News broke this weekend of Michael Jackson’s death and spread around the globe like a wildfire. As millions if not billions of fans are heartbroken mourning his death, a controversial article suggest Michael Jackson, probably the world’s most famous celebrity, actually “faked his death”. A bad joke? An unfounded conspiracy theory or just a publicity stunt to get people’s attention? Make up your own mind:

From World Report: Billions of people around the world think pop genius Michael Jackson is dead and set to be buried but nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, say sources in a position to know, the superstar faked his death to escape the crushing pressures of life in a fishbowl – and he is now socked away in an undisclosed location in Eastern Europe, possibly Hungary, far from the clamor of paparazzi covering his “autopsy” and “funeral” in southern California.

And in the strangest twist of all, say the insiders, once he’s rested and ready, Jackson, 50, will blow the lid off his own hoax – and embark on the most spectacularly lucrative concert tour in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.

“Michael is following in the footsteps of a man he greatly admired – another rock icon, Elvis Presley, who also faked his death and is still alive, and in hiding, today,” William Stern, who has written extensively on Presley, told me exclusively.

“Unlike Elvis, however, Michael is withdrawing from his celebrity before it destroys him. And he also is planning, once he has rested and regrouped, to stage a comeback unlike anything in rock history.

“Make no mistake, Jackson is a genius, both as a performer and as and showman and marketer and promoter. Remember when he made an offer to buy the remains of The Elephant Man from a British museum just to get the publicity?

“Remember when he reputedly was trying to find a way to live forever by spending hours in a hyperbaric chamber?

“If you look at his history, at some of the stunts he’s pulled to keep himself in the public eye, to maintain a sense of mystery about who he is and what he’s all about, the idea that he would fake his death makes sense.

“Let’s face it – Michael has been vilified by many in the press and by people who just don’t like him. He’s been accused of pedophilia. He’s been called ‘Wacko Jacko’ and a ‘Pop Weirdo’.

“Yes, he’s got billions of fans. Yes, he’s sold perhaps a billion records and CDs. But for all the love he gets, there are those who have been and continue to be unkind, and mean-spirited.