Saturday, October 5, 2024
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Lawyer Who Saved Jacko in 2005 Does it Again

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The lawyer who saved Michael Jackson from a long prison run in 2005 has scored again.

Thomas Mesereau, Jr. and his partner Susan Yu had a big victory in Los Angeles last week. They kept Hollywood realtor to the stars Joseph Babajian from trading in Armani suits for those with horizontal stripes.

Babjian has sold houses to the likes of Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty, Bruce Willis, Lee Iacocca, Becks and Posh, and so on.

But he and his partner, Kyle Grasso, and a real estate appraiser, Lila Rzik were indicted and went to trial for several counts of’ bank fraud that included inflating prices. Prosecutors said the scheme cost Lehman Brothers Bank $40 million on $142 million worth of loans on homes in the Beverly Hills-Bel Air area. Grasso and Rzik were part of a huge ring that included two real estate developers and eight others, all of whom had originally pleaded guilty.

If you ever get in trouble in Los Angeles, or anywhere: call Tom Mesereau.

Grasso and Rzik were found guilty, and face sentencing in January to a combined 940 years in prison. But Babajian walked on 13 counts. Another eight counts caused jury deadlock, and a mistrial was declared.

Babajian is a lucky, lucky man, even though the government still has the option of retrying him on the eight counts. But according to reports, the judge in the case told the prosecutor such a trial would be an uphill battle.

Mesereau’s real magic here was in separating Babajian from Grasso and Rzik, and convincing the jury that the famed realtor was not aware of their shenanigans.

It’s another huge victory for Mesereau and Yu, who’ve kept a relatively low profile since their phenomenal Jackson victory in June 2005.

In fact, Mesereau, rather than grandstanding on TV shows, devotes a huge amount of time to doing pro bono criminal work for the wrongly accused down in Alabama.

Jackson Doc Conrad Murray Sends Video Message

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Dr. Conrad Murray, currently the subject of a manslaughter investigation regarding the death of Michael Jackson, has posted a video on YouTube, “Dr. Conrad Murray Thanks Supporters.” It’s a message to his supporters, bucking them up in this difficult time.

Jackson Family May Be Entertaining Big Bucks TV Offer

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The winds of commerce are blowing over the Jackson family’s Hayvenhurst home.

Sources have been telling me for a couple of weeks that the Jacksons’ever productive in making money since Michael died on June 25th’are saying that ABC has made the family an offer it probably wouldn’t refuse: a stunning $25 million to turn over all their home movies, let the whole clan be interviewed exclusively by either Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer, and let the public see Michael’s children be interviewed.

According to the sources, a written offer has been made, and the family has been hashing it out. What certain members don’t want, though, is the participation of Joseph, Jermaine, or La Toya.

At ABC News, spokeswoman Cathie Levine says no one knows anything about this or has ever heard of it. Of course, ABC News does not pay for interviews. At Hayvenhurst, however, they do say it’s happening. Sources there say ABC will funnel it through another Jackson programming deal at A&E’in which ABC parent company Disney has an ownership stake’and then repurpose the material so it shows up on ABC News.

As for that $25 million figure: it does seem a tad high, even if the family produced for viewing Michael’s original nose.

Meanwhile, Point7 Entertainment of Atlanta, Ga., is putting the finishing touches on its Jackson 5 50th anniversary miniseries, which went into production last January. The show is supposed to air on A&E. Producer Jodi Gomes wouldn’t tell me when it’s supposed to start, but no one rules out the possibility of some kind of special on Michael’s birthday, August 29th.

Another option, of course, would be to scoop Sony/Columbia’s $60 million film, “This Is It,” which is set for October 30th.

According to people at Hayvenhurst, “Jodi has the run of the house.” Gomes concedes she has a close relationship with Katherine Jackson. She told me: “A lot of people would like to be in my shoes.”

It’s also unclear how many episodes the A&E miniseries is supposed to last, although, frankly, more than one hour with Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Marlon would cover the group’s history rather completely. Anything more would have to focus on Michael, and it’s hard to believe that since Michael died, A&E hasn’t been all over the Jacksons for personal stuff and access.

And still more speculation: since the Jacksons are notorious for trying to market themselves, it’s now also a question of whether they or someone they’re in business with will film Michael’s “third funeral” on August 29th at Glendale Forest Lawn. The Jacksons already had a private service at Hollywood Forest’ Lawn, then had the Staples Center memorial service. A third much publicized but “closed to the public” funeral seems superfluous unless it’s being used for some other purpose.

Renee Zellweger Makes Annual Oscar Run

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Getty photo

Getty photo

Renee Zellweger returned to the Hamptons on Saturday night from ‘ where else, if you’ve been keeping up with the tabloids ‘ Barcelona. This was presumably with her beau of the moment, Bradley Cooper, an actor who’s been touted all summer as dating everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Cameron Diaz.

Renee was making her annual Oscar run, starring as Hollywood bon vivant George Hamilton’s real life mother in “My One and Only.” She’s terrific as this independent minded mother of two who takes her’sons on’a road trip after she catches their bandleader father with another woman (wonderful Kevin Bacon performance, ‘natch).

No talk of Bradley at the premiere ‘ first a screening at Bryan Bantry’s Goose Creek home, then Mexican dinner at the tiny and very hot Blue Parrot in East Hampton where co-owner Jon Bon Jovi was front’and center’partying along with George, and the likes of art dealer Larry Gagosian, Vanity Fair scribe Bob Colacello, and not only Marci Klein but her dad, too. (That’s Calvin)

Renee brought her parents, who are in town, but no Bradley. When I mentioned Barcelona, she replied, “How ever did you know that?” Wink, wink.

“My One and Only” opens this Friday in limited release in New York and L.A., then rolls out to the rest of the country over Labor Day weekend. Norton Herrick is the producer, and the distributor ‘ this is really an indie movie, with indie distribution. Herrick is a soft spoken, intense New Jersey real estate magnate ‘ and he’s determined to make a stand in the film business.

“We could have gone with a lot of different people,” Herrick told me of his encounters with distributors. “But they didn’t offer us anything we couldn’t get on our own.”

That’s the indie spirit ‘ so watch for “My One and Only” to get Renee her annual nominations, including Indie Spirit. And check out “My One and Only” for the various cameos ‘ Eric McCormack, Troy Garity, Nick Stahl ‘ who populate this well crafted, beautifully told story.

P.S. As for George Hamilton, he looks great, just got his star on the Walk of Fame, now has a movie based on his life. It’s everything his fabled mother wished for him, and more.

Michael Jackson’s Father: Puts Prices on His Kids’ Heads

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Michael Jackson’s father, Joseph, has an idea what his kids are worth even as adults.

Yesterday I told you that Patrick Alloco of AllGood Entertainment made an offer to Michael Jackson’s siblings to tour around the world. In his letter to Jermaine Jackson he said the five brothers were worth $1.5 million, Janet $4 mil, La Toya $500K, and Rebbie just $250K.

Well, Alloco tells me now that he didn’t just arbitrarily make up those figures. He got them from Joseph Jackson’s henchman, er, lackey: Leonard Rowe.

You remember Leonard Rowe. He’s the guy who went on Larry King with Joe. Then I told you he had a nice, long prison record. The odds are, if Leonard Rowe gave figures, they came from Joseph Jackson. Now we know what he thinks of Rebbie and LaToya. The abuse never ends.

Alloco says: “We wanted to give the family a lump sum payment for them to divide amongst themselves; Rowe was adamantly opposed and said that the offer needed to separate Janet’s guarantee from the brothers and so on.”

Aloco also says that it was Rowe who told him that a London promoter had offered the Jacksons, with the exception of Jermaine, a $4 million cashier’s check last week to do his (the London promoter’s) shows. But it seems that Rowe’under instructions from Joseph’was making that up to use as leverage.

As I’ve said before, if Michael Jackson had a grave. he’d be spinning in it!


Mariah Revs Up New CD, Returns to Powerhouse PR

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Mariah Carey’despite idiotic postings elsewhere’is gearing up for her big new CD release.

Mariah feels so strongly about “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” that she’s even re-hired the PR powerhouse that made her second-stage career such a success. She’s back with Cindi Berger of PMK HBH. It was Berger who made her “Emancipation of Mimi” the biggest hit of Mariah’s career. Smart move.

Of course, that means both Mariah and Whitney Houston are now being repped by the same PR company. PMK’s Kristen Foster is handling Whitney with my old pal, Jill Fritzo.

“Memoirs” was scheduled for an August 25th release, then moved to September 15th. Now it’s set for September 29th. If the regular Grammy deadline had been in place’September 30th’Mariah would have made it. But the unfortunate early deadline of August 31st cut her off. So she has some slack time to get “Memoirs” just right.

The first single from Mariah’s CD will not be “Obsessed”’that was just a summer trifle, and it was a lot of fun. The real first official single is said to be a powerhouse ballad along the lines of “Vision of Love.”

Radio Nazis Start Hilarious New Fear Campaign

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The Radio Nazis ‘ the Soup Nazis of the National Association of Broadcasters ‘ are at it again.

They’re plowing more money into new, crazy commercials designed to scare and confuse listeners.

The NAB is now making it seem like supporting the Performance Rights Act is akin to helping “Fat Cat” record labels get richer by taxing radio.

Hello? Does the NAB read Billboard or this column? Record labels are fighting for their lives. The whole business is in a sinkhole.

And the fat cats? Are those the recording artists whose music has played for free, without remuneration, for 50 years on radio stations? What I like about the NAB is the suggestion that the passing of the Performance Rights Act would mean the stations would stop playing pop music. Not bloody likely.

Anyway, it goes on and on. This commercial is particularly nutty.

Here’s the text, in case you can’t hear it:

“Once upon a time, the Record Label Fat Cat gorged on rich, tasty profits he got from music sales through radio. The radio played the music. The people bought the music. And the Fat Cat got fatter and fatter. At least, he did, until he ate up all his profits. Now he wants to tax the radio to see if he can taste a few more profits, by biting the hand that feeds him.

“But, that’s not so good for radio. It’s even worse for music and listeners. And it’s not a very happy ending to the story. The Record Label Fat Cat is fat enough. Let’s take the Performance Tax off his plate. If you want the real story of the Performance Tax, go to NoPerformanceTax.org.

“Don’t feed the Fat Cat.”

David Geffen: Next Rock Hall Inductee?

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geffen david 250x350 David Geffen: Next Rock Hall Inductee?The word from one of my favorite groups (I say this facetiously) the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: David Geffen is set to be inducted next spring.

That’s right. On the upside: Geffen started Asylum Records, brought us Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, the Eagles, stole Bob Dylan from Columbia Records to make “Planet Waves,” and, oddly, dated Cher. Later, his Geffen Records brought us Guns ‘N Roses. He also produced “Dreamgirls” on Broadway.

On the downside: the Rock Hall is considered lame for not inducting about three dozen rock acts that should have been there already, has a $14 million war chest and a chief executive who makes over $350,000. The whole thing is run by Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner, who apparently was instrumental in selecting Geffen.

I’m also told that in 2011, the group will induct Universal Music Group’s Doug Morris, who once labored for Atlantic Records and Ahmet Ertegun.

As for Geffen, the naysayers nay that he sold his company for $600 million years ago and hasn’t been in the business for eons. When he was in the business, they say, he was very annoying.

Anyway, I’m more upset that so many people aren’t in the Hall already. Geffen before Quincy Jones? That’s just obscene. Even Geffen would agree.

Jackson Family Fields Million-Dollar Offers

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Michael Jackson’s siblings are fielding offers from a music promoter for millions of dollars.

Patrick Allocco, who was suing Michael Jackson up until the moment he died, now wants to pay Michael’s brothers and sisters millions to perform together.

Allocco, who runs AllGood Entertainment in New Jersey, teamed with Michael’s former short-term manager, Tohme R. Tohme, when the latter was fired last spring. Allocco, Tohme and Michael’s father, Joseph, all had the idea for the Jackson family to perform in Texas. Michael didn’t want to do it.

Now Allocco has sent Jermaine Jackson a letter dated Aug. 11 saying: “All I am asking of you is to arrange for me to deal directly with the family. The ‘middle men’ model that I have been subscribing to has failed and caused me great frustration. I spoke with Dr. Tohme this morning and forwarded him the above contract.”

Alloco offers Janet Jackson $4 million, each of the Jackson brothers $1.5 million, $500,000 to LaToya and $250,00 to Rebbie. He says he’s got $1 million ready to go in escrow if they’ll agree to his terms.

Last year, Allocco offered to put $1 million in escrow if Michael’s ex-manager Frank DiLeo could get Michael and the family to do the Texas show. He never funded the account, so DiLeo wouldn’t deal with him.

Yesterday, another outlet made it seem like the family was asking for these amounts. They weren’t; this was an unsolicited offer. And the same outlet didn’t have the letter from Allocco to Jermaine Jackson. They did, however, use the questionable Tohme (who is not a doctor) as their source. Whoops!

So Patrick Allocco won’t give up. He tells Jermaine in the letter that he spoke with Michael on the Sunday before he died, and that he’d agreed to the Texas deal. He says that Dennis Hawk, Tohme’s lawyer, was drafting an agreement on the morning Michael died and was emailing it to him. Whatever.

Even better: Allocco says he can’t find anyone who’s honest to deal with in the Jackson family’s extended circle. “Each seems to have his own agenda,” Allocco writes.

I couldn’t agree more.

Michael Jackson’s Siblings: Promoter Still Wants ‘Em

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Michael Jackson’s siblings are still in demand for a family tour. The desiring promoter is the same guy who was suing Michael right before he died.

Patrick Alloco of AllGood Entertainment sent a letter to Jermaine Jackson this past week asking him to intervene and bring his family the deal.

Alloco, aligned with Michael’s ex-manager Tohme Tohme, told Jermaine in the Aug. 11 letter: “All that I am asking of you is to arrange for me to deal directly with the family. The ‘middle man’ model that I have been subscribing to has failed and caused me great frustration. I spoke with Dr. Tohme [not a doctor, except to friends] this afternoon and forwarded him the above contract.”

The contract to which Alloco refers offers, unsolicited, the following amounts to Jackson’s siblings: $4 million to Janet, $1.5 to each of the brothers, $500,000 to LaToya, and $250,000 to Rebbie. Alloco would pay them that to perform in 10 U.S. cities, with an option for 10 more in Europe, and a bunch of miscellaneous stops in the Far East.

Alloco decided on the family members’ individual worths. It must have been not so amusing to La Toya and Rebbie.

Alloco tells Jermaine, in the letter obtained only by this column, that he actually thinks he spoke to Michael a few days before his death and got him to agree to joining the family. He also says that Tohme’s lawyer was drawing up a contract with Michael on the morning he died. Alloco obviously thinks this might have been possible even though he filed suit againt Michael for allegedly reneging on another agreement. The man is persistent.

Alloco also tells Jermaine that he can’t find anyone honest enough to deal with in the Jackson family’s inner circle. “Each seems to have his own agenda,” Alloco writes.

He couldn’t have put it any better.