Michael Jackson's handlers are going to defend him against charges of anti-Semitism - and to retaliate against the former advisers who sparked his latest controversy.
This week, the Anti-Defamation League demanded that Jackson apologize for allegedly calling Jews "leeches" in a recorded phone message.
"Michael Jackson has an anti-Semitic streak," ADL director Abraham Foxman said. "It seems every time he has a problem in his life, he blames it on Jews."
Jackson attorney Brian Oxman doesn't dispute that Jackson left the "leech" message, in which he allegedly accused Jews of leaving performers penniless.
But Oxman tells us: "I have been with the Jackson family for 15 years, and I'm Jewish. I have never once seen anything anti-Semitic from him or from his family."
Well, Jacko did anger Jewish groups with his 1995 song "They Don't Care About Us," which included the lyrics "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me, kick me, kike me."
Jackson later apologized and changed the lyrics, though he claimed the song was intended to fight prejudice.
The "leech" rant was one of several embarrassing recordings released by an attorney for two former Jackson advisers, who claim the Pop King owes them millions.
You can bet the Gloved One is making a fist.
Jacko's attorney Brent Ayscough confirms to us that he's going to hit former business manager Marc Schaffel with fraud allegations.
Ayscough has been debriefing "West Wing" producer Joe Becker, who has claimed that former gay-porn producer Schaffel swindled him out of $120,000 by telling Becker the money would go to a Jackson-sponsored 9/11 charity.
Ayscough has also found interesting reading in Diane Dimond's Jackson bio, "Be Careful Who You Love," in which the author cites 13 former Schaffel associates who claim he conned them into investing in movies that were never made.
Schaffel's lawyer, Howard King, didn't return a call by deadline.
Meanwhile, Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau thinks he may have saved his client's life when he helped him beat child-molestation charges.
"I don't think Michael Jackson would have survived prison," Mesereau tells Barbara Walters in an ABC interview airing Tuesday.
More on Jackson's Jewish scandal
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