Rowe Loses Cool Amid Custody Questions

Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe was in a feisty mood on Sunday. While leaving a restaurant in Lancaster, Calif., Rowe snapped back at a photographer who was peppering her with questions about the custody of her kids with the late pop star.

"Are you ready to fight for your children?" one reporter asked repeatedly. After he got a little close, Rowe lashed out: "Are you ready to get your butt kicked? Don't f----in' touch me!"

Rowe, the biological mother of two of the children, told a NBCLA reporter last week that she'll fight for custody. She's planning on seeking a restraining order against Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson. "I am stepping up. I have to," Rowe said.

She's fighting to get custody of the three children left behind by Jackson: Michael Joseph Jr. (12), Paris Michael Katherine (11) and Prince Michael II (7). Prince Michael II was born to an unidentified surrogate mother. Rowe said during the interview that she doesn't want to split the children up, and though she doesn't expect to gain custody of Prince Michael II since he's not her biological child, she'd be willing to accept custody of him.

Rowe, now 50, surrendered her parental rights during her divorce from Jackson in 1999.

In Jackson's 2002 will, he requested that his mother be named guardian of the children, and also specifically states that Rowe should not get any inheritance. "I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson," Jackson's will states.

There will be a custody hearing on July 13 to determine whether Jackson's mother will remain guardian to the children.

An attorney for Rowe said on Monday that she is backing out of plans to attend the pop star's memorial service on Tuesday. Marta Almli said her attendance would be "an unnecessary distraction" and that Rowe will "celebrate Michael's memory privately."

She was married to Jackson from 1996 to 1999. They met when Jackson was a patient at a dermatologist office where Rowe was a nurse.

Rowe gave birth to Michael and Paris but has long relinquished any parenting rights.

When the couple finalized their divorce in 2000, she was awarded an $8.5 million settlement. She stopped visiting the kids six months later.

In a 2003 FOX interview, she admitted the kids don't think of her as their mother. She said her main goal for having the kids was to give Jackson the chance to be a father. "I believe there are people who should be parents," she said, "and he's one of them."

After Jackson was accused of child molestation in 2003, Rowe attempted to obtain custody of them, but a court ruled against her.

Rowe is an animal lover who lives on a horse farm in Palmdale, outside Los Angeles, with her many horses, dogs and birds. According to court records, she started a horse-breeding business in May 2005 and lives in a modest house there. Court documents also contain allegations that she has at one time or another spent around $35,000 a month on her dogs.

She has complained of having limited funds, and claimed she didn't have health insurance from 2001 to 2005. But Jackson's lawyers said Rowe had "discretionary spending of at least $59,000 per month."