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Tito Jackson, Member of the Jackson 5, Has Died at 70, Family Says

Tito Jackson, a member of the famed Jackson 5, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019, to promote his solo project, a new version of his 2017 song "One Way Street." (AP)
Tito Jackson, a member of the famed Jackson 5, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019, to promote his solo project, a new version of his 2017 song "One Way Street." (AP)
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Tito Jackson, Member of the Jackson 5, Has Died at 70, Family Says

Tito Jackson, a member of the famed Jackson 5, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019, to promote his solo project, a new version of his 2017 song "One Way Street." (AP)
Tito Jackson, a member of the famed Jackson 5, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019, to promote his solo project, a new version of his 2017 song "One Way Street." (AP)

Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5, has died at age 70.

Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, which include global superstars Michael and sister Janet, part of a music-making family whose songs are still beloved today.

"It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being," his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll said in a statement posted on Instagram late Sunday.

The Jackson 5 included brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The family group, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, produced several No. 1 hits in the 1970s including "ABC,I Want You Back" and "I’ll Be There."

The Jackson 5 became one of the biggest names in music under the guidance of their father, Joe Jackson, a steelworker and guitar player who supported his wife and nine children in Gary, Indiana. As the family’s music careers took off, they relocated to California.

Born on Oct. 15, 1953, Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson was the least-heard member of the group as a background singer who played guitar. His brothers launched solo careers, including Michael, who became one of the world's biggest performers known as The King of Pop.

Michael Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009.

Speaking to The Associated Press in December 2009, Jackson said his younger brother's death pulled the family closer together.

"I would say definitely it brought us a step closer to each other. To recognize that the love we have for each other when one of us is not here, what a great loss," he said, adding he would personally never "be at peace with it."

"There’s still moments when I just can’t believe it. So I think that’s never going to go away," he said.

In 2014, Jackson said he and his brothers still felt Michael Jackson's absence in their shows that continued with international tours.

"I don’t think we will ever get used to performing without him. He’s dearly missed," he said, noting that his spirit "is with us when we are performing. It gives us a lot of positive energy and puts a lot of smiles on our faces."

Days before his death, Jackson posted a message on his Facebook page from Munich, Germany, on Sept. 11, where he visited a memorial to Michael Jackson with his brothers.

"Before our show in Munich, my brothers Jackie, Marlon, and I visited the beautiful memorial dedicated to our beloved brother, Michael Jackson. We’re deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive," he wrote.

Tito Jackson was the last of the nine Jackson siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, "Tito Time." He released a song in 2017, "One Way Street," and told the AP in 2019 that he was working on a sophomore album.

Jackson said he purposely held back from pursuing a solo career, because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons: TJ, Taj and Taryll, who formed their own music group 3T. Jackson's website offers a link to a single featuring 3T and Stevie Wonder titled, "Love One Another."

Tito Jackson also is survived by his brothers Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie, his sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and their mother, Katherine. Their father died in 2018.

Jackson's death was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

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Francis Ford Coppola Sues Variety Over Story Alleging ‘Megalopolis’ Misconduct 

Francis Ford Coppola, the writer/director of "Megalopolis," poses at the premiere of the film at Roy Thomson Hall during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (AP)
Francis Ford Coppola, the writer/director of "Megalopolis," poses at the premiere of the film at Roy Thomson Hall during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (AP)
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Francis Ford Coppola Sues Variety Over Story Alleging ‘Megalopolis’ Misconduct 

Francis Ford Coppola, the writer/director of "Megalopolis," poses at the premiere of the film at Roy Thomson Hall during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (AP)
Francis Ford Coppola, the writer/director of "Megalopolis," poses at the premiere of the film at Roy Thomson Hall during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (AP)

Francis Ford Coppola has sued Variety, saying that a July story that said he ran an unprofessional set with impunity and touching and tried to kiss female extras during the production of his film “Megalopolis” was false and libelous.

The suit, which seeks at least $15 million from the entertainment trade publication, was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, two weeks before the director's long-dreamed-of and self-financed epic is to be released in US theaters.

The suit calls the 85-year-old director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” a “creative genius” and says others are “jealous” and therefore tell “knowing and reckless falsehoods.”

It says Variety's “writers and editors, hiding behind supposedly anonymous sources, accused Coppola of manifest incompetence as a motion picture director, of unprofessional behavior on the set of his most recent production, Megalopolis, of setting up some type of scheme so that anyone on the set who had a complaint of harassment or otherwise had nowhere to lodge a complaint, and of hugging topless actresses on the set. Each of these accusations was false.”

The lawsuit also names the story's reporters, Brent Lang and Tatiana Siegel, as defendants.

It repeatedly says Variety was either knowingly publicizing falsehoods or showing reckless disregard for the truth, echoing a standard for libel established by the US Supreme Court.

A Variety spokesperson, Jeffrey Schneider, told The Associated Press, “While we will not comment on active litigation, we stand by our reporters.”

Coppola said in a statement Thursday that nothing in his career compares to the difficult yet triumphant efforts to make “Megalopolis.”

“It was a collaboration of hundreds of artists, from extras to box office stars, to whom I consistently displayed the utmost respect and my deepest gratitude,” Coppola said. “To see our collective efforts tainted by false, reckless and irresponsible reporting is devastating.”

The July 26 story used anonymous reports and videos from crew members of the shooting for “Megalopolis” of a nightclub scene in an Atlanta concert hall in February, 2023. The story said Coppola tried to kiss young female extras and “appeared to act with impunity” on the set. It said the film's financial arrangements meant “there were none of the traditional checks and balances in place.”

In one video, Coppola, wearing a white suit, walks through a dancing crowd, stopping to apparently lean into several young women to hug them, kiss them on the cheek or whisper to them. Another video shows him leaning into a woman who pulls away and shakes her head.

All of the women have tops on, and the Variety story mentions “topless” extras only in reference to an original report on the allegations in the Guardian.

In a subsequent story about a week later, which is mentioned only parenthetically in Coppola's lawsuit, one of the women, Lauren Pagone, spoke to Variety and agreed to be identified, saying Coppola left her “in shock” when he touched, hugged and kissed her without her consent.

Pagone said she came forward because another of the extras, Rayna Menz, said in Variety's sister publication Deadline that Coppola did nothing to make her or anyone else on the set uncomfortable.

Pagone also filed a lawsuit Monday against Coppola in Georgia, alleging that her treatment on the set amounted to civil assault and civil battery.

Asked for a specific response to that lawsuit, a Coppola representative said there would be no immediate comment beyond the director's broader statement.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Pagone has.

Asked about the touching and kissing allegations by The AP before the lawsuit was filed, Coppola said, “I don’t even want to (talk about it). It’s a waste of time.”

Later in the same interview, without being asked about the subject again, Coppola said, “I’m very respectful of women. I always have been. My mother taught me — she was a little nuts — she said, ‘Francis if you ever make a pass at a girl, that means you disrespect her.’ So I never did.”

The lawsuit takes particular issue with an assertion in the Variety story that Coppola inadvertently got into a shot and ruined it. The suit says Coppola was well aware that some camera angles would include him, and that he was supposed to appear in the scene anyway.

“The average reader would understand that Coppola was so aged and infirm that he no longer knew how to direct a motion picture,” the suit says.

“Megalopolis” is a Roman epic set in a futuristic New York starring Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel. Coppola sold off pieces of his considerable wine empire to largely finance it himself.