Inside the Staples Center RIGHT NOW! OMG!
I'll keep this post updated throughout the day.
UPDATE (10:42 PST): We have our first celebrity sighting, the star of the 1987 hit Summer School: Kirstie Alley!
UPDATE (11:08 PST): They closed the 101 Freeway in LA for the motorcade to the Staples Center. When asked to comment, the average LA commuter replied, "FUCK YOU MICHAEL JACKSON!!!! FUCK YOU!!!!"
UPDATE (11:50 PST): According to E! the memorial service is costing the city of LA at least $3.5 million:
...And rising. For a city that is operating on a deep deficit.$3.5 million? So a few parks don't get mowed for the rest of the year and little Timmy trips over some weeds and breaks his leg. Big fucking deal. How many #1 hits has that stupid kid had? Little punk.
"We have city employees getting pink slips because the city dollars are not there," points out L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine. But even though city officials have asked AEG to pick up some of the public costs, the company has declined, Zine tells me. AEG did not respond to my requests for comment.
"You would think AEG would say, 'We're the ones who did this, we could have had a private ceremony and not a major public memorial.' AEG is a big entertainment company. They're going to get international coverage and tons of publicity from this."
Would You Rather...? Spend one night with: