Jackson suffers sudden illness (May 22 2003) – BBC News

Last Updated: Thursday, 22 May, 2003, 10:18 GMT 11:18 UK [b]Jackson suffers sudden illness [/b] Michael Jackson has been admitted to hospital with a mystery illness on Wednesday, the day he was due to appear in court in Indianapolis on a hearing. Jackson, 44, was admitted to hospital for observation and treatment after falling ill on Tuesday. He had arrived in Indianapolis on Tuesday to appear in court for a lawsuit claiming the Jackson Five, the family group Jackson was a member of in the 1970s, had used two songs from another band without their permission. Jackson’s lawyer, Brian Oxman, said the singer “was not feeling well and was feeling weak”. “He can become very concerned and nervous at depositions. He doesn’t like lawsuits, and it makes him ill to have to cope with litigation that people seem to heap on him,” Mr Oxman said. The lawsuit, brought by Steeltown Records boss Gordon Keith, who said he had not been recognised for tracks that appeared on the 1996 album Pre-History: The Lost Steeltown Recordings. Spiderman mask He also said the Jackson Five – which also included Jackson’s brothers Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Marlon – had also infringed on the name Ripples and Waves, which was reportedly used by another group from their hometown of Gary, Indiana. This week it was reported Jackson had visited his local congressman’s office dressed in a Spider-Man mask to ask why there were not more fast-food restaurants in the town near his Neverland ranch in California. He was said to have told an assistant to Republican congressman Elton Gallegly “I love Taco Bell” and was disappointed there were was only a sandwich shop at Solvang, the town nearest to his Neverland home. He then took off his costume and signed autographs before leaving. On Wednesday, the singer settled a claim by auction house Sotheby’s after he had won two paintings worth $1.3m (£810,000) but had not yet paid for them. Diana Phillips, Sotheby’s senior vice president in New York, said the case had been resolved amicably, but the terms were not disclosed. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/3049367.stm