by Gary Graff, Detroit | , 2011 9:50 EDT
Artists in this Article
Related Articles
As preparations continue for the upcoming Michael Jackson tribute concert, the show's organizers have been forced to go on the defensive after numerous Jackson fan clubs and two of the singer's brothers have publicly condemned the tribute.
Michael Jackson's estate has generated more than $310 million in the two years since the pop singer died deeply in debt, enabling executors to distribute a preliminary payment of $30 million to Jackson's mother and children, and to unnamed charities, according to recently filed court documents.
One of Michael Jackson's bodyguards had barely stepped into the singer's bedroom when he heard a scream. "Daddy!" Jackson's young daughter cried. A few feet away, the singer lay motionless in his bed, eyes slightly open. His personal doctor, Conrad Murray, was trying to revive him when he saw that Jackson's eldest children were watching.
The estate of Michael Jackson is, of course, watching the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray with great interest -- but with no formal involvement in the proceedings other than wanting "just to be done," according to one of the executors.
"The estate's role will be to watch it," attorney Howard Weitzman tellsBillboard.com. "Having done a few of these types of trials over the years myself, we know the evidence will play out, the jury will come to some decision, and we'll watch it. From my personal perspective and from the estate's perspective, we'd like justice to be done. We know the system sometimes has flaws and the result you'd like to see doesn't always happen. All we can hope is that justice prevails here."
The trial began Tuesday and has already featured bombshell testimony from the late star's security personnel, who prosecutors hope can prove Murray delayed in calling for help in order to conceal evidence he had been over-medicating the singer. On Friday, jurors will hear from two paramedics that arrived at Jackson's home and tried to resuscitate him.
As to how Jackson will be portrayed as the trial goes on, particularly during Murray's defense, Weitzman says those maintaining the estate are "not worried about it. He may be portrayed differently than I'd like to see him portrayed, but his genius speaks itself.
"I like to say, 'What do you want to know about Michael Jackson? Press the play button.' That's all there is to say."
The Jackson estate is preparing for the Oct. 2 launch of Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour and is eyeballing some new projects for 2012, including a possible 25th anniversary reissue of Jackson's "Bad" album and another collection of unreleased material to follow-up 2010's "Michael."
As for the unauthorized tribute concert that members of Jackson's family has planned for Oct. 8 in Wales, which is slated to feature performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera and Leona Lewis, Weitzman says the estate is "kind of watching it like everybody else. They've never really had any discussions with us, so we're just watching it all go by."
No comments:
Post a Comment