Debbie Rowe

• 1. Introduction

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  Debbie Rowe, born Deborah Jeanne Rowe, is an American woman who became the second wife of pop star Michael Jackson. Her marriage lasted only a few years, but it produced two children and a long trail of court documents. Those documents, along with a handful of statements made through lawyers, tell most of what the public knows about her. This documentary follows that trail. How did a woman with no place in the music industry end up married to one of its biggest names? Why did she give up her children, and what pulled her back into court years later?

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• 2. Before the Spotlight

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  Spokane, Washington, is where Rowe was born, on the 6th of December 1958, to Barbara Chilcutt and Gordon Rowe. Her father divorced her mother a few weeks before Rowe turned two. A household of women raised her: her mother, a few aunts, and her maternal grandmother.

  In 1982, Rowe married a man named Richard Edelman. She converted to Judaism as part of that marriage. The couple divorced six years later, and nothing in the record suggests that her life was headed anywhere near fame. A job as an assistant in a doctor's office would change that.

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• 3. The Proposal

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  Arnold Klein ran the dermatology office where Rowe worked as an assistant. Michael Jackson came there for treatment of vitiligo, a skin condition, and that is how the two met. Rowe was already a longtime fan of his music.

  In 1996, Jackson's marriage to Lisa Marie Presley ended in divorce. Rowe later recalled that he was upset at the thought that he might never become a father. She responded with an offer: she would bear his children.

  Lisa Marie Presley later gave her own account in an interview with Playboy. She said that during her marriage, Jackson knew Rowe wanted to have his children. She also said Rowe had "a crush on him". Rowe's offer was about to be tested by grief.

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• 4. Two Children

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  A miscarriage in 1996 devastated Rowe. Jackson consoled her through it. Later that same year it was announced that she was pregnant again, and the two were married on the 15th of November 1996 in Sydney, Australia.

  On the 13th of February 1997, Rowe gave birth to a son at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was named Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. and was soon nicknamed Prince. A daughter, Paris Jackson, followed on the 3rd of April 1998. She was born at Spaulding Pain Medical Clinic in Beverly Hills.

  Jackson took full responsibility for raising both children. That arrangement was about to become formal.

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• 5. Walking Away

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  Fame did not suit Rowe. She describes herself as a private person and almost never gives interviews. The publicity that came with being Mrs. Jackson overwhelmed her.

  The couple divorced in April 2000. Rowe agreed to give Jackson full custody of their son and daughter. She received a settlement of $8 million and a house in Beverly Hills.

  Court documents show that she had signed a prenuptial agreement. Because of it, she could not claim an equal division of community property under California law.

  Then, in 2001, she went before a private judge and asked that her parental rights to both children be terminated. That decision would not stay settled.

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• 6. Back to Court

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  In 2004, Jackson was charged with 10 counts of child abuse. Rowe went to court to have her earlier decision reversed. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that she sought the reversal partly out of fear. She worried that the nanny and some of Jackson's siblings were exposing the children to the teachings of the Nation of Islam.

  Court documents from 2005 record her reasoning in her own words: "Because she is Jewish, Deborah feared the children might be mistreated if Michael continued the association."

  In the 2005 case People v. Jackson, Rowe took the stand. She testified that she had been granted visits with her children for eight hours every 45 days.

  Money also followed her through those years. In 2005 she sold her Beverly Hills house for $1.3 million and bought a ranch in Palmdale. In 2006 she sued Jackson, asking for one immediate payment of $195,000. She also asked for $50,000 to pursue a child custody case. Jackson was ordered to pay $60,000 in her legal fees. Jackson's death in 2009 would open a different set of disputes.

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• 7. After Jackson

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  Jackson died on the 25th of June 2009. Rowe responded through her attorney, denying a series of stories about her. One claimed she was not the children's biological mother. Another claimed she was trying to bargain her parental rights for money.

  In July 2009, she filed a lawsuit for defamation and invasion of privacy. Her target was a source who had handed alleged private emails to the television entertainment news program Extra. On the 3rd of March 2010, she was awarded $27,000, far below the $500,000 she had sought.

  In August 2009, Rowe reached a settlement with Katherine Jackson, who was the children's guardian. It gave Rowe the right to supervised visits.

  In April 2014, Rowe announced on Entertainment Tonight that she was engaged to Marc Schaffel. He was a music producer and a former videographer at Neverland Ranch. He had worked with Jackson on a 9/11 charity single, "What More Can I Give". After the divorce, Schaffel was the only Jackson employee allowed to visit her, and he had helped her through health problems.

  Those health problems became more serious in 2016, when Rowe was diagnosed with breast cancer.

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• 8. On Screen

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  Rowe's story has also reached the screen. The 2004 film Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story cast April Telek in the role of Rowe. That was the same year Rowe returned to court over the children she had once given up.

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