Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Joe Jackson Gets Mad, Demands Justice

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/31/2009 at 09:00 AM EDT

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Carefully guarding his words when it came to whom he thinks is to blame for his son Michael's death, patriarch Joe Jackson simply says he was unaware – until now – "there was foul play done."

"I didn't know all this was going on," the elder Jackson, referring to Michael's drug use, said on Monday's Today show. Speaking for the first time since authorities ruled the King of Pop's June 25 death a homicide, Jackson, 80, said , "I'm not angry, I'm mad … Because I didn't know all this was going on."

And now, he says, his family "wants justice to be done."

Yet he wasn't exactly clear on what he meant by "justice." Asked point blank if he would like criminal charges to be brought against those found responsible for Michael's death, Joe Jackson replied, "I don't know."

Jackson was equally elusive on the topic of his relationship with Michael's three young children: Prince, Paris and Blanket. Though he signed a legal document promising to have nothing to do with their upbringing by his wife (and the kids' grandmother), Katherine, 79, Joseph – who lives separately from his wife – was asked if he sees them.

"Of course," he said. "I'm their grandfather."

As for how often he sees them, he said only, "I see them enough."