La Toya Jackson Remarries To Friend And Business Partner [Report]
La Toya Jackson has reportedly gotten married to her longtime boyfriend and business partner.
Jackson, who is the eldest sister of the late Michael Jackson, and Jeffre Phillips tied the knot in Los Angeles last Friday.
The ceremony, was private and small in scale and only included close family and friends, among them Katherine Jackson, La Toya Jackson’s mother and her nephew, Prince, the son of Michael.
In contrast to Phillips’ very public proposal on her reality TV show Life With LaToya, the wedding was low key and not announced in the media. It is unclear how many people attended.
La Toya Jackson went on several dates that didn’t amount to much, before getting engaged to Phillips. Rumor has it, the couple has been together for many years, as he has been her business partner for a while.
The “dates” were only for publicity according to a source close to the show and Phillips was only going along with it:
“She decided to pretend she’s looking for a boyfriend, but she’s been with Jeffre for years. Everyone who knows them personally knows they’re in a relationship. Jeffre is going along with it because he wants the show to be a success.”
La Toya Jackson was forcibly married to her manager Jack Gordon, who was hired by her father Joe, in 1989, after he claimed he was trying to protect her from being kidnapped by her family.
The marriage was surrounded by very unsettling circumstances, including rumors that Jackson had tried to leave the chapel several times during the ceremony and was prevented from doing so by Gordon’s bodyguard.
At the time, La Toya Jackson was estranged from her family and she had turned into somewhat of a sex symbol thanks to Gordon’s efforts. She even posed for Playboy.
After her marriage she lost all contact with her family and wrote the damaging autobiography La Toya: Growing Up In The Jackson Family in which she accused her father of physical abuse.
During the time La Toya Jackson stayed with Gordon she suffered from constant abuse and isolation from the rest of the Jacksons.
Gordon allegedly kept her passport from her, monitored her calls, and transferred all her bank accounts to his name. Her father believes that she was brainwashed, as is stated in his own book The Jacksons.
La Toya Jackson filed for divorce in 1996, after reaching out to brother Randy Jackson, who came from New York to help her get out of the destructive relationship.
