No good guys in the sad saga of Jackson vs. AEG Live

[Vici]

Sorry if this have been posted (i did a search but couldnt find anything). I believe this article deserves its own thread.

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No good guys in the sad saga of Jackson vs. AEG Live

In the end, the trial over Michael Jackson's tragic death boiled down to what people will do for money and how bankrupt that can leave them.

The verdict was delivered in the "Special Events Center" at the Los Angeles County courthouse, with dozens of people queuing up in the hallway as if they were there for a concert.

The case itself had been mostly mundane; rooted in the details of contract and credentials, it dragged on for five months.

But its finish was always destined to be a spectacle, because the man on trial was Michael Jackson, the King of Pop — never mind that the case was named "Katherine Jackson vs. AEG Live."

The billion-dollar lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother blamed the concert promoter for the pop star's death, claiming AEG employed an unfit doctor whose negligence led to her son's overdose on sedatives and propofol.

But the jury sided with AEG, ruling that the doctor, Conrad Murray, was competent to serve as the superstar's physician. Jackson orchestrated his death, jurors said, with bad behavior and poor choices.

"Whatever Michael wanted, Michael got," juror Kevin Smith told reporters. "If AEG had known what was going on behind closed doors, it might have made a difference. But they didn't."

And it looks like they didn't want to know. They just wanted their star on stage when the curtain opened in London on what was supposed to be a legendary, record-breaking tour.

It wasn't the legal responsibility of AEG Live to protect Jackson's health. That's the job they agreed to pay Dr. Murray $150,000 a month to do.

AEG execs might not have known that the physician — now in jail for killing Jackson — was ethically challenged.

But they did know that the entertainer had a long history of being drug dependent and emotionally unstable.

If they expected the cosseted superstar to suddenly shake decades of deep-seated problems, that's either shameful ignorance or cruelly dispassionate thinking.

After all, AEG Live's co-CEO had been the manager 20 years ago of Jackson's "Dangerous" world tour, which had to be abruptly cut short so the star could enter rehab for painkiller dependence.

Even casual fans knew that Jackson's career had been studded with drug problems, bizarre behavior and medical issues. He hadn't toured in more than 10 years.

His struggles were no secret, just an inconvenient truth the promoters seemed determined to disregard.

Getting Jackson the help he needed might have derailed the concert tour that had already cost AEG more than $30 million to arrange. Instead, there was lots of emailing among company leaders about Jackson's obvious disintegration.

He repeatedly missed rehearsals, was emaciated, incoherent, paranoid, obsessive. He couldn't manage signature dance moves or remember the words to songs he'd been singing for years.

One of AEG's top officials was warned by a rehearsal manager a week before Jackson died, "I have watched him deteriorate in front of my eyes over the last 8 weeks."

Another exec acknowledged as much in an email to the company's finance chief: "Trouble with MJ. Big trouble... He is having a mental breakdown."

Yet they treated Jackson not like a troubled man in crisis but like the "freak" that a mocking email from AEG's top lawyer made him out to be.

They questioned his work ethic, waved off his friends, warned Murray that his job was to get the superstar in shape, on stage, on time.

They even doctored Jackson's rehearsal calendar to fool the pop star into thinking he was getting the rest his failing body needed. "Figure it out so it looks like he's not working so much," ordered Paul Gongaware, AEG Live's co-CEO, who'd known Jackson for years.

Jackson was a caricature, a commodity, a cash cow — in death, if not life — for the company.

"Michael's death is a terrible tragedy, but life must go on," AEG Live concert chief Randy Phillips wrote to a business colleague several weeks after Jackson died. "AEG will make a fortune from merch sales, ticket retention, the touring exhibition and the film/dvd."

And it did. The celebratory documentary "This Is It," which AEG co-produced, has grossed more than $260 million worldwide since the superstar died.

The promoters weren't the only ones trying to cash in on the legacy of this talented and tortured soul. Katherine Jackson's lawsuit asked for at least $35 million for her and $85 million for each of Jackson's three children.

The greedy wealthy family going after the greedy wealthy firm. In such a mercenary battle, it's hard to know whom to root for.

Still, I found something unseemly about the crowing by AEG lawyers in their celebratory post-verdict meeting outside the courthouse with reporters.

There was lots of talk about how Jackson "made his own choices." But that's only true if you believe addiction is a choice.

This trial was not just about who gets paid but about what people will do for money and how bankrupt that can leave them:

An aging superstar will tempt his demons and push his body past its limits. A high-flying firm will ignore the needs of a troubled man to exploit his celebrity status. A secretive family will go public with painful private drama. There are price tags on all of that.

Jackson's mother said going in that she filed the suit because she wanted to know the truth.

I watched her shuffle out of the courtroom on Wednesday, as soon as the verdict was read. Her face betrayed nothing as she walked past rows of shell-shocked Jackson fans.

"I hope she'll find peace," said Dana Brenklin, an arts activist who covered the trial for radio station KJLH. "She didn't get justice, she didn't get money. But she got some answers about what was going on at the end of her son's life."

Now that the freak show is over, maybe Katherine Jackson's family can pull together and move on.

And her son can rest in peace.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-1005-banks-michael-jackson-20131005,0,4681726.column?page=2

 

[serendipity]

This article makes MJ look like a druggie. Sorry but before he died he didn't have that image of a drug addict that would make people constantly suspect he may be on drugs. He didn't exactly have the image of an Whithey Houston or Amy Winehouse.

And none of us really knew about his struggles with dependency or let alone the insomnia, the way this article makes it sound.

 

[MIST]

If Murray hadn´t killed Michael I think Michael had done great concerts.
Perhaps he hadn´t been able to sing live and dance to all songs but I think it doesn´t matter.

Millions of people have problems with insomnia , some severe, and eat medicin for it.
Doctors, teachers, nurses,,advocates,workers,etc
If you take medicin a long time you usually need stronger and stronger medicin otherwise it will not help.
And it can come a time when nothing helps..

 

[Tygger]

Vici, I find that article more compassionate towards Michael than this one also posted in the LA Times.

Michael Jackson loses in court — and it's about time

Finally. A jury verdict went against Michael Jackson.

And it’s long past time.

In death, the man who once seemed to have the justice system wrapped around his little finger finally came up short.

Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, and his three children, had sued concert promoter AEG Live, contending that AEG was responsible for Jackson’s 2009 death because it had hired Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered Jackson a fatal overdose of propofol.

But on Wednesday, after a five-month trial, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that although AEG was indeed responsible for hiring the deeply flawed doctor, Murray was not “unfit or incompetent to perform the work for which he was hired.”

Murray has already been held to account for his role in Jackson's death. Convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011, he is serving out the final month of his two-year incarceration in Men’s Central Jail.

There will be no billions of dollars in damages for the King of Pop's clan.

Their amazingly talented and tormented scion collaborated in his own death, committing a form of doctor-assisted suicide available to only the very rich.

“There was not one shred of evidence presented over five months to back up the fact that AEG could have known that Conrad Murray was doing that,” jury foreman Gregg Barden told HLN on Wednesday night. “At the time he was hired, he was fit. You could have checked him out six ways to Sunday and there was just no complaints there.”

AEG Live hired Murray to care for the 50-year-old Jackson as he prepared for his "This is It" comeback tour, not to administer the powerful surgical anesthetic that ultimately killed him. That was a side deal, worked out between the immensely powerful American musical icon who craved a drug he called his "milk," and a $150,000-a-month "concierge" physician who saw dollar signs instead of an addicted patient in serious need of intervention.

“If AEG had known what was going on behind closed doors, it would probably have made a difference, but they didn’t,” juror Kevin Smith said, according to my colleagues Jeff Gottlieb, Victoria Kim and Ruben Vives. “Michael Jackson was pretty used to getting his own way, he was a big star. He had all these doctors who wanted to be his doctors. And he could pretty much get what he wanted. If anybody said no, well they were out of the mix and he’d find somebody else. … How could AEG have done anything about it when they were kept in the dark?”

This verdict was a surprise, but it was smart.

It implicitly holds Michael Jackson responsible for his own tragic death, and in doing so strikes a much-needed blow for common sense.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...son-verdict-abcarian-20131003,0,1891295.story

 

[NeeChee]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-michael-jackson-verdict-abcarian-20131003,0,1891295.story[/URL]

I was really dismayed to read this article, as I felt this is how the press would play it if KJ lost the case. Even though I think the case never should have been brought, I was hoping for a win, because I think the promoter was partly responsible.

And,there's no mention here of how the jurors saw Michael in a positive light after hearing all the testimony - same old biased treatment from the media.

If I was Mike's mum,;D I would be pulling out all stops to prevent Murray from uttering a word or benefiting in any way from the crime he committed. I would have sought restitution from Murray - but now, we're going to have to hear his silly utterings about "the trut" and watch him become rich. The papers and news shows are going to be all over him. Can't wait.

 

[jamba]

same old biased treatment from the media.

I agree with NeeChee on this. Sandy Banks, the author, wrote a bunch of crap. I am so tired of the never-ending BS. I wish the jurors had said nothing out of court b/c their words are being used to invalidate the verdict. They are people with opinions and they rendered a verdict--not every juror is going to stick to a teleprompter and a recorded message. The main point is they voted and reached a verdict. SMH.

Panish spent 3 months and more presenting his case. He did not convince the jury--he did not have the evidence to support the charges. That is the bottom line. You can't retry this case in the media with a bunch of garbage written by 'journalists' trying to get ratings by being inflammatory.

 

[AliCat]

It's interesting to note that if Michael did not have 3 children who would have benefited when Michael died. First 3 cousin's, then his 3 nephew's. One can see why Michael's siblings were unappreciative and exerted their right to say so, the Will is fake.

Michael's parents and his siblings were use to getting their way, financially, with Michael. Now that Michael is gone, they don't like the terms of dealing with other's, financially speaking, and that's how we end up in a Court of Law to determine if money can be made off of Michael. If the family had won, it would have been like old times, a free for all, to spend money that Michael's family did not earn.

Since Hayvenhurst was about to go into foreclosure and the utilities were going to be turned off, due to a lack of payment and Randy Phillips would not advance any more money to Michael, things were getting pretty tight in Michael's budget, day's before Michael died!

 

[Mneme]

No good guys in the sad saga of Jackson vs. AEG Live
.....
Getting Jackson the help he needed might have derailed the concert tour that had already cost AEG more than $30 million to arrange. Instead, there was lots of emailing among company leaders about Jackson's obvious disintegration.
......
The celebratory documentary "This Is It," which AEG co-produced, has grossed more than $260 million worldwide since the superstar died.

who knows it exactly?:

From what I remember is this:
- AEG sold their film material to Sony for 60 Millions US Dollar.
- From the cinema tickets Sony got the first 200 Millions
- From the cinema tickets over and above 200 Millions The Michael Jackson Estate got 90% and AEG 10%

If TII had grossed about 260 Mio then AEG would get only 6 Mio (10% from 60).
In total also AEG would have earned 60 Mio (from Sony) plus 6 Mio from the tickets = 66 Mio.
From this are to substract 30 Mio production costs.

If my calculation is right so would have AEG earned 36 Mio with the disaster of Michael's dead and I assume 50 concerts would been more lucrative.

 

[Bubs]

Michael's parents and his siblings were use to getting their way, financially, with Michael. Now that Michael is gone, they don't like the terms of dealing with other's, financially speaking, and that's how we end up in a Court of Law to determine if money can be made off of Michael. If the family had won, it would have been like old times, a free for all, to spend money that Michael's family did not earn.

This paragraph reminded me of what Joe wrote in his book:
"Randy is very close to Michael. He gives him advices on many questions and recently has undertaken his management as all of us count, that such affairs have to stay in the family. And Randy does the business very well! "

That is the reason why family is so against "outsiders" taking care of Michael's estate, no matter even if it was Michael's wish to have it that way. It is always family thing, Michael's money belongs to family, full stop.

Jetzi have Joes' book with 2009 added chapters, in which he wrote this:
When Michael became the superstar, he complained, that he did not have childhood. Certainly, I accustomed him to work. But in fact there are children who do not have even a chance to work because they die from under eating or epidemics. And certainly, he did not play with neighbour's children, but eventually he had many brothers and sisters, and he has never found out of a loneliness of an only child. My children always played together in a garden or home. So I cannot feel any sympathy. At our place always, on a regular basis there was a domestic meal on the table, there were clothes, roof beyond the head and parents who remained together, loved and encouraged children, promoted the development of their talent. And it exactly led Michael to that he became the best artist in the world.

I have been destroyed, when Michael has told Oprah that had vomited when he saw me. Michael has to be grateful for everything that has dropped out on his share in the childhood. Today, there are so many black children at all do not know, who their father is. And if he has a problem that he had to work so much since the childhood, he had to solve it privately and not publicly say such things.
http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books-jetzi-02/04joej/04joej35.html
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Speechless:bugeyed

 

[analogue]

If Michael was responsible for his own death then Murray would have been found not guilty

 

[AliCat]

This paragraph reminded me of what Joe wrote in his book:
"Randy is very close to Michael. He gives him advices on many questions and recently has undertaken his management as all of us count, that such affairs have to stay in the family. And Randy does the business very well! "

That is the reason why family is so against "outsiders" taking care of Michael's estate, no matter even if it was Michael's wish to have it that way. It is always family thing, Michael's money belongs to family, full stop.

Jetzi have Joes' book with 2009 added chapters, in which he wrote this:
When Michael became the superstar, he complained, that he did not have childhood. Certainly, I accustomed him to work. But in fact there are children who do not have even a chance to work because they die from under eating or epidemics. And certainly, he did not play with neighbour's children, but eventually he had many brothers and sisters, and he has never found out of a loneliness of an only child. My children always played together in a garden or home. So I cannot feel any sympathy. At our place always, on a regular basis there was a domestic meal on the table, there were clothes, roof beyond the head and parents who remained together, loved and encouraged children, promoted the development of their talent. And it exactly led Michael to that he became the best artist in the world.

I have been destroyed, when Michael has told Oprah that had vomited when he saw me. Michael has to be grateful for everything that has dropped out on his share in the childhood. Today, there are so many black children at all do not know, who their father is. And if he has a problem that he had to work so much since the childhood, he had to solve it privately and not publicly say such things.
http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books-jetzi-02/04joej/04joej35.html
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Speechless:bugeyed

All I got to say to Joe Jackson is, Excuses, excuses, excuses, do not justify your action's!

 

[jamba]

This paragraph reminded me of what Joe wrote in his book:
"Randy is very close to Michael. He gives him advices on many questions and recently has undertaken his management as all of us count, that such affairs have to stay in the family. And Randy does the business very well! "

That is the reason why family is so against "outsiders" taking care of Michael's estate, no matter even if it was Michael's wish to have it that way. It is always family thing, Michael's money belongs to family, full stop.

Jetzi have Joes' book with 2009 added chapters, in which he wrote this:
When Michael became the superstar, he complained, that he did not have childhood. Certainly, I accustomed him to work. But in fact there are children who do not have even a chance to work because they die from under eating or epidemics. And certainly, he did not play with neighbour's children, but eventually he had many brothers and sisters, and he has never found out of a loneliness of an only child. My children always played together in a garden or home. So I cannot feel any sympathy. At our place always, on a regular basis there was a domestic meal on the table, there were clothes, roof beyond the head and parents who remained together, loved and encouraged children, promoted the development of their talent. And it exactly led Michael to that he became the best artist in the world.

I have been destroyed, when Michael has told Oprah that had vomited when he saw me. Michael has to be grateful for everything that has dropped out on his share in the childhood. Today, there are so many black children at all do not know, who their father is. And if he has a problem that he had to work so much since the childhood, he had to solve it privately and not publicly say such things.
http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books-jetzi-02/04joej/04joej35.html
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Speechless:bugeyed

This is very revealing in that when MJ went on Oprah and spoke publicly about the abuse his family was probably not happy--to put it mildly. Maybe this spawned some hate towards MJ and that hate just got greater when the will was read. If you think it all belongs in 'the family' (sounds like the mafia or something), and all of a sudden the family is PPB and not Joe, KJ, Randy, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon,LaToya, Jackie--that's a big shock to the system. Of course, Joe wanted MJ to 'solve it privately' b/c then the world would never know what he did to his most talented child, starting at age 5--too bad, Joe, the world knows who you are.