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"The majority of boldfaced names at Michael Jackson&amp;apos;s July 6 memorial at Los Angeles&amp;apos; Staples Center hadn&amp;apos;t spoken to the the singer in years.\r\nMany never even met him at all.  \r\nBrooke Shields - who broke down in tears as she remembered her &amp;quot;true friend&amp;quot; - last saw Jackson (whom she met as a teenager) 18 years ago at Elizabeth Taylor&amp;apos;s 1991 wedding. (At the memorial, she recalled how the two of them sneaked into Taylor&amp;apos;s room for a peek at her dress.)  \r\n \r\nCorey Feldman -- who befriended Jackson in the 1980s -- also hadn&amp;apos;t talked to the star in several years after having a falling out. Feldman ended up wearing a Jackson costume to the ceremony. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m just drained,&amp;quot; he told Us.\r\nMany of Jackson&amp;apos;s close friends were no-shows: Macaulay Culkin, ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Webster&amp;apos;s Emmanuel Lewis, among others.  \r\nQuincy Jones, Jackson&amp;apos;s longtime producer, and Diana Ross -- who was named in Jackson&amp;apos;s will as a backup guardian to Jackson&amp;apos;s three children -- also skipped the ceremony. Ross said she was at the memorial &amp;quot;in spirit,&amp;quot; but that she &amp;quot;decided to pause and be silent&amp;quot; because it &amp;quot;feels right.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nArnold Klein, Jackson&amp;apos;s longtime dermatologist and biological father to his two oldest children, was also noticeably absent. Debbie Rowe, mother of Jackson&amp;apos;s two eldest children, said she skipped because she felt she&amp;apos;d &amp;quot;be an unnecessary distraction.&amp;quot;\r\nAs for Elizabeth Taylor? She said she stayed home because she didn&amp;apos;t want to &amp;quot;be a part of the public whoopla.&amp;quot;\r\nEven Jesse Jackson, who counseled the singer during his trial, was not present to speak. (A source tells Us Joe Jackson dislikes him and made sure Rev. Al Sharpton -- who laughed about Jackson during a 2008 discussion on race -- delivered a speech instead.)  \r\n\r\nInstead, most of the people who paid tribute to Jackson at Tuesday&amp;apos;s memorial never met him at all.  \r\nQueen Latifah, who eulogized the singer, told David Letterman: &amp;quot;I never actually got to meet him. My partner met him because we managed Naughty by Nature and they did a remix with him. He thought I had beautiful cheekbones.&amp;quot;  \r\nJohn Mayer -- who performed an instrumental version of &amp;quot;Human Nature&amp;quot; -- told Larry King he also &amp;quot;never met&amp;quot; the King of Pop. His only connection was listening to Thriller as a teen. He said the Jackson family asked him to perform. (The Los Angeles Times&amp;apos; Ann Powers remarked, &amp;quot;I don&amp;apos;t know why John Mayer is here. Was Slash not available?&amp;quot;)\r\n\r\nJennifer Hudson -- who performed &amp;quot;Will You Be There&amp;quot; -- also had no prior relationship with Jackson. Mariah Carey covered the Jackson 5 classic &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;ll Be There,&amp;quot; which she sang at the memorial. Though she worked with Jackson on his 2001 charity single &amp;quot;What More Can I Give?&amp;quot; she wasn&amp;apos;t close with the singer, a source tells Us.  \r\nUsher, who sobbed and touched Jackson&amp;apos;s coffin while singing &amp;quot;Gone Too Soon,&amp;quot; performed with Jackson at his 2001 celebration concert at New York City&amp;apos;s Madison Square Garden. But &amp;quot;their contact was minimal,&amp;quot; the source tells Us, even though Usher has stated how influential Jackson was on his career.\r\nTwelve-year-old Britain&amp;apos;s Got Talent finalist Shaheen Jafargholi&amp;apos;s connection to Jackson? He toured as a young Jackson in the Thriller Live show and sang the Jackson 5 cover version of &amp;quot;Who&amp;apos;s Loving You&amp;quot; on Britain&amp;apos;s Got Talent."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/michael-jacksons-memorial-speakers-hardly-knew-him-200997>