Public Memorial for Jackson Set for Tuesday in L.A. - Featured

A public memorial service for Michael Jackson will be held at Los Angeles' Staples Center on Tuesday, following a private service for the family.

In a statement on Friday, a family spokesperson said that only 11,000 tickets would be distributed free of charge for the 10 a.m. service, according to the L.A. Times. A small, private ceremony would be held for the family just prior to the Staples Center event. No other details about the memorial service have been released.

Meanwhile, questions remain about whether the biological mother of two of Jackson's three children will seek custody. The Times reported that Deborah Rowe's current attorney, Eric George, said she has not decided whether to pursue custody. (The mother of Jackson's youngest child, Prince Michael II, 7, is unknown.) But People reported that Rowe will fight for custody of Prince, 12, and Paris, 11. "Frankly, she won't have to fight for them," Iris Finsilver, Rowe's former attorney, tells the magazine. "She is the children's biological mother. She loves her children."

The discrepancy may stem from comments Rowe made to NBC4, an L.A. television station, in which she said, "I want my children. ... I am stepping up. I have to." George later told the Times that it would be a "distortion of the truth" to take Rowe's comments to NBC4 as her final decision in the matter.

A court previously granted temporary custody of the children to Katherine Jackson, Michael's mother. The L.A. Times, citing a source close to the Jackson family, says that they intend to fight a challenge from Rowe and seek permanent custody.

In other updates:

CNN speculates on the expected media frenzy surrounding Tuesday's memorial service.

The New York Times has a slideshow tour of Jackson's (mostly empty) Neverland Ranch.

President Obama shrugs off controversy about his public statement about Jackson's death, calling him "one of our greatest entertainers," according to the Associated Press.

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