Concert promoter sued over Michael Jackson�s death

Michael Jackson�s mother and his three children filed a wrongful death lawsuit yesterday against the promoters of a series of planned concerts by the singer before his death last year.

The civil lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Katherine Jackson, accuses promoter AEG Live of �putting its desire for massive profits� over the health and safety of the �Thriller� singer.

It said that AEG was liable for the actions of Jackson�s personal doctor and alleged that the promoter had failed to provide proper life-saving equipment for Jackson.

�AEG�s action and inactions led to Michael Jackson�s death on June 25, 2009,� the lawsuit said, accusing the promoter of negligence, breach of contract and fraud.

Jackson had been scheduled to conduct 50 concerts at the 02 Arena in London.




A spokesman for privately held AEG Live, a subsidiary of the Anschutz Entertainment Group, said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

Jackson died of cardiac arrest at age 50 in Los Angeles in June 2009 after returning from rehearsals just days before the planned start of 50 London concerts.

Los Angeles coroner�s officials have ruled Jackson�s death a homicide and said he died mainly from a powerful anaesthetic used as a sleep aid, as well as other sedatives and painkillers.

�The purpose of this lawsuit is to prove to the world the truth about what happened to Michael Jackson, once and for all,� Katherine Jackson�s lawyer Brian Panish said in a statement.

The singer�s personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, who was hired by AEG Live, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson�s death and is awaiting trial in Los Angeles.

Jackson�s family have previously expressed disappointment at the criminal charge against Murray, saying it does not go far enough. The singer�s father Joe in June filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murray but did not name AEG.

Kenny Ortega, director of the planned �This is It� series of concerts, was also named as a defendant in Wednesday�s lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.

The suit claims that Jackson appeared drugged and disoriented at rehearsals in the days before his death and that on June 24 he was shivering. AEG, it claimed, was aware of his condition but did not postpone any rehearsals or alter his �gruelling schedule.�

The civil action also seeks damages for emotional distress on behalf of Jackson�s oldest son, Prince Michael, who the lawsuit said had witnessed his father injured and dying and �has suffered great trauma and severe emotional distress.�

Jackson�s sudden death caused a worldwide outpouring of grief and sent sales of his many hit records soaring after a career slump that had followed the entertainer�s 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of molesting a young boy.

Unheard Michael Jackson songs out in November

An album of previously unheard tracks by Michael Jackson is due out in November, reported Rolling Stone on August 2.

Tracks will be chosen from among the numerous hard drives Jackson left of completed songs and recording collaborations.



Ten as-yet-unreleased tracks will reportedly make up the new album.

According to Jackson�s former manager Frank DiLeo, the vaults contain more than 100 songs, including collaborations with Akon, Will.i.am and Ne-Yo, any of which may potentially be included on the first album.

The forthcoming album will be the first in a ten-album, seven-year deal inked by the Jackson Estate and Sony BMG following Jackson�s death. That deal will also see the release of classic album re-issues and greatest hits collections.

Dancing, exhibits, grave visit mark Jackson anniversary

Jackson gestures during a news conference at the O2 Arena in London in this March 5, 2009 file photo


Backup dancers for Michael Jackson perform for the presentation of the game �Michael Jackson� during the Ubisoft media briefing at the Los Angeles theatre ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on June 14, 2010.


In Tokyo, fans are planning a sleepover surrounded by his possessions; in Los Angeles, devotees will visit his grave; and on TV and radio stations around the world, lovers of the King of Pop�s music won�t stop �til they get enough.

Fans, museums and some members of Michael Jackson�s family will mark today�s one-year anniversary of the singer�s death with special exhibits, tributes and flash mob dances from Manila to Manhattan.



In the family hometown of Gary, Indiana, matriarch Katherine Jackson will unveil a monument to the singer outside the humble house where the legendary Jackson 5 began their singing career half a century ago. A memorial and candlelight vigil will follow, ending with the song �We are the World.�

Jackson�s children � Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket � are expected to mark today�s anniversary privately in Gary.

By contrast, in the Philippines prisoners who danced their way to fame with their �Thriller� YouTube video in 2007, will pay homage to the singer with some more fancy footwork.

Jackson�s sudden death at age 50 on June 25 last year in Los Angeles sparked an outpouring of grief around the world for the former child star, who was rehearsing for a series of London concerts aimed at reviving a career shattered by bizarre events as an adult and allegations of molesting children.

A year on, with Jackson�s personal doctor awaiting trial on a criminal charge of causing the singer�s death by giving him a powerful aesthetic as a sleep aid, memories are focused on the artist who won 13 Grammys and whose dancing rocked the world.

There are no major tributes planned by the official Michael Jackson estate, which now controls rights to the �Beat it� singer�s music, likeness and other memorabilia.

But Jackson�s estranged father Joe has helped organise a �Forever Michael� tribute at a Beverly Hills hotel tomorrow, where 1970s band The Chi-Lites and a niece of the Jackson clan are expected to perform.

Katherine Jackson, 80, has given the fund-raising dinner her blessing, and her self-published book of personal family photographs � �Never Can Say Good-bye� � will be sold there. But Michael Jackson�s estate is not part of the event.

Elsewhere, �The Ultimate Thriller� tribute stage show makes its way from Europe and the Middle East across the Atlantic for the first time, kicking off a US tour today near Boston.

Fans are expected to gather at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, where the Jackson 5 launched their careers, and Madame Tussaud in New York will install an exhibit as part of a global wax celebration of Jackson�s career.

Some of the more unusual events will take place in Asia, where Jackson had a devoted following even after his 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of abusing a young boy.

At the world�s only official Michael Jackson exhibition, fans selected at random will pay US$1,000 (RM3,200) for an opportunity to sleep the night inside the Neverland Collection at Japan�s Tokyo Tower. Some of the singer�s clothes, furniture and awards from his famed Neverland Valley Ranch in central California have been on display there since May.

The cemetery where Jackson is buried near Los Angeles will open its gates to all fans today but they will not be allowed into the vast mausoleum containing his body. Balloons, doves, radios and candles have also been banned in what officials hope will be a quiet and respectful occasion.

Yet, airwaves will be filled with Michael Jackson hits. MTV is among numerous TV and radio outlets planning wall-to-wall videos, retrospectives and documentaries throughout the weekend looking at the singer�s influence, key developments of the past year and how his family has fared.

And fans looking for ways to mark the anniversary by text or Twitter were offered a list of song-based, 140 character lines from mobile entertainment company Predicto.

They include �ABC EZ as 123 o simple as doe ray me abc baby u and me grl� and �Cuz this is thrilla thrilla nite there ain�t no 2nd chance against the thing w/40 eyz, girl.�

Meet Rebbie Jackson, the normal sister of Micheal Jackson in rare interview.

Mother: Rebbie has three children, and cared for her brother Michael's orphans following his death


Heart to heart: Rebbie appeared on NBC's Today Show to talk about the welfare of Michael Jackson's three children.


Family resemblance: Rebbie, front left, with her brothers and sisters in the 1970s


She normally lets her more famous siblings take the limelight, but the 'other Jackson' made a rare appearance on U.S. TV yesterday.

And although the family resemblance was obvious it was clear Rebbie, the oldest of the ten Jackson children, has indulged in fewer visits to the plastic surgeon than some of her more famous siblings.

The 59-year-old, born Maureen Reillette, appeared on U.S. TV to talk about her younger brother Michael's three children, who she lived with for the first three months after his death


Michael and LaToya Jackson pictured in 2003... both having had a significant amount of cosmetic surgery


Rebbie has three children of her own, daughters Stacee and Yashi, and son Austin. They were born following her marriage to childhood sweetheart Nathaniel Brown in 1968, when she was just 18.

The union split her family with her mother Katherine supporting it and her controlling father Joe refusimg to walk her down the aisle.

As the oldest of children, he hoped Rebbie would have a career in the music industry, like her brothers who formed The Jackson 5.

She did go onto have a career in the music industry, releasing the album Centipede in 1984, followed by Reaction and R U Tuff Enuff.

Rebbie told NCS's Today Show Michael's sons Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket were 'stable' and 'doing fine.'

She was asked if their father's death had forced the children to grow up quicker.

'Yes and no,' she said. 'You are right, it can force them to grow up quicker as they are without their father.'

'But they are with family members, they are insulated, surrounded by a lot of cousins, I think it is helping them to be stable.

'It is helping them to take their minds of all of that. But it is very difficult.

'It was very difficult, very hard, and we went through a lot of different emotions.

'But day by day you could see the progression of the family members getting better and dealing with the situation better and feeling, you could say serene.

'They seem to be doing okay, they seem to be doing fine."

And Rebbie said that her mother, Katherine Jackson, is managing as she brings up the children.

'She is okay, I talked with her 3 or 4 days ago. She seems to be coping with things. It is hard, it has not been easy but she is holding up.'

Asked if she was following the investigation into her brother's death and blamed Dr. Conrad Murray, she replied: 'Yes I do. But I think it is a lot more than that possibly, we will find out. It is interesting what is going on.'

Conrad Murray's Lawyer Speaks Out-Denied Murray tried to hide destroy evidence by delaying call to 911

The attorney for Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, today aggressively contested media reports -- based on a leaked witness report -- that Murray attempted to hide evidence and delayed calling 911 as Jackson lay dying and said investigators rushed to implicate Murray in the star's death.



"It's just a bold-faced lie," Ed Chernoff said in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America" that aired today. "[The] doctor called 911 as soon as he could� Let me just say, unequivocally, he did not � he was not cleaning up any bottles� The scene was not consistent with anyone trying to clean something up."

Chernoff said Murray did not immediately call 911 because there was no house phone in the room where Jackson was and he could not leave his patient to make the call.

Murray stands accused of administering the lethal dose of a powerful sedative that killed the pop superstar. He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in February.

Chernoff said his client isn't responsible for the star's death, and that police rushed to blame someone.

"Let's say that this extremely famous, worldwide personality like Michael Jackson was found dead under unusual circumstances such as this. And the police came out and said, 'We've investigated and we just, we can't really put the blame on anybody at this point.' What do you think would happen then?" Chernoff said. "I think there was a tremendous amount of pressure to find somebody to blame. I think that was Dr. Murray� I think, my personal opinion, a conclusion was made and the investigation was conducted in order to back it up."

When asked about Chernoff's claim that police bowed to public pressure and blamed Conrad the Los Angeles Police Department told ABC News its investigation is continuing.

Murray appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in which a California judge could have stripped him of his license to practice medicine, but did not.

"Well I mean the doctor had a good day," Chernoff said. "I think that was stressing him out more than anything else, was his ability to keep going, taking care of patients..."

Murray told investigators he gave Jackson the drugs Propofol, Lidocaine, Ativan and Versed during the early hours of June 25, 2009, according to an unsealed affidavit.

He also told detectives that he left the room after he gave Jackson a final dose of Propofol, before he returned to the room to find that Jackson had stopped breathing, according to the affidavit. Jackson was pronounced dead later that day at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Chernoff did not offer an alternative chain of events, but said such a scenario doesn't equate to responsibility.

"If the prosecution's theory is that Dr. Murray injected a bunch of drugs into Michael Jackson, walked out of the room and he died as a result, that's absolutely false," he said. "Dr. Murray is not guilty of causing the death of Michael Jackson. Period."

Chernoff said Murray could not have been aware of everything Jackson was doing on his own over the months he was treating the star.

"Dr. Murray is just now learning what he was -- what he may have been doing," Chernoff said. "Dr. Murray cannot tell you what Michael Jackson was doing in the background. I reckon he had plenty of time to do things."

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Michael Jackson's sister, Janet Jackson, placed blame for her brother's death squarely on Conrad's shoulders.

"He was the one that was administrating," Janet Jackson said in November. "I think he is responsible."

After saying Murray's financial troubles could impact his case as far as the use of expert witnesses and specialists and citing the deluge of negative publicity his client's received, Chernoff said he still does not feel like the underdog in the case.

"We walk into the courtroom and people are yelling, calling him a murderer. They don't know anything about the facts," Chernoff said. "If we get a fair jury -- people in there who are not preconditioned, who do not have a preconceived notion about guilt, and Dr. Murray will walk out. Because he's not guilty."

A manslaughter conviction in California caries a potential sentence of two to four years in prison.

Michael Jackson's Doctor Appears in Court -Jackson doctor's case assigned to LA trial judge-Michael Jackson's Doc Can Keep License -- for Now

Dr. Conrad Murray and late Micheal Jackson.

The involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's cardiologist was assigned to a trial judge Monday in a brief proceeding that drew fans and family members of the late pop star.




Dr. Conrad Murray


In this Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 file photo, Michael Jackson's physician, Conrad Murray, right, arrives for his arraignment at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles, where he is expected to face involuntary manslaughter charges in Jackson's death.


Dr. Conrad Murray, his attorneys and prosecutors assembled before Supervising Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza, who in moments assigned the case to Judge Michael Pastor and sent them to his courtroom.

Pastor scheduled a June 14 court date to take up remaining procedural issues including the setting of a date for a preliminary hearing and Murray's fight to keep his California medical license.

The state attorney general, representing the state medical board, has moved to revoke Murray's license pending trial.

Earlier, about 50 Jackson fans waved signs and chanted outside the courthouse.

The fans sang "We Are the World," wore T-shirts emblazoned with Jackson's picture and the slogan, "Justice 4 Michael," and carried placards demanding stronger charges against Murray.

Fans in a courthouse hallway called out "Hi Janet" as Jackson's sister Janet arrived. The late pop star's parents, Joe and Katherine, and brother Jermaine also attended.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

Normally, such a procedural hearing would draw few spectators.

But with Jackson's death as the backdrop, crowds of fans and media were expected, and Jackson family members have committed to attending all court proceedings against Murray.

Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said the Jackson family notified court officials that up to 15 courtroom seats would be needed.

"It's basically a housekeeping hearing, but it will be the housekeeping hearing heard around the world," said Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson. "There is no detail too minute for the international media."

Murray's attorneys contend the license issue is critical to his ability to pay for his defense.

The doctor has a history of serious financial problems and his attorneys, Ed Chernoff and Joseph Low, said in a recent court filing that the effect of losing his license would be devastating to Murray.

"He is, without fear of overstatement, hanging on by a thread," the attorneys wrote. "His ability to pay for his own defense depends almost entirely on his ability to continue to treat patients."

Murray, 57, a cardiologist, has clinics in Las Vegas and Houston and also has a license to practice in California. Should his California license be lifted, his lawyers suggest there would be a "domino effect" with other states moving to do the same.

Already, Nevada authorities have filed a formal complaint against Murray saying he twice failed to mention delinquent child support payments on applications to renew his medical license. Miranda Sevcik, spokeswoman for Murray and Chernoff, says Murray's legal team hopes to resolve the complaint in a way that allows the doctor to keep his license.

As a condition of his $75,000 bail, Murray has been ordered not to administer any anesthetic.

Jackson was 50 and about to launch a series of comeback shows in London when he died last June after being rushed to a hospital from his Beverly Hills home. Murray, who signed on in May at $150,000 a month to keep Jackson healthy through the comeback tour, told police he had been treating him for insomnia.

The legendary pop star was found to have died from acute intoxication with the hospital anesthetic propofol and other sedatives as a contributing factor.

Chernoff has said that nothing Murray gave the singer should have killed him.

Michael Jackson's doctor appears in court

Dr. Conrad Murray.Dr Conrad Murray pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in February

Michael Jackson fans are rallying outside a Los Angeles courthouse where the pop star's doctor is scheduled to appear for a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter case.



The fans, singing "We are the World," wore T-shirts emblazoned with Jackson's picture and the slogan, "Justice for Michael."

They also carried placards demanding stronger charges against Dr. Conrad Murray in Jackson's death.

Inside the courtroom, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ordered Murray to return June 14, when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing -- during which the judge will determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.


Michael Jackson's relatives are attending a court appearance by the doctor accused of giving him a lethal dose of powerful anaesthetic.

Dr Murray, 57, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

During a brief procedural hearing in Los Angeles, Dr Conrad Murray's case was assigned to Judge Michael Pastor.

Judge Pastor must set a date for a preliminary hearing and decide whether to revoke Dr Murray's medical license pending the trial.

California's attorney general has asked the judge to suspend the cardiologist while he faces the charges.

Dr Murray has previously been ordered not to administer any anaesthetics as a condition of his $75,000 (�49,050) bail.

According to US celebrity websites, members of the Jackson family turned out in force for the largely procedural hearing, led by his parents Katherine and Joe. His sister, Janet, and brothers Randy and Jermaine were also present, they said.

Several journalists and fans also packed the downtown courthouse, but officials refused to allow public access to the proceedings.

Dr Murray's lawyers have said he is "hanging on by a thread" financially.

"His ability to pay for his own defence depends almost entirely on his ability to continue to treat patients," they said in court documents.

He is alleged to have administered a lethal dose of Propofol and other drugs, which resulted in the pop star's death on 25 June.

According to US reports, Dr Murray's legal team is to argue that Jackson accidentally killed himself by injecting himself with Propofol.

At the upcoming preliminary hearing, Judge Pastor will decide whether there is enough evidence to go forward with a jury trial.

If convicted, Dr Murray faces up to four years in jail.