Jacksons – AEG trial DAYS 53-55. MEGLEN’S LIES AND HIS JAPANESE FIASCO

John Meglen, CEO of Concerts West, a division of AEG Live

On week 13 of the AEG trial the AEG witnesses played a cheap comedy around the business side of the matter. The AEG witnesses were John Meglen, the Co-CEO of Concerts West, a division of AEG live and Eric Briggs, a business expert retained by AEG to assess the projections of plaintiffs’ Arthur Erk.

WHAT $800 PER HOUR CAN DO

You remember that Arthur Erk estimated Michael Jackson’s potential earnings at around $1,5 billion for the next 15 years if Michael had lived.

Eric Briggs disagreed in a video deposition played on July 26 Day 57 of the trial. The deposition was short and non-committal. Despite personally working for 350 hours on the case and being assisted with 500-600 hours from his firm he didn’t assess any of Erk’s figures at all – he simply said that Michael Jackson didn’t agree to more than 50 shows and his life expectancy as of June 2009 was short.

Well, you don’t have to charge $800 per hour and work for almost a thousand hours on the case to be able to say that Michael did not agree even to 50 shows (his maximum was 10 shows) but his agreement or disagreement never mattered to the AEG people. 

And you don’t have to be a wizard either to know that his life expectancy was extremely short while he was in the hands of AEG – in fact it was so short that it simply ended then and there.

However if Michael had not entered into cooperation with this company he could have lived a long and happy life and could have earned millions even without the need to sing and dance – by a mere attending VIP parties in his honor, meeting fans, dancing and singing an occasional song or two, and presenting other artists. Actually by simply enjoying himself.

I am absolutely sure of it because in the past several days I found rare videos of Michael Jackson attending a VIP and fan parties in Japan in 2007 –  two years before Michael died. Not only did Michael look absolutely smashing at those parties but he also collected $200,000 from one party alone which is equivalent to half of his net income for one AEG concert (I gather that the second party brought the same sum). In repayment for those generous fees Michael had to do nothing but just be photographed with his fans and make a short speech.

Japan 2007 VIP party

When you see the way Michael looked in 2007 there can be no doubt whatsoever that he could have lived a long and happy life. He was healthier and much more vigorous than any other man of his 48 year age at that time, and the video also showed that he had a multitude of opportunities open to him.

So when you read the summary of Eric Briggs’s deposition just look at it as a personal opinion of an expert who got $800 per hour for the 350 hours spent on the case ($280,000) as well as his firm that charged $300-800 per hour for another 500-600 hours (another $303,000) and he had to say at least something to deserve the money paid.

His video deposition played on Friday July 26, DAY 57. The ABC tweets report:

• He was asked to assess the projections of Arthur Erk, plaintiffs’ retained expert.
• Briggs is a senior management director at FTI Consulting and professor at USC MarshallSchool of
• Business.
• Briggs said he helps a media company put together forecast and assess risks of projects.
• Entertainment and media projects: looked at films, music, touring, video games, live events, pretty much everything.
• Briggs said he gets hired by film producers, production companies, record labels, banks and private equity that invest money.
• He has done work for talent agencies as well, like Creative Artist and William Morris.
• Other clients: Estate of Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, among others.
• Briggs has worked in over 1100 engagements, 300 of those related to the music industry, like Rod Stewart, Bruno Mars, 50 Cent, Usher.
• Briggs has also worked in endorsement deals.
• Strong: How many film engagements have you had over the course of your career? Briggs: Probably 600
• Briggs said some of his predictions have been inaccurate. “I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said.
• He has been doing forecast in the entertainment business for 15 years.
• Briggs studies Economy at BrownUniversity and received his MBA at AndersonSchool at UCLA.
• FTI Consulting has about 4,000 employees worldwide. Briggs is charging $800 an hour. He has spent approximately 350 hours.
• Briggs has a team working on this matter, roughly 500-600 hours. Personnel on the team charge between $300-$800 per hour.
• He has testified once in an England tax matter, equivalent to our IRS, and on an arbitration case.
• Briggs mostly worked for companies that actively spend money in films.
• Briggs said he has had significant involvement in most of the 1100 cases he worked on. “I’m not taking credit for somebody else.”
• Strong showed exhibit with Erk’s Opinions: – Tour – Merchandise – Endorsement/Sponsorship – Las Vegas show – Movies
• Briggs said he analyzed the first four opinions by Erk, since Erk didn’t project earnings for movies.
• Briggs overarching opinion on topics: 1- It’s speculative whether these projects would occurred 2- The numbers projected are speculative
• Briggs did not analyze Mr. Erk’s consumption numbers.
• 

  Japan 2007. MJ pauses when the fans are screaming

  “My understanding is that damages cannot be speculative and I didn’t want to prepare a speculative,” Briggs said.

• MJ had a prolific career which resulted in a catalogue that results in a lot of money every year. Briggs did not analyze that.
• He said he looked at income MJ would’ve generated for performing, going on tour.
• “My opinion relates to opinion MJ would have generated by working,” Briggs said.
• Strong showed an exhibit with “Erk’s TII Tour: Speculative” – No agreement beyond 50 shows – MJ’s drug use
• Exhibit: – MJ’s history of cancellations – World tour depends on completion of 50 shows – Performance Risk – Execution Risk
• “As of the date of death, there was no agreement that AEG or MJ would go beyond 50 shows,” Briggs said
• Briggs: MJ had a significant history of drug use, and this was significant to render my opinion.
• “There’s significant testimony on the record from four medical doctors in this case regarding MJ’s drug use,” Briggs explained.
• Briggs: As part of my job, I’m asked to analyze all sorts of things, including drug use for someone who needs to perform.
• “It’s all about the same thing: the risks,” Briggs said.
• “My conclusion, based on the evidence presented, MJ’s life expectancy was very short as of June 2009,” Briggs said.
•  “MJ was taking drugs in very dangerous ways, had history of taking drugs that had a long lasting impact on his health,” he opined.
• Briggs: MJ had a unique history of great performance but cancellations, particularly in cases where they were practically certain to happen.
• The expert said MJ canceled a number of dates on Dangerous tour to enter rehab, canceled HBO special in 1995.
• Also, the Millennium concert didn’t take place, theTwoSeas arrangement where nothing came of it.
• “The world tour depends on the completion of the 50 tours,” Briggs said.
  

  Fan Appreciation party March 2007

• “There’s always a risk of whether the audience will perform and whether the artist will show up,” Briggs testified.
• He said Guns N Roses, U2, Lady Gaga, Van Halen — all cancelled shows that were pretty certain to happen.
• Those aspects helped shape Briggs opinion that Erk’s projections were speculative.
• “The four additional tours are also entirely speculative,” Briggs said. They were based on Erk’s personal opinion.
• Briggs: MJ had agreed to do 50 shows when he died and was actively engaged in rehearsals.
• Strong: Do you have an opinion on whether MJ would have completed the 50 shows at the O2?
• “My opinion is that it’s speculative whether the 50 shows would have been completed,” Briggs said.
• “There was a significant heath risk in place and the length of the tour exceeded 9 months,” Briggs explained.
• Judge then adjourned trial until Monday at 10 am PT. We only had half a day today and will only have half day on Monday as well with Briggs.
• Potential witnesses for next week: Debbie Rowe, video deposition of Randy Jackson and Rebbie Jackson.
• We hope to see you then!

If this is all Eric Briggs has to say let us congratulate him on the $600,000 collected for the hard job done and proceed to John Meglen instead.

MEGLEN’S FUKUOKA FIASCO

With John Meglen of Concerts West we have another surprise. He gave an extremely boring and false testimony on Monday-Wednesday the same week and was summoned to provide his “personal knowledge of the matter”. His personal knowledge boiled down to belittling Michael Jackson, and in doing so he overdid it so much that he made himself look totally ridiculous.

He said that Led Zeppelin were bigger than Michael Jackson and that he and Marcel Avram “sold half the house” on two Michael Jackson’s History shows in 1996 in Japan and … wait a minute, is he talking about Japan?

Japanese fans in 2007. So many young faces!

After seeing the way Japanese fans greeted Michael in 2007 I don’t know what Meglen had to do not to be able to fill the house in Fukuoka during Michael’s 1996 History tour there. He must have either completely neglected his duties as a promoter or must have been totally unprofessional in what he was doing.

Japanese fans pay $3,400 for the honor to see Michael Jackson (March, 2007)

In 2007 Michael did not even have to perform but the Japanese fans still paid $3,400 a ticket just for a mere chance to have a handshake and spend a couple of seconds with him.

It was a real chase starting for many of them at MJ’s hotel, then turning into a long procession of taxis following Michael around the city and finally getting to see him at the destination point where the VIP party was held.

The 2007 documentary is even called “Fan-deMonium. Chasing Michael Jackson” and I suggest you see it before you read Meglen’s nonsense. One of the opening episodes is in Japanese, but if you survive it at approx. 3:15 the English language will start and make it a great watch.

Let me express my admiration to Japanese fans for the fantastic welcome they gave to Michael Jackson and their never-ending love for him – they really managed to give Michael what he truly deserved. So here it is – Chasing Michael Jackson and a VIP party in Japan in March 2007:

After seeing it you will realize that the “half-house” episode at Fukuoka in 1996 was totally Meglen’s fiasco and no one else’s. But he and AEG’s attorney Jessica Stebbins grasped at this straw and discussed it at great length trying to hypnotize the jury into thinking that Michael Jackson was not as big a superstar as he really was.

The ABC tweets report on July 22, DAY 53:

• AEG called their next witness, John Meglen.
• AEG’s attorney Jessica Stebbins Bina did direct examination.
• John Meglen is a concert promoter, works at AEG Live, he’s the president and CEO of Concerts West.
• Paul Gongaware is co-CEO of Concerts West with Meglen. He described his extensive background in the business.
• Meglen said he went to Veterinarian school initially. “I feel like I work with animals some times,” he joked.
• Bina talked about rivalry between AEG Live and Live Nation.
• Meglen said he doesn’t think being the number 1 is necessarily a good thing. He explained it is the difference between quality and quantity.
• When they created Concerts West, Meglen said their first tour was Andrea Bocelli. They promoted first tour of Mariah Carey.
• Meglen worked with MJ prior to “This Is It” once. He was a consultant to a firm in Japan that promoted two MJ shows in 1996 around Christmas
• Meglen watched both shows and said it was great. Marcel Avram was the promoter.
• They both sold half house, he said, which is half of the tickets available. Meglen said they hid he empty seats so it wouldn’t show.
• Bina asked if Wikipedia was wrong in saying the shows were sold out. “I don’t use Wikipedia as source for my business,” Meglen said.

Quote from the transcript:

History tour 1996, Australia. The sea of fans mirrored in his sun-glasses

Q. Before “This Is It”, have you ever worked with Michael Jackson?

A. Once, yes.

Q. In what capacity?

A. As a consultant to a firm in Japan who wished to promote Michael Jackson in Fukuoka, Japan.

.. Q. How many shows did you promote for Mr. Jackson there?

A.Two shows.

Q. What did you do for the shows in Fukuoka?

A. Well, we were not financially at risk. We were hired by a Japanese firm who really had no experience on how to put a concert on, so we were hired and paid a fee to help them contract the show for Michael, and to execute the show, to promote it.

..Q. And were you involved in promoting any other portion of Mr. Jackson’s “History” tour?

A.No, I was not.

Q. So even the other Japanese legs, those were somebody else?

A. Yes.

Q. Now, turning to the Fukuoka shows themselves, did you watch the shows?

A. Yes, I went – I watched both shows?

Q. How were they?

A. They were great.

Q. Now, I read on Wikipedia that the two shows at the Fukuoka dome were sell-outs.

A. That’s far from true.

Q. I was going to ask, is that right?

A. They each sold about half the house.

Q. Half a house. Does that mean after –- half the seats that were for sale, or —

A. Yes.

..Q. Could you see whether or not the houses were full?

A. We curtained off a lot of the empty seats.

Naturally I checked up all sources available to me and found only the information confirming Wiki’s numbers and saying that both concerts at Fukuoka Dome were sold out:

The King of Pop Michael Jackson performed at the stadium four times at his solo career; The first two times, Jackson performed two sold-out concerts during his Dangerous World Tour, in September 10 & 11, 1993, for a total audience of 70,000 fans (35,000 per show); The second and last two times was in 1996, during his subsequent tour, HIStory World Tour, in December 26 and 28, on also two sold-out concerts for 80,000 people (40,000 fans per show);

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuoka_Dome

But since Meglen says he knows better I had to look up the shows before and after Fukuoka to be able to see how successful the History tour was at all.

January 2, 1996 Honolulu, Hawaii

The information found was smashing – three concerts in Tokyo were fully sold out (fortunately they were not promoted by Meglen), and Japan was preceded and followed by Australia and Hawaii.

In both countries the tickets were sold out within hours of beginning the sales – in Australia twice in October and December, so that they had to add three more shows, and in Hawaii also twice – in November 1996 and January 1997. Hawaii is a US territory and the media said that this was the first time its stadium was filled to its full capacity:

Oct. 5, ’96 – Concert tickets sold-out in record time in Australia. Initially, first shows scheduled for Sydney and Melbourne both sold out in under 2 hours, selling over 130,000 tickets combined. Then another record was set: Over 175,000 tickets sold out in just 8 ours. ALL 6 scheduled concerts in Australia are sold out, leaving the possibility for added dates. 3 more concerts were later added to meet the demand. As a direct result of the concerts. HIStory album shot up again on the Australian charts to the #1 spot.

Nov. 16, ’96 – All 35,000 tickets for Michael Jackson’s Hawaiian Jan. 3, 1997 concert sold out in just 4 hours. A second concert was tentatively scheduled, also immediately selling out. As the ticket outlets opened at 8am, an estimated 20,000 people stood in lines that snaked up and down at Aloha Stadium. Police said only two special duty officers were hired to handle the Aloha Stadium lines — but about 15 officers who worked the previous midnight watch put in overtime during the morning to control the crowds. The scene at the Aloha Soccer Stadium turned into a total chaos, as fans jumped over chain-link fences, overwhelming ticket-sellers. Jim Fulton, an official with promoter Tom Moffatt Productions, said “I have never, ever seen anything like this in Hawaii before. Ever.” 

Dec. 6, ’96 – during his Australian leg of the HIStory tour, Michael performed 9 sold out concerts in 5 different cities – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth – to at least 334,000 Australians; thousands followed his every move. This makes it Michael’s most successful tour stop in Australia in his career.

Jan. 4, ’97 – Michael Jackson performed to record crowds of 70,000 in Honolulu, Hawaii – his first U.S. tour stop since 1989. The two concerts held on Jan. 3-4 at the 35,000 seat Aloha Stadium made history – no other musical act ever sold out the stadium, and Michael sold out 2 shows in less than 24 hours — a record time. Hawaii promoter, Tom Moffatt said: “I’ve never seen anything like it, …..there’s been nothing even close to this–the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Julio Iglesias, the Eagles. . . ” 

http://freeforumzone.leonardo.it/lofi/TUTTO-SULL-39-HISTORY-WORLD-TOUR/D653571.html

We haven’t got the footage from the Japan concerts in 1996 but here is the TV buzz accompanying Michael’s arrival on the History tour:

And here is Michael with his Japanese fans at Tower Records in December 1996:

.

If Meglen had kept his Fukuoka fiasco to himself it would have been only for his own good.  But since he disclosed it, now we know that amid the highly successful History tour one certain promoter from AEG Live did the impossible – he arranged half-full houses for Japanese fans.

Fiascos are actually a pattern with Meglen because after Fukuoka he also described his and other AEG people’s failure to get Michael Jackson interested in cooperation with AEG in the winter-spring period of 2007.

AEG HOPED “MJ WOULD PICK THEM”

Fan Appreciation Party March 9, 2007. Winners of the Fan Art Contest

From the way Meglen describes it AEG began to chase Michael Jackson immediately after he arrived from Ireland in the US.

We know it by the timeline – first they had two meetings with Michael, then they invited him to attend Prince’s show in Las Vegas promoted by AEG (in February 2007), then there was one more meeting and then all their effort ended in nothing. So all of it must have started as early as January 2007.

For This Is It concerts Michael Jackson was actually brought to AEG a year later when Tom Barrack set Michael’s work with AEG as a condition for his buying the foreclosure note on Neverland. Barrack was twisting Michael’s arms and this is probably why Michael had to agree.

The way AEG was chasing Michael in 2007 is actually the only interesting episode in the three days of Meglen’s testimony, so I will put it down in some detail – we really need to know how all of it started.

The AEG courtship of Michael Jackson began when Peter Lopez called AEG in early 2007 and they hurried to Michael Jackson to make a presentation of AEG hoping he would pick them:

ABC tweet say:

• Meglen said he next met MJ in 2007 with Peter Lopez, MJ’s attorney at the time at the WynnHotel in Las Vegas.
• The meeting was to let MJ know what AEG was about, Meglen said. Gongaware, Raymone Bain (MJ’s manager), Lopez, MJ were present.
• MJ recognized Gongaware, Meglen said. He came out of the bedroom, “Whenever I see Paul Gongaware I know everything is going to be all right”
• Meglen said MJ asked Gongaware about Brigitte, his girlfriend at the time. They wanted MJ to choose them for a comeback tour.

Quote:

Q. Now, you said Mr. Lopez called and asked you about this meeting. Did he tell you in advance what the meeting was going to be about?

A.Peter, when he called regarding going to meet with Michael in Las Vegas, it was about letting him know what AEG was about.

Q. So you understood it was a time for you to come and make a presentation to Mr. Jackson about AEG Live?
A. Absolutely.

Q. Did he tell you at that point that Mr. Jackson wanted to work live, or was it more open-ended?

A. No, it was more open-ended.

…Q. Who was at that meeting that you recall?

A. It was myself and Paul Gongaware, Peter Lopez, a lady named Raymone Bain, and she had another lady that worked with her, I cannot remember her name.

Q. And did you have an understanding as to Raymone Bain’s role at this time?

A. She introduced herself as Michael’s manager.

…Q. Do you remember any specific projects being discussed besides a King Tut miniseries that Mr. Jackson wanted to work on and a Vegas residency that Mr. Jackson wasn’t interested in?

A. It wasn’t a meeting to talk about, necessarily, specific projects. It was more of a meeting showing Michael who we were as a company.

…I brought three what we call sizzle reels on the company with me, along with kind of company brochure.

Q. And was the goal of this to convince Michael Jackson to hire AEG Live to produce a concert for him?

A. Well, it was to show Michael the breadth of AEG and you know, some of the cool projects that were were involved in and what we did so that, you know, he would – if he did work, that, you know, we hopefully would be the company he’d work with, or he’d think about us.

Q. So is that a yes, you were trying to get him to pick you?

A. Yes.

…Q. Now, one thing I meant to ask you at the beginning, how did Mr. Jackson look to you when you saw him?

A. He looked great. He was full of energy, he seemed taller to me, a firm handshake, and just – he was there, he was – he was very, very excited about everything.

Q. And how long was this first meeting?

A. Maybe two hours, hour and a half to two hours.

Q. Did Mr. Jackson seem in any way under the influence of anything, drugs or alcohol?

A. No.

Q. No signs of that?

A. No.

Japan March 10, 2007. MJ at the US camp Zama meeting the military and their families. A confident man full of energy and looking great

Of course there were no signs of it. Look at Michael’s photos of 2007 – despite being older his then looks were much better than in the 2000s, when medications were really a problem for him.

ABC tweets say that almost immediately Gongaware took the lead on the MJ’s This Is It project. This is wrong.

Before Gongaware took the lead there were three more meetings with Michael Jackson which brought AEG nowhere and a full year before their next contact in 2008.

The first meeting was when AEG made a representation of their company. The second meeting in 2007 was solely about making films as Michael was not interested in anything else:

Q. Did you have a follow-up meeting after that first meeting with Mr. Jackson?

A.Yes, our second meeting – a month later, maybe, somewhere in that range, at Turnberry, which is a condo development in Las Vegas, and so we met there.

Q. And how did the second meeting come about?

A. I believe Peter arranged the second meeting, or called us, asked us to go to the second meeting. Could have been Raymone. I don’t remember. But we were asked if we would come and meet with Michael again.

Q. And what, if you recall, was the purpose of this meeting?

A. The majority of that meeting was for the lady who had co-written the King Tut miniseries to take us through that project.

Q. And who was there at the meeting?

A. Myself, Paul Gongaware, Randy Phillips came to that meeting, John Nelson, who runs the day to day in our Vegas operationk a amn named Chris Demoulin who worked for Walden media, and then a number of people –

 Michael’s side had grown from the first meeting.

Q. And was – were Mr. Lopez and Ms. Bain still there?

A. Yes, they were both still there.

Q. And you said Christ Demoulin from Walden media. I think you said Walden media was a film company?

A. Correct.

Q. And so were they brought to discuss this sort of film aspect of this miniseries?

A. Yes, because they were probably – we did not really have any television development organization within AEG. The closest things would have been our film guys.

Q. Were any other projects discussed at this meeting?

A. No.

And the third meeting was to see Prince’s show in Las Vegas which was in February 2007 according to an eye-witness who wrote that it was “NBA ALL -STAR WEEKEND FEB. 2007“:

Q. After those first two meetings, did you ever have a third meeting with Mr. Jackson?

A. Yes. Well, actually, after that meeting, Michael came that night to see Prince. We were at that time producing a – I guess you would call it a residency for Prince at the Rio hotel. It was called 3121. And Michael wanted to come over and see it, so Michael came over that night to watch the Prince show.

Q. Did you talk business at all with him at that meeting – I mean at that Prince show?

A. No. I mean, Michael showed up , I took him downstairs, there were – there was kind of a hospitality room downstairs, I – Michael actually showed up early, I was surprised. And Prince had two background singers. They were these two ladies who were Australian and were twins. And they said they had met Michael before, so I took him in and kind of let them all visit.

Q. And so no business discussions there?

A. No.

Q. Okay. And then did you have another meeting with Mr. Jackson after that?

A. Yes. We had another meeting in New York City with Michael after that.

Q. And do you remember when that was?

A. That was a few months later, quite a few months later, I think; and that meeting was at the Regency hotel in New York.

Q. And do you remember what that meeting was about at all?

A. That one, there were more — there were attorneys and accountants there for Michael. You know, I think at that time Raymone Bain was more pushing for some all-encompassing deal that didn’t really have anything attached to it. It was just —

Q. What do you mean?

…A. Well, I kind of understood what, you know – there was nothing specific attached to it. That’s why it was difficult. You know, when something like that happens, you go, “To do what? I want to do a deal, but to do what?”

…Q. After these first three meetings, did you have any more discussions with Mr. Jackson about anything?

A.No. It pretty much went pretty quiet from there. You know, for quite some time, we – it kind of just kind of – deals have a way of doing that at times. You can work on things; if there isn’t a deal to be made or something to be made, they just kind of go away.

Q. And so this just kind of went away?

A. Yes, this one just kind of went away.

Q. During all of these three meetings in 2007, was there ever a time at any of those meetings that you thought Mr. Jackson  looked like he might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol?

A. No.

Q. Was there ever a time he seemed anything other than alert?

Japan March 10, 2007. MJ speaks at the US camp Zama

A. No. He seems – he had a lot of energy.

Q. Did he seem happy? Unhappy?

A. Very happy.

Q. But no deal was done at the time?

A. Pardon me?

Q. No deal was done at the time?

A., No, no.

Q. And at some point down the line, do you know whether Mr.Jackson came into contact with AEG Live again?

A. Yes, he did.

Q. When was that?

A. At least a good year later.

Q. And were you involved in that sort of second set of — of meetings, for lack of a better word?

A. No, not really. It was coming in through – through a different person in the company.

So the impression AEG bosses had of Michael when they first met him was:

March 9, 2007 “He was great, full of energy, firm handshake, he was very, very excited”

• “He was great, full of energy, seem taller, firm handshake, he was there, he was very, very excited.”

Michael indeed looked absolutely great. We can see it in the March 2007 Japan video, and to remember Michael the way he was only two years before his death I’ll post its next episode here too.

What did Tohme and AEG have to do to Michael so that his health terribly deteriorated within so short period of time?

VIP PARTIES FOR MICHAEL and NO NEED TO TOUR

As you remember the ticket for the VIP party was $3,400 which brought the organizers $400,000 and this means that more than a thousand people attended it. Michael got half of it according to Sullivan’s book, though not a single song or dance was performed by MJ there.

The VIP party was followed by a party for the ‘less affluent’ fans where the price of ticket was a more democratic $130, but still much higher than the ticket for AEG performances where he was supposed to toil for three hours on stage. What impressed me most is that at both parties nothing else but a mere handshake was expected of Michael and various artists were actually performing for him and not MJ for them.

Japan 2007, at the VIP party Michael had nothing to do but clap his hands and make a short speech

This made me think that Michael did not have to do any AEG shows at all.

With his enormous popularity he could just throw VIP parties all over the world and if he also performed a song or two I have no doubt whatsoever that our oligarchs like Abramovich would pay him millions for a chance to entertain his oligarchy friends.

You can like or dislike them but they are definitely not greedy scrooges like Anschutz, and pay generously for a party they really enjoy. Our oligarch market alone could have provided for Michael a stable multi-million income if he chose to ever stoop down to them.

Here is the next part of the “Fan-deMonium. Chasing Michael Jackson” video from Japan, 2007. In this part Michael makes a speech at the VIP party putting on his spectacles and looking like a professor, and arranges a fan art contest at a fan party the prize for which is having dinner with him:

THE GREEDY SCROOGE

However we need to get back to our liar Meglen. To the lies already told he now adds that  it is “classics” for the artist to pay for producing the show and he repeats the usual AEG nonsense that profit was to be divided between AEG and Michael at the ratio of 90/10 (90% for MJ and only 10% for AEG):

Q. So when you say “net profits,” you don’t mean what the artists takes home at the end of the day?

A. No, no, The – the – the show net is classically the gross revenue left to be divided between the artist and the promoter, of which the artist then pays his touring expenses out of.

Q. So in this instance, the show net would be to the gross revenues minus what you spent to promote the show at the venue, and then that show net, if I have it right, would be split 90/10?

A. Yes, ma’am.

Q. And then you said there was an artist’s net?

A. The artist net then is you take the – take the share that the artist receives from the show and then the artist then has to pay all of his expenses out of that: trucks, buses, crew, musicians, all of his staffing on the road, all of the things that the artist classically pays for.

Q. And then what was left after that, that’s where AEG Live’s producer’s fee would be calculated?

A. Correct.

Q., So in this instance, the artist – the expenses of production, where do they fall?

A. On the artist’s side.

Ms. Stebbins: Is that good, your honor?

Judge: Yes, Okay. Tomorrow, return at 9:45.

Japan March 2007. MJ is going by a helicopter to the Camp Zama US Army post. This is how I would like to remember Michael

So he says that the artist is to “classically” pay all the expenses?

But if it is the classics of their business why did all the media in June 2009 lament that it was AEG that was losing millions of dollars and not Michael Jackson?

If it was “classically” the artist’s responsibility they should have lamented that it was Michael Jackson’s Estate that was to lose millions and not AEG, right?

It is time to recall now that for weeks after Michael’s death none of them, even AEG themselves, spoke of those expenses to be covered from Michael’s pocket and of the possibility of production expenses to be charged to the Estate.

At that time AEG and the media were talking solely of the insurance as a means to cover AEG’s losses and not a single mention was made of it being Michael’s responsibility:

AEG Live, the organiser of Michael Jackson’s concerts at the O2 arena, could lose millions from the cancellation of the concerts.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8120844.stm

AEG stands to lose a substantial part of its investment if its insurance policy won’t come into play—and that could depend on the cause of Jackson’s death.

http://www.thisisrnb.com/2009/07/aegs-ceo-randy-phillips-talks-michael-jackson-fallout/

More recently, a Denver Post article cited a June interview in which AEG Live chief executive Randy Phillips said insurance had been secured for 23 out of fifty “This Is It” dates — certainly better than the ten gigs reported a few months earlier. If that’s the best AEG could manage, however, it could still lose tens of millions of dollars. Losses in that range would hardly bankrupt Anschutz, but they’d certainly give him another (very big) reason to mourn Jackson’s passing.

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/06/how_much_will_michael_jacksons.php

One of the ways to cover the losses was Randy Phillips’ selling the footage of Michael’s rehearsals, but again not a word was said about production expenses allegedly being Michael’s responsibility:

“At the time of his death we’d already spent $33 million on production. No, it’s not the end of the company. Maybe to other companies, but not ours. Our mutual owner is a very wealthy billionaire. People speculated this would be the end, but I knew the value of the content we had. Just didn’t know how to monetize it. I shopped it around to studios and [there was] a bidding war between four studios, Universal, Sony, Paramount and Fox.”

https://www.examiner.com/article/examiner-exclusive-aeg-s-randy-phillips-talks-this-is-it-michael-jackson-and-more-part-ii

If it had been Michael’s obligation to cover all production expenses AEG would have never hesitated to immediately name the Estate responsible for them – however more than three weeks after Michael’s death AEG themselves were not so sure of it.

Of course AEG are always AEG and they were already making tentative probes in this direction, so  they did send their report to the Estate sometime in the first part of July 2009. However even now, at this trial, they say that the report was sent NOT with the aim to have them pay for the expenses and was for “information only”.

If production expenses had been Michael Jackson’s responsibility from the start of it do you think that AEG would have hesitated to approach the Estate at once and would have danced around this matter? No, certainly not!

And this means that they decided to shift all production costs onto Michael much later, and initially they were only probing the Estate for such a possibility:

Predicting the financial fall out would be messy as well as expensive, ultimately, AEG may have to file a claim against Jackson’s estate. 

http://entertainmentagentblog.com/2009/07/13/aeg-in-financial-shatters/

The next article clearly says that the production expenses were to be covered only by the insurance sum. Phillips also hoped that another source for compensation would be no need to refund all the tickets. And again there was no talk about taking the money from Michael Jackson’s pocket.

So when Meglen says that those expenses are “classically the artist’s responsibility” he is lying – initially production costs were not Michael Jackson’s responsibility. In the very worst case they were to be split between MJ and AEG:

Jul 6 2009 3:03 PM EDT 

Promoter Of Michael Jackson Concerts Could Erase Losses With Insurance, DVD Sales

AEG CEO Randy Phillips says, ‘I’m heartbroken, but the company is fine.’

By Gil Kaufman

Given that AEG had sunk more than $30 million into the production and is now offering full refunds to the nearly 1 million ticket holders, it would seem that the Los Angeles-based company could be in for some serious financial headaches as a result.

But, according to CEO Randy Phillips, that’s not necessarily the case. Speaking at a news conference last week, Phillips claimed that a combination of savvy insurance planning and a stronger-than-expected demand for the commemorative tickets for the now-canceled shows might help erase some of those potentially crippling losses, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“For the record, this great company I work for is not bankrupt,” Phillips said. “They’re not going out of business and they’re certainly not in trouble. I’m heartbroken, but the company is fine.” While AEG offered full refunds for the tickets beginning last week, Phillips said nearly half the concertgoers who’ve answered so far have opted to hold onto their commemorative tickets, which, if that ratio holds, could help the company break even on ticket sales.

The concert-promotions company might also be able to turn to insurance underwriter Lloyd’s of London to recover some of the production costs, such as salaries for nearly 200 employees, stages, aerial dancers, elaborate illusions and the price of expensive talent such as show director Kenny Ortega and choreographer Travis Payne. AEG reportedly bought a $17.6 million policy that covered the first 23 shows, but Phillips said the insurance payout would depend on the coroner’s final verdict on how Jackson died.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1615329/promoter-mj-concerts-could-erase-losses-with-insurance-dvd-sales.jhtml

And from one more article we learn that AEG actually did not even need any compensation of their losses. Since half the tickets did not have to be refunded as they were kept by MJ’s fans as memory, the sum of money thus retained by AEG was enough to fully cover all the money spent by AEG on the production.

But our AEG is a very greedy scrooge, so they wanted to have all of it – the money retained from the tickets sold, compensation of $40 mln from the Estate, the intellectual property costing $60mln (the rehearsal footage sold to Sony) and the insurance money for their “losses” to be retrieved from Lloyds as well…. And now they call Katherine Jackson “greedy”?

Regarding refunds, Phillips says AEG is currently seeing a retention rate of about 25% in an offer that runs through Aug. 14. He says 40% retention would allow AEG to recoup its expenses. What ticket retention doesn’t make up, intellectual property should cover costs that AEG has put at about $25 million and others have tagged as high as double that http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268137/aeg-live-ceo-discusses-michael-jacksons-memorial-tribute-concert?page=0%2C1

Later Randy Phillips would admit that at least 40% of all tickets were retained by Michael’s fans.

The next day Meglen’s lies continued:

Tuesday July 23, 2013  DAY 54

• Hello from the courthouse in downtown LA. Day 54, Week 13 of Jackson family vs AEG trial is under way.
• Katherine Jackson is not present in court today. John Meglen, co-CEo of Concerts West, is back on the stand. Jessica Bina questioning him.
• Meglen didn’t have involvement in Michael Jackson’s contract. He said after the initial meeting, there was a quiet period.
• Then they met again in early 2008 and began discussions of what to do and where to go with MJ’s comeback tour.
• The promoter said they considered London, the biggest market in the world, since it has a new, hot arena.
• He said the strength of artist’s popularity is based on ticket sales, ticket sales of similar artists, record sales, radio time playing.
• We did not want to start the tour in North America, Meglen said.
• Meglen: We weren’t sure what the reaction, ticket sale would be in N America because of the historic stuff Michael had gone before in the US
• Meglen said the other option was Asia, Japan especially. He has done a number of other tours in Asia.
• However, Meglen said the economics wasn’t there for Asia, couldn’t get a high enough ticket price in China.
• He said there are a lot of rich people in China, but a lot people with not as much money.
• Meglen said MJ had sold stadium shows in London before, had a successful track record there.
• The promoter said normally they talk about show net, what we call artist gross, is when discussing money.
• You can’t compare net of artists because they all spend differently on the road, Meglen said.
• The show net is where you determine the artist gross from, Meglen explained.
• Meglen said he was not intimately involved in the budget tour and budget production, but has seen them and knows what a budget is.
• Meglen said he was aware of talks about a worldwide tour with MJ.
• Meglen: The London shows were the only approved shows from our standpoint at AEG. He explained that the only one that went thru the approval process was the London shows. It was a long way to the completion of the London shows, so Meglen said there was no urgency in figuring out where to go after that.
• Meglen would have to approve a worldwide budget, he said. And it all depended on the London shows success and their review.

So Meglen says that those “50 shows” were the only approved ones?

This I cannot agree with as after Michael’s death AEG cried crocodile tears over losing more their $450 million from the future three and a half year long contract with Michael. Why did they speak of it to the Time magazine in 2009 if now they say that they never planned it? No, not only did they plan and approve, but they were also sure that all that money was already in their pocket, and it was the loss of it that they were so bitterly missing:

Now that stage will be dismantled — and AEG must deal with the financial aftermath. Jackson’s death means the firm will have to refund $85 million in ticket sales.

The company will also miss out on expected profits of $115 million from VIP packages and merchandising, and it will lose the chance at an additional $450 million from the three-year worldwide tour they hoped would follow the London gigs.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1907404,00.html

Oh, SO CELIN DION DID NOT REHEARSE?

From further Meglen’s revelations we find that it is customary for superstars not to rehearse. Celine Dion did not and it also made her director “freak out”, however AEG perfectly survived it:

• Meglen said Paul Gongaware called Michael Jackson ‘Mikey’ because they knew each other.
• The promoter said AEG advanced the money for “This Is It” tour.
• The superstar deals: the selling of tickets is kind of a given, Meglen said. So they get out of guarantee and get profit participation.
• They are worried about what their shares are as opposed to guarantee, Meglen explained.
• This is the type of deal for Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, Neal Diamond, Meglen testified.
• Meglen wasn’t involved in the production of TII. He has never met Dr. Murray and has not seen any draft agreement between AEG and the doctor
• Meglen said he has been involved in tours where a doctor was part of the production. He named Rolling Stones, Celine Dion, John Denver.
• Bina: Is it worrisome to have a doctor come on tour?
• Meglen responded no, not at all.
• He said you’re dealing with singers, sometimes you have a lot of dancers on shows, so doctors, physical therapists, chefs, not uncommon.
• Meglen said he had never seen an AEG contract where the artist is required to rehearse.
• Meglen said Celine Dion’s director was freaking out because she was not showing up for rehearsals.
• The rehearsal is more for the people around the artist, Meglen said. He said it is very common for artists to use TelePrompTers.
• Celine Dion, Meglen said, not only uses Teleprompter but has an ear piece with director speaking to her.
• Meglen said he had one show in Las Vegas that didn’t sell tremendously well and they had to shut down production early. No names mentioned.

LAS VEGAS DEALS 

• The promoter said the hotels in Las Vegas would not allow an artist to have a residency show with only 2 and 1/2 shows per week.
• He said the hotels want customers every night, so resident shows need to have a constant schedule and few days off.
• A residency show needs more than 2 and 1/2 shows per week to be able to pay expenses and make money, Meglen explained.
• He said the promoter would be able to survive with only 2 and 1/2 shows per week, but not the artist.
• Meglen said the average ticket price for a headliner show in Las Vegas currently is $100-$125.
• An arena is an ambitious step to take the model of a Las Vegas show. Arena fits 50k-60k people, Meglen said.
• Meglen said he has put together a show idea for Las Vegas involving Michael Jackson, but not a residential show.

The story about the residency show needing more than 2,5 shows per week is probably correct and this is why in 2007/08 Jack Wishna was working on a Las Vegas project where Michael’s show would run continuously but would present other artists for five days a week and Michael would perform just on weekends or four times a month:

The deal called for Jackson to perform only one weekend a month, Wishna said. The rest of the time it would be “Michael Jackson Presents,” with a lineup including major R&B performers like Usher, Jay-Z, Jamie Foxx and others. 

http://www.vegascommunityonline.com/2009/6/Jne09-w4-NFN_ClarkeColNorm-1313.htm

This is another proof that in order to get his millions Michael was absolutely not obliged to perform every day for three and a half years as AEG was forcing him to – there were other opportunities open to him which the plaintiff’s expert Arthur Erk did not even include into his estimation (but probably should have).

At this point Meglen again reveals to us that it was AEG’s primary interest to get themselves involved in projects associated with Michael Jackson. After Michael’s death they realized the “urgency of it” and hurried up to approach the Estate before they finalized their deal with Cirque du Soleil.

So previously they chased and courted Michael Jackson and now they are chasing and courting his Estate? Well, at least it puts things in the right perspective – without the Artist the promoter is Nobody – and I am happy that the Estate did not agree to do further business with AEG.

Actually the offer AEG made to the Estate was laughable – it was $60mln for 10 years. Well, even the late Jack Wisha arranged much more lucrative deals. For Wayne Newton, for example, it was $250 mln over 10 years, so the same or even better terms could be very well offered by Jack Wisna to Michael Jackson.

ABC tweets continue about the profit AEG was hoping to get out of Michael after his death:

• Meglen: We proposed to the Estate a Michael Jackson Campus at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. 
• It’d involve artifacts in MJ exhibit, items from Neverland, 2 restaurants, nightclub and a theatrical show directed by Kenny Ortega.
• This was after Michael Jackson passed away. Meglen said this was never proposed before he died

• Bina showed a document with a structural outline with the concept of the Las Vegas show, possible partners and numbers.
• Meglen said they wanted to take this to another level, creating an entire campus as opposed to just a show and a boutique.

• Meglen said he became aware the Estate of MJ was in talks with Cirque du Soleil for a show in Vegas, which gave AEG a sense of urgency.
• The promoter said he got one meeting with the executor of MJ’s Estate, John Branca, but they were already involved with Cirque du Soleil.
• Meglen: You run 10 years (in a residency show) and you hit a home run.
• Meglen said they were very interested in a MJ Las Vegas show. He said he made an offer as attractive or better than Cirque’s proposal.
• Meglen said there was a guarantee of $60 million over 10 years.
• “The Estate told us they were not interested,” Meglen said.
• While Michael Jackson was alive, Meglen said the ideal would be to have the artist live as a residency show. But that wasn’t an option.
• He said tribute shows don’t do well when the artist is alive, since people want to see the actual performer.
• Meglen said he probably has never proposed an India concert. “Nobody goes to India,” Meglen said.
• Jacksons attorney objected saying Meglen has no experience in India. Judge sustained.

LIES ABOUT THE NUMBER OF SEATS

There is simply not a single point in Meglen’s testimony where he wouldn’t be lying.  It is in AEG interests now to downplay everything connected with MJ as they are desperate to minimize their possible losses. Hence Michael Jackson “is not the best artist”,  the stadiums had fewer seats than Arthur Erk estimated and all the rest of it said with the sole aim to cut the sum to be paid to Katherine Jackson.

Meglen’s next lie concerns the number of tickets sold for Michael Jackson’s shows:

• Meglen explained the stadiums normally don’t allow sale of full capacity. The stage is big, when you sell all around is called 360 degrees.
• The projections the Jacksons expert produced is more than that, Meglen said. He estimated they would sell 220 degrees in MJ’s shows.
• All stadiums and arenas have suites and the promoters and artists don’t get to charge them, Meglen said.
• People buy the suites on an annual basis and it includes concerts. The building gets the money, not the promoter or artist.
• Meglen said you can’t put an arena show into a stadium, specially because of the size of the stage and the production.
• It’s also much more expensive to do a stadium show, Meglen explained.
• Rolling Stones had 59,000 people, the maximum capacity they could have at The Rose Bowl, Meglen said.
• The Rose Bowl is one of the biggest stadiums in the country and there is the idea that it fits 100k people, Meglen explained.
• You’re lucky if you can hit 60 (thousand), Meglen said.
• Bina shows another exhibit. There’s dispute as to which exhibit has been admitted already or not. Judge sent jury to lunch.
• Outside the jury presence, Panish complained to the judge that AEG’s attorney Jessica Bina handed over copies of exhibits to the jury.
• He said the proper procedure is to hand the documents to the clerk or bailiff and let them handle them to the jury.
• Panish said the attorneys should not have any contact with the jurors whatsoever. Bina said it was not her intention, apologized.
• Afternoon session is set to resume within 40 minutes.

The tickets sold for MJ’s shows and the O2 arena seating capacity. http://www.thewonderwall.com/tickets/blog/2009/03/11/michael-jackson-seating-plan-for-london-o2-arena/

I cannot believe that AEG is disputing now even the number of the seats sold.

Meglen claims that the seats available for Michael Jackson’s fans made only 220 degress of the arena. Though the number of seats was indeed less than the full circle 220 degrees are actually a big lie –  the screen shots of the arena seats from AEG’s official sources Ticketmaster and Viagogo present a different picture.

To the right is the seating plan for This Is It shows from Ticketmaster published in 2009.

The number of seats is far from the 220 degrees claimed by Meglen – I’ve taken the trouble to calculate (where are my $800 per hour?) and came to the number of the seats offered for sale to be close to 306 degrees.

The calculation is simple:

220 degrees make up approximately 60% of the full 360 degrees (180 degrees would be 50% or a half of all seats). Now look at these screenshots – do you have the impression that the seats sold were slightly over half of the available seats? No, even a brief look shows that it is much more than 60% claimed by Meglen.

Here is a closer look at the official seating plan from the Ticketmaster – my rough estimation of the seats offered at that time is 85-86%.

O2 arena. For MJ concerts they offered roughly 85-86% of its seating capacity

And below is a seating plan from Viagogo.

It is slightly smaller which is no surprise – Viagogo was offering the VIP seats only which in some cases were not even offered by Ticketmaster (the C2 area, for example, and some sections on the floor area which were taken out of the Ticketmaster plan).

Viagogo seating plan for MJ’s concerts. It includes section C2 of premium tickets and parts of  floor sections not even offered by Ticketmaster

LIES ABOUT THE PRICE OF TICKETS

Meglen told so many lies in his testimony that it is impossible to focus on all of them, so now I will try to single out only the most outrageous ones.

The ABC tweets:

• John Meglen resumed testimony in the afternoon. Bina showed him plaintiffs’ Highest Grossing Tours chart created by Erk from Wikipedia data.
• Bina: Which tours you promoted all or portion of tour?
• 18- Bon Jovi
• 13- Pink Floyd
• 12- Eagles
• 11- Celine Dion
• 8- Rolling Stones
• More shows:
• 38- Paul McCartney
• 37- Justin Timberlake
• 35- Bon Jovi
• 34- Britney Spears
• 30- Bon Jovi
• 28- Pink
• 26- MJ HIStory
• 20- Bon Jovi
• Meglen did 7 whole tour, 3 North America and 2-3 did some shows of the highest grossing shows.
• He said he’s familiar with endorsements and sponsorship deals involving a tour. Meglen worked on two shows of MJ’s HIStory tour.
• Bina said there was a lot of testimony about the fast pace of sales of tickets. She asked if he has seen any other show sell that fast.
• Meglen: Yes, Voodoo Lounge, Division Bell we almost sold out immediately, we call instant sell outs
• Meglen: Those were stadiums tours and when we put them on sale we rolled into multiple stadium dates, that’s about as high as it gets.
• Rolling dates means opening more dates based on demand, Meglen explained. He said initially 10 shows for TII was sold, then 31, 50.
• Bina: Was this the best selling show you’ve ever seen in your career?
• Meglen: No, because it was a relatively lower ticket price. We sold as many tickets on Voodoo Lounge as fast as we sold MJ.
• In numbers of tickets sold in a day, sure, we have done those kinds of numbers before, Meglen explained.

ALL of it is a big, big LIE. This is how Michael’s shows were selling and this record will never be broken:

Tickets sold at a rate of 11 per second, 657 per minute and nearly 40,000 an hour.

The number of tickets to be sold was actually about a million and not 750,000 as AEG claimed and this alone shows how many seats at the arena were put up on sale. According to Randy Phillips the sale of that tour was a cultural phenomenon never to be repeated: 

They also claimed that one million tickets would be sold in all, a total which they say would set records for “the biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city” and “the most amount of people to attend a series of arena shows”.

Randy Phillips, the president and CEO of AEG Live, which is promoting the concerts, said: “We knew this was showbusiness history, but this is a cultural phenomenon… Not only are these concerts unparalleled, these records will never be broken.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/4981357/Tickets-go-on-sale-for-Michael-Jackson-London-concerts.html

What’s true is that AEG set the price too low. And the reason for that was not their fear that they would not sell (as they now claim) but their desire to make Michael perform a bigger number of shows.

If Michael performed 10 shows at the price of tickets five times as high he was to generate the same income, but that system would close to AEG the opportunity to sell a huge number of tickets at exorbitant prices on the secondary market.

No, they wanted him to perform 50 shows at minimal prices while they would sell them with a huge surplus over their nominal price. And mind you, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “Michael Jackson’s role, if any, in the markup plan wasn’t clear” .

Thus some 1700 premium tickets were put aside per show for Viagogo via whom AEG was officially selling them. 1700 premium tickets times 50 shows will give us  85,000 premium tickets sold at thousands of dollars, with Michael role still “unclear in the markup plan”:

Tickets to Mr. Jackson’s run at the O2 arena were normally priced at £50 to £75 ($70 to $105). Those seats sold out in five hours, according to AEG, which is owned by billionaire Phil Anschutz’s Anschutz Corp. AEG says it set aside about 10% of the seats, or 1,700 a night, as “official premium” tickets, to be sold for several times those prices.

Mr. Jackson’s role, if any, in the markup plan wasn’t clear. His manager, Tohme Tohme, declined to comment.

The main ticketing Web site for the concert series, MichaelJacksonLive.com, contains a link to Viagogo, where premium tickets are mixed in with resold tickets. The latter are supposed to be offered only by fans, though there is no way to determine whether any given ticket is being resold at a markup, or part of the premium offering. On Sunday, the higher-priced tickets were £145 to £275. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123698868280226077.html

* * *

Daily Mail: Tickets for his extended series of 50 summer shows sold out in record time yesterday – with prices of up to a staggering £25,000 being demanded on the resale market….

L.A. Times: There’s still plenty of tix available, at least for those willing to pay. On the second night of the tour, you can get a pair for $4,217. The ticket prices on the secondary market drop substantially as the run continues, however. If you have faith that Jackson will perform all 50 of his dates (and why would anyone be skeptical?), then you can commit about $700 to see him in February 2010.

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/michael-jackson-imposter-aeg-cant-insure-london-concertsscalper-tickets-selling-4klawsuit-filed/

* * *

Last night tickets for seats closest to the stage were on sale on Viagogo for thousands of pounds. Other seats in prime locations seemed to be on sale at surprisingly uniform rates, with many priced at  £418 and £659. 

AEG Live did not deny its links to Viagogo. The company previously said in a statement: “In an effort to ensure fans are able to purchase premium tickets and exchange tickets directly with other fans, AEG Live has entered into an agreement with Viagogo. The online site allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and guaranteed way.”

A source close to AEG Live said: “This is the hottest ticket of the decade. To suggest that there won’t be a premium market is unrealistic. We want to make sure it is done properly and fans are not buying the tickets in some dodgy back alley. This is only a small minority of tickets.

Fans who signed up for ticket updates received an email last night saying: “We have now sold out of the presale ticket allocation for 30 shows. Michael Jackson has agreed to add more shows.” It is understood that the O2 has set aside 50 dates for Jackson if the demand exists.  http://www.viagogo.com/About.aspx?HelpID=1002690

* * *

Phillips defended the Viagogo deal, saying making a premium on such a small number of tickets allowed more tickets to be sold for £75.

“If it’s £100 for Tina Turner and £160 for Madonna, what should it be for the comeback shows of the biggest pop and rock star the world’s ever seen?” he said, adding he believes he could have sold 200 Jackson shows at the O2.

http://www.pollstar.com/news_article.aspx?ID=654875

So Randy Phillips believed that they could sell 200 Jackson shows in London alone? And now their Meglen and Eric Briggs are telling us nonsense about their plans being no more than 50 shows? Who do they take us for?

BORING LIES

It is even boring to analyze the rest of Meglen’s stories – that MJ is not the greatest artist, that it is okay for organizers to call him a freak if they speak in private or email to each other, that we should not believe the official numbers of the tickets sold (which they themselves advise to the media) or that we are to believe that everything is going fine for the AEG as Phil Anschutz says.

I leave the rest of it for you to form an opinion of your own:

• 

  Japan March 2007 Fans gathered early for the evening party to start

  Meglen said he negotiated a number of tour deals, from Beach Boys to Sunkist, Good Vibration deals.

• Sponsor puts a name in an event, Meglen said. Endorsement is when product/company associates name with an artist, artist does commercials.
• Meglen said the Rolling Stones sponsorship with Citibank was $2.5 million, which is not near 42% of the gross revenue.
• Bina: Was sponsorship 42%?
• Meglen: No, there’s no correlation, I’ve never heard anything like it
• Meglen said there were no endorsements deal for the This Is It tour. Bina said she had no more questions at this time.
• Panish, in re-cross, asked: Is Paul Gongaware truthful?
• Meglen: Very truthful
• P: And Randy Phillips?
• M: Yes
• Panish: Do you agree with your boss’ Phillips and Gongaware MJ was the greatest artist of all time?
• Meglen: I don’t know what their opinion was. I believe that they believe that.
• Panish: Do I believe MJ was the biggest artist of all time?
• Meglen: No, I do not
• Panish: Who is?
• Meglen: I think Michael is big in pop world, but in my opinion Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin — “I’m a rocker”

Quote:

Lawyer: “Mr. Jackson was one of the biggest artists ever worldwide, right?”
Meglin: “Eh, even some Canadian artists are bigger. Celine Dion. Justin Bieber. That group that sang ‘Afternoon Delight’.”
Lawyer: “Starland Vocal Band wasn’t from Canada.”
Meglin: “Oh.”

• Meglen and Dion have been working together for 12 years. He’s familiar with a lot of her shows.
• Panish: Is Celine Dion honest?
• Meglen: Yes
• Panish: What did you testify was the maximum capacity of stadium in France?
• Meglen: I don’t believe it is 80,000
• Meglen: Generally, 30% of the numbers that your expert project you have to take out because it gets you to the salable number.
• Panish: So what’s the maximum seating capacity for that stadium in Paris?
• Meglen: I don’t know exactly, I’d say 60 to 70,000
• Panish: Isn’t it true Celine Dion sold 90,000 tickets at that stadium in 1999?
• Meglen: I don’t know if that’s true, didn’t promote that show. It sounds like too big a number to me, Meglen said.
• Panish said it was 180,000 people for two shows.
• Exhibit: Rose Bowl Cap Rolling Stones VooDoo Lounge, 2 shows
• Plaintiff’s Stated Capacity: 92,542
• Actual Capacity: 59,570
• Difference: 32,972
• Meglen said he met with his attorney 5 days to prepare for his testimony. He was subpoenaed at lunch time and Bina said they will respond.
• The maximum capacity of shows I’ve done at the Rose Bowl was 59,570, Meglen testified.
• Panish: Isn’t it true U2 had 97,000 people attend at the Rose Bowl?
• Meglen: That’s not true
• 

  Fan Appreciation party, Japan March 9, 2007

  Panish: It was reported on Billboard Magazine

• Meglen: I wouldn’t believe it

• Panish showed Meglen the Billboard Magazine article. He asked how many tickets were sold at U2 performed in Oct 2009 at the Rose Bowl?
• Meglen: It looks like they (Billboard) reported 97,000.
• Meglen: I have done Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones, we try to sell as much as we can, we got to roughly 60,000.
• Panish: Are you an expert in stadium?
• Meglen: I think I am pretty much an expert in the field.
• Meglen said that to him, the biggest stadium cap he played was in Columbus, Ohio for a concert and he got in over 60,000.
• Meglen: You assume I believe and agree with those numbers because they are on Billboard magazine. Those numbers are often inflated.

• Panish asked if Meglen will do anything he can to protect AEG. “I’m here to tell the truth,” Meglen said.
• Defendants’ objected, said it has nothing to do with this case.
• Panish: How much do you get paid by AEG?
• Panish argued this goes to show a bias. He said he’s under a 5 year contract with discretionary bonus.
• Judge sustained it. Panish asked if Meglen gets paid a lot by AEG. He said a lot to one person is not a lot to another.
• Panish asked what’s a lot. Meglen said a million/year. Then Panish asked if Meglen gets paid a lot. “I’m not paid a million dollars a year”
• Panish asked about Meglen’s reference to work with animals. “I told you yesterday that the people I worked are like animals,” Meglen said.
• I still work with animals. He said he was referring to crews and guys who work with him assembling shows and taking them down in hours.
• Panish asked if Meglen respects artists. He answered yes. He then asked if it is ok for AEG to refer to an artist as freak or creepy.
• People will use terms about an artist that people have used before, Meglen answered.
• Panish asked if it’s appropriate for AEG to call artist a freak. Meglen said no.
• Panish asked if Meglen thought it was appropriate for your lawyers to refer as freaks or creepy?
• Meglen: I don’t believe it is yes or no answer. I believe if people are communicating in a personal level is different from being in public. It would not be a appropriate is it was in a public fashion, Meglen opined.
• Meglen said he doesn’t believe it’s a yes or no answer.
• Panish: But in private it’s ok?
• I think when someone is having a private conversation and later if that becomes public, that can change things, Meglen said.
• Meglen: Freak had been used numerous times prior, I don’t believe it was appropriate term for him to use but term that had been used before.
• 

  Japan March 2007 The VIP party

  I think creepy” is not that bad of a word,” Meglen said. He told Panish he’s sure they both have been called creepy behind their back.

• Meglen said they always want to do what’s best for the artist. He had some disagreements with his old boss.
• Panish asked Meglen to assume Gongaware wrote an email and said tell Murray, remind him it’s AEG, not MJ, paying his salary.
• Panish showed Gongaware’s email to Meglen. He said he’s seen the email on the newspaper.
• Panish: You told me “who’s paying your salary” is “where your bread is being buttered.”
• Meglen: I said Mr. Ferrell told me ‘you know where your bread is buttered.’
• Panish asked if it’s appropriate for one of AEG’s executive to call an artist “freak” and “creepy.”
• In the context of this email, I’d be only speculating what Paul was doing, Meglen said.
• Panish asked if AEG hired Celine Dion’s doctor. Meglen said no. Celine’s company pays her doctor.
• Meglen said they did not negotiate Dion’s doctor’s contract and cannot terminate him.
• Meglen: No, it was negotiated by their tour producer
• Panish: Did AEG negotiate the doctor’s contract for Rolling Stones?
• Panish asked if it’s true the producer generally negotiates the contract with doctors, physical therapists, etc.
• Meglen: It can be producer’s responsibility to hire the doctor if there is a doctor on the tour, if artist requests them to do that
• In a video deposition, shown to the jury, Meglen said it’s the producer’s responsibility, many times.
• AEG Live was the producer for MJ’s This Is It tour.
• It can only be done with the approval of the artist, Meglen said. “You can’t hire people in these positions without the artist approval.”
• Meglen said he was told Michael wanted to bring his doctor on tour. He was not involved in negotiating the contract with Dr. Murray.
• Meglen said he had heard of some of the doctor’s request in their executive meeting.
• I don’t know who was negotiating, I had simply heard the doctor requested money, Meglen said.
• Meglen: During one of our executive meetings, it was brought to our attention that Murray was asking for $5 million.
• Gongaware was the one who brought it up. Meglen said it was kind of understood the amount was excessive and it was not going to happen.
• Panish: Isn’t true Celine Dion’s doctor is paid for out of show production budget?
• Meglen: I pay Celine Dion an amount of money, to which she pays the doctor out of that money.
• Meglen: I asked if Michael was interested in doing a Celine-type show and he said no
• Panish: You never proposed a MJ show when he was alive?
• Our policy is we do not have a deal until we have a signed contract, Meglen explained.
• We do not consider a deal done until there’s an executed contract, Meglen said.
• He said just because Murray agreed to money offer by MJ via Gongaware does not mean a deal was consummated.
• Meglen: No, that’s not common
• Panish: Is it common at the executive committee to talk about the artist’s doctor?
• That probably never happened, Meglen said.
• Panish asked when was the last time the committee discussed an artist’s doctor.
• Only Rolling Stones and Celine Dion have had doctors on tour under AEG.
• AEG did not have a contract with Celine’s doctor, Meglen said. They did not negotiate the doctor’s payment, could not fire the doctor.
• Meglen said he does not know if Dion’s doctor set her schedule up.
• AEG paid the per-show operating expense to CDA production who in turn paid the doctor, Meglen said about Celine Dion.
• Regarding the Rolling Stones, Meglen said the doctor worked for the band, which means worked for principals and band members.
• Meglen said AEG did not negotiate the contract with the doctor for the Rolling Stones.
• Meglen: Yes
• Panish: AEG give money to the Rolling Stones?
• Panish asked if it was $18 million. Meglen said there was advance/other securities, doesn’t know if the Rolling Stones have to pay it back.
• Meglen: We did not produce the Rolling Stones show, we only promoted the Rolling Stones tour.
• Celine Dion’s doctor was on the original operation budget by AEG for her show. He was listed to be paid out of the weekly operation expense
• Meglen said Dion’s doctor was her responsibility to pay.
• AEG does not pay doctors, Meglen said. “We do not hire doctors, we could advance on behalf of artists.”
• I know we don’t hire doctors, Meglen said. He was not involved in a day-to-day details.
• 

  Japan. March 2007 People waiting in line to get to a fan appreciation party

  Panish asked if Meglen spoke with Mr. Anschutz about the trial. Meglen said he asked what he thought about the trial.

• I think it’s going fine, we have not presented our case yet, Meglen said Anschutz responded.
• Meglen: He looks skinny, he looks skinner than when I saw him. That’s all.
• Panish showed the picture of MJ in June 2009.
• I’m not a doctor. It’s not for me to decide whether being slander is healthy or not healthy, Meglen explained.
• Panish asked about the meeting with MJ in 2007. “I’m very proud of the assets of AEG, but I don’t think I was bragging about it.”
• Meglen said he would not go in a meeting about movies since he is not in the movie business.
• He said he showed the company’s movie sizzle reel to MJ because he wanted to show the quality of their work.
• How would I know what MJ wanted to do? Meglen said.
• Judge adjourned session and jury is ordered back at 10 am PT tomorrow. Attorneys ordered at 9:30 am PT.
• Next AEG’s witness is Eric Briggs, a retained expert in projections and evaluation in the entertainment business (to counter what Erk said).
• We hope to see you here tomorrow. For all the latest watch @ABC7 and go to http://www.abc7.com. Have a good night everyone!

WHAT DO THESE AEG BOSSES KNOW AT ALL?

I don’t know how the poor jurors listened to Meglen for the third day running and all his lies rehashed once again. Meglen denied even the most obvious things – for example, the fact that it was never Michael’s obligation to attend rehearsals.

He said he ‘didn’t know if it was his contractual obligation”, however he never reviewed the contract either, never met MJ’s people, did not take part in negotiations, never saw emails to AEG showing that Michael’s health was deteriorating – in short what does this person know at all?

If you want to omit what Meglen doesn’t know anyway I suggest you skip the third day of his testimony and go straight to the end of the post to see the last part of the “Fan deMonium” video showing Michael visit the US Camp Zama in Japan.  Michael met thousands of military there and their families screaming and greeting him as usual.

It will be much more interesting than the lies of this sad Meglen clown.

Wednesday July 24 DAY 55

• Hello from the courthouse in downtown LA. Day 55 of Jackson family vs AEG trial is under way.
• Katherine Jackson is back in court today. This is the first time she came to court after taking the stand.
• John Meglen resumed cross examination. Brian Panish, attorney for the Jackson, did the questioning.
• Panish showed the Rose Bowl chart defendants created and asked what’s the maximum seating capacity in the Rose Bowl?
• I believe the seating capacity for a football game is 100,000, Meglen said.
• Meglen: There are many factors that go into that
• Panish: For a music concert?
• Meglen: You’ll need to tell me the size of the production in order to tell you
• Meglen: U2 Concert was called 360, so I’m assuming it sold 360 degrees.
• Meglen said he was at the Rose Bowl but didn’t watch the U2 concert. Panish asked if 97,000 people sounds right.
• Meglen: No, I’m not aware of that because I was not involved in the show
• Panish asked if Meglen was saying the Rose Bowl can’t fit 97,000.
• I’m not trying to tell you that, it depends on the size of the production. Michael was a stage end production, Meglen opined.
• Meglen: If you have a center stage, 360 in the round with a small stage in the middle, you could probably get 97,000, yes.
• Panish asked if Billboard Magazine was wrong about U2 having 97K people.
• “I told you I do not believe the numbers on Billboard” Meglen said

Quote:

Meglin: “The Rose Bowl would only seat 60,000.”
Lawyer: “But Billboard reported that U2 performed there for 97,000.”
Meglin: “My gut tells me those numbers can be manipulated.”
Lawyer: “98,000 were there the last time Mr. Jackson performed at the Rose Bowl.”
Meglin: “Oh.”

• Panish showed picture of U2 concert at the Rose Bowl. Meglen said the floor is not completely filled up.
• Panish asked how many seats are in the Rose Bowl. Meglen said the stadium is around 100,000 people.
• Panish: You told us yesterday you spoke with the promoters of U2. Who did you speak with?
• Meglen: Jerry Barae — he’s in Chicago
• Meglen: I never disputed what U2 sold at Rose Bowl. I cannot tell you how much are paid tickets, how much are what we call ‘paper ticket’
• VooDoo Lounge, 180-200 degrees, you can sell 60,000 seats, Meglen said.
• Panish asked if Meglen spoke with someone promoting the U2 concert at the Rose Bowl and that there were only 60,000 people there.
• Meglen said that was not true.
• Panish: If you testified to that it is a lie, then?
• Meglen: I don’t believe that’s what I testified to
• I said that I don’t believe it, Meglen said, “and I still believe that’s not true. My answer said it is not true they had 97,000.”
• Meglen: When I talk about ticket sales, we talk about paid tickets. We don’t really care about people who don’t pay tickets
• No one from U2’s group told me that 97,000 people did not attend the Rose Bowl, Meglen said.
• Meglen explained he based his opinion on his experience promoting and producing stadium shows for 35 years.
• Meglen smiled at Panish.
• Panish: Is it funny Mr. Meglen?
• 

  Michael Jackson in Japan March 2007

  Judge: Mr. Panish, don’t argue — she shook her head

• Meglen said he’s been working with Gongaware for 35 years.
• Panish asked if Meglen agrees with Gongaware that the sale of MJ’s tickets was the fastest ever in the industry.
• Meglen: I don’t think I agree with that statement, but I think that’s what Paul thought.
• Panish: Do you agree or disagree this is the most amazing ticket sales Mr. Gongaware has ever seen?
• Meglen: I agree that’s the most that Paul had seen
• Meglen said he has done tours for 35 years, probably hundreds of tours.
• Panish: Do you agree with Randy Phillips, the CEO of AEG, believe Mr. Jackson had an obligation to attend rehearsal?
• Meglen: I don’t know the context of which this question was asked. You are asking me to opine on what Randy was thinking
• Meglen: I don’t know if Michael had a contractual obligation. Randy may have felt Michael was obligated, but don’t know it was contractually obligated, Meglen said.
• Meglen: I agree that an artist should go to some of the rehearsals, yes
• Panish: Do you agree with Randy Phillips that MJ was a bigger artist than Celine Dion, yes or no?
• Meglen: I do, myself, personally believe that that is not true In my opinion Celine is right up there with Michael Jackson and is bigger, Meglen said.

Celine Dion is an absolutely outstanding singer, but I doubt if any fan will be paying $3,400 for a mere chance to see her and shake her hand.  This probably answers the question of “who is bigger”. The TMZ conducted a public opinion poll:

Celine Dion Bigger Than Michael So Claims AEG

It’s Billie Jean vs. Titanic, and AEG claims the ship wins hands down. Translation — AEG is trying to convince the Michael Jackson jury that Celine Dion is bigger than MJ.

AEG exec John Meglin is on the stand in the wrongful death case, scoffing at the Jackson family’s claim that Michael would have earned $1.5 billion had he lived.

Meglin told the jury it’s his opinion Celine is a bigger star and therefore more bankable than MJ ever would have been. Yet according to reports, Celine is worth a measly $400 mil.

Fun facts: Jackson ranks #3 in most albums sold worldwide — more than a billion (behind the Beatles and Elvis) . Celine ranks #9 at 200 million albums.

As for Grammys, MJ also has her beat with 13 Grammys to her 5.
So we gotta ask … Bigger:

MJ – 83%
CD – 17%

Total Votes: 33,834

http://www.tmz.com/2013/07/25/aeg-celine-dion-michael-jackson-wrongful-death-lawsuit/

• Panish played Meglen’s deposition, where he was asked when he recalled the negotiations with MJ started. Meglen said Summer or Fall 2008.
• Panish: Is that the truth or not, sir? Or you don’t know the truth?
• Meglen: It’s the truth, but I’m not good with dates, need to look at my calendar
• Meglen said he was not at the table during the negotiation, he would be at the office doing his work.
• Meglen: I was not personally involved, face to face, with MJ’s people
• Meglen said that the negotiation is not only the contract, but various internal conversations about the tour.
• As CEO of Concerts West, it’s my job to review any negotiations people are having regarding tour, Meglen said.
• Meglen explained he was involved in the internal discussions, in conversations with Gongaware and Phillips.
• He never reviewed the contract as was being drafted, Meglen said.
• Meglen said he was not involved in “This Is It” movie. Panish said he was credited as co-producer of the movie.
• 

  Japan March 9, 2007 Fan Appreciation party

  Meglen said he was a co-producer of the show not the movie.

• Meglen explained Gongaware has not been involved in Celine Dion’s tour, but they give each other credit.
• The exec said he gave input in ticket prices, scaling and places to have the show.
• Panish played video deposition, where Meglen said he doesn’t recall if he was involved in the forecast for MJ tour.
• Timm Wooley is friends of Meglen. They haven’t discussed the trial. The last time they saw each other was in London for Rolling Stones show.
• Wooley doesn’t work for AEG, but to Rolling Stones now. Hougdahl “Bugzee” is working for Shania Twain.
• Panish showed an email from Gongaware about MJ first draft of worldwide tour projection. It lists “net to Mikey $132 million.”
• Email: It’s a big number, but this is not a number MJ will want to hear. He thinks he is so much bigger than that. If we use show income, it’s over a quarter of a billion dollars. His net share works out to be 50% after local venue and advertising costs, which is quite good. His gross will approach $ half a billion. Maybe gross is a better number to throw around, if we need to use numbers with Mikey listening.
• Panish: Isn’t Paul Gongaware suggesting to lie to Michael Jackson?
• Meglen: No he is not

This email by Gongaware is a vivid example of the way AEG were deceiving Michael Jackson.

First, when speaking to him they used gross sums instead of his net income. And second, look at these figures – the gross sum was about half a billion, but the net was to be only $132 million, so the rest of it (roughly $350 million) was to be put into AEG’s pocket, and this was twice as much as the sum earned by the artist!

No, no matter which way we calculate it we always come to no less than two thirds of profit for AEG and only one third of it for Michael Jackson.  And despite all that AEG keeps repeating their mantra about a 90/10 division of profit?

Are you as sick and tired of AEG lies as I am?

• Panish asked Meglen is he knows Dr. Finkelstein. He said he asked which tour he was in with Michael Jackson.
• Meglen said he saw Dr. Finkelstein at the Coachella festival. He got tickets from AEG.
• Meglen spoke with Gongaware about previous MJ’s tour. He knows that Michael canceled a tour because MJ entered rehab.
• Panish showed email Gongaware sent with the attachment of the worldwide MJ tour and cc’d to Meglen.
• It lists cities, the amount of shows and weeks in Europe, South Africa, Asia (and Middle East), India and US.
• Panish: You told us yesterday no one goes to India
• Meglen: Not that many do. Again, I told you very few people, no one as in few people
• Panish: Is Beyonce no one?
• Meglen: No, she’s a very popular
• Meglen said he thinks MJ did one or two shows in India.
• Panish: Do you know she went to India?
• Meglen: I have not idea
• 

  Japan March 2007. At the US camp Zama Michael Jackson greeted Americans and thanked them

  Panish also named Shakira, Akon, 50 Cent that went to India. The email projection shows 3 shows in India plus one private for MJ.

• Meglen said he does not believe MJ could sell 200 shows in London. Panish said Randy Phillips said that.

• My opinion is no, that he he could not have done 200 shows in London, Meglen testified.
• Panish showed an email from Phillips saying “We could have done 200+ shows based on demand.”
• Meglen said he does not believe that is true. “He believed that, I don’t believe that.”

Quote:

Lawyer: “Your boss said the demand in England could sell out 200 shows.”
Meglin: “He believed that. I don’t believe that.”
Lawyer: “But all 750,000 tickets for the first 31 sold out in two hours, and buyers were already registered to sell out another 100 shows.”
Meglin: “Oh.”

• No one has a crystal ball in our business, Meglen said. “He could’ve done 200 shows is purely speculation on his behalf.”
• Panish asked if Phillips was more hands on than he was in “This Is It” tour. He said yes.
• I don’t know if I agree there were 525,000 people in the queue, Meglan opined.
• Everybody exaggerates, and when something is hot everyone wants to take it to the moon, Meglen said.
• Panish asked Meglen to assume Randy Phillips told the truth. “I know it’s a big assumption,” Panish said.
• Defendants’ attorney objected, judge sustained it and asked to go to sidebar to talk to attorneys.
• Attorneys went to judge’s chamber and talked for about 10 minutes. They came back and judge broke session for lunch.
• Panish corrected himself about number of people living in India. Earlier he said several billion people live there, but should be millions.
• I understand you are mistaken, Meglen said. “It doesn’t mean you are a liar.” Panish said he would not respond to Meglen’s comment.
• Regarding India, Meglen explained: “I don’t think it’s a small market, I think it’s an under developed market.”
• Meglen said he knows that Michael played in India, heard from Panish that Beyonce went to India.
• Panish: When you testified yesterday, you didn’t know anyone that had gone to India, correct?
• Meglen: No, that’s not correct.

Quote:

Lawyer: “Mr. Jackson would have taken his tour to India for at least three shows.”
Meglin: “Why? It’s not a very big market.”
Lawyer: “India is home to about 1.25 billion people.”
Meglin: “Nobody goes to India.”
Lawyer: “But didn’t Michael perform there during his last tour?”
Meglin: “Oh yeah.”

Wiki says that India is the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census). Its economy is the ninth-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity.

This gives me no doubt that in 2009 the capacity of the entertainment market in India was surely much bigger than in 1996 when MJ went there on the History tour and was a huge success there. And “no one goes to India” is a gross understatement which hurts only AEG and AEG alone. As to how Indian people greeted Michael you can see it for yourself:

• Panish: Are there a lot of stadiums in the world that hold more than 60,000?
• Meglen: Yes, there are a lot of soccer stadiums in the world
• Meglen said he does not recall how many times MJ sold out in London.
• Panish: In Australia?
• Meglen: Yes
• Leonard Cohen — AEG promoted and produced worldwide tour, Meglen said.
• Panish: Did you hire a doctor for Leonard Cohen?
• Meglen: We do not hire doctors
• Panish asked if Meglen has had experience where the CEO is involved in doing an intervention with an artist.
• Meglen said he’s aware of it happening before in the early 80s, not at AEG. He was involved minimally in the intervention.
• Meglen said he has not had emails from show managers at AEG saying the artist was deteriorating.
• I’ve had situation where the production manager had emails about the artist’s behavior, Meglen testified.
• I’ve had situations where artists had been sick before, yes, Meglen said.
• Panish: Have you ever called the doctor for 30 minutes to discuss the artist’s condition?
• Meglen: No
• Panish asked if Meglen had ever seen an email saying AEG wanted to remind the doctor they are paying the bill. The exec said no.
• Meglen: I’m aware of us checking people out.
• We don’t hire doctors, if the artist wants his doctor there, the way we check that out we go to the artist, Meglen said.
• If I’m asking the artist if that’s his doctor, that’s throughly checking him out, Meglen explained.
• Meglen: I asked MJ if he was performing this and he told me he did not want to do (a residency show in Las Vegas).
• I think MJ would have to do over 2.5 shows a week or you couldn’t have such a deal, Meglen said.
• In re-direct, Jessica Bina asked about the proposal for the Las Vegas show in 2010 with MJ’s Estate.
• There are numbers for per week, per year for the first 5 performance years, then next 5 performance years, Meglen explained.
• Meglen said he became aware Cirque du Soleil was anxious to get a deal done with the Estate to have a MJ show.
• Meglen said his argument was that there was something better to do.
• Meglen: We don’t have a crystal ball (on whether show would be successful or not)
• Bina asked if artist is in the middle of stadium with microphone if there are reasons the show couldn’t be filled to capacity. Meglan said no.
• Bina: But does it happen very often?
• Meglen: No.
• Meglen: Artist has to be comfortable with all around stage, production becomes very challenging and incredibly expensive as well as sales
• This Is It was not set to be a 360 degree show, Meglen said. He noted it was quite the opposite. MJ’s production was $26-$27 million.
• Meglen said for TII to become 360 degree tour, there would be cost associated with it. “Pretty much, it would have to be a new production.”
• Meglen explained 180-240 degrees in front of the stage is the standard in the business.
• Meglen said if he could sell more tickets for TII he would have. “It’s nothing but profit at that point.”
• The executive said there was never a conversation about making TII show 360 degree.
• Meglen said again he doesn’t agree with Phillips’ opinion that there were 200+ more shows to be done in London.
• Meglen said putting 13 million tickets on sale was not on his mind. He expected the London shows to do well.
• The executive said when MJ said “This is It” people thought that was it. But if he went to other cities, this was not it after all.
• Meglen said that at the time MJ died there were only 50 shows agreed upon between MJ and AEG.
• Meglen said that for lower ticket price TII was a great sale.

Well, first of all Michael did not agree to 50 shows and they are not mentioned anywhere in the contract or any written document between AEG and Michael Jackson, and second, not only cheap tickets sold extremely well but premium tickets as well. Actually from the AEG own budget we gathered that premium tickets brought AEG one fifth of all the money collected. The media confirmed it:

JULY 3, 2009

It is understood that tens of thousands of tickets were sold on Viagogo with the bulk of them at prices ranging from £300 ($492) to £400 ($656) each.

Viagogo’s official VIP packages for the Jackson shows [… ] cost between £700 ($1,150) and £800 ($1,300). http://routenote.com/blog/viagogo-starts-refunding-fans-for-michael-jackson-concerts/

• Panish: Were Paul Gongaware and Randy Phillips more involved in TII than you?
• Meglen: Yes
• The executive said he never told Gongaware and Phillips the projection was bad, only that he thought it was a long ways to get to the end.
• Meglen said Beatles’ “Love” and Cirque du Soleil “O” are two of the most successful conceptional shows.
• Bina showed Gongaware’s email again: Here’s the first-draft look at a worldwide tour… you can’t pin this down now… too many variables.
• Meglen said it’s not possible to see the Beatles anymore, since some members are dead.
• Meglen: If Michael was still alive and touring, I would not be interested in doing a MJ conceptional show.
• Panish asked if MJ wanted to go worldwide, AEG would’ve been able to make that happen. Meglen said he could’ve set up the arrangements. I cannot tell you how many more Michael Jackson tours he could’ve done it, it’s pure speculation, Meglen said.
• Panish: Did you know MJ told his children they would go on a world tour?
• Meglen: I have no idea
• Meglen was excused.

Oh, my God – I almost lost hope that this torture would ever end! When Meglen said he was to set up arrangements for Michael’s world tour I was tempted to say “No, thank you – we still remember how you were selling tickets to the Fukuoka Dome”. With promoters like Meglen of AEG Live even one show would be a pure speculation, not to mention a whole tour…

I know that all of it was enduring so now we deserve to enjoy ourselves with the last part of “Fan DeMonium” video from Japan 2007. This part starts with Michael at the Fan appreciation party where he picked up winners of the fans art contest, and continues with his visit to the US military camp.

This film is how I would like to remember Michael.  If it were not for AEG even today Michael would feel, look and be the same.

What did they do to him to make this vigorous and great-looking man meet his death only two years later?

The video ended with great words of wisdom about the way we perceived Michael Jackson.

He was simply the mirror we saw ourselves in. We saw him the way we are:

“We don’t see things as they are,
We see things as we are”
ANAIS NIN

Transcripts of Meglen’s lies were obtained by TeamMichaelJackson:

http://teammichaeljackson.com/archives/9131