14 DAY TRIAL // Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s mother, has filed a lawsuit on her behalf and that of the singer’s children, claiming AEG is responsible for his death by not fulfilling contractual obligations and forcing Michael to take Dr. Conrad Murray as physician.
The lawsuit alleges AEG Live, the organizers of the This Is It series of concerts that were supposed to take place at London’s O2 Arena, had a duty to provide for Michael and safeguard his health.
Instead of doing that, they actually did their best to put him in harm’s way, by forcing him to drop his physician and see only Dr. Conrad Murray – who is now on trial for manslaughter in the same case.
“Katherine Jackson and Michael Jackson’s children are suing AEG Live – claiming the company breached its agreement to provide physical care for Michael Jackson – and that AEG was negligent in their hiring of Dr. Conrad Murray as MJ’s physician,” TMZ reports.
Murray is now on trial for Michael’s murder, after autopsy results showed he had enough drugs in his system to kill him, including Propofol, the anesthetic Murray claims Michael gave himself.
“In the suit, Katherine claims AEG’s contract with Michael ‘created a legal duty for AEG to act reasonably toward the physical well-being of Michael Jackson’,” TMZ further says.
Since Michael is now dead, AEG has failed to meet the terms of the contract and should be held liable.
Moreover, it was AEG who forced Michael to take Murray as his physician, the lawsuit further claims.
“In the document, Katherine also blames AEG for hiring Dr. Murray without a proper background check – claiming, ‘AEG did not provide a doctor who was truly looking out for Jackson’s well-being and did not provide equipment’,” TMZ notes.
Michael’s son Prince is also named in the documents, since he was there when the singer died and as Murray was trying to bring him back, which made him a “bystander to these tragic events,” causing him a lot of emotional distress.
“The purpose of this lawsuit is to prove to the world the truth about what happened to Michael Jackson, once and for all,” attorney Brian J. Panish, who filed the papers, tells TMZ about the purpose behind the latest legal action.
AEG Live or Kenny Ortega (who’s also named as defendant) are yet to respond to the lawsuit.