Paris Jackson is reigniting her feud with the executor of her father’s estate, accusing John Branca of “persistent incompetence” and asking a judge to reject his nearly $110 million fee request for work on the late pop star’s estate from 2023 through 2024.
In a new motion filed Friday and obtained by Rolling Stone, Michael Jackson’s only daughter claims Branca missed his own self-selected Sept. 15 deadline to submit complete financial accountings for 2023 and 2024, instead filing documents that were either incomplete or “nothing more than a placeholder.” Despite the alleged deficiencies, she says, Branca sought $109,219,648 in combined compensation for himself, his lawyers, and his late co-executor, John McClain, who died in May at age 71.
“It is unclear how executor could calculate and distribute such an amount with any confidence and yet be unable to file complete and accurate accountings years later,” her new 12-page motion states. “Paris respectfully submits that the gap between executor’s level of compensation and his persistent incompetence is intolerable.”
Calling the fee request “particularly offensive” in light of the allegedly “delinquent” financial accountings, Paris is asking the retired judge overseeing the long-running estate to reduce Branca’s compensation from 15 percent to 10 percent of the estate’s gross entertainment-related income. She wants the reduction applied retroactively to 2003 and kept in place until Branca submits complete and accurate accountings through 2006.
“It is an understatement to say that this motion is completely without merit,” a spokesperson representing the Branca-led estate said in a statement shared with Rolling Stone. “[Paris’] attorneys have motioned for a reduction in executor compensation, when in fact the executors waived that from the estate’s beginning, and have never taken any executor compensation. They are paid a separate, court-ordered management fee for operating the hugely successful Michael Jackson business.”
Michael Jackson was 50 when he died on June 25, 2009, from an accidental overdose of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol at his rented mansion in Los Angeles. Branca quickly stepped in to manage his affairs, and his lawyers have long credited him with transforming Jackson’s estate from one saddled with more than $500 million in debt into an enterprise valued at roughly $2 billion.
Paris’ new motion comes nearly six months after she won a separate legal battle to force three lawyers who worked for her father’s estate to return $625,000 in bonuses authorized by Branca. In an April 29 ruling, the retired judge, Mitchell Beckloff, found that the estate had failed to demonstrate the payments were “just and reasonable based on the information provided.”
“In fact, on the evidence presented, the bonus amounts paid appear arbitrary — what Mr. Branca determined was appropriate,” Beckloff wrote. “While Mr. Branca may, in fact, know better than anyone about the value of legal fees, there must be some specific and detailed factual basis for an order finding fees are just and reasonable.”
Paris, 28, is a beneficiary of her father’s estate along with her brothers, Prince, 29, and Bigi, 24. In other recent court filings obtained by Rolling Stone, her lawyers said she did not undertake her battle with Branca lightly.
“This litigation is painful for Paris. It is a distraction from her own life and her own career,” they wrote.
This article was originally published on Rolling Stone.
