Untouchable

by Randall Sullivan

  Waxman, “Doctors.”

  Winter, Jana. “At Least Nine Doctors Who Treated Michael Jackson Under Investigation.” foxnews.com, July 15, 2009 (I).

  ———. “Evidence Is Piling Up Against Dermatologist to the Stars in Jackson Death.” Fox News, August 27, 2009 (I).

  Winton, Richard, and Harriet Ryan. “Jackson’s Death Ruled a Homicide.” Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2009.

  Yoshino, Kimi, and Andrew Blankstein. “‘Lethal Levels’ of Anesthetic Propofol Killed Michael Jackson.” Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2009.

  JOE AND LA TOYA LEAD THE CHARGE

  “Michael Jackson ‘Was Worked Too Hard’ Claims Daughter.” Daily Telegraph, October 1, 2009.

  Quinn, Delores. “The Michael Jackson Conspiracy: His Relatives Suspect Foul Play.” trutv.com (I).

  AEG

  Connelly, Chris, and Lauren Sher. “ Michael Jackson Overexerted Himself in Tour Rehearsal, Insiders Say.” ABC, July 2, 2009 (I).

  Flint, Joe. “Michael Jackson’s Death Leaves AEG in the Lurch.” LATimes.com, June 25, 2009 (I).

  Gordon, Sarah. “Michael Jackson Fans Will Get Refund from Tour Operators.” Daily Mail, June 30, 2009.

  Harden, Mark. “Michael Jackson’s Death Ends London Comeback Concert Series by Anschutz’s AEG.” Denver Business Journal, September 26, 2009.

  Lee, Chris. “Jackson Death May Prove a Boon to AEG.” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2009.

  ———. “Michael Jackson Rehearsal Footage Draws Bids.” Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2009.

  “Michael Jackson Concert Promoter AEG to Refund Tickets.” LATimes.com, June 29, 2009 (I).

  Parks, Tim. “AEG to Release Jackson Memorial Ticket.” Digitalspy.com, July 3, 2009 (I).

  Sherwin, Adam. “O2 Arena Counts Cost as Curtain Closes on the Greatest Show of All.” Times, June 26, 2009.

  Waddell, Ray. “Promoter’s Show Must Go On.” Billboard, July 11, 2009.

  CHAPTER 27

  I know a great deal about the schemes, agendas, and conflicts of the Jackson family—more, I’d dare to assert, than anyone in the media does—based on my access to the advisors and attorneys who have been most involved in sorting it all out. None of them wants to be on the record (well, Howard Mann and Marc Schaffel may be exceptions) so I won’t be making attributions by name. I will, though, note public record evidence for some of what I’m describing. Randy Jackson (along with Joe) leading family opposition to Branca (past and present): my sources; the estate knows it as well, as is demonstrated by the tape-recording of a phone conversation between Joel Katz, Henry Vaccaro, and Vaccaro’s attorney that came into my possession (cited below), on which, among many other things, Katz says Randy and Joe are the ones making it difficult for the estate’s attorneys. Mainly, though, I trust my sources.

  I’ve spoken to or heard from the attorneys who have advised the Jacksons, from a number of attorneys who represented MJ in the last years of his life, and from a number who have simply been observing or commenting upon the controversies that have been raised about the will, the trust, and the estate. The Mayorases have been most critical of Branca for allowing his own law firm to prepare a will that named him as executor, and have done this publicly, most adamantly in the interviews they gave Howard Mann for Stealing Michael Jackson. Other attorneys who have or are representing MJ and his mother wagged their fingers at this, but described it only as questionable, not as illegal or even as unethical. Criticism of the quality of the will and the trust documents was something I heard from every attorney I spoke to about them, and breach of fiduciary duty was the basis for a complaint in this regard that one after another mentioned. All agreed, though, that this would be a difficult case to make on its own. The Mayorases were fairly outspoken in pointing out the difference in the dates on the will and trust documents, but other attorneys said it was unusual but not extremely unusual and would not be a significant legal issue unless it was part of some larger picture. That MJ’s children are not identified by their legal names is something that clearly aroused the suspicions of the Jackson family and it’s something that has bothered attorneys who have given the Jacksons counsel. Sandy Ribera went to pains to make me aware of the children’s legal names and I have a copy of Paris’s birth certificate. Joe’s quote: interview for Stealing Michael Jackson.

  I don’t purport to be a legal arbiter, though I clearly see the validity of some of the arguments put forward—Branca’s failure to return the will when he was “commanded” to by MJ being the most glaring. I have a copy of the letter in which MJ issued that command and every attorney I spoke to agreed that unless there is an explanation they don’t know about, this is something that could result in Branca facing discipline from the State Bar. LeGrand getting documents from Branca: LeGrand testimony/People v. Jackson; Oxman searching through documents and not finding will: interview for Stealing Michael Jackson. Randy demanding documents from Branca, in particular the will: Randy Jackson sworn statement in Oxman/Joe Jackson filing objecting to the appointment of Branca and McClain as executors; all attorneys I spoke to agreed that Branca should also have returned the will then, if that was true. Oxman suspended from State Bar twice: Oxman disbarment ruling. Oxman appetite for face time on TV: “Media Frenzy Faulted”/LA Times, multiple other sources including Mesereau; Mesereau does acknowledge Oxman’s intelligence, research, and writing abilities. Oxman and Randy hiring private investigators: some of sources above. Family meetings, discussions, and decision to investigate/hiring PIs: Rowe, presumably via Joe Jackson/possibly KJ, to Radar Online; Rowe’s attempt to portray himself as a central figure was scoffed at by my sources. PI findings re. MJ in New York July 6–10, 2002: claims in Joe Jackson filing against Branca/McClain; it cannot have taken much investigating, see New York Times on Sony drama July 7, 8, and 10 (Chapter 1), though it is striking that there were pictures of MJ on July 6, 8, and 9, but not on July 7. Marc Schaffel was with MJ on that trip and was one of two people who told me MJ spent July 7 holed up in his hotel room. Though it certainly seems unlikely, the possibility that MJ got aboard a private jet and flew back to LA to sign the will can’t be entirely dismissed. What’s odd, though, if this is the case, is that Branca and the estate haven’t simply said so and killed the entire controversy over the date on the will in a single stroke. TMZ was the first to report on this issue in an October 21, 2009, story that quoted Al Sharpton’s spokeswoman as saying, “We have reason to believe that Michael may have been in New York on July 7 and Reverend Sharpton will address this after he discusses it with the Jackson family.” One of Mrs. Jackson’s advisors told me Sharpton signed a sworn statement that MJ had been at a meeting with him on the afternoon of July 7, but another said Sharpton was talking about a meeting on July 6.

  Interfor report quotes: from document. What Oxman believed was important and not about the document: clear from filing against Branca and McClain. The only one of the Jacksons I’ve personally heard speak about MJ’s excoriation of Branca is Katherine, though I’ve seen Joe on videotape doing so; one attorney or associate after another who was involved with MJ during the last six years of his life. It was only when Howard Weitzman produced a witness to the meeting between MJ and Branca, and then arranged a phone conversation with Joel Katz, who said he had spoken with MJ about that meeting afterward, that I concluded the meeting had taken place and that Branca likely had been hired as one of MJ’s entertainment attorneys a week before MJ’s death.

  Up until the time that this book went into production, my attempts to elicit answers from John Branca about MJ’s will and trust agreement, and about his relationship with MJ, have all been ignored. Other than the long and threatening March 31, 2011, letter from Howard Weitzman that denounced Tohme and Mann, my only communications with the estate were through e-mails exchanged with Mike Sitrick. I repeatedly offered Branca the opportunity to address the questions that have arisen about his position and performance as the executor of Michael Jackson’s estate, and he declined. Howard Weitzman made a number
of phone calls to various sources—Tohme, Dennis Hawk, and Tom Mesereau, among others—demanding to know if they are speaking to me (and implicitly discouraging them from doing so), but did not communicate with me personally until late August 2012.

  Even after my conversations with Weitzman, John Branca, to my knowledge, has not answered a single challenging question about Michael Jackson’s will being prepared by his law firm or how it is that Branca retained the original of the will after he was fired as Michael’s attorney and received a command to return all documents. Branca also refuses to answer questions about the time, location, and circumstances under which Michael Jackson signed the will that was submitted to Judge Beckloff on July 1, 2009. Sitrick and Weitzman have attempted to suggest (to me and others) that all of those questions were settled when the court rejected the claims made in Joe Jackson’s lawsuit against the estate. In fact, the court did not reject those claims. What it rejected was Joe Jackson’s standing to make such claims, since he is not a named beneficiary of the estate. If Katherine Jackson had filed the same lawsuit, those claims almost certainly would have been heard by the court and Branca would have been compelled to answer. To date, he never has been.

  Allegations against Branca (and Mottola) made in the Interfor report are cited not because I know or even believe them to be true but because they clearly influenced MJ and were a significant part of what soured his relationship with Branca. When Tom Mesereau questioned David LeGrand at the criminal trial in Santa Maria, LeGrand testified that he didn’t have any independent knowledge that the claims made about Branca in the Interfor report were accurate. I don’t know whether MJ himself had independent information that backed up the Interfor accusations, or whether he simply embraced them because they fit with what he already believed, but the latter possibility seems most likely.

  I’m not personally accusing Branca of anything. I’m merely stating that there are legitimate questions surrounding his position as executor of the Michael Jackson estate and that he has refused to publicly address them.

  Internal divisions among Jacksons/how Branca exploited them: mostly but not entirely from confidential sources. Estate attitude to Randy Jackson: Katz in tape recorded conversation with Vaccaro; Howard Weitzman said pretty much the same thing, in even stronger language, when I spoke to him on the telephone. My sources have described Randy in much the same way that Katz and Weitzman, and have said other Jacksons call him “Joe Jr.” behind his back. MJ accusing Randy of stealing: MJ deposition wording/Prescient case could be and was construed that way in media; note Contact Music headline below; it’s also true, though, that a 2007 press release (Bain on MJ’s behalf, posted on “Friends of Randy Jackson”/Facebook) denied he had ever accused Randy of this, see also starpulse.com. Jackson family awareness that MJ accused Randy of stealing from him: my sources; Tohme also told me that MJ warned him that Randy was the member of his family he most had to watch out for, and that MJ said Randy had stolen from him in large ways and small, and that MJ was especially upset about an expensive watch he claimed Randy had stolen. I have no certain knowledge of whether Randy stole from MJ or not, but I am convinced that MJ told people he had, the 2007 press release notwithstanding. I’ve offered Randy the opportunity to respond to the stories told about him, including claims about what took place when he tried to get a meeting with MJ in Las Vegas in 2007. Matt Fiddes, who perhaps had a longer relationship with MJ than anyone who had worked security for him since Bill Bray, told Britain’s Sun that MJ ordered his security guards to shoot Randy (see the TMZ story about that below). Randy denied that happened, but not to me. Through Taunya Zilkie, he declined the opportunity to discuss these matters with me.

  Jermaine: sources cited above, observation of Jermaine’s public statements/behavior. Weakness for women, child support arrears: KJ advisor. Maldonado quotes: Friedman July 24, 2012. Estate offering to help Jermaine get a record contract at Universal: same source as child support issues, Katz (whose standing at Universal is equal to Branca’s at Sony) to Vaccaro. Offer to work in Cirque du Soleil, Jermaine joining pro-estate side (which he later abandoned): three separate sources. I have collapsed time here for purposes of narrative flow; the Cirque du Soleil opportunity came well after the Universal deal was proposed. Jackie-McClain relationship, past and present, arrangement with estate/T-shirt business: same sources. KJ-McClain relationship: same sources, KJ in my presence. Air purifier: a single source, but one who knows more about what goes on in the Jackson family than anyone who is not a member of it and most of those who are. KJ hiring Adam Streisand, KJ account of McMillan’s advice: KJ herself, her advisors, other attorneys. Streisand’s first hearing appearance, family push to challenge will/Branca as executor: Alan Duke/CNN October 22 and 23, 2009, from which quotes from October 22 hearing come; local TV stations/“new evidence” likely drew from this. Streisand questioning will but advising not to challenge: KJ (Streisand never expressed those doubts to me); all of Mrs. Jackson’s main advisors say that she reported at the time that Streisand had made these statements. Taj Jackson as possible additional executor, Branca response, KJ attorney’s advice to distance herself from Joe, KJ decision to drop fight against estate: confidential sources (Taj Jackson part may have been reported). I also discussed these matters with Adam Streisand. “Worth more dead than alive”: Joe Jackson to Extra. Joe petition for an allowance: Ryan/November 7, 2009. Joe demand that Katherine weigh in on his behalf: through Oxman in open court, my sources. Streisand convincing Mrs. Jackson to drop objections and work with executors: explained in open court, and Streisand to me, KJ/her advisors. Events and all quotes at hearing of November 10, 2009: LA Times and CNN, other media who had reporters present. Executors’ filing for “extraordinary compensation”: review of document, TMZ (December 15 and 17, 2009). Weitzman presentation of request: public record. The probate case before Judge Beckloff is one court file I’ve broken into parts in my source list, separating out the various actions.

  Raymone Bain claim against estate/outcome: Mesereau, TMZ April 19, 2010, “Raymone Bain’s Claim Denied” report on mjworld.net. AllGood lawsuit: Hawk, see also “AllGood Socks Jackson Estate Hard,” “It’s All Good For Michael Jackson”/TMZ. Weitzman arguments: open court. Audigier claim: public record. Eric Muhammad: “Bodyguard Tries To Sell Mask”/mjworld.net.

  Sums paid to Weitzman’s law firms/others: estate’s accounting, which I’ve seen. Joe/“Jackson Family Project”: Judd/Glendale News-Press. Joe demand for MJ’s medical records, complaint against estate for failing to file: examiner.com January 1, 2010, public record, probate case court file. Oxman’s claim doctors detected MJ heartbeat at hospital, other quotes and claims in this regard: March 29, 2010, press conference, see Duke/CNN. Segye Times claim/KJ: court file, Friedman June 28, 2010; case/how dealt with by KJ/estate: confidential sources, and to some degree Perry Sanders, who eventually settled the matter on Mrs. Jackson’s behalf. Joe attempt to blame KJ for MJ’s death in News of the World, Streisand quote: New York Daily News, TMZ. Joe Jackson lawsuit against Murray on one-year anniversary: Associated Press, BBC. Jacksons pulling private security from MJ gravesite, Forest Lawn actions: Sydney Morning Herald, Friedman/“Michael Jackson Vultures”; graffiti on MJ’s tomb: National Ledger; June 25 scene: ABC story on the one-year anniversary. KJ filing against AEG: CNN, X17 stories; all quotations: verbatim from the filing. Brian Panish statement: see below. AEG response: Associated Press. Judge Palazuelos decision not to dismiss lawsuit, and comments on case: Julie Garber wills blog/about.com.

  MJ post-death career success: Billboard June 21, 2010, also Tim Adams/Billboard. Reeder, Branca, and Sillerman quotes, growth of the estate in its first year (and all due credit to Branca): Sisario/New York Times. Tohme retort: Tohme.

  COURT FILES

  Civil

  CV-09-07084 (United States District Court, Central District of California) John G. Branca, Special Administrator of the Estate of Michael J. Jackson; John McClain, Special Administrator of the Estate of Michael J. Jackson
; and Triumph International Inc., a California Corporation v. Heal the World Foundation, et al., September 29, 2009 (hereafter cited as USDC-CA CU-09-07084).

  LASC BP 117321 11/9/09.

  BP 117 321 (Los Angeles Superior Court) Ex Parte Application for Order Shortening Time for Notice of Hearing on Petition for Order Allowing and Approving Payment of: 1) Extraordinary Compensation to Special Administrators and Attorneys for Special Administrators; 2) Reimbursement of Costs and Compensation to Guardian Ad Litem; Memorandum of Points and Authorities, December 15, 2009 (hereafter cited as LASC BP 117321 12/15/09).

  CV 11-00584 DDP (United States District Court, Central District of California) John Branca and John McClain, Executors of the Estate of Michael J. Jackson v. Howard Mann, et al., January 20, 2011 (hereafter cited as USDC-CA CU 11-00584 DDP).

  LASC BP117321 2/17/12.

  DOCUMENTS

  “Certificate of Live Birth,” Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, State of California, County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services. February 13, 1998 (hereafter cited as “Birth Certificate” 2/13/98).

  “Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust, Michael Joseph Jackson.” March 2, 2002 (hereafter cited as Declaration of Trust, 3/2/02).

  “Last Will of Michael Joseph Jackson.” July 7, 2002 (hereafter cited as Last Will 7/7/02).

  Branca to Jackson, 8/14/02.

  Branca to Sony/ATV, 8/14/02.

  Branca to Singer, 8/7/02.

  Singer to Branca, 9/10/02.

  Interfor Report on John Gregory Branca.

  Jackson to Branca, 2/3/03.

  “Discontinuence of Services.” Letter from Michael Jackson to Barry Siegel. February 4, 2003 (hereafter cited as Jackson to Siegel, 2/4/03).

  “RE: Michael Jackson Insurance Trust, Michael Jackson Family Trust, Last Will of Michael Joseph Jackson.” Letter from Barry Siegel, CPA, to Michael Jackson, John G. Branca, Esq., and John McClain. August 26, 2003 (hereafter cited as Siegel to Jackson, Branca, and McClain, 8/26/03).