suffered a stroke in Brazil in July 2015 — he was there celebrating his 87th birthday — and he’s reportedly been battling cancer for some time.
Backstage at the BET Awards in 2009, the architect of The Jackson 5 and father of 11, spoke to Access Hollywood about the late Michael Jackson, who’d died three days earlier. At the time, Joe Jackson said Michael’s funeral would be larger than that of Princess Diana and described him as “the biggest star that ever lived.”
