USA/FILE: L.A. Times publishes internal AEG emails revealing the company was questioning Michael Jackson's stability before they signed him for a 50 show residency

Record ID: 860922

  • Title: USA/FILE: L.A. Times publishes internal AEG emails revealing the company was questioning Michael Jackson's stability before they signed him for a 50 show residency
  • Date: 4th September 2012
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 19th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Business,Entertainment,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA5MP50BTT6D9IEFYV161SQCWYE
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  • Story Text: The promoter for Michael Jackson's comeback concerts expressed doubts about the singer's ability to be ready for a 50-date concert series, according to a story published in The Los Angeles Times on Sunday (September 02). The newspaper got hold of internal emails at AEG that show that high-level executives were questioning Jackson's metal and physical ability to perform.
    "This is the most in depth and unvarnished look at Michael Jackson's final months that we've seen so far, and we've seen a lot," said L.A. Times reporter Harriet Ryan.
    "But this is a different account of what happened and it's all contemporaneous and it's all before he died and what people were saying about him in this big company as he prepared for this comeback."
    The e-mails, which were leaked to the newspaper, were gathered for a lawsuit by insurance company Lloyds of London, who alleges that AEG hid Jackson's health problems. The company is seeking to nullify a 17.5 million dollar policy that AEG purchased in case Jackson was not able to perform the shows scheduled for London's O2 Arena.
    "The emails show that there was concern about Michael Jackson's ability to pull off a comeback even before the time that the company AEG sat down with him to start planning and that concern went all the way to the day he died and it was much more intense and the alarms were a lot louder than we knew previously before looking at these emails. We also know that the top level executives at AEG knew about some disturbing incidents that cast doubt on his ability and that they discussed these incidents and tried to respond to them."
    As for AEG, the company has denied any wrongdoing and said the messages sent to The L.A. Times were incomplete and leaked to portray the company in a negative light.
    In addition to the lawsuit from the insurance company, AEG is also facing a civil case from Jackson's estate, which says AEG pushed Jackson to do the shows despite knowing he was not healthy enough to perform. Both cases go to court next year.
    Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009 from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic, Propofol, which was being administered to him by his doctor, Conrad Murray, as a sleep aid. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and is currently serving a prison sentence.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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