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Today's media report
Music event promoter testifies in trial involving Michael Jackson Co.
By Bill Hetherman, City News Service
A music event promoter testified Wednesday that Michael Jackson promised him in a Tokyo hotel room in 2006 that he would receive 1.6 percent for life of any business done by a new entertainment company the singer formed a year after he was acquitted of child molestation charges.
Broderick Morris said he believed Jackson’s commitment to him meant he would be compensated even if he was not involved in a particular project initiated through the Michael Jackson Co.
Jackson also intended for him and three others to serve on the board of directors of the fledgling entity, said Morris, the former CEO of Positive Productions.
Jackson envisioned the company as being the vehicle for various ventures related to music, public appearances and other projects, including the singer’s desire to explore the field of animation, Morris said.
Morris testified that he invested hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money setting up two trips by Jackson in 2006 and 2007 to Japan, where Morris lived and worked promoting concerts and other entertainment events. He said Jackson’s image was badly damaged by the publicity from the molestation trial, even though he was acquitted in June 2005.
“At this time, because of the trial, people didn’t trust him at all,” Morris said.
Morris -- one of four people claiming part ownership in the Michael Jackson Co. -- took the witness stand on the third day of a non-jury trial resulting from a petition filed by the Jackson estate, which is seeking to have the estate declared the sole owners of the Michael Jackson Co. LLC.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at age 50 of a drug overdose while in Los Angeles preparing for a series of comeback concerts in London.
Morris, Raymone Bain, Qadree El-Amin and Adean King say they collectively own about 15 percent of the company under a 3 a.m. deal to which Jackson agreed in a Tokyo hotel room on June 1, 2006. King was the only one of the four not present when the alleged accord was reached.
King previously worked for Bain, a former Jackson personal manager and spokeswoman. El-Amin is a talent manager who once managed the singing group Boyz II Men.
Morris said he spearheaded MTV’s granting of its Japan Legend Award to Jackson in 2006. Asked by his attorney, Donald Pepperman, if the granting of the award was a key component in the plan to rekindle Jackson’s career, Morris replied, “Without a doubt.”
Morris said Bain wrote the agreement between Jackson and the four claimants with a typewriter in the hotel room and that Jackson signed it. However, Morris said he never received any stock and that the failure of various deals to come to fruition was not his fault.
Morris said he was not involved in the making of the never-realized “This Is It” comeback tour Jackson planned to perform in London before his death, but that he saw it as a positive step for the singer.
“If it happened, it would be wonderful for him,” Morris said.
Morris said he only has seen half of the “This Is It” film made from rehearsals for the tour.
Morris said that when he arranged the visits by Jackson to Japan, he also had to take into account accommodations for the entertainer’s three children and their nanny. He said Jackson was a good father who taught his children manners. He once admonished his son, Blanket, for calling Morris “Mo” instead of “Mr. Morris,” the witness said.
Morris said he once found Jackson walking alone in the garden of the upscale hotel trying to find some peace of mind.
The Michael Jackson Co. was transformed from a corporation to a limited-liability in 2007 and is still an existing entity. Morris said he believes he, the other three claimants and Jackson’s mother, Katherine, are currently the members of the company’s board of directors.
Maxwell Blecher, an attorney for El-Amin and the three other respondents, said he does not know how much his clients may be entitled to if they win the case because the estate’s lawyers have not given them documents demonstrating the value of the estate. However, he said that despite the lack of information, it is worthwhile for the four to push forward.
“I believe there is substantial money there,” Blecher said.
http://www.dailynews.com/general-ne...stifies-in-trial-involving-michael-jackson-co