Latest News ...

Jackson faces tough battle to rebuild career

Now that Michael Jackson has been cleared of child molestation charges, the next big question is whether the one-time unstoppable superstar can rebuild a shattered career and work his way out of deep debt.

As he emerged from a central California courthouse on Monday, shaky and expressionless after his acquittal, the 46-year-old performer appeared more a victim of shell shock than a commanding King of Pop.

Instead of celebrating, he went home to his Neverland ranch to go to bed, a far cry from his impromptu dancing on the top of his SUV to please fans when he was arraigned in 2004.

By all accounts, the bruising four-month trial has left in tatters a career already dogged for more than a decade by scandal and revelations about Jackson's eccentric lifestyle.

But experts in image management and the music industry say Jackson could make a modest comeback singing the hits that made him famous, especially in Europe and Asia, where his following has long surpassed his US stature.

"Even when his popularity wanes here, his popularity overseas has been sustained, and that's probably the place he can do the best," said veteran talent manager Ken Kragen, an organiser of the "We Are the World" charity effort built around the song Jackson co-wrote 20 years ago.

Whatever Jackson does next, he added, especially if it comes in the next several months, will "get enormous attention," says Mr. Kragen, adding, "The best thing for him to do would be something that's unexpected."

Some have suggested he might otherwise carve out a late-career niche as a headliner in Las Vegas, a city of second chances for many faded superstars. Others said that despite a complete exoneration by the jury, Jackson might well remain in a kind of exile as an entertainer.

According to testimony at his trial, Jackson is deep in debt. There has been wide speculation he will have to sell all or part of his biggest remaining asset, a $500 million stake he has in a music catalog that includes Beatles' compositions by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

"What he needs to do in the U.S. is rehabilitate himself as a human being," image and brand consultant Morris Reid said before Monday's verdict. "But the brand of Michael Jackson, the entertainer, beloved all across the world and the US - that's over."

Reid said picking up the pieces should start with something Jackson has so far shied away from - public contrition.

"He needs to apologize," said Reid, managing director of the Washington-based firm Westin Rinehart and a former top aide to late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.