Category: MJ NEWS

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Witness claims intrigue over Jackson catalogue deal with Sony – AP

Posted on Wed, Mar. 02, 2005 [b]Witness claims intrigue over Jackson catalogue deal with Sony[/b] By LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent Michael Jackson’s infamous relationship with Sony Music became a subtext for testimony at his molestation trial Wednesday, with suggestions by a witness that associates were plotting behind his back to wrest away his co-ownership of a valuable song catalogue that includes the music of the Beatles. The unexpected testimony came from Ann Kite, who was hired briefly in 2003 to work on public relations damage control after the airing of a documentary in which Jackson said he let boys sleep in his bedroom. She suggested that some of the men charged as unindicted co-conspirators in the molestation case were actually enemies of Jackson’s interests who were planted in his inner circle to bring about his downfall. The issue of the catalogue came up during cross-examination of Kite by defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. Drawing on Kite’s previous statements to police he suggested there was a backstairs intrigue going on among Jackson’s “team.” “You told the police that you thought Michael Jackson was being slammed by the team?” asked Mesereau. “Yes,” she said. “And your opinion was this team was not out to help Michael Jackson?” asked the lawyer. “That was my opinion,” she said. Jackson’s stake in Sony/ATV, which includes catalogues for the Beatles and many Elvis Presley songs, was estimated by Forbes magazine several years ago to be worth at least $350 million. Jackson bought ATV in 1985 for about $47.5 million and sold it to Sony for about $95 million in 1995, but retained a half interest.

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March 2 2005 Trial UPDATE #1

MARCH 2 2005 (3PM EST) — The PR alleged “expert” called by the prosecution is current having her credibility completely destroyed, and it seems rightly so, by Michael Jackson’s defense team. Ann Gabriel (Ann Kite is her real name), was called by prosecutors in an attempt to corroborate the alleged “conspiracy” story. As we’ve learned from previous news reports, Mesereau brought out in court that Gabriel has never even met Jackson, never been to Neverland, and never met the accusing family. According to early reports, she set herself up as some kind of “PR expert”/crisis management “expert” for celebrities, and it turns out she’s only ever had 1 other sort of famous client: a man who does infomercials in Las Vegas. Sky news reports that there was a murmur around the courtroom that no one had ever heard of the man. Also brought out in court is the fact that she was only working with Jackson’s attorney for a grand total of 6 days. If you’ll remember, previous articles had claimed she was on the job for 3 weeks. Well it confirmed as only being 6 days. Early reports from CNN and MSNBC say that Mesereau has quickly turned her into “a wash” as a witness and can’t understand why the prosecution called her. During a discussion on Fox news’s Studio B, the defense attorney says she’s turning out to be a defense witness because the defense can make the point that it’s preposterous that they would bring in a “PR crisis” manager and all be in a panic and only THEN Jackson would start to allegedly molest the accuser. A Sky News update says that Mesereau had successfully stripped Gabriel of her credibility. Mesereau has had her under cross-examination for a while now. She’s been on the stand in total, along with prosecution’s direct examination, approx. 4 hours. Stay tuned for further updates.