Janet Jackson and two of her siblings ramped up their feud with the men who control the estate of Michael Jackson on Friday night.
A statement issued on behalf of Janet Jackson, her brother Randy and sister Rebbie accused the executors of trying to divide the family and distract from questions about the legitimacy of Michael Jackson’s will.
“The negative media campaign generated by the executors and their agents has been relentless,” wrote Blair G. Brown, a Washington, D.C., attorney for Janet Jackson.
Allegations that the siblings were holding their 82-year-old mother against her will in Arizona made international headlines last week and resulted in a new custody arrangement in which the family matriarch shares guardianship of Michael Jackson’s three children.
In the statement, Brown disputed reports that the siblings were trying to enlist their mother in a battle over the will for their own financial benefit.
“They stand to gain nothing financially by a finding that the will is invalid,” Brown wrote. “What will be gained…is that the executors will be replaced and the estate and the guardianship will be managed in a manner that is in the best interest of the children, which is what Michael wanted.”
The 2002 will accepted by a probate judge after Michael Jackson’s death three years ago gave music industry veterans John Branca and John McClain control of an estate with an estimated worth of $1 billion.
The court-approved compensation plan gives the executors a 10% cut of some earnings.
In his statement, Brown accused the executors of barring the three siblings from visiting their mother at the Calabasas home where she lives with her grandchildren.
“The effect…not only is to damage fundamental family relationships, it is also to isolate Katherine Jackson from anyone questioning the validity of the will,” Brown wrote.
The executors’ spokesman said Katherine Jackson and the children’s newly appointed co-guardian, Tito Joe “T.J.” Jackson, have the final say in who is allowed at the residence.
Attribution:
Family feud over Michael Jackson’s estate escalates
August 3, 2012
Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/family-feud-over-michael-jacksons-estate-escalates.html
Additional coverage:
Jermaine Jackson offers ‘olive branch’ in family feud
Alan Duke
August 2, 2012
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/01/showbiz/jackson-family-dispute/index.html
Los Angeles (CNN) — Jermaine Jackson retracted his signature on a letter made public last month criticizing executors of Michael Jackson’s estate and his mother’s advisers Monday.
His expression of regret came as a letter from sister Janet Jackson’s lawyer surfaced that suggested the pop star’s professional reputation has suffered “significant harm” from media reports about the controversy.
“After much soul-searching, it is clearly time for us to live by Michael’s words about love not war,” Jermaine Jackson said in a statement given to CNN. “In this spirit, I offer this statement by way of extending an olive branch.”
It was the letter, originally signed by Jackson siblings Jermaine, Tito, Randy, Janet and Rebbie, that triggered a series of dramatic and public events over the last two weeks that created a deep divide in the famous music family.
They demanded that executors John Branca and John McClain resign, accusing them of emotional and financial abuse of Katherine Jackson.
“Your actions are affecting her health, and on top of that, we’ve just found out she recently had a mini-stroke,” it said. “Please understand, she’s not equipped to handle the stress load you are putting on her.”
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Her lawyer later said Katherine Jackson, 82, had not suffered a stroke and was in good health.
The letter also called the will, which left Michael Jackson’s wealth to his mother and three children, giving nothing to his siblings, “fake, flawed and fraudulent.”
Jermaine Jackson said he has decided the letter should never have been made public, but that his concerns about the estate and will should be expressed through “a private dialogue, not public conflict.”
“Accordingly, I rescind my signature from the letter which was sent to the estate, and which should never have gone public,” he said.
Tito Jackson retracted his signature last week amid the controversy over his mother’s whereabouts and the lack of a phone call to Michael Jackson’s children.
Katherine Jackson had custody of Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson since her son’s June 25, 2009, death, but a judge suspended it last week when her lawyers told the court she had been missing and out of communication for 10 days.
Jermaine Jackson said his motivation in taking part in a plan with Janet, Randy and Rebbie Jackson to isolate their mother at an Arizona spa was “rooted in the welfare of our mother in the environment where she lives.”
“No one on the outside has a clue about the stresses and pressures she has been under long before recent events and I, like everyone in the family, adore the ground she walks on,” he said.
“Rest was the sole reason she went to Arizona,” he said. “Prince even carried her bags down the stairs and urged her to rest up, because we all come from the same caring place.”
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Prince and his sister, however, became vocal through their Twitter accounts about their grandmother’s absence and lack of calls. They thought she was flying to a Jackson brothers concert in New Mexico and would return soon, her lawyer said.
“There was never a malicious attempt to ‘block’ the kids from talking with her,” Jermaine Jackson said. “We simply worried that a call home would first entail, or lead to, conversations with individuals we are in dispute with and that would, therefore, increase pressure on Mother — and pressure was what a doctor said she didn’t need.”
His statement also addressed the dramatic confrontation on Monday, July 23, at Katherine Jackson’s home in Calabasas, California, which sheriff’s deputies say ended in a “scuffle.”
“We went to the house in Calabasas to talk directly with the kids and merely discuss arrangements for them to meet with their grandmother,” Jermaine Jackson said. “We were denied that access by security — and it was clear that mutual suspicions had allowed events to spiral out of control.”
Security camera video did not show security guards interfering with Jermaine, Randy and Janet as they entered the Calabasas property.
The video shows Prince and Paris initially greeting the visitors, but it quickly became a confrontation, according to witnesses.
T.J. Jackson, brothers inspired by famous uncle
“Where is my grandmother? Where is my grandmother?” Prince repeatedly asked Randy Jackson, according to a witness.
As Prince retreated into the house, entering through the security office door, Randy Jackson followed with his cell phone raised, apparently recording video.
The video then shows Janet Jackson apparently trying to take a cell phone away from Paris Jackson in the driveway. She scolded her niece for using her phone to write about family issues on Twitter, according to the three sources.
Paris Jackson posted a Twitter message about the time the incident ended: “gotta love fam.” She also tweeted: “8 days and counting . something is really off , this isn’t like her at all .. i wanna talk directly to my grandmother!!”
Janet Jackson later challenged a TMZ account of the incident through a lawyer. The celebrity news website retracted its report.
The lawyer’s letter, obtained by CNN on Wednesday, said the TMZ report was “highly damaging to Ms. Jackson’s reputation and ha(s) caused her significant harm.”
Read the letter from Janet Jackson’s attorney
Jermaine, Randy, Janet and Rebbie have been banned from visited their mother’s home for now, according to an e-mail written by estate lawyer Howard Wietzman.
That restriction prompted his “olive branch,” Jermaine Jackson said.
“Yesterday, I had a phone call with my son Jaafar that broke my heart,” he said. “He asked: ‘Is it true that we cannot visit grandmother’s house as a family anymore?’ Enough has become enough.”
He suggested the family engage in a private “collective dialogue” to find peace.
“Mistakes have been made and irrational things have been said on both sides in a highly charged emotional environment,” he said. “It is time for us all to draw a line in the sand and move towards peace, cooperation, love and healing. I truly hope that we can find it in our hearts to do so. Because above and beyond anything else, what matters … is family.”
Katherine Jackson reinstated as guardian of grandchildren
August 2, 2012
Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/katherine-jackson-reinstated-as-guardian-of-michael-jackson-children.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)
A Superior Court judge reinstated Michael Jackson’s mother as guardian of his children Thursday after saying a court investigation found that she was doing “a wonderful job.”
Judge Mitchell Beckloff said a cousin of the children, Tito Joe T.J. Jackson, who he tapped as a temporary guardian last week, would stay on and eventually share full guardianship with Katherine Jackson.
The judge said he was concerned by accusations aired in court last week regarding the alleged kidnapping of Katherine Jackson, but that a probate court investigator’s report reassured him of the wellbeing of Prince, 15; Paris, 14; and Blanket, 10.
“It’s clear to me that the children are well cared for by Mrs. Jackson. It is clear to me they love her very much,” Beckloff said at a hearing. He added that interviews conducted by the investigator with the children and the family matriarch, 82, indicated the trio have “a substantial, significant” relationship with T.J. Jackson and that his background — he is the son of the Jackson Five’s Tito — allow the children to relate to him.
A lawyer who represents the children, Margaret Lodise, said that Diana Ross, named as a back-up guardian by Jackson’s will, had visited the children in Calabasas on Wednesday and agreed with the decision to have T.J. and Katherine Jackson share custody.
The family has been embroiled in drama for the last couple of weeks, including allegations that the elderly matriarch had been kidnapped by relatives.
Last week, Beckloff, acting on his own initiative, had instructed a probate court investigator to prepare a report “addressing the status of the minor children” and their grandmother.
The family appears to be attempting to put an end to the public feud. On Wednesday, Jermaine Jackson issued a statement saying he wanted to offer an “olive branch” and begin healing in the family.
“Enough has become enough,” he said. “After much soul-searching, it is clearly time for us to live by Michael’s words about love not war. In this spirit, I offer this statement by way of extending an olive branch.”
Estate of Denial® provides news, analysis and commentary on abusive practices occurring in probate courts and via probate instruments (wills, trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney). We provide original perspective to educate the public regarding this growing threat to both individual freedoms and property rights.