Money Matters, Simplified.
Michael Jackson sued for $44 million by former publicist
by Samia Sehgal - May 7, 2009 - comments
Michael Jackson has been sued by his former publicist and manager for $44 million
Washington, May 7: Michael Jackson’s financial woes are far from over. The ‘King of pop’ has been slapped with yet another lawsuit; this time he’s sued by his former publicist and manager for $44 million for his alleged failure to clear her due payments.
Raymone Bain, who has been Jackson's spokeswoman for more than five years and has represented him in various matters, including his child molestation trial, was expecting a share of profits from the deals she arranged for the singer.
She claims that the popstar, who appointed her the head of the Michael Jackson Co. Inc. and also his personal general manager, had agreed to pay her 10 percent of the agreements that she handled.
However, "with deep regret", she said, “Mr. Jackson has elected not to honor the financial obligations of our contractual relationship, despite my numerous attempts to amicably resolve this matter. I am sincerely disappointed in Mr. Jackson's failure to honor his obligations."
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, Bain said that she has not received any payments for negotiating the release of a CD to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ album, for refinancing his loan to maintain the Beatles' song catalog, and also she did not receive anything for negotiating an upcoming concert series in London, tickets to which are already sold-out.
Bain’s association with Jackson
Bain, a trained lawyer, saw Jackson through the toughest times in his career. She constantly briefed the media about the life of Michael Jackson, during his trial and acquittal on child sex abuse charges in California, his subsequent stays outside the country and all the financial troubles that seemed to have bombarded him in one go.
Bain hopes that no "hypothetical theories, accusations and rumors" regarding her association with Jackson will emerge from her action, and that the truth would come out in the court.
Despite taking such a step against Jackson, Bain maintains she had no regrets about working with him and described him as someone "whom I have greatly admired and respected”.
"Michael Jackson, in my opinion, is the 'King of Pop'," she said.
Jackson’s many financial troubles
With this lawsuit, Bain becomes the latest to join a list of friends and associates who have sued Michael Jackson for money, in the past few years.
Amid all this, Jackson lost the ownership of his famous Neverland Ranch last year. He later attempted to auction off his personal belongings to raise some capital.