Celebrity Mound

Michael Jackson’s father can receive some medical records related to his superstar son’s death, a judge ruled Friday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled that Joe Jackson can receive his son’s medical records from the hospital where he died. The judge will review the records first before releasing them to Joe Jackson’s attorney, Brian Oxman. Beckloff also said the men can only receive records generated on or after June 25 – the day Michael Jackson died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Oxman sought the files as part of an effort to obtain a monthly stipend for the Jackson family patriarch. He said during a hearing last week that he also needs the records to decide whether to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.

Beckloff’s order states a medical expert hired by Joe Jackson can review the files, but not copy them. Anyone who sees the records will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement, the ruling states.

Jackson’s estate had sought to quash subpoenas that Oxman issued for the files. Attorneys for the estate argued during a hearing last week that Beckloff should review the files first. They also stated the files shouldn’t be released until after the results of a May hearing on Joe Jackson’s stipend bid.

Oxman said he was pleased with the ruling and expects to have the records soon.

Beckloff is going to verify the records do not violate doctor-patient confidentiality. Oxman said he didn’t expect that to be an issue.

“We are very certain based on prior records that we have from the paramedics that Michael was long deceased and that there were no communications (with doctors),” Oxman said.

He said Joe Jackson deserves to know more about how his son died and the records will also be important in his quest to receive an allowance of more than $15,000 per month.

Howard Weitzman, an attorney for Jackson’s estate, said the ruling properly incorporates suggestions attorneys raised last week.

“The estate feels the court’s order adequately protects Michael’s interests,” Weitzman said.

A judge is scheduled to decide whether Michael Jackson’s father should receive medical records related to his superstar son’s death.

Joe Jackson’s attorney issued a subpoena last month seeking all his son’s medical records from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where Michael Jackson died on June 25.

His attorney, Brian Oxman, sought the files as part of an effort to obtain a monthly stipend for the Jackson family patriarch. He says his client has a right to know more about his son’s death and the records could also determine whether they pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.

Attorneys for Michael Jackson’s estate want the judge to quash the subpoenas and argue they violate privacy rights and are not relevant to the allowance request. If they win, they want Oxman and Joe Jackson to pay nearly $9,000 in legal fees.

Oxman says Joe Jackson will not attend Thursday’s hearing.

On the eve of a hearing in the Michael Jackson estate, a lawyer for the singer’s father filed a 60-page motion Monday that intensifies a bid to get money from his son’s estate by making accusations of fraud against the administrators of his will.

Joseph Jackson’s attorney, Brian Oxman, filed a blizzard of documents in court late Monday claiming that the singer believed his old friends John Branca and John McClain had defrauded him. He also accused both of conflicts of interest and said they should be removed from administering the will.

Joseph Jackson was omitted from his son’s will with all of Michael Jackson’s assets going to his mother, his children and children’s charities.

Howard Weitzman, one of the attorneys representing Branca and McClain, issued a statement Monday night in response to the motion. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

“These claims filed by Joe Jackson are so outrageous that they don’t deserve any response,” said Weitzman.

It was unclear whether Joseph Jackson has the legal standing to challenge its provisions.

Oxman said in a phone interview that the father is allowed to challenge the executors as “an interested party who has the right to be an executor or personal representative.”

Most of Oxman’s accusations were aimed at Branca, the attorney who represented Jackson for more than 20 years and is seen as the architect of his financial empire. Branca parted ways with Jackson in 2006 and then returned to work with him shortly before the singer died.

Oxman claimed that Jackson believed Branca had committed “crimes” against him including embezzlement and funneling money into offshore accounts. But Oxman acknowledged in the interview Monday night that may not be true.

“It’s not the truth or falsity of the accusation,” he said. “It’s that Michael believed it and that’s why he terminated him.”

Branca has said he was not terminated; he resigned because he felt Jackson was being influenced by people who did not have his best interests at heart.

Among the items attached to the motion filed Monday is an undated report from a New York private investigation firm, known as Interfor, allegedly hired by Jackson to investigate Branca and his connections to Tommy Mottola, a music executive with whom Jackson was feuding.

The one page report refers to “rumors of irregularities involved in the accounting of legal fees” but cites no evidence.

Instead, it related finding a former employee who described Branca as “brilliant” and quoted a paralegal as saying “Branca is very quiet, intelligent, shy but lovely with a funny sense of humor.”

Michael Jackson’s 2002 will omitted any mention of his father. The two had an often-strained relationship.

Oxman claimed father and son had reconciled and “Michael loved his father.”

Michael Jackson’s father is seeking an allowance from his son’s estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday. The request seeking an unspecified amount for Joe Jackson was filed by lawyer Brian Oxman, who said there was no apparent reason for the administrators of the estate to not seek an allowance for the Jackson family patriarch.

Michael Jackson’s 2002 will, however, omitted any mention of his father. The two had an often-strained relationship, and Michael Jackson said at one point that he would get physically sick – as a child and as an adult – at the sight of his father.

The singer’s private trust calls for money to be paid to his mother, Katherine, his three young children, and various charities.

A judge has approved more than $26,000 in payments to Katherine Jackson each month, and a $60,000 monthly payment for the care of the children.

The latest court documents said Joe Jackson receives a $1,700 monthly Social Security payment and had relied on his son for support for many years.

“He does not have a regular or steady source of income, and he was dependent upon the money provided by his son, Michael Jackson, through his wife, Katherine Jackson, for his support,” the filing stated.

“It was quite surprising to learn of the request,” Howard Weitzman, an attorney for the administrators of Jackson’s estate, said in a statement. “Mr. Jackson’s petition will be considered as are all requests for money from Michael’s estate.”

Joe Jackson suffers from diabetes and had a stroke in 1998, the filing stated.

A former steelworker, he managed and trained his children and organized the Jackson 5. He has been married to Katherine Jackson for 50 years, but he lists his home in Las Vegas. She lives at a family home in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles.

The filings are inconsistent in several places, listing Joe Jackson’s age as 80 in one place and 81 in another. A declaration states his monthly expenses exceed $20,000 a month, but an itemized list only includes slightly more than $15,000.

That list includes $1,200 a month on rent for his Las Vegas home; $2,500 to eat out; $1,000 on entertainment, gifts and vacations; $2,000 on air travel and $3,000 on hotels.

A phone message left for Oxman was not immediately returned.

A judge on Friday denied Joe Jackson’s petition for an expedited hearing on the matter.

A hearing is scheduled for early 2010 at which time the payments to Katherine Jackson may be re-evaluated.

A source says the Jackson patriarch contacted the Hotel Indigo in Chelsea last week and asked for two comped rooms for the night the documentary about his son Michael, “This Is It,” was debuting worldwide. He even tried to weasel his way in by insinuating that his presence would be good publicity for the hotel.

Indigo personnel politely refused his “offer” — which may be the reason Jackson went to the Vegas screening instead.

(source)

Michael Jackson’s father has been banned from a German beer festival because he should not be partying after his “child has passed away”.

Music mogul Joe Jackson requested access to a VIP marquee at Oktoberfest – an annual event which runs for 16 days in Munich – but was refused entry by events organiser Sepp Kratz because he thinks Joe should be mourning the death of his son, who passed away in June.

Sepp, who has run the Hippodrum tent for 15 years, told German magazine Stern: “Michael Jackson’s father was desperate to have a seat reserved. I rejected his request immediately. I was really shocked. The man has just buried his son. It’s totally inappropriate to celebrate happily just after your child passed away. That’s just not right. In short, anyone who has no sense of decency isn’t welcome at our place.”

Although Sepp isn’t a fan of Joe, one celebrity he did enjoy having in his tent was Paris Hilton.

Sepp revealed: “Paris came three years ago. She was lucky, she was allowed to enter. She really behaved herself, but I do think she has an ice cold heart.”

Oktoberfest kicked off on September 19 and ends on October 4.

Joe – who the ‘Billie Jean’ singer claimed beat him throughout his childhood – was criticised in the immediate aftermath of Michael’s death for publicising new business ventures while speaking about he loss of his son.

(source)

Joe Jackson raised eyebrows by bringing a curvy new recording artist he manages as his date to the VMAs on the night honoring his son, Michael. Jackson arrived at Radio City Music Hall with a singer known as Taina. But Jennifer Lopez was not amused when Jackson introduced her to his date, who was wearing an eye-popping dress.

As they took their seats, J.Lo was spotted giving Marc Anthony a look as if to say: “What is Joe doing?” Other guests at the awards said they were surprised Jackson chose to bring the busty singer rather than wife Catherine to see Janet’s tribute performance to his son. One said: “It was a night to honor Michael. Some people thought it was strange he brought a singer as his date. There’s a time to work the media, and there’s a time to stay quiet and respectful.”

(source)

Joe Jackson talks about relationship with Michael

Looking a little tipsy, the father of Michael Jackson says he’s not the bad guy the press makes him out to be, The talents of his children, His new project.

The mayor of Gary, Ind., said Friday his cash-strapped city paid $5,000 to fly Michael Jackson’s father and seven other people out from Los Angeles to attend a July memorial for his son in the pop star’s hometown.

Mayor Rudy Clay insisted that Joe Jackson wasn’t paid any money to attend the July 10 memorial in downtown Gary, a few miles from the Jackson family’s former two-bedroom boyhood home.

“Joe Jackson came in here for one reason: for his son, and he wanted to be with his 31 other family members who live in Gary,” he said. “There was no fee for Joe Jackson to appear. Absolutely not.”

A call seeking comment was left Friday with a spokesman for the Jackson family.

While city money helped pay to fly Jackson, the musical group the Chi-Lites and security from Los Angeles to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Clay said donations already made or promised to the city will cover all of the memorial’s expenses.

He said Gary is currently about $2,000 short of breaking even on the memorial’s costs, though he could not provide the total cost for the tribute held at a minor league baseball park.

Clay said Joe Jackson never asked for help to pay for the trip to the city he moved his family away from in 1969 after the Jackson 5 recorded their first album.

Instead, Clay said he offered to pay airfare for Jackson as well as the Chi-Lites so that the group, whose lead singer Marshall Thompson is launching a new record label with Jackson, could accompany the Jackson family patriarch.

“The Chi-Lites were out there in California mourning with the family and I thought it was good for them to appear here but also to kind of comfort Joe for being here. And they did that,” he said.

Gary’s Jackson’s memorial at The Steel Yard baseball park drew more than 6,000 people to the city 30 miles southeast of Chicago and featured performers singing and dancing to Jackson’s hits. Joe Jackson appeared on stage with Clay and others.

Clay said Jackson and the seven others visited Gary for one day, the day of the memorial, and then stayed that night at hotels in Illinois. The city’s $5,000 did not fully cover the airfare, he said, and no city money went toward paying the hotel costs or any other expenses.

Clay said he did not know the details of whether the city directly paid the airlines or whether the money was given to Jackson to cover those costs. Messages seeking comment on the details of that payment were left Friday with City Controller Celita Green.

News of the city’s air travel expense angered the leader of one Gary neighborhood group, who said it came not long after the city halted trash collection for 11 days until the city council approved a fee hike.

Kevin Carr, president of the Glen Ryan Neighbors Organization, called the city’s $5,000 payment a “travesty” in the face of Gary’s financial woes. He criticized both Clay for offering to pay and Jackson for accepting.

“We’re talking about a mayor who said we cannot afford to pick up trash, yet we can afford to pay for someone who has plenty of money to come out,” Carr said. “It’s ludicrous.”

But Doug Grimes, the president of the Miller Citizens Corporation in one of Gary’s best-known neighborhoods, said he expected that few Gary residents would criticize the city’s “peripheral” memorial expense for airfare despite the city’s financial woes. He said residents are proud of Michael Jackson and glad the city celebrated his life.

“I think people understand our financial condition, and they would be reluctant to say that the city did not perform properly when it recognized his accomplishments and the fact that this is his hometown,” Grimes said.