ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: DEBORAH HASTINGS ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES is the only reason given. Lawyers say the couple will remain good friends.
So much for ``Yes, Yes, Yes!'' Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson has dumped Michael Jackson, saying they've been separated for more than a month and there's no hope of saving their marriage.
In Los Angeles Superior Court Thursday, Elvis' only child filed for dissolution of marriage, citing the only reason she is legally obligated to - irreconcilable differences.
``Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley have mutually agreed to go their separate ways. However, they remain good friends,'' said Jackson's publicist, Lee Solters.
Marriages, with the possible exception of Jerry Lee Lewis and his teen-age cousin, don't get much weirder than this.
Tabloids went wild when the 27-year-old mother of two hitched up with Jackson, a 37-year-old bachelor with some pesky image problems, in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic in May 1994.
The snickering began immediately. The wedding - where both bride and groom wore black - was a sham, the tabloids said. Presley, a Scientologist, must have married the reclusive singer for the money or to give him credibility after the child molestation fiasco.
Her attorney, John P. Coale, wouldn't say Thursday whether they had a prenuptial agreement but, as sole heir to Elvis' $100 million estate, she's hardly wanting for cash.
``There are no disputes as to property or anything else,'' Coale said by phone from his office in Washington, D.C. ``It's going to be a very simple and clean divorce and they're going to remain friends.''
The petition, filed in the state that spawned no-fault divorce, said their community property has yet to be determined. It also asks that Jackson pay legal fees and that her name be restored to Lisa Marie Presley.
In the three-page divorce filing, Presley listed their date of separation as Dec. 10, 1995 - four days after Jackson's on-stage collapse during rehearsals for a television special in New York.
Presley put up appearances, visiting him in the hospital, where doctors blamed his collapse on severe diarrhea from a viral infection that left him dehydrated with a dangerously high heart rate. Posing for the cameras. It was a familiar routine.
After their wedding, they were photographed on outings with Presley's two small children from a previous marriage. They held photo-ops at Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County, where the grown star with no children of his own had a ferris wheel and a choo-choo train.
But as early as last August, London tabloids began reporting Presley was dumping ``Jacko.''
``Not true!'' Presley's people screamed. ``Garbage!'' Jacko's people roared.
The lovebirds even agreed to a much-ballyhooed primetime TV interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, revealing details some would prefer left to the imagination.
``Do we have sex?'' Presley asked. ``Yes! Yes! Yes!''
Asked if their marriage was a publicity stunt, Jackson indignantly retorted, ``Like we're faking this?''
``How can you fake this 24 hours a day - sleeping with somebody, waking up with somebody?'' Presley added. ``I'm not going to marry somebody for any reason other than the fact that I fall in love with them. Period. Period. Period.''
Presley's first marriage, to musician Danny Keough, ended in divorce after six years and two children. Jackson had never been wed.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB