Paris Jackson slams Michael Jackson's estate in latest legal row
Paris Jackson has accused the executors of her late father Michael Jackson's estate of "wasting resources" in the latest move in her lengthy legal battle.
Paris Jackson has accused the executors of her late father Michael Jackson's estate of "wasting resources" in the latest move in her lengthy legal battle.
The 27-year-old singer has filed a new legal document in her dispute with John Branca and John McClain, in which she claimed their recent motion, for which they are seeking to recover attorneys' fees, was designed to "make it as expensive and time-consuming as possible for Paris."
According to People magazine, Paris' new opposition brief was a response to the estate's recently-granted anti-SLAPP motion - which seeks relief from a strategic lawsuit against public participation — and alleged the motion "could not, and did not, have any impact on the litigation other than to cause delay".
In January, the executors had filed a second motion stating they were entitled to over $115,000 in legal fees in connection with the anti-SLAPP motion, but Paris' latest filing specifically opposes the request and alleged McClain and Branca "admitted that the [anti-SLAPP] motion was merely a 'procedural' objection, and its minimal effects were entirely overcome simply by filing a functionally identical pleading styled as a 'motion' rather than as a 'petition.'"
They noted the anti-SLAPP motion "did not achieve dismissal of any cause of action, as Paris’s requested relief in the Petition to Rescind remained unimpacted by Executors’ SLAPP Motion."
Her lawyers added in the documents: "Executors allowed two of the same law firms who received improper payments to attack Paris... For this self-interested work, Executors paid these law firms an additional $115,355.52 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
"The SLAPP [lawsuit] was a waste of resources that executors had a duty to avoid and likely could have avoided."
Paris "has previously expressed "concern" that the executors have been using their positions to "enrich" themselves.
A previous filing stated: “Paris is increasingly concerned the Estate has become the vehicle for John Branca to enrich and aggrandize himself, rather than serve the beneficiaries’ best interests and steadfastly preserve her father’s legacy."
Paris alleged that just in 2021, the executors took more than $10 million in compensation from the estate, which was “more than double the amount distributed to any beneficiary from the family allowance."
She estimated their total compensation from Michael's death in 2009 until 2021 to be $148.2 million, a sum which “dwarfs any amount distributed to Paris or her siblings.”
The Star actress accused McClain and Branca of holding onto more than $464 million in cash, with gains of less than 0.1% due to “unproductive investments and believes there has been a missed profit of around $41 million if the sum had been invested properly.
In addition, the filing raises concerns about investment into "risky" entertainment projects without the necessary industry experience, including the upcoming biopic of her father, Michael, on which Branca serves as executive producer and has cast Miles Teller to play him.
The documents noted: “[The estate has] morphed into a private entertainment investment fund managed more for the benefit of Executors and their counsel than its beneficiaries."
The executors filed a motion in October which claimed Paris had received around $65 million in benefits from the estate, and they insisted they had taken the struggling estate and turned it into a "powerhouse and a force in the music business" after the Thriller hitmaker died over $500 million in debt.
Branca and McClain previously insisted Paris' allegation they had given $625,000 in gifts and gratuities to three different law firms was "knowingly false".
Paris wants the court to disallow the 2021 account, and order the executors to prepare and file an account which is based on their “true acts.”
