Prince, Paris and Blanket (from left) (Getty Images)
La Toya Jackson was noticeably quiet when the Jackson family feud erupted in public last summer.
But while her siblings battled executors over Michael Jackson’s $2 billion estate, and her niece Paris battled Aunt Janet in the driveway, estranged La Toya, 56, slyly moved in on the heirs to the fortune.
She gathered Jacko’s three children and took sanctuary in the family’s Calabasas, Calif., mansion with Prince, 16, Paris, 15, and Blanket, 10.
The get-togethers included “lots of ice cream and cookies,” said a family insider.
“They needed comfort with everyone showing their wild side, so they watched television together, they listened to music and they talked about what Mike would want. Mostly, it was Toya doing all the talking.”
Before long, the gold-digging diva had signed all three of his kids to her Ja-Tail Enterprises talent agency, which boasts no other clients.
Prince recently signed with “Entertainment Tonight” through Ja-Tail to be a correspondent. La Toya, who has named her two poodles after Prince and Paris, stood with a watchful eye in the “ET” studios last week as Prince made his debut.
La Toya also signed Prince to appear on the CW’s remake of “Beverly Hills 90210.”
Paris inked a movie deal that will have her shooting later this year in London.
The coup de grâce for La Toya, who gets a standard 15 percent commission on each deal, would be a reality TV show deal she’s negotiating. Insiders said bidding has approached $10 million.
OWN, Oprah Winfrey’s network, is thought to be the front-runner to land the series that would feature Jacko’s children, La Toya and cameos by family matriarch Katherine.
“Toya’s working it. It’s because [Katherine] can’t say no to her,” one person close to the family said.
She was able to use the sympathy card because most of her siblings were legally barred from the mansion following the videotaped fight between Paris and her aunt Janet, the failed coup on Jacko’s will and the alleged kidnapping of Katherine.
“She pounced while everyone else was making a lot of useless noise. It was her smoke screen, and she got it done,” the insider said.
“She told them how she knew [Michael] better than anybody else, and she knew he’d want them to follow their dreams; and because they were his children, they could be media and entertainment moguls.
“She had a blueprint. She sold it, and they bought it.”
It was La Toya who prompted Paris to speak publicly for the first time at Jacko’s memorial, proclaiming him “the best daddy ever.” The speech ended with Paris in La Toya’s arms.
The fifth of nine children, La Toya has long been considered as wacko as Jacko.
She twice posed for Playboy, ran a psychic hot line, and publicly accused her famous brother of being a pedophile.
She accused patriarch Joseph Jackson of child abuse, and alleged her ex-husband, the late businessman Jack Gordon, tried to pimp her out for $100,000 to boxer Mike Tyson for a night.
Since Jacko’s 2009 death, his big sister has claimed Jacko’s pet chimp Bubbles has spoken to her and that a psychic contacted the “Thriller” singer on her behalf.
One potential hang up to the OWN deal is Paris’s refusal to do a reality show, but insiders caution not to underestimate Latoya’s power of persuasion.
“Prince wasn’t exactly eager to do ET, but could you tell? When the money is on the line, Toya is going to cash in. I wouldn’t bet against her,” the insider said.
Latoya also doesn’t have to worry about potential backlash from cousin T.J., who shares guardianship of the children with Katherine.
“The guardianship really comes down to what [Katherine] will or won’t approve and TJ only steps in when [Katherine] can’t or refuses to make a decision,” a family member said. “Toya is smart, she has her mother eating out of her hand.”
Stacy Brown is a reporter and longtime friend of the Jackson family.