Third Child Obtained Through Surrogacy, Big Jackson
"Grandma, Dad Wants to Use Inheritance for Lawyer Fees"
The youngest son of the late "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, Bigi Jackson (22), has filed a lawsuit against his grandmother, Katherine Jackson (93).
On the 22nd (Korean time), U.S. entertainment media Page Six and other foreign outlets reported that Bigi Jackson (22) filed a lawsuit to prevent his grandmother Katherine Jackson (93) from using Michael Jackson's inheritance for private legal dispute expenses. Earlier, Katherine Jackson had filed a lawsuit to stop the executors of the late Michael Jackson's estate from using his inheritance for undisclosed business transactions. Katherine requested that the attorney fees used in that lawsuit be paid from Michael Jackson's estate, which led to legal sanctions from her grandson.
Katherine recently appealed, claiming that "she is entitled to recover all attorney fees and costs," but Bigi opposes this. Through court documents, Bigi expressed his hope that the Los Angeles County Superior Court would reject his grandmother's request to cover attorney fees incurred in the estate-related trial from Michael Jackson's estate. In the documents, he stated, "The claim for legal service fees for the appeal does not benefit the estate and therefore should not be allowed."
Michael Jackson, who died of a heart attack at his home on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50, had three children during his lifetime. In 1994, he married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, but they divorced two years later without children. Afterwards, Jackson had a son, Prince (27), and a daughter, Paris (25), with his friend and former nurse Debbie Rowe. Bigi, who has now filed a lawsuit against his grandmother, is Michael Jackson's youngest son, born via surrogate in 2002 after Jackson divorced Debbie Rowe. Originally nicknamed "Blanket," his birth name was Prince Michael II, but he changed it to Bigi in 2015.
Immediately after Michael's death, the LA police raised suspicions of homicide. Two years later, in 2011, the trial of Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray began. Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for administering an excessive dose of propofol to Jackson and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was released after serving two years as a model prisoner.
The photo shows Jafar Jackson (left), the lead actor of the movie "Michael," serving as a panelist at a Summer TV Critics Association (TCA) event held in July 2014 in Beverly Hills, California, USA, alongside the late Michael Jackson (right). [Image source=AP Yonhap News]
Meanwhile, last month, Sony Music Group in the U.S. signed a deal to purchase half of Michael Jackson's album and songwriting copyrights for at least $600 million (approximately 800 billion KRW). This is reportedly the largest copyright transaction ever for a single artist. Billboard, citing sources familiar with the U.S. music industry, estimated the value of Jackson's music assets to be between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion (approximately 1.6 trillion to 2 trillion KRW). Based on this valuation, Sony Music and the Michael Jackson estate traded half of the copyrights for $600 million.
Previously, Billboard reported that the Jackson estate earns $70.5 million (approximately 100 billion KRW) annually from copyright revenues, with direct income from Jackson's albums and publications estimated at around $47.2 million (approximately 63 billion KRW). In April next year, the biographical film "Michael" about Michael Jackson is scheduled to be released. The role of "Michael Jackson" in the film will be played by Zafar Jackson (27), Michael's nephew and son of Michael's older brother Jermaine Jackson.
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