Worst Hotel Guest Ever

Michael Jackson has achieved the dubious honour of appearing on concierge.com's roll call of honour of "Worst Hotels Guests Ever".

Jackson appears in the list primarily because he dangled his baby out of a hotel window in 2002, and for forcing the World Music Awards to book nearly the whole of London's Hempel Hotel before his performance in 2006.

He also asked staff to erect an 18ft wall on the first floor to protect his privacy.

Others on the list include Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Nicole Kidman and Amy Winehouse.

Something to be proud of, not!

Welcome Party

Tickets for a party being organised to welcome the family of Michael Jackson to North Devon have sold out within days of going on sale.

The event (organised by www.mjjparty.com) will be held at the Durrant House Hotel, Northam, on the 8th of June; 160 VIP table seats were sold, along with 80 seated tickets and 30 standing only tickets.

Tito Jackson has seemingly confirmed that he, and "other Jackson family members" will be in attendance.

I remain to be convinced that Michael will turn up.

The Rake's Progress

It seems that Michael Jackson is not the only member of the Jackson clan to be stony broke. The media reports the following:

Joseph Jackson, 79
Tries to promote various girl groups in Las Vegas. He has previously filed for bankruptcy.

Katherine Jackson, 77
She has also previously filed for bankruptcy.

La Toya Jackson, 52
She earns extra cash judging beauty and singing contests.

Rebbie Jackson, 57
The oldest, she's married to successful businessman Nathaniel Brown.

Tito Jackson, 55
Formed a blues band several years ago and plays at small venues for $500 to $1,500 a gig.

Randy Jackson, 46
Does odd jobs like changing tires to support himself. He ran into serious problems with friends after he persuaded three people to take out lines of credits against their homes to help Michael pay his attorney fees.

Marlon Jackson, 51
Lives in San Diego, where he works stocking groceries at a Vons supermarket. He fell on hard times three years ago when he was forced to leave his foreclosed home and move into an Extended Stay America hotel with his wife, Carol.

Jackie Jackson, 56
The oldest son started an Internet clothing business and is trying to produce records by his sons.

Jermaine Jackson, 54
Splits time between the parents' Hayvenhurst mansion and his girlfriend's home in the San Fernando Valley. He has over $5M in federal, state and other liens against him and a 1995 bankruptcy filing, he doesn't work or have a regular income.

The Kindness of Strangers

Following the example of Blanche Dubois in "A Street Car Named Desire" it seems that Michael Jackson, according to reports, is relying on the kindness of friends. He spent last week at the Beverly Hills home of his good friend Ron Burkle.

A source is quoted in Pagesix.com as saying:

"The whole family has been hiding out. They were holed up in Burkle's place behind the Beverly Hills Hotel. They even refused to come out of their rooms and hid when Burkle had guests over".

Lawyer Found in Contempt

David DeToffol, a who had acted for Universal Express Inc., was lawyer was found in contempt of court for his handling of the Michael Jackson memorabilia.

Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales said that DeToffol violated her court order barring his client, Universal Express Inc., from selling or giving away some of Jackson's personal items.

The memorabilia, which includes a Three Stooges collection and personal writings, have yet to be returned to Jackson but are being held in a "secure location" at the courthouse.

Jackson has been trying to get 25 pieces of memorabilia returned to him since May, when he and Universal reached an agreement to return the items to him.

Universal had paid $5M for the collection from a New Jersey businessman, who claimed the property after the Jackson's failed to pay a storage unit bill.

On June 1, a day after the auction at the Hard Rock Hotel, Universal threatened to sue Guernsey's, the company handling the auction, if it didn't give the items back to Universal.

Gonzalez said that action violated her order prohibiting Universal from "selling, giving, conveying or transferring by any means" the 25 items.

Guernsey's, later turned the items over to the court.

DeToffol testified Monday that he didn't intend to violate the court order, but Gonzales, found otherwise.

She ruled that DeToffol will have to pay Jackson's attorney's fees and a $2,500 fine.

Complicated isn't it?

Jackson Going Back to Court

In what seems to be becoming a second profession, Michael Jackson is set to return to court in July.

This time in a continuation of the dispute over the "Jackson memorabilia", that was withheld from a recent auction in Las Vegas.

Jackson is seeking the return of the withheld items.

Janet Jackson, Michael's sister, is also seeking the return of items held back during a May 30-31 memorabilia auction at the Hard Rock hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez ordered 60 items impounded at the Clark County court, while she addressed the thorny issue of ownership. The outcome of that decision could lead to her punishing the company that brought the items to auction.

A contempt of court trial has been scheduled for July 16, after Gonzalez decided that Universal Express of Boca Raton, Florida, broke earlier court orders to withhold some of the 1,100-plus items offered at auction.

Joe Coppedge, a lawyer for the auction house, said that the auctioneer had no stake in the continuing dispute and was obeying the court order to deliver the contested items.

Quote:

"Per the judge's order, we have delivered 35 items claimed by Janet Jackson and 23 items claimed by Michael Jackson, with two in transit to Las Vegas."

Judge Gonzalez had accepted a confidential settlement on May 30, allowing the auction to go forward. However, she banned Universal Express from "selling, giving, conveying or transferring by any means" the 25 items specified by Michael Jackson's lawyers. Under the settlement, which had been confidential, Jackson's lawyers dropped their effort to block the auction.

Auction Outcome

The two day auction of Michael Jackson memorabilia, held by Guernsey's Auction House in the Hard Rock Casino and hotel in Las Vegas, seems to have gone well.

A black silk jacket that Jackson wore on stage in the 1980s fetched $17K, whilst the biggest sale was another glittery jacket that went for $19K.

Jackson's MTV music award for the song "We Are the World" made $16K, and gold discs for his album "Off the Wall" and the Jackson 5 single "I Want You Back" each raised $11K.

The auction got off to a shaky start, with several items selling for just a few hundred dollars. A platinum record for "Billie Jean" sold for just $100, and a copy of the contract for Jackson's purchase in 1987 of Neverland sold for just $100.

The Jackson Auction

A collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia will be auctioned at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino tomorrow, May 30th.

The event is being billed as the largest Jackson auction ever. There will be over 1,000 original Michael Jackson costumes for sale.

Universal bought the items from the New Jersey businessman Henry Vaccaro, who bought them in 2002 from a bankruptcy court auction. Universal claim they have spent another $2 million just to transport the goods from New Jersey to Las Vegas.

Jackson tried to halt the auction, but two weeks ago reached a confidential settlement and dropped the opposition.

Some of the most popular items that will be offered at the casino auction are:

Bill Whitten-designed militaristic red coat with gold rope, that belonged to Michael Jackson

The 1987 contract detailing his $30M purchase of the California ranch now known as the "Neverland."

A worn telegram from July 6, 1984, from Marlon Brando encouraging Michael Jackson before a show.

Also many paintings, personal clothing of Michael and Janet Jackson, lyrics of the pop-singer and more.

Jackson Unhappy With Auction

An auction of 2000 pieces of Michael Jackson memorabilia, that will take place on May 30 and 31 at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel And Casino, is causing Jackson some grief.

The 2,000 pieces are from a larger 10,000 piece collection of Jackson material that was bought from a bankruptcy sale, and subsequently sold to Universal Express a Boca Raton transportation company.

Michael and Janet Jackson had tried to stop the former owner, Henry Vaccaro, from taking ownership of the goods after he purchased them. However, they failed when their suit was rejected last year.

Jackson is now pondering another legal action, to stop the auction.

Raymone K. Bain, Jackson's spokesperson, said:

"Mr Jackson was not aware and he is extremely upset that his memorabilia was included amongst the memorabilia that is being auctioned off."

On the assumption that the items have been obtained legally, I fail to see how Jackson can stop the auction. The US is, after all, a market based economy.

Jackson could bid for the items himself, but he is somewhat short of ready cash at the moment.

The Jackson Auction

Guernsey's will be auctioning off thousands of items from Michael, Janet, La Toya, Jermaine and the rest of the Jackson Family at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel on the 30th and 31st of May 2007.

Items include:

-"I WANT YOU BACK," ORIGINAL TEST PRESSING, 1969
-HANDWRITTEN "ABC" LYRICS BY TITO JACKSON
-MICHAEL JACKSON "THRILLER" GOLD AWARD, 1982
-MARLON BRANDO TELEGRAM TO MICHAEL, 1984

Ms Jackson Comes To Town

Michael Jackson popped into London over the weekend, but in an attempt to blend into the scenery he has checked into the Carlton Tower hotel under a false name:

"Ms Jackson"

Yes, that should do it!

In case that didn't quite give his presence away, he and his entourage took up the presidential suite (£3K per night) on the top floor.

Oddly enough, the media sussed out that he was in town.

Distressful Tape

Michael Jackson's former lawyer, Mark Geragos, gave testimony yesterday in his (Geragos's) court case against XtraJet for allegedly secretly taping him.

Geragos said that he went to "almost paranoid lengths" to guard Jackson's privacy, after Jackson was secretly taped on a private jet headed to Santa Barbara to surrender in a child-molestation investigation.

Geragos said that taping was one of the worst experiences of his 24 year legal career. He said that he obtained a court order preventing XtraJet's then-owner, Jeffrey Borer, from selling the footage after hearing about it in the media.

Quote:

"I can't think of any act more distressing to me at a professional level than what was done here."

Geragos then said that after the incident, he started to meet with some clients under freeway overpasses and in hotel rooms to prevent possible spying.

Borer and co-defendant Arvel Jett Reeves were indicted by federal prosecutors in the case. Under a plea deal, both admitted they installed two digital video recorders to record "a professional entertainer" and his lawyer.

Borer was sentenced in October to six months of home detention, three years probation, and was ordered to pay a $10K fine.

Reeves was sentenced in July to eight months in prison, six additional months in a halfway house and ordered to pay a $1K fine. Reeves testified on a videotape shown in court Monday that no sound was recorded on the tapes.

Jackson, was initially a plaintiff in the civil lawsuit against XtraJet. However, he has now dropped out of the case.

Jackson Booed Off Stage

As widely predicted, Michael Jackson's appearance at the World Music Awards in London last night was an embarrassing failure.

He started off badly by not greeting the fans, who had been expecting him to sing "Thriller".

Needless to say Jackson did not sing Thriller. Instead, in what clearly was a pr blunder of the highest magnitude, he was placed on stage with a choir of children.

I wonder what the pr people behind this stunt were thinking?

Jackson, having told the crowd how much he loved them (an overused showbusiness term lacking any sincerity whatsoever), then launched into a rendition of "We Are The World".

His voice then cracked four lines into the song.

At this stage the crowd began to boo, and started stamping their feet before Jackson left the stage.

One onlooker was quoted in a tabloid as saying:

"When he stopped singing no one could understand why. But when he started rambling a lot of people lost their patience.

That's when the booing started and got louder and louder until he left the stage."

Jackson claims that the story that he would perform "Thriller" was a "misunderstanding". That being the case, why did his pr machine not correct that misunderstanding before the event?

The auguries, warning that this event would be a flop were there for all to see.

Jackson had been making backstage demands totalling £250,000. Within these demands he included personal hair and make-up artists, a private jet and 20 first-class plane tickets for his entourage.

Not content with pissing off the awards organisers, he decided to also annoy the Hempel Hotel, in London's Bayswater area, where he was staying at £6,300 per night.

The hotel had to erect an 18ft wall on its first floor to provide more privacy for him and his three children, Prince Michael, Paris, and Prince Michael II.

Seemingly many other hotels had already turned down his request for accommodation.

It seems that he is now trying to live off past glories, the question is when will the money and patience of the fans run out?

Jackson's Legal Woes Mount

It seems that Michael Jackson has yet to learn one of life's harsh realities, if you make use of lawyers for heaven's sake make sure that you pay them.

Unfortunately, Jackson seems to be oblivious to life and its realities.

Wachtel & Masyr a law firm representing Jackson has parted company with him. They claim that he hasn't paid them.

The parting of the ways has come at rather an awkward moment as they were representing him in a claim for $48M made against Jackson by a financial company, which also claims that it hasn't been paid.

The astute amongst you may notice a pattern here.

Jackson is claiming that he fired the firm.

Attorney William Wachtel has described his trouble communicating with Jackson through a series of representatives. Seemingly Jackson relies on a series of intermediaries, who come and go as rapidly as politicians' promises.

Jackson dropped out of contact with the firm entirely after his only face-to-face meeting with his lawyers in June, at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris.

Wachtel said:

"Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson has failed to respond to every e-mail and telephone message left for him over the past four weeks."

In a letter from Jackson to the firm, dated July 17, Jackson said that he had fired Wachtel.

Quote:

"It is with deep regret that I must terminate the services of Wachtel & Masyr, LLP, effective immediately."

Attorneys from the firm of Latham & Watkins quit in November, they were also handling the case, after reporting that their bills weren't being paid and that it was impossible to communicate with Jackson.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel has said that he would allow Jackson to reorganise his legal team, the deadline being 5th September. No legal team, then Jackson would have to appear in person.

As already noted, if these allegations are true, seemingly when dealing with Jackson make sure you get the money up front.

Jackson in Denial

Michael Jackson, despite delaying salary payments to his Neverland staff for 3 months and having to shut Neverland because he is strapped for cash, has reportedly spent £50K on a diamond-encrusted watch.

Jackson is allegedly £150M in debt, yet seemingly has a little trouble accepting the reality of his situation.

He bought his new timepiece, which has 800 diamonds on it and a gold face, at the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

Jackson Looking For Work

In what seems to be a creditable display of finally grasping reality, with respect to his financial situation, Michael Jackson is reportedly looking for work in Bahrain.

It seems that he is negotiating a position as a consultant with a Bahrain company, AAJ Holdings Ltd, that plans to set up theme parks and music academies in the Middle East.

AAJ Holdings Ltd is owned by Bahraini businessman Ahmed Abu Bakr Janahi, and has told the press that it wants to hire Jackson to give advice on setting up entertainment businesses.

AAJ, which focuses mainly on urban development projects, played a major role in designing Bahrain's ongoing Financial Harbour development and Oman's Blue City, a multibillion-dollar tourist resort with golf courses, hotels and beaches.

AAJ have stated:

"Stagnant architectural structures need content in the form of entertainment to revive them and that's where Michael Jackson will play an integral role."

Jackson is reportedly building a home in Bahrain.

Michael Jackson In London

Michael Jackson is in London, staying at the Dorchester Hotel, and has been besieged by fans.

Jackson is in London to record "From the Bottom of my Heart", a charity record for the victims of Katrina.

Jackson signed autographs and was pursued by fans through an underground car park.

The Trials Continue

Michael Jackson, despite ending one trial in California, has several other "legal" issues to attend to.

Jackson flew to London on Friday to take a deposition by the attorney representing his former business partner, Marc Schaffel.

Schaffel is suing Jackson for $4M, for an unpaid loan.

However, because Jackson does not want to return to the USA he requested that the deposition be served at London's Dorchester Hotel.

Jackson paid for Schaffel, King, Mesereau, Jackson's Houston attorney Michael Sydow and their entourages to fly London via business class and for their hotel bills.

Nice trip!

Allegedly, Jackson claimed innocence, by denying knowledge of the items that Schaffel bought for him.

Other legal matters that Jackson must attend to include:

-$48M lawsuit brought by Darien Dash

-Custody/visitation fight with the mother of his two eldest children

-A civil action brought by a New Orleans man, who claims to have a repressed memory of Jackson molesting him when he was underage

Jackson Still In Bahrain

Michael Jackson is still in Bahrain, and turned up at the opulent Burj Al Arab hotel for lunch the other day with a Bahraini delegation.

He stayed at the Burj in the Royal suite, with a posse of his own bodyguards.

Jackson has been in Bahrain, ever since he arrived alone in the kingdom aboard a private jet earlier last month.

It is believed that Jackson owns a property in the Kingdom.

Jackson Not Going To Berlin

Michael Jackson, contrary to earlier reports that he had not contradicted, will not attend a party in Berlin for his father's 76th birthday.

Neither will Michael's sisters Janet and La Toya, despite saying it was likely they would attend.

The party is being held at the Estrel hotel, in a district of Berlin which is best known for holding shows featuring tribute bands and show business impersonators.

So much for all the guff about the Jackson family rebonding as a result of the trial.