Jackson’s nephew testifies at hearing
LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s nephew says his uncle was a consummate perfectionist who was concerned about his legacy.
Taj Jackson’s testimony at a hearing on Friday was meant to bolster his grandmother’s opposition to a proposed exhibition of the King of Pop’s memorabilia. The 36-year-old said his uncle had his own plans for displaying artifacts that he collected at his Neverland Estate.
Concert promoter AEG Live and the current administrators of Michael Jackson’s estate have proposed a three-city exhibition of the singer’s belongings, which would open in conjunction with the release of a movie based on his final rehearsals for his “This is It” tour.
A judge is scheduled to rule later Friday on whether the exhibition goes forward.
Katherine Jackson’s attorneys have opposed the exhibition because they say it should have been competitively bid and the estate should have a larger cut of the proceeds than the negotiated 50-50 split with AEG.
Taj Jackson was one of several witnesses called by Katherine Jackson’s attorneys, but the only one who was allowed to testify in public. Other witnesses included an accountant, an attorney and one of the estate’s executors, John Branca.
Their testimony was kept private because it included details of the proposed finances of the exhibition.
Taj Jackson said he worked for his uncle for the last year of his life, doing “whatever he wanted me to help him with.” He said the singer did not trust many people, but did trust him.
“I loved my uncle so much and I just want to do right by him,” the younger Jackson said as he took the stand. “We were very close to my uncle. He was a genius obviously.”
To show the depth of their connection, Taj Jackson said that as children he and his siblings loved Transformers toys. “He got the idea for ‘Moonwalk’ from that, he told us.”
Taj Jackson said he never attended any of the “This is It” rehearsals because “we always wanted to be surprised.” He said he thought that his uncle would have been very protective of the footage shot at those rehearsals.
He also said Michael Jackson had his own plans for displaying his memorabilia.
“At Neverland, he had a certain section for memorabilia and he had a plan for something grandiose,” he said. Taj Jackson gave no details about what that might be.
AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.
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