Sued by Royalty: The King of Pop settles out of court.
The King of Pop isn’t gambling with his fast depleting luck: First losing his famed Neverland Ranch and then being sued for Seven Million dollars or 5.6 Million Euros, Michael Jackson has decided to take on the latest tribulation by settling the matter out of court.
The suit was filed by Royalty as Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the King of Bahrain who demanded that Jackson repay what had been put down for a joint music venture in Bahrain. The pop star however replied to these claims insisting the suit was based on “mistake, misrepresentation and undue influence”, denying that any project as such was ever finalized. Jackson also claims the money was a gift.
Celina Aponte, International Director at The Outside Organisation and a spokeswoman for the Thriller star confirming the decision to settle on Sunday, told AFP “As Mr Jackson was about to board his plane to London, he was advised by his legal team to postpone his travels since the parties had concluded a settlement in principle”. She also confirmed that Jackson who had been due to testify in person in London’s High Court would not be attending Court on Monday.
Bankim Thanki, the lawyer representing the Sheikh argued that his client had funnelled money towards supporting Jackson after a Child Molestation Trial in 2005 left his career and finances in shambles. He stated that a request made by the singer for one million dollars in April 2005 had been granted and the expenses of the court case amounting to 2.2 million dollars were also put forward by the Sheikh.
The Sheikh’s lawyer said that the suit was filed to recover the amount stipulated to be deducted from the singer’s royalties on a contract signed by the pop star to record albums, stage shows and pen an autobiography.
Jackson had spent a great deal of his time in Bahrain following these trials in his career and had received hospitality from the royal family. His lawyer Robert Englehart told the court last, was “no doubt that Sheikh Abdulla was very generous in his hospitality and general treatment of Michael Jackson”
It is a very bad time for the king of pop. Luck does not seem to be on his side. Ever since the case in 2005, his career has been going down and down. With the present trails and tribulations, what is going to be the future of this King of Pop? We really don’t know.
Hey, maybe Michael has gotta get back to the studio and show us what he’s got? Surely the mark of a true artist is that he will turn this run of bad luck to good by learning from the experience and putting it into new energy in music. His last album was 2001 and single in 2003 - how can you expect fans to stick around when all we hear is bad news and no music?
I’m not exactly a fan, but Michael Jackson is like so famous can’t he get into producing other artists or writing songs for new bands and then get back his self-respect? He is lucky to have had rich friends but even they only helped him so he would get back in the studio and earn them more money I suppose.