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- Geraldine Hughes -

and rescheduled tours, fans still showed up in record num-
bers. His fans supported him at his concerts with chants of,
"We love you Michael!" Ninety-three thousand fans showed
up in Moscow; Eighty thousand fans showed up in Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem, thousands in Buenos Aires, Argentina where thou-
sands of tickets were given away to underprivileged children.
Seventy thousand fans poured into the Aztec Stadium in
Mexico to show their support for Michael Jackson. They all
shouted, "Michael, Michael!"
The fans continued to support his Dangerous album in ex-
cess of half a million copies in Mexico alone. His sales were
increasing during the heart of the child molestation allegations
launched against him. His performance in Buenos Aires, Ar-
gentina had a showing of two hundred and forty thousand
fans; Sao Paulo, Brazil had a showing of one hundred and sixty
thousand fans; and Santiago, Chile had a showing of eight-
five thousand fans.
It was shortly after concluding his Mexico tour dates in
November of 1993, that Michael Jackson released a statement
announcing the end of his Dangerous Tour. He expressed the
need to seek medical attention for dependency and treatment
for addiction to painkillers. He also mentioned that because of
the, "humiliation, embarrassment, hurt and shame... the pres-
sure resulting from these false allegations coupled with the
incredible energy necessary for me to perform caused so much
distress that it left me physically and emotionally exhausted."
The painkillers were prescribed to Michael Jackson after he
had undergone treatment for the burn to his scalp while film-
ing a Pepsi commercial.
Michael Jackson's long time friend, Elizabeth Taylor, was
reported to have cancelled her tour to fly to Singapore to be by
his side during this ordeal. She stated that she, "believed to-
tally that Michael Jackson would be vindicated..." Also stat-
ing that she believed in his integrity, love and respect for chil-
dren. She and her then husband, Larry Fortinsky, who had
also recovered from a drug dependency years before, flew to
Mexico to assist Michael Jackson in getting out of Mexico and

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