Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is reportedly leading a meagrely life these days. He is believed to be living on a diet of gravy, painkillers and biscuits. The cash-strapped star who is just out of a £4.7 million court settlement case against Sheikh Abdulla Al-Khalifa at the weekend is apparently surviving on the bizarre diet. His spending habits spiralled out of control. And the present measures are probably to curtail all luxuray habits of the fallen pop star. Cash flow has decreased and MJ’s musical pursuits are also of no avail. MJ’s glorious days are not so glorious after all. The much troubled star has to dig hard for money. He is getting over his big repay of sums.

Jackson’s financial woes are said to be a result of him blowing £1 million on luxuries such as a Ferrari car and the entire stock from antiques shops and comic book stores he has visited. Sources close to the ‘Thriller’ singer say he is a “millionaire who lives like a billionaire”.

However, the 50-year-old’s family lawyer Brian Oxman insists the star is in excellent health and is not struggling financially. He said : “Michael is in excellent financial shape. We should all be so fortunate to have his problems. “He lives a pretty simple lifestyle these days. The extravagances are in the past. He is very low-key, but he is happy and doing well.”

Jackson was sued last week for borrowing the huge sum from the Sheikh. The news has already damaged his image. Jackson failed to repay him by recording two new albums, writing an autobiography and penning a stage show. All the promises dried from Jackson’s side thus leading to a big mess.

The £4.7 million included £23,500 in utility bills for his Neverland estate, a 10-day Paris hotel bill of £105,000, bank funds of £655,000, court costs during his child abuse case in 2005 totalling £1.5 million, £335,000 living expenses during six months in the Middle East as well as Italian and UK holidays coming to £234,000.

The star was recently forced to sell his ranch, which initially cost £17 million and ran up running costs of £2 million. Staff bills came to £2.5 million a year while Debbie Rowe - the mother of two of his children, Prince, 11, and Paris, 10 - demands £750,000 a year in maintenance.

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MJ

Reportedly Michael Jackson reached a settlement with a sheik suing him for £4.7million last night hours before the star was due to appear at London’s High Court.

Jackson, 50, was accused by Bahrain’s Prince Abdulla AL-KHALIF of failing to repay a huge loan. Mj allegedly took the hefty sum to perform for the Prince and also record albums which he refused. But Mj did not return the amount even after declining to perform for Abdullah.

The troubled pop legend was about to board a plane to Heathrow when his lawyers settled out of court. Jackson is going through huge financial losses and is under several tie-ups to regain his footing.

His spokesman said: “He was advised by his legal team to postpone his travels since the parties had concluded a settlement in principle.”

Michael Jackson’s legal team have made a settlement in principle with an Arab Sheikh who sued the King of Pop for breach of contract.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain filed a suit alleging he’s owed a $7 million advance on an album and autobiography deal that Jackson never honoured.

Jackson was expected to attend London’s High Court on Monday to testify in the case, but he has been advised not to fly to the British capital after his lawyers made a last minute agreement with the Sheikh’s legal advisors who have been London to fight out their case and settle Sheikh’s dues.

It was thought Jackson wouldn’t be able to make it to court due to bad health, but doctors in the U.S. gave him the all clear to make the journey to London following the mystery illness.

In the suit, Sheikh Abdulla claimed he paid for a recording studio for the star and sent his own compositions for Jackson to record, as well as alleging he wasted $2.2 million on studio time for Jackson to produce a song in aid of the victims of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina - but the singer never attended.  Out of court settlements are a common pattern for celebrity financial issues.

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Michael Jackson

The King of Pop is dragged to the court by the son of an Arab monarch. Jackson has been charged of taking US$7 million as an advance on an autobiography and an album that he never produced. Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain’s lawyers claimed that Jackson accepted the money as an advance on the book and joint recording project with the Sheikh. Jackson claims the money was a gift from the Sheikh, who is an aspiring songwriter.

As the trial opened on Monday in London’s Royal Courts of Justice both Jackson and Al Khalifa were not present. Lawyers of Michael Jackson said that they would seek permission from the court to prove by video link from the United States. A lawyer of Al Khalifa, Bankim Thanki, on the other hand said that the royal first had a word with Jackson over the telephone about the contract while the singer was on trial in California on charges of child molestation.

Thanki also added that the Shiekh wanted to  work with Jackson on rebuilding his career. Al Khalifa  has spent millions paying Jackson’s legal fees and moving him to Bahrain. These expenses also included a sum of US$350,000 for a European vacation for Jackson and his associates. “The cost even included the expenses of bringing out Mr. Jackson’s hairdresser. It’s not a conventional commercial dispute”, he added.

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Michael Jackson

Music legend, MJ has reportedly handed over the title of the infamous Neverland Ranch to a company made up of himself and the firm that holds his loan on the property. Michael Jackson filed the grant deed on the ranch this Thursday. The new ownership goes to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC. Jackson’s 2,700-acre ranch in Santa Barbara County, California will be held in joint venture between Jackson, 50, and Colony Capital LLC.

The company has a loan of about $24 million on the property. Property records suggest a grant deed and the estimated joint venture loan that is to be meted out in future. Since his June 2005 ordeal (trial and acquittal of child molestation charges) Jackson has rarely spent time at Neverland. MJ as known lovingly, is one of the biggest achievers and one of the biggest U.S. pop stars of the 1980s, has lived a reclusive life in recent years.

Neverland’s changing of hands means a change in its once famous private zoo and amusement park that Jackson built on the property. But a source has revealed : “Colony and Michael Jackson intend to pursue a multitude of joint business interests together,” the source said…”

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Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson has opted out of a rumored Jackson 5 reunion tour. Michael denied on Thursday that he would be a part of the alleged reunion of the famed Motown singing group. His elder brother Jermaine had said that Michael was “on board”. There were several opinions being generated on the reunion. The definitive denial comes as a surprise for the recent hot gossip topic. After all Michael is not inclined to make music with his brothers, it seems.

But it seems that a Jackson 5 reunion is not quite easy after so many years. Michael continued his agenda to crash all hopes of reuniting with Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito on a Jackson 5 reunion tour. The pop royalty rejuvenation dream is after all a distant reality. All courtesy to troubled pop star Michael Jackson. Jackson,50, said that he was in the studio busy producing to come up with “new and exciting projects.”

Jackson 5

Jackson said in a statement released by rep Dr. Tohme : “My brothers and sisters have my full love and support, and we’ve certainly shared many great experiences, but at this time I have no plans to record or tour with them.” Jermaine Jackson, 53, was in Australia when he said in a statement on Wednesday that he and his band was working together on their music for the tour scheduled next year. “It is going to be more like a family affair,” he told the Australian Associated Press. “(Younger sister) Janet’s going to open and, of course, the original Jackson 5 … Michael, Randy and the whole family. … We’re in the studio, we’re planning on being out there next year.” Michael has all along shunned public appearances with his brothers. He has never shown encouragement for a reunion talk. He was not even present to collect a lifetime achievement award in Los Angeles in September in order to avoid showing up with his brothers. The Jackson 5 rose to fame in the early 1970s. They had belted out singles like “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.” The group had their last tour in 1984, by which time Michael Jackson was a huge star in his own right.
Till then Michael can sooth his musical pursuit in his sweet old studio and all he can say about it is, “…developing new and exciting projects that I look forward to sharing with my fans in concert soon.”

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Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson the fallen star/pop legend plans a super comeback. The big comeback will supposedly have a 30 days live spectacular around the globe. Jackson’s last album was in 2001. The King of Pop had his last major tour in 1996. Rumours surfaced that Jackson was planning an Elvis-style Vegas comeback. Jackson will be releasing an LP in Las Vegas. He is surely going to stun the music world with his surprise package. His massive world tour is to come up next year (09). Jackson lived the life of a recluse for a long time after the child abuse case that made a mess of his cult status.

His 2005 allegations marred his image as well as his future albums and plans. After he was cleared of all the allegations of child abuse the Thriller star set his goal for a grand opening, a rechristening of his fallen career. But his real plans were allegedly slipped by him during a visit to an antiques store in Hollywood on Thursday (23Oct08). His comeback will be for his kids. A close source adds , “He wants them to see what he does, and he wants to take them on the road. He said he was on his way to Los Angeles to finalise the details.”  An onlooker at the antiques store revealed, “Michael said he wasn’t doing a Vegas residency but was going on a world tour, taking in 30 cities next year…” His real plans were after all made to be slipped off for the benefit of all Jackson lovers and the ones who have waited for years missing already to get a glimpse of the next album of the legend.

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