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AEG Live hit out at Jackson lawsuit

By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 17 September 2010

AEG Live has hit out at the lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson which accuses the live music major of liability for the death of her son Michael.

As previously reported, Mrs Jackson’s lawsuit claims that the promoters of her son’s ill-fated ‘This Is It’ London residency had a contractual duty of care regarding Michael Jackson’s well being, and that they failed in that duty when they hired Dr Conrad Murray, the medic accused of causing the late king of pop’s death by negligently administering the anaesthetic propofol as a cure for insomnia. The lawsuit concludes that AEG put a “desire for massive profits” before Michael Jackson’s well being.

But in a short statement yesterday, AEG’s lawyers called Mrs Jackson’s lawsuit “inaccurate, unsubstantiated and meritless”. In particular, they stressed that Murray had a professional relationship with Jackson before he began work on their ‘This Is It’ show, and that he was hired as the singer’s personal physician at Jacko’s request.

The statement says: “The lawsuit is inaccurate, unsubstantiated and meritless. Dr Murray was Mr Jackson’s longtime personal physician. AEG did not choose him, hire him or supervise him”. Having pledged to fight the Jackson family’s lawsuit, AEG added: “In honour of our professional relationship with Mr Jackson and his estate, we will make no further public statements”.

As previously reported, Michael Jackson’s father Joe is suing Murray direct, rather than AEG. Meanwhile, Murray is suing another of Jacko’s medics, Dr Arnold Klein, claiming it was him who got Jackson hooked on a dangerous combination of prescription drugs, and should therefore also be a defendant on Joe Jackson’s lawsuit.