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Business News Legal Top Stories
New molestation lawsuit for Jackson Estate, but former manager fails to reopen commissions claim case
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 14 May 2014
With Michael Jackson’s posthumous commercial affairs still in rude health with the recent release of the ‘Xscape’ album, the late king of pop’s legal woes also continue. Possibly because the former is generating a pile of cash for potential litigants to go after.
According to the Daily Beast a new sealed lawsuit has been filed alleging sexual molestation of a minor by the popstar. It’s thought that this time it is a man called James Safechuck who has made claims against the late singer. Safechuck was a child when he met Jackson on the set of a 1987 Pepsi commercial, and he now reportedly claims that the singer sexually abused him up at the time, and up to his fifteenth birthday.
Safechuck’s litigation joins that of choreographer Wade Robson, whose previously reported lawsuit making similar claims is currently going through the motions. Both are seeking damages from the Jackson Estate.
But, as with the Robson case, the Estate strongly refutes the new allegations. Its lawyer Howard Weitzman has told TMZ that Safechuck has denied many times over the past 25 years that Jackson ever did anything inappropriate to him … but is “now demanding money from Michael’s Estate by claiming he suddenly recalls life differently. We believe these false and scurrilous allegations will not prevail”.
Elsewhere in Jackson legal shenanigans, a former publicist and manager of the singer has failed in her appeal relating to a legal claim for allegedly unpaid fees. Raymone Bain, who actually began legal proceedings against Jackson shortly before his death, claims she was never paid commissions on contracts she helped secure for the singer in the years immediately before his passing. Her agreement with the singer, Bain says, promised her 10% of any income.
Though Bain’s agreements with Jackson, and the dates of her being in his employ, have been disputed, hindering the financial claims. The former manager returned to court recently with a new letter from Jackson that had been mixed up with files relating to a real estate deal the singer was considering prior to his death, which, Bain said, proved her account of her business relationship with the pop star. But, according to Billboard, a US appeal court refused to reopen the case based on the letter because of an assortment of legal technicalities.
