Post by ClassicSoul on Feb 20, 2006 22:29:50 GMT -5
Fake-o Jacko’s a real pip: Bluffs his way into Gladys Knight gala
By Thomas Caywood
Monday, February 20, 2006
An impostor posing unconvincingly as the King of Pop, complete with a fake entourage, moonwalked into a black tie charity gala starring Motown legend Gladys Knight at the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel Saturday.
Duped organizers and hotel security ushered the Michael Jackson impostor — dressed in what appeared to be golf gloves, a cheap leather jacket, hardware store dust mask, sun glasses and a black straw hat — to a private balcony.
“It’s one of those things where we’d hate to be had, but if somebody went to these lengths to get into a show like this for free, that’s really tragic,” said Jenny Hoefel, an account executive with event organizer The Castle Group. “I would certainly hope nobody would try to pull a hoax at a charity event like this just to avoid the cost of a ticket.”
Michael Jackson reportedly has been living in seclusion in Bahrain since he was acquitted on child molestation charges last year.
The counterfeit Jacko told a Herald reporter in a faux high-pitched feminine voice: “I’m not speaking.”
The impostor looked to be over 6-foot-tall and well-built. Michael Jackson is 5-foot-10 and scrawny.
“He had a whole entourage of people. Part of me is like, are there 15 people out there crazy enough to do this together?” Hoefel said.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was on hand at the Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center gala to receive an award. A spokeswoman couldn’t say yesterday if he was among the duped.
The phony made a “considerable” donation, Hoefel said, but the credit card number he supplied hasn’t been run yet.
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