Aransay
2
On Sunday, August 4th, VH-1 will air a half hour show about Jacko's war
with
Sony. It airs at night. Check your listings.
And I got this latest article from EW.com. Very interesting, to say
the
least:
One probably unintended consequence of Michael Jackson's crusade
against his
record label is that it's thrown a harsh spotlight onto his finances.
Now
that insiders saying that Jackson's vendetta against Sony chief Tommy
Mottola actually marks an effort to extricate himself from his record
contract with the most generous possible settlement, various reports
have
suggested that Jackson is running low on dough. Evidence comes in the
form
of a lawsuit filed by former business manager Myung-Ho Lee, who says
that
Jackson owes him $13 million for his efforts in arranging some $200
million
in loans for the King of Pop.
According to court documents obtained by FoxNews.com, Lee's suit, filed
in
Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Jackson agreed to pay the fee
at a
Sept. 14 meeting in L.A. Jackson, however, has filed a sworn affidavit
saying that the signature on the IOU is not his, and that he was en
route
from New York to Los Angeles that day. (Having just performed his 30th
anniversary self-tribute concerts in New York a few days before, he
fled the
city in a rented vehicle on Sept. 11, with pals Marlon Brando and
Elizabeth
Taylor reportedly along for the drive.) Two others in Jackson's camp
also
signed statements backing up his assertion that he was out of town, and
that
the signature in question does not resemble Jackson's.
"I specifically looked at the signature that appears at the end of this
document above my typed name,'' Jackson's statement read. ''This is not
my
signature. I did not sign this document and have never seen [it] until
a few
weeks ago. I would never knowingly sign a document that expressly
required
me to pay over $13 million to Mr. Lee or anyone else, alone in a room
and
without review and counsel by one or more of my attorneys."
But Jackson frequently makes business decisions without his attorneys,
like
hiring pal F. Marc Schaffel to produce the ''What More Can I Give''
all-star
charity single and video. (When Jackson's advisers learned that
Schaffel had
a career as a director and producer of gay porn movies, they reportedly
terminated Jackson's business relationship with him and asked Sony to
quash
the song's release.) Moreover, Jackson's filings do not appear to
dispute
Lee's other contentions -- that he arranged hundreds of millions of
dollars
in loans for the singer over the last five years, and that Jackson went
through the money rapidly, spending much of it on the high overhead he
incurred with his Neverland ranch, his doctors and lawyers, and other
expenses Lee has detailed in accounts-payable records he filed with his
suit. Says Lee's filing, "Michael Jackson is -- and was -- a ticking
financial time bomb waiting to explode at any moment."
with
Sony. It airs at night. Check your listings.
And I got this latest article from EW.com. Very interesting, to say
the
least:
One probably unintended consequence of Michael Jackson's crusade
against his
record label is that it's thrown a harsh spotlight onto his finances.
Now
that insiders saying that Jackson's vendetta against Sony chief Tommy
Mottola actually marks an effort to extricate himself from his record
contract with the most generous possible settlement, various reports
have
suggested that Jackson is running low on dough. Evidence comes in the
form
of a lawsuit filed by former business manager Myung-Ho Lee, who says
that
Jackson owes him $13 million for his efforts in arranging some $200
million
in loans for the King of Pop.
According to court documents obtained by FoxNews.com, Lee's suit, filed
in
Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Jackson agreed to pay the fee
at a
Sept. 14 meeting in L.A. Jackson, however, has filed a sworn affidavit
saying that the signature on the IOU is not his, and that he was en
route
from New York to Los Angeles that day. (Having just performed his 30th
anniversary self-tribute concerts in New York a few days before, he
fled the
city in a rented vehicle on Sept. 11, with pals Marlon Brando and
Elizabeth
Taylor reportedly along for the drive.) Two others in Jackson's camp
also
signed statements backing up his assertion that he was out of town, and
that
the signature in question does not resemble Jackson's.
"I specifically looked at the signature that appears at the end of this
document above my typed name,'' Jackson's statement read. ''This is not
my
signature. I did not sign this document and have never seen [it] until
a few
weeks ago. I would never knowingly sign a document that expressly
required
me to pay over $13 million to Mr. Lee or anyone else, alone in a room
and
without review and counsel by one or more of my attorneys."
But Jackson frequently makes business decisions without his attorneys,
like
hiring pal F. Marc Schaffel to produce the ''What More Can I Give''
all-star
charity single and video. (When Jackson's advisers learned that
Schaffel had
a career as a director and producer of gay porn movies, they reportedly
terminated Jackson's business relationship with him and asked Sony to
quash
the song's release.) Moreover, Jackson's filings do not appear to
dispute
Lee's other contentions -- that he arranged hundreds of millions of
dollars
in loans for the singer over the last five years, and that Jackson went
through the money rapidly, spending much of it on the high overhead he
incurred with his Neverland ranch, his doctors and lawyers, and other
expenses Lee has detailed in accounts-payable records he filed with his
suit. Says Lee's filing, "Michael Jackson is -- and was -- a ticking
financial time bomb waiting to explode at any moment."
