Part Two: Michael Jackson & the Bosnian War Refugee

Before we go any further, there's a few things you should know about Annie's lies. First, there's usually a kernel of truth in her lies. It's just enough to make you doubt yourself when you suspect she's lying. For example, regarding her Bosnian War refugee story, she actually is from Bosnia. Second, she does extensive research into the things she lies about. Knowing all the little details and background info makes her lies seem more believable. It helps that she usually lies about things she's interested in. Third, she makes her lies seem more believable through the use of "props". These include sock accounts and photoshopped pics, which you've already learnt about, but also fabricated documents and collectibles that she purchases online. And lastly, she prides herself in her creative writing skills and she utilizes them to spin believable tales packed with emotion designed to convince you.

After Lola Skye, things seemed to calm down a bit. Annie didn't appear to get up to very much, but years later would claim during this period that she was backpacking, modelling, and living all over the world. Her online presence from here on out is massive and still accessible. She often used the handles "firecrackerrrr" and "ladyofmachinery". There are so many lies, big and small, that it's not possible to include them all so I'll just be posting bits and pieces.

Here's a list of places Annie claims to have visited:

She actually missed a few because I found other comments of hers where she talked about backpacking in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Dubai. Oops! Here's an inspiring comment where she talks about her travels:

She claimed that when she lived in LA she would attend Marilyn Manson's parties and rub elbows with Johnny Depp at the Viper Room, developing a cocaine habit so bad that she entered rehab. 

In some comments she claimed she went to rehab in 2006 and others it was 2007. You would think that someone who was tracking their sobriety would at least remember the year they went to rehab. 

If you remember from the last post, in the Glamour magazine article she claimed that she never touched drugs or alcohol. Years later she would also slip up and admit she has been living in downtown Vancouver since 2005

Her obsession with Marilyn Manson continued. In 2008, she saw him in concert in Vancouver and in 2009 told friends she was dating his drummer Ginger Fish whom she claimed was abusive to her. She said that Marilyn was like her best friend and he made sure Ginger didn't  "go too far". None of this was true of course.

She claimed to be a professional writer in Hollywood who had published several screenplays and a novel

In 2009 she pretended to be in a serious relationship with a guy named George. "George" was black and Annie would tell stories about the racism they would deal with as an interracial couple.

Hmm sounds familiar 

Annie used one of her fake accounts to make the lie seem legitimate, and also show how generous she is!

In June 2009, Michael Jackson died and received an enormous amount of media attention. I believe this was part of what attracted Annie. After his death, Annie began posting claiming she'd always been a huge fan of his even though I couldn't find a single mention of him from her prior to this. In addition, she now began claiming to be a Bosnian War refugee despite this also being the very first time she'd ever mentioned it. In all of her Lola Skye interviews where she talked about being a two-time cancer survivor and all her other hardships, she never once mentioned being a war refugee. So why create that story? Well, in the mid-90s during the Bosnian War, Michael Jackson donated a bunch of aid to the children of Sarajevo, Bosnia. Annie was born in Bosnia so it was a way for her to tie together her new love for Michael Jackson with a new victimhood story for herself. 

The very first post I found of Annie talking about MJ was when she shared this heartbreaking and inspiring story. She was visiting her Grandma in Tulza, Bosnia when the war broke out and they were able to escape to Sarajevo where she spent the next three years. Sarajevo is coincidentally the very city that MJ sent his aid to! She was introduced to his music by the UN officers and for the first time in months was able to fall asleep. His music became her security blanket. Aww! She was also filled with hope whenever his Heal The World gift packages arrived. After they escaped to Germany, she went and saw him in concert, got to meet him, and he winked and smiled at her. Wow! 

Of course all of this was bullshit. But people ate it up.

One person suggested she submit the story to the Heal The World website

Which she proceeded to do

And five months later - voila! She had made it into the Michael Jackson Opus book. In this version of her story, MJ now strokes her hair instead of winking at her. 

It's worth noting that she claimed here she moved to Canada in 2000. As Lola, she said 1999, and for years she's been saying 2002. No idea why her story changes so much. She included a photo of herself posing with the concert ticket as proof, but those are readily available on eBay.

She confirmed at the time she got into the Opus book by submitting her story on the website

But she told a different story to friends, claiming she had been contacted by MJ's people to submit her story

This was the origin of her Bosnian War refugee lie that she still continues to this day, over a decade later. But let's put that on hold for a minute and continue talking about Michael Jackson. Annie was obsessed with him. She would constantly post about how much she loved him. She didn't believe any of the accusations against him and would often claim that the people making them were all liars and opportunists. Funny how now she's all about believing survivors. I guess that courtesy isn't extended when the accused is someone she's a fan of.

She said she lost friendships over defending him and told this totally-not-fake story of telling off someone

She would often express that she was attracted to him

Very

very

very attracted to him

So much so that she decided to make him the target for her next fake celebrity relationship - nevermind that he was dead! First she started claiming that she had known him and hung out with him before he died.

 (Working for 20th Century Fox was a lie, by the way.) She said she went to This Is It rehearsals in LA.

Here's a testimony from a friend who explains how everything happened

And testimonies from two other people

So Michael Jackson isn't actually dead, he's alive and married to Annie! She also claimed that they had a child together that they named Edie after the Grey Gardens character. Aww, Annie's a mommy! There's a poorly photoshopped picture of a pregnant Annie floating around that we haven't been able to get our hands on yet. The Michael Jackson lie was one that she seems to have exclusively told to people in real life. I couldn't find her talking about it online anywhere apart from a couple little hints. She went so far as to make the lie believable that she legally changed her last name to Jackson. This is why she was known as Annie Jackson for a decade. I don't have any copies of the photoshopped pictures, fabricated documents, wedding certificate, phone logs, etc. but many people I spoke to saw them firsthand. There was someone in the MJ fandom named Gella De who was well known for photoshopping pictures of people and MJ together. Annie enlisted their help in photoshopping images of her and MJ and one of them included the below photo with Annie's face in place of the woman's. 

In January 2010, Annie went on a trip to LA with two of her friends. She took a photo with Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and they visited Neverland Ranch.

 

When she told the story a few years later, she claimed she was living in LA and she was invited there along with a few co-workers. 

Here's a few messages between Annie and a friend where they discuss MJ. Annie frequently gets angry and lashes out at friends over her made-up lies.

In June 2011, there was a riot after the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup. Annie claimed that her and MJ were trapped downtown.

She once told a story how a gang of Mexicans who didn't speak English (because that's so common in Vancouver) robbed her but luckily they overlooked her most prized possession - a signed MJ CD! 

When she told the same story years later, the signed MJ CD changed to a first edition book worth thousands of dollars

Annie continued on her fake relationship with Michael Jackson until 2012 or 2013 when she seemingly moved on. But she still kept her Bosnian War refugee story going, so let's get back to that. It's one of her longest running lies. She constantly uses it to solicit attention and sympathy or to absolve herself of blame by attributing her actions on PTSD from the war. And it's all made-up. Here's some comments of Annie talking about how traumatic the war was.

She also told heroic stories about saving her friends' lives during bomb strikes.

Annie's friends talked about how she would always one-up people and make things about herself. If something bad happened to you, it happened to Annie too! I noticed this pattern online as well. Whenever someone would comment sharing a personal traumatic story, Annie would jump in to make it about herself.  

Looking through her comments online, I found so many inconsistencies in her story. In the Opus book, she claimed she had spent the three years during the war in Sarajevo with her mother at her side, hanging out with UN officers. After she dropped the Michael Jackson lie, the story changed and she began saying she spent those three years in Tulza, hours away, hiding in basements.

She usually claims she was visiting her Grandma in Tulza when the war broke out, but in one version of her story she claimed she was going to pick up her kindergarten report card. She lived in Korcula, Croatia which was an eight and a half hour car ride and a ferry trip away from Tulza, Bosnia. Why would she be picking up her report card in a town she didn't live in?

While she always claimed she was with her mother during those three years, in one version of her story she claimed they were separated for years and so she would pretend to speak to her mom on a toy telephone.

She claimed her aunt was raped in front of her

Years later her story evolved to her aunt being killed in front of her

Even her story about escaping to Germany is inconsistent. Here she claims she was in Germany from 1995-1998. 

But here she claims she was in Croatia when Transpotting came out which was summer 1996.

 

Her stories about her biological father are also inconsistent. Here she says he abandoned her family

But here she calls herself a "rape baby" and claims her mom left him. She says the reason she changed her last name was because of him when really it was because she was pretending to be married to Michael Jackson. She also told one friend her biological father was Scottish and Jackson was her real surname.

Annie's half-brother on her father's side reached out to us and confirmed that the Bosnian War refugee story is a lie. Annie has been telling people for years she was born in Croatia but she was actually born in Bosnia and moved to Croatia when she was five, a year and a half before the war begun. Annie's father was never abusive and the reason her parents split up was because he had to enlist in the war. 

Lying about being a war refugee, using it countless times over the span of a decade to manipulate people is disgusting. Annie has no shame and that's sadly not even the worst of it.

Click here for Part Three