Leonard Rowe Fired by Jackson in May 2009 MiniB#75

Last night (July 20 2009) on CNN’s Larry King Live a concert promoter by the name of Leonard Rowe appeared on the show claiming to have a close relationship to Michael Jackson for 30 years. He also alleged Jackson didn’t want to do 50 shows in London and had no idea what his deal with AEG entailed.

He made a number of allegations which, regardless of whether they’re true or not, made him look irresponsible and dubious.

At some point apparently Rowe claimed to have been working for Jackson at the time of his death. However, a letter has surfaced showing the singer supposedly rethought letting Rowe into his inner circle.

In the letter, Michael Jackson says that after further consideration he was firing Rowe to “streamline” his business operations.

“Accordingly, this is to inform you that you do not represent me and I do not with to have any oral or written communications with you regarding the handling of my business and/or personal matters.”

Here’s a copy of the letter:

Rowe claims he never got this letter when King confronted him.

Rowe seems to have a sordid past. Just last year singer R. Kelly won a multimillion dollar lawsuit against Rowe after suing him.

Rowe was order to pay R. Kelly $3.4 million dollars in damages according to court papers filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court.

TicketNews.com reported back in Oct 2008 that Rowe “failed to pay Kelly several million dollars in tour proceeds that he was owed” causing Kelly to initiate legal proceedings against Rowe.

Rowe has reportedly been sued by many “investors who accused him of bilking them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling them non-existent shares” in R. Kelly’s concert tour, TicketNews reports.

The judge overseeing the lawsuit ruled against Rowe. From the report:

“In his ruling, [Arbitrator] Byrne determined that Rowe had sold shares without Kelly’s knowledge or consent. As a result, in addition to awarding Kelly $3,397,410.38 in monetary damages, Byrne also ordered Rowe to take full responsibility for all the lawsuits.”

RnB singer Ne-Yo also sued Rowe last year as well. The case resulted in another judgment against Rowe for over $700,000, according to MTV.

From the MTV article:

Ne-Yo has settled a $700,000 lawsuit filed in January against tour promoter Rowe Entertainment after he was dropped from an R. Kelly tour in late 2007, according to The Associated Press.

…

After Rowe Entertainment failed to respond to the lawsuit, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey ordered the company to pay Ne-Yo $700,320 last week.

Did questions about Rowe’s recent past cause Jackson to rethink the decision to bring him on?

Further, Rowe already had at least two judgments against him. I’m sure he wouldn’t have turned away any millions of dollars he would have made by being associated with Jackson.

There is a question as to how much time in recent years Rowe has spent around Jackson. He first met the singer when he was much younger.

Because Rowe made allegations against AEG last night in an irresponsible manner, some are questioning his connection to Jackson as well as digging into his background.

Source Mat:
http://www.ticketnews.com/R-Kelly-awarded-multimillion-dollar-judgment-against-Leonard-Rowe1087402
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1593971/20080903/ne_yo.jhtml

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