The Lockdown

As of yesterday my twitter account is locked and I will only accept followers who I know in person. Anybody I don't know personally has been removed from my facebook friends list and my profile is no longer accessible to anybody who isn't already following me.

The reason for this drastic course of action is that Bonnie Cox's supporters, either with or without her instruction (she says without), yesterday bombarded me with obscene hatemail and one fan in particular began recruiting cronies to spy on my personal accounts.

As anticipated, Bonnie Cox has posted a third blog about me. In it she claims that I sent her 'obscenity laden threats'. The only thing I sent Ms Cox which even vaguely resembled a threat was a notice that if she continued to publish libelous information about me, I would seek legal action.

As it happens, I will not be taking any action against Ms Cox. Whereas I was at first outraged by the misinformation being perpetuated about me, after a few days' reflection I've come to realise that anybody who subscribes to conspiracy theories about Sony assassins and body doubles is simply confused and vulnerable. Judging by much of the obscene mail and personal threats I received yesterday, the same is true of many of her supporters.

Ms Cox claims in her latest entry that I 'sent her way' a series of angry fans. This allegation is entirely bogus. I didn't ask anybody to email Bonnie Cox and even posted a message on my facebook wall today asking my remaining followers not to harrass her, because I feel she is emotionally vulnerable.

Cox continues to brand the lowly newshound blog false and nasty. For a 'false' blog, it sure got a lot of information right. Over the years it accurately reported the dismissal of Raymone Bain, the re-hiring of Frank Dileo, Jackson's return to LA, his concert residency and the firing of Peter Lopez before they were reported by any major news outlet.

Among Cox's 'proof' that I authored the newshound blog is the fact that we both used the words 'diary' and 'reporter' in our blog titles. The fact that we both happened to be reporters writing diaries has apparently escaped her notice.

Cox further alleges that I claimed never to have heard of the newshound blog - which is either an intentional lie or a misunderstanding. I've never said I didn't know about the newshound blog, nor have I said that I don't know the newshound. I followed the newshound's blog before I even started my own.

Cox and her supporters' favourite bogus allegation appears to be that I said Michael Jackson was a drug addict at the time of his death. I did not say this. A few weeks ago I became involved in a heated debate with several twitter users after I made a comment about Michael Jackson's issues with drugs over the years. A number of hardcore Jackson fanatics began sending me furious tweets, claiming that Jackson had never been addicted to drugs in his life.

Jackson's own family members have repeatedly stated in interviews since his death that he was addicted to painkillers at various stages in his life and they attempted to stage several interventions. Quite what it is that makes Cox and her supporters think they know more about Jackson's drug problems than his own brothers and sisters, I'm not sure.

Cox's supporters have left equally baseless comments beneath her blog and all over twitter/facebook. Many of them claim I am 'cashing in' on the wave of support for Jackson since his death. How many times do I have to tell them that my pro-Jackson articles have been written pro bono before they actually digest the information? Moreover, I've been penning articles in Jackson's favour since 2008. It's Cox, not me, who only began covering Jackson after he died.

Others claim that Bonnie Cox never accused me of being in cahoots with Sony, but I have emails forwarded to me by fans in which Cox states clearly her belief that the only reason I'm angry about her blog is because she made the connection between me and Sony.

Just to put an end to any speculation that I am, or ever was, on Sony's payroll; the only exchange I've ever had with Sony was when they banned me from their catalogue release department after I wrote a negative review of Thriller 25.

One Cox supporter named Jazelyn, whose twitter account was closed today after she spammed users with racist abuse, left repeated comments underneath my last blog entry, believing she'd discovered the smoking gun connecting me to the newshound blog. Over a year ago, the newshound apparently used the phrase 'toodle pie' on his twitter page. Roughly one week ago, I used it on mine.

Cox and her followers acknowledge in their own rants that I was a follower of the newshound before his accounts disappeared, meaning I could very easily have picked the phrase up that way. I didn't, but they should still have taken it into consideration.

One key fact that Jazelyn neglected to mention is that moments before I said 'toodle pie' on my twitter page last week, I had posted a funny video on my twitter feed of a boy ranting about inept staff at his local Subway branch. How did he sign off his video? 'Toodle pie!' Mystery solved.