KIN’S JACKO $TACKO WAR
King of Pop kid vs. grandma in court
It’s a Jackson family battle of wills.
In a legal showdown, the late Michael Jackson’s youngest son, Bigi, has unleashed a legal challenge against his grandmother, Katherine Jackson.
Court briefs filed by Bigi, formerly known as Blanket, show that the 93-year-old matriarch is trying to tap into funds from Michael’s estate to challenge a $600 million music-catalog deal.
Katherine’s side argues that the estate should cover her $500,000 legal fees, while Bigi disagrees.
But close family sources say this is not really about Bigi, now 22, trying to deny his grandmother anything. Rather, it’s about trying to wean the extended family off Michael’s legacy.
Cash off Katherine
“Bigi isn’t going against his grandmother. Bigi is really trying to protect his grandmother in the same manner that Michael did, which is to protect her from the Jacksons!” a longtime family associate told The Post.
“It’s the same s--t,” the associate said, alleging that some relatives get money from the trust via softhearted Katherine. “Now, instead of letting Mrs. Jackson live out her years in relative peace, you still have certain family members using this elderly woman to get more money — and it’s none of their business, as usual.”
Katherine is not a beneficiary of her late son’s main estate, but of a separate trust. “Through Katie, the estate has made everyone wealthy beyond their wildest dreams,” one Jackson insider said.
Nearly 15 years after his death, Michael’s fortune has undergone a miraculous transformation, thanks to the stewardship of lawyers John Branca and John McClain, who are the executors of his estate — bringing it from an estimated halfbillion dollars debt to a multibillion-dollar empire.
Branca and McClain have accomplished this feat through shrewd management — including launching the Tony-nominated “MJ The Musical” — and a determination to keep Michael’s extended family at arm’s length.
“Exercising the powers granted in Michael’s will as confirmed by the probate court, [executors] entered into business transactions involving the estate’s assets that skyrocketed the estate’s value to over $2 billion,” lawyers wrote in an appellate brief this month, acknowledging that the “Thriller” singer was near bankruptcy when he died.
Old family wounds
But behind the veneer of prosperity lies a family torn apart by greed, ambition and envy.
Bigi’s now public disagreement — family sources vehemently object to any characterizations that it’s a feud — with his grandmother has opened past wounds and ignited tensions within the Jackson clan.
Meanwhile, sources say the estate worries such infighting could threaten years of painstaking and successful effort to rebuild Michael’s reputation and keep cash flowing into the pockets of the legendary moonwalker’s heirs.
“Fair warning: Keep bad mouthing and throwing low blows at my 93-year-old grandma and my gloves will come off,” Tito Jackson’s son, Taj, tweeted last week.
Asked whether there was a consensus on who should control Michael’s money, the Jackson insider laughed: “When has there ever been a consensus around here?”
Katherine and Bigi initially were united in an attempt to stop Branca and McClain from completing an estimated $600 million deal with Sony Music; the deal, which closed late last year, gave the company 50% control of Michael’s publishing and recorded masters catalog. Katherine believes the estate should have waited and netted more cash, while the executors argued they took advantage of a white-hot market that could implode in the future.
They also noted that, unlike with many other catalog deals, Michael’s heirs remain in control of his music.
Earlier this month, a California judge sided with the executors and allowed completion of the transaction.
Now, Katherine wants to appeal the judge’s decision while Bigi is adamantly opposed. A hearing is scheduled in May to determine whether a judge will order the estate to pay Katherine’s legal tab, currently estimated at around $500,000. Bigi believes it’s a losing proposition and that his late father’s money could be better spent elsewhere.
“Bigi decided not to waste his resources to participate in an appeal,” his attorneys wrote in court filings. “Nonetheless, Katherine has decided to appeal this court ruling. That decision is not for the benefit of the heirs.”
The court battle has, at times, gotten testy, with estate lawyers pointing out that Katherine has received more than $55 million as a trustee — including the estate paying her personal and property taxes, providing her with 24-hour security and a personal chef and other benefits.