Michael Jackson Is "Fine"

Mark Twain once wrote a newspaper that published his obituary to say that reports of his demise had been "greatly exaggerated," and now Michael Jackson's spokesperson has said something similar about the "King Of Pop."

Nobody reported that the 50-year-old Jackson was dead, but reports from Canadian journalist and Jackson biographer Ian Halperin that he was suffering from a deadly genetic disorder and was in need of a lung transplant were circulating on Monday. But Dr. Tohme Tohme, Jackson's spokesperson, says the singer is fine.

"The writer's wild allegations concerning Mr. Jackson's health are a total fabrication," Tohme said in a statement.

"Mr. Jackson is in fine health and finalizing negotiations with a major entertainment company and television network for both a world tour and a series of specials and appearances."

Halperin recently told the U.K.'s The Sun tabloid that Jackson was suffering from Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disorder that depletes a protein protecting the liver and lungs.

Halperin said Jackson needed a lung transplant, but might be too weak for one because he was suffering from chronic gastrointestinal bleeding as a result of the disorder and emphysema and had gone 95 per cent blind in his left eye.

Halperin is the author of Who Killed Kurt Cobain?, a book which alleges Cobain was murdered, and biographies of James Taylor and Celine Dion which Rollingstone.com describes as "scandalous." Halperin is also the author of a new Jackson biography that Tohme says is unauthorized.

"Concerning this author's allegations, we would hope in the future that legitimate media will not continue to be exploited by such an obvioius attempt to promote this unauthorized biography."