Michael Jackson’s former publicist filed a US$44 million lawsuit on Wednesday against the self-styled “King of Pop” for failing to pay her for her services.
Raymone Bain, who represented Jackson during his 2005 trial and acquittal on child sex abuse charges and later managed his business company, filed a breach of contract civil lawsuit against the singer in Washington.
She said in a statement that she had decided “with deep regret” to sue Jackson, describing him as someone “whom I have greatly admired and respected.”
But she said: “Unfortunately, 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.”
Bain, who trained as a lawyer, saw Jackson through some of the most difficult moments in his career.
She became his public voice for much of the lengthy child molestation trial in California, Jackson’s subsequent stays in Bahrain and Ireland and the financial difficulties that resulted in the sale of his Neverland Valley ranch in California last year.
In 2006 she was appointed general manager of the Michael Jackson Company, which handles his business affairs.
She said in the lawsuit that she was hired as a spokeswoman in 2003 and that from 2006, she ran every aspect of Jackson’s life including arranging housing, emergency refinancing, travel and security and scheduling meetings with record producers as the singer struggled to reestablish his music career.
Bain joins a long line of former advisers, accountants and friends who have sued Jackson in recent years over broken contracts and unpaid bills.
Most of the lawsuits have been settled out of court.
A son of the king of Bahrain reached an out-of-court settlement with Jackson in November over allegations that the Thriller singer had reneged on a recording contract and owed him US$7 million.
Jackson’s current spokesman, Dr Tohme K. Tohme, did not return calls for comment.
After years of living as a virtual recluse, Jackson recently announced a run of 50 comeback concerts in London, starting in July. All have sold out.
Bain’s lawsuit cited media reports that suggested the London concert deal, which she said she had helped to negotiate, was worth US$400 million in revenue to Jackson.
Bain said Jackson had agreed to pay her 10 percent of any deals he entered into as a result of her help but had not done so. She asked for US$44 million in damages, plus lawyers’ fees.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS