These days young Blanket Jackson is known as Bigi to his family, but those close to Michael Jackson’s youngest son say he might as well be called the invisible boy.
With older sister Paris expressing concern that her 15-year-old brother is living largely alone in a mansion without a guardian, Jackson insiders said the situation is worse than reported.
“If you want to find Bigi, all you have to do is look around the house, find an empty room or an unoccupied corner and there you will find him, off on his own,” said a source, who has worked with the Jackson family for nearly three decades.
“This poor kid, he fends for himself . . . There’s no one to make sure he’s even eating right,” the source said. “If you call a bowl of cereal or a Snickers bar a meal, then I guess he’s OK.”
Katherine Jackson, Blanket’s grandmother and legal co-guardian, hasn’t seen the teenager in more than three months, the source said, and there’s been no phone contact.
“Katherine went to London to be with Janet [a new mother who’s going through a divorce] and she’s been dealing with her own issues, plus she’s 86 years old and when she’s there it’s simply in . . . name only,” the source said.
Blanket’s day usually consists of classes at the private Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, where he’s in the ninth grade. That’s followed by two hours of martial-arts practice and a steady diet of video games where he connects with total strangers on the Web to play “Assassin’s Creed,” “Dragon Quest Heroes,” and “Lego Worlds.”
His older siblings have left the 7-bedroom, 11-bath, $10.5 million nest in Calabasas. Paris, 19, lives alone at the family’s Hayvenhurst estate in Encino, about 11 miles south of the manse housing Bigi and a staff that includes a part-time chef, three housekeepers, and a five-person security team who rotate shifts.
Paris, who moved out last year, has been busy with her modeling and acting career. Jacko’s oldest son, Prince, 20, spends most of his time on campus at Loyola Marymount University in west Los Angeles and running his “King’s Son Productions” company.
“His sister is pursuing her career, his brother is pursuing his education and his career and Bigi is the forgotten one,” the source said.
At Paris’ urging, she and a cousin and a few friends had dinner with Blanket Thursday night at the Calabasas house. Blanket seemed “only a little bit encouraged” by the rare show of family bonding, an insider said. Prince was not there, nor were any of Michael Jackson’s siblings.
Paris has reportedly been upset with her aunts and uncles, whom she believes have been keeping Katherine away from Bigi.
Paris said her brother needs adult supervision. Family sources said there’s no one helping him with homework and providing other parental duties.
T.J. Jackson, Blanket’s other court-appointed co-guardian, lives about 40 minutes away, and takes turns with his wife, Frances, to look in on the teen.
“One of the things that they should count their blessings on is that this is a smart child who does well in school,” the source said.
T.J. and Frances do attend parent-teacher conferences, but the lack of support in other areas is alarming, the source said.
“He has to get security or someone else to go out and pick up some items that he needs for school projects. This kid is raising himself,” the source said.
Cousin Trent Jackson still lives in a guest house at the Calabasas mansion, but his status there is pending a court hearing later this month.
Katherine has filed a restraining order against him and a motion seeking his removal. Since the filing, according to the family source, Trent hasn’t been back in the main house and rarely sees Blanket.