JACKSON lawsuit against AEG and the FUTURE in the hands of Michael Jackson’s FANS

Recently I went to the MJJ Community forum to find out the latest news about the trial. What I found there surpassed anything I could ever imagine – those active in the thread about the AEG trial were pouring hate and spite on the heads of Katherine Jackson and her family without having a single word of reproach for AEG.

The pretext was a plausible one – they don’t want the media to trash Michael Jackson’s good name, however to do so they are ready to let go of the company which actually brought about Michael’s death.

HIS DEATH and CHARACTER ASSASSINATION

In their opinion the company is not to blame (“it is business, you know”) and the one who is to blame is the man’s own mother who lost her son and wants some justice and legitimate questions answered (“she is an enemy and her family sucks”).

They cannot wait to see Katherine on the stand to see her “web of lies exposed” and hope that AEG is “doing their homework well”. In fact losing the case to AEG is the outcome many are even hoping for.  They advise AEG on how to form their strategy and reduce the amount of money for this greedy woman in case of the catastrophe of her winning the case:

AEG’s strategy should be to go after her and her real motivations for filing this lawsuit.

By showing her contradictions and lies to the jurors, AEG might be able to reduce the amount of money (in case AEG loses) jurors are willing to award Katherine. If AEG shows the lies, contradictions, Katherine’s own responsibility to MJ, her greediness for money will portray her in bad light, so I think it might help AEG reduce the amount she’ll be awarded if any, at least I hope so.

Do these people know what they doing? 

Most of them do not. They were brainwashed by AEG’s propaganda into thinking that poor AEG “has to” drown Michael Jackson in order to defend itself and it will be solely Michael’s mother who will be to blame for it.

AEG’s attorney Marvin Putnam:                             “We’re talking about Michael Jackson,” Putnam said. “This is a man who would show up in pajamas. This is a man who would stop traffic and get out and dance on top of his car. This is a man who would go to public events with a monkey named Bubbles. This is a man who said he slept in an oxygen chamber.”
“I don’t know how you can’t look to Mr. Jackson’s responsibility there”

However assassinating the son in order to defend oneself from his parents’ accusations is absolutely not a necessity. And character assassination of Michael Jackson is what AEG is actually doing.

Shifting all the blame onto Michael’s mother is top hypocrisy and the most shameless deceit.  If character assassination of Michael Jackson is the only argument AEG can present to the jury to explain their negligence towards him it means that there is nothing else they have to say in their defense.

Some fans advise Katherine Jackson, “stay quiet, know your place, take it as it is, the estate is paying you money so what else do you want?” And the loudest call for punishing Michael’s mother, want her to get what she “deserves” and are ready to be at full service of AEG’s lawyers to drown in mud both this woman and her “deadbeat cubs” whom they detest and despise.

And all this in the name of preserving Michael Jackson’s legacy.

What disgusting hypocrisy and disgusting way of thinking of those who call themselves “fans” of Michael Jackson.

These people think and impose on others the idea that it is all about money and pretend not to know that there might be other concepts like “justice”, “dignity”, “loss”, “pain” and other similar motives which may be driving other people in their search for the truth – Katherine Jackson, for example.

It is indeed deplorable that due to some circumstances Katherine is unable to have her case handled by the criminal court – filing criminal charges against AEG is not her prerogative and all attempts in this respect have evidently failed. It is also very unfortunate that her civil suit against the company was stripped of its many crucial points. It is equally sad that a much more substantiated Joe Jackson’s suit in its amended version was dismissed for a reason that two members of the family cannot sue one company and that Katherine’s suit was chosen over Joe’s as hers came prior to Joe’s.

Now the whole AEG case is hanging on one thread only – that of AEG negligently hiring Murray. And it isn’t Katherine’s  fault that everything else was dismissed – it is her tragedy that the legal system closed its eyes on many of the key matters and dismissed the charges which could have been of real significance to the case.

Living where I live makes me perfectly aware of how difficult it is to fight the system which nips in the bud every single voice of dissent. So I can imagine how difficult it is to beat a multi-billion corporation which has numerous ways of influencing decisions in a place where they are also seen by many as a local tzar.

Only one little hope has been left now and this hope is that at least through their contract with Murray the AEG corporation will answer for driving Michael Jackson to death by their “business” which boiled down to making maximal profit on Michael’s name, humiliating him by ignoring his requests and decisions, and taking advantage of him and his genius.

THE JURY

Who will be to blame if Katherine loses? AEG’s propaganda machine of course because the jury are human beings too and may also be brainwashed by AEG’s daily character assassination of Michael Jackson. They do not live in a vacuum and are also susceptible to public opinion which is a process they may be totally unaware of .

The more the public and the media tell them horror stories about Michael and the more Michael’s “fans” trash his mother for her claims against AEG, the less they will be inclined to sympathize with Michael himself and his bereaved mother.

So when the MJJ Community “Senior Staff” was telling me that the jury will be guided by the truth of the matter only and what people say in their forum is in no way influencing public opinion it was a very big lie and an utterly hypocritical statement.

In fact what is more or less forgivable for ordinary fans who have lost their way in the jungles of AEG and media propaganda is not forgivable for the forum Senior Staff who are big professionals and are therefore perfectly aware that their alleged unbiased approach and their quiet nod to the incessant dirt against Katherine on the forum pages is creating a big slant in favor of AEG, which this corporation will undoubtedly appreciate.

SENIOR STAFF

Disbelieving the picture of ruthless Katherine’s harassment I saw on the AEG thread of the MJJ Community forum I finally expressed my astonishment why some fans were advising AEG lawyers how to form their strategy against Katherine and wondered whether they understood what they were doing.

You won’t believe the effect this small remark produced on the Senior Staff maintaining this forum. They dropped everything they were doing and handled my humble persona only.

They behaved as if it was totally unnatural for a Michael Jackson supporter to say a word of support for Michael’s mother and say a word of truth against AEG. When everyone was trashing Katherine it was perfectly okay for the Senior Staff to keep silent, but when I raised my voice against AEG I was immediately restrained not to violate the “innocent until proven” formula.

AEG is innocent to these people while Katherine Jackson is evidently already guilty like hell.

What it means is that in a fan forum which by definition should be biased in favor of Michael’s opinion everything is happening exactly the opposite way – support of AEG is encouraged and protected from stray people like me, but Michael’s own views about AEG are disregarded and trashing his mother gets no objection as “humans are not ideal”, you know.

Of course it is in the power of the Senior Staff admins to correct human nature a bit, however they refrain themselves from this task.

The opinion of Senior Staff is actively supported by other proud members of the community (“proud” in terms of regalia and status) and this means that even four years after Michael’s death the forum is so masterfully maintained that up till now its ordinary members do not realize what horrible harm AEG did to Michael Jackson and that it was actually them who contributed to his death.

In fact even Michael’s own words about what AEG did to him are no guidance for these people:

I’m really angry with them booking me up to do 50 shows. I only wanted to do 10, and take the tour around the world to other cities, not 50 in one place. I went to bed knowing I sold 10 dates, and woke up to the news I was booked to do 50.”

Neglecting Michael’s wishes and ignoring his opinion was actually typical of AEG‘s attitude towards Michael but is generally untypical of Michael’s fans. However if you remind these fans of all the “good” AEG did to Michael they will defiantly reply that they are not to be told what to think, even if you are expressing your opinion only and never use the word “should”.

The “innocent until proven guilty” formula itself is perfectly correct, even in application to AEG Live, only the Senior Staff does not explain why in order to implement this formula it is indispensable to drag through the mud the other side of the dispute and why a simple balance of forces is not being maintained there – Michael’s mother and family may be freely trashed, ridiculed and stigmatized while a single voice elaborating on the legitimate claims against AEG should be almost immediately silenced.

This is equivalent to allowing on TV only Michael Jackson’s detractors and denying any chance to his supporters before the 2005 trial, only in the reverse variant of course, as the party to defend itself this time is AEG Live.

And yes, the only person telling the truth about AEG was silenced there – they blocked me as they simply could not tolerate my voice against AEG for more than two days running and my questions were regarded by them as an unbearable insult to their morality.

“IT WAS ONLY BUSINESS”

The people in the forum do not have any claims to AEG as they regard it as “only business”. In their opinion AEG could demand anything of Michael in the same way an employer demands discipline at their workplace.

However for some reason their efficient Senior Staff failed to explain them that Michael was not in AEG’s employment – he was AEG’s partner who was also supposed to pay full production costs and was guaranteeing the show by the duty to repay all $40 million back in case something went wrong.

A partner is no employee. The most that can be expected of a partner is fulfillment of his obligations under the contract and nothing else than that. And Michael’s obligation was to do only a first-class show and not a rehearsal. If they considered his performance second class they could complain, but not before that.

So it was solely Michael’s business how to get ready for the tour and AEG could not demand anything of him, let alone set him conditions, read riot acts and declare tough love threatening to “pull the plug” if he did not oblige.

In short even though AEG behaved like masters towards Michael Jackson he was not in their employment. In contrast to that Conrad Murray was to report to AEG as he was to perform their services as “requested”, and they were to make sure he did nothing else but what was expected of him. However exactly this AEG failed to do. Instead they monitored Michael Jackson though in his case they had no right to.

In short both contracts were twisted and adjusted to their immediate needs – where they were obliged to interfere they did not, and where they had no right to interfere they did.

The Jacksons’ attorney Brian Panish:               “There was no risk to AEG, since the production of the tour would be secured by MJ’s assets, which included the Sony catalog” (ABC7 Court News tweet)

Michael’s word could be trusted because he himself was fully answering for the shows by all his assets. Yes, by ALL of them because if Michael did not repay the first $40 million back in case of a cancellation AEG was to sue him for loss of profit and 50 vacant dates. The latter sum would be some $100 million even by the lowest estimate on the basis of the average face value tickets of $80-$100 per seat in a 20,000 seat O2Arena and the number of shows being 50.

Michael’s own and his children’s well-being were the best guarantee that he would perform – so all talk by the media and AEG about the possibility of his “freaking out” was malicious speculation which actually betrayed their innermost hopes – they themselves were most interested in cancellations and hoped to implement this variant at the first opportunity that presented itself.

And while they were actually dragging their feet Michael was already rehearsing “his ass off” at home and in the studios without the crew yet joining him. Some sources say that he began training as early as March 2009. And if Michael preferred individual rehearsals to public ones I can perfectly understand him too – being a perfectionist and shy after 12 years of non-performing Michael wanted to show himself to the public at his best, when he was absolutely sure of his skills or felt well enough to perform.

The owner of CenterStaging in Burbank says Michael started working in March 2009 (while AEG as you remember hired Ortega and dancers only in May):

“He was trying, and succeeding, in structuring the biggest, most spectacular live production ever seen,” said Johnny Caswell, co-owner of CenterStaging in Burbank, California, where Jackson worked on the show from late March to early June before shifting rehearsals to larger venues, according to the paper. “By the time he left my facility, he had graduated through several studios and was on a soundstage taking up 10,000 square feet,” Caswell said. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1614882/michael-jacksons-last-tour-rehearsal-details-revealed.jhtml

Michael had to both build his stamina and spare his energy for the shows, and his individual plan of getting ready for them was not to be disputed. No one could know better than him when he was ready and no one should have imposed any conditions on him in this respect. His refreshed skills were demonstrated in their full brilliance at the last two rehearsals and even if Michael was ready to or wanted to perform full scale only on the days of his choice his desire should have been fully respected.

His schedule was his individual business which he alone was structuring for himself and absolutely no one was allowed to encroach on its secret formula. The most they could ask of him was attending the rehearsals for making decisions over some production issues as he was also a co-director of the show (yes he was, though you would have never guessed it by the way they treated him), but as to the dancing and singing he could have perfectly watched everything off stage. Twisting Michael’s arms and setting him conditions wasn’t “business” – it was encroaching on his most fundamental rights.

I repeat – under their own contract Michael’s sole obligation was to do a first class show and not a rehearsal, and all claims to Michael could have been made only after the first show. AEG would not have lost anything this way as the ultimate responsibility for the shows was still lying on Michael’s shoulders.

However simple explanations like the above are for some reason regarded by the Senior Staff of the fan forum as unacceptable. You are either accused of hypocrisy (for criticizing others for criticizing Katherine but allowing oneself to criticize AEG) or will be instructed not to digress and keep to the lawsuit on Murray and AEG which is the current topic.

However when you did speak on the current topic and mentioned that Murray spent half the night exchanging emails with insurers and this was done following AEG’s requests, this was not approved either. You can never please the Senior Staff of the forum as absolutely nothing of what you say is suiting these people.

TWO INSURANCES, TWO DOCUMENTS

Under his contract with AEG Murray was supposed to perform only the services requested by the Producer. This explained in whose employment Murray was and whose instructions he was really following. Kathy Jorrie mentioned at Murray’s trial that Murray wanted to perform services for Michael Jackson, but the final contract still stuck to the Producer variant preferred by AEG.

So when at the end of June Kathy Jorrie, AEG’s lawyer asked Murray to take care of Michael’s medical records, Murray obliged and took care of it not paying attention to his patient. This absolutely does NOT absolve him of his guilt as under NO circumstances he was to leave his patient, but the fact still remains that Murray did spend half the night when Michael Jackson died running on errands from AEG.

The discussion over the reasons why AEG needed a second medical examination was the most heated discussion I had with the Senior Staff which made me wonder why my views over this issue were so vehemently opposed.

The Senior Staff explained that this was Lloyds’s condition from the very beginning of the deal, and I said that it was not. We are talking about two different documents – the first insurance had been ready by the London news-conference in March already. It covered the first 10 shows and according to Randy Phillips himself was firmly in their pocket (which means that no addition physical examination was required).

And the second insurance policy replacing the first was made in April and had to be arranged due to AEG increasing the shows. The Insurance Journal explained when this policy was signed:

By Anthony McCartney | June 7, 2011

Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London sued AEG Live and Jackson’s company, claiming the concert promoter has failed to provide necessary medical information and details about the physician charged with the singer’s death.
The suit states Lloyd’s issued a non-appearance and concert cancellation policy in April 2009 — roughly two months before the pop superstar died.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news…/07/201668.htm

The second insurance was half-obtained for 30 dates only and had several new conditions set by the insurers – like medical records, a new medical examination and doctors attending the rehearsals, and it was this new AEG’s policy which Murray was so unsuccessfully attending to in the night of Michael’s death.

The Senior Staff sneered that I doubted the veracity of Lloyd’s documents, and I said that I didn’t – they simply presented the final variant of the insurance policy as there was no need to present the first, however only two consecutive insurance polices can explain why already in March Randy Phillips was talking of the insurance as a fully decided matter and later one some half-finished document suddenly appeared.

If 10 dates were later corrected and turned into 30 where can I see the corrections please in the final document presented by Lloyd’s?  And since there are none, it is clear that the final policy is a separate document. The first one was probably cancelled as too many terms had to be changed, and this first insurance policy we have never seen.

And if they had not increased the shows there would have been no need of the new insurance, and Murray would not have been running with the papers on the night Michael died.

In addition to the above the first insurance policy also proves that Michael agreed only to 10 shows, however at this stage the Senior Staff was already warning me that I do not listen to what I am being told and it was evidently then that my future on their fan forum was already decided.

The Senior Staff told me that increase or no increase it was unimportant anyway. I disagreed. The number is extremely important as firstly, 50 shows were decided without Michael knowledge and this testifies to how neglectful of Michael’s opinion AEG was, and secondly, it sent Michael into a tremendous stress immediately after that London press conference as a result of which he lost all sleep.

It was due to this terrible stress-factor that he could no longer sleep naturally and required Propofol. If there had been no increase and no stress Michael might have gone without it at all.

This was met with a point blank question from Senior Staff how I can explain that Michael always used Propofol (why are they so sure of it I wonder?) and why Michael took drugs before the show described by Cascio.

By then it looked like a full-time interrogation either on a Topix forum or in the courtroom presided by the Senior AEG Staff,  but I nevertheless answered – if Michael went for a rehab in 1993 for Demerol it does not necessarily mean that he used it in 2009 (no traces of it were found in his body), and the situation with Propofol is the same.

If Michael did use Propofol some time before it does not mean that in this particular case he would have done it too. When in Ireland he did not use it, when in Las Vegas he did not use it, and if in London he had had a comfortable schedule of 2 shows a week at the most there was a chance of him going without it either (or using it for emergency only).

ALL THEY WERE TO DO WAS DO AS HE REQUESTED

In fact this is the essence of my main claim to AEG. All they had to do was listen to Michael and do as he requested. Tohme and Gongaware knew of Michael’s insomnia full well (who didn’t?) however they intentionally ignored his wishes and set the impossible regimen of the shows for every other day.

The regimen sent Michael into a shock and it was then that his huge stress started. It lasted for full four months until his dying day. Witnesses say that after realizing how grueling the schedule was Michael fell into a panic and it was this pressure that killed him:

Pressure of 50-concerts killed Michael Jackson, says his old pal

“He thought there were going to be ten dates as announced. But then all of a sudden Tohme, along with Randy Phillips, president of organisers AEG, had arranged 20, 30 then 50 dates. But when Michael realised his schedule, he began to panic. It was one show after another, with hardly any days off.  He should never have been tied to so many, especially a guy who dances through more than half of his set,” he added. (ANI)  http://entertainment.gaeatimes.com/2…old-pal-12427/

You won’t believe it but the way AEG fully ignored Michael’s wishes did not produce any impression on any of the people in this fan forum courtroom.  Some said  “nevermind” to the number and regimen of the shows,  some said that the claims of the show/day-off pattern were false but they did not care anyway, and some said that 50 shows were for 9 months, evidently implying that the average number was 5-6 dates per month.

This reminded me of Randy Phillips’ formula that “on the average” it was a very comfortable schedule which was probably the way it was presented to Michael Jackson too, only the “average” numbers do not mean anything and are terribly misleading – the number of shows the fifty-year old Jackson was to perform following a show/day-off/show/day-off regimen was actually 38 as this schedule shows:

First they set 10 dates, then added 16 more. The show/day-off dates are in bold type except those which come after a period longer than 1 day. If you add up all the dates with only one-day rest between the shows you will have 38 such dates:

July 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30
August 1, 3, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 28, 30
September 1, 3, 6, 8, 10.

Then 24 shows were added:

September – 21, 23, 27, 29
January 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 23, 25, 27, 29
February 1, 3, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24

At this point the Senior Staff was already seriously annoyed by me and said it was time to return to the main topic. I said I thought it was exactly the main topic.

AEG ignored Michael’s most fundamental request – all he wanted was enough time for sleep between the shows, however they created a schedule which for a man with his insomnia was simply impossible to implement.

In short if there had been no stress about the future he would have not asked for Propofol already then, at the stage of rehearsals, and nothing would have happened on June 25.

Michael’s death was predetermined at the time when AEG and Tohme were ruthlessly setting the schedule the way they liked best, totally disregarding Michael’s insomnia problems.

And what is especially abhorrent is that they did it intentionally as both knew of Michael’s troubles, worries and requests.

And if the Senior Staff of the fan forum does not care about it, it does not mean that Michael’s mother does not – she does care and very much so. Since AEG Live drove Michael Jackson into that stress INTENTIONALLY she wants them to answer for it – in this or that way, even if it is only money which is at stake  (which is probably the only language AEG Live is able to understand).

If these “fans” were bothered about the way AEG treated Michael Jackson they would also care about those dates, however they are evidently only paying lip service to him and all their worries about Michael’s tarnished image are mere pretence on their part. I expressed this idea to the Senior Staff but by then yours truly was already blocked.

What they are doing there now I don’t know – most probably they go on trashing Katherine for her audacity to sue AEG. They are surely standing on the guard of AEG’s innocence and are evidently still of the opinion that Michael’s mother is the only person who ever sued.

The Senior Staff does not approve of suing in general and to tell you the truth I don’t either. However in the absence of a possibility to put AEG behind bars the civil suit is okay too.

THE FUTURE

The jurors are also human beings. The more AEG propaganda they hear the more of it they will absorb. And tomorrow this propaganda will be blasting from every cannon possible – from the press, TV and commentators like Diane Dimond. This cannonade will unfortunately not bypass the jurors. In the courtroom they will also be subjected to a barrage of tabloid horror stories told to them by AEG thus turning the trial into a freakish show.

Will it be Katherine’s guilt? Absolutely not. The media reaction is nothing of Katherine’s doing and is solely done by those who harassed her son for many years and the powerful corporation which contributed to Michael’s death and used him for their own greedy ends.

Do fans have the right to drag Michael’s through the mud and tell her to shut up? And can you tell a parent of an assassinated child to keep quiet and don’t bother the assassins for fear that “it will be worse”? WHAT can be worse for a mother than losing her son? I hope none of us will ever know the horror of it.

The huge propaganda machine currently working against Michael’s mother, family and children can be counter-balanced only by Michael’s fans.  However now the fans are busying themselves with something else – hate towards Michael Jackson’s mother and his family. And what may the jurors think if they see Michael’s own fans trashing the family and siding with AEG?

Could the poison spread by those forums turn into that last touch necessary for the jury to take a decision favorable for AEG ? This outcome is very much possible and those who guide the fans in their choices are evidently relying on it very much indeed despite the neutrality they officially profess.

I am not asking the fans to support Katherine if they are still in doubt. All I am speaking of is being at least neutral, refraining from working for the big anti-Jackson propaganda machine, giving Katherine an equal chance and letting the jurors decide on their own.

If Katherine Jackson loses,  Michael Jackson’s image will be tarnished and AEG will happily resume their usual practices with a double force. Now they will know that if they could do it to Michael Jackson they will be able to do it to everyone else.

If Katherine Jackson wins, Michael’s image may be tarnished but the offenders who turned the last four months of his life into sheer misery will have to pay. They will be taught a lesson and will now think twice before making profits on other people’s tears, misery and humiliation. Winning from AEG will probably restrain even some tabloids which will be reluctant now to undergo the same procedure as AEG.

The outcome of this case depends on Michael’s fans to a big extent. Their influence on public opinion now has become so big that it is impossible not to notice it or disregard. And jurors are the same people like us who are also affected by public opinion whether they notice it or not.

Fans should decide for themselves whether corporations like AEG Live will go on with their inhuman policies towards artists and take advantage of people’s vulnerability like they did it with Jackson. Or whether the corporations should give up their bullying ways and develop an ethical approach to people Michael represented and whose future saddened him very much.

Michael reflected on the fate of other artists and said he did not want to end up like James Brown or Jackie Wilson:

“Not the way James Brown or Jackie Wilson did, where they just killed themselves. I wish James Brown could have slowed down and been more relaxed and enjoyed his hard work.”

Whether Michael Jackson really becomes one of these people or whether he wins over the corporation even in his death  may very well depend on the choice of his fans. And this is why Michael’s fans are so closely monitored, guided and kept an eye on – it is their choice which may determine the future now.

It is you who decide.