According to court documents, John Branca and John McCain asked a California appeals court to reject Katherine’s recent petition.
They said the proposed transaction could net the estate over $400 million.
The executors asked the court to dismiss Katherine’s concerns. They said she had a history of objecting to deals they secured. McClain and Branca pointed to the concert film This is It! — which they said pulled in a $60 million advance and a substantial back-end for the estate despite Katherine’s objection to the project.
Katherine testified that she did not like the deal. She said Paris and Blanket were on her side.
In the end, the court granted the executors’ motion despite Katherine’s testimony. The judge said McClain and Branca could move forward with finalizing the deal.
The order stated, “The proposed transaction is approved, and the executors are authorized and instructed to take all actions necessary to implement the proposed transaction, including but not limited to signing all contracts and performing all obligations required of the estate.”
She said the executors had “no power” to cause the Estate to enter the proposed deal.
All signs point to the deal being the recent $600 million deal in which the executors sold half of Michael Jackson’s music catalog to Sony. The deal was announced on February 9.
In her appeal, Katherine’s lawyer mentioned the music catalog for the first time in a public filing.
They noted that the probate judge ruled that if Michael “had wanted to exclude the Music Catalog from sale … he could and should have said so.” Katherine argued Michael had done that in the Will despite the judge’s interpretation that he hadn’t.
In their newly filed response, McClain and Branca claimed Michael Jackson’s Will gave them full authority to sell off his property.
Their lawyers argued, “Over the past fourteen years, the Executors have exercised their powers with extraordinary care and extraordinary diligence with extraordinary results. As the probate court recognized in its decision below: “What started out as nothing but debt and substantial ongoing obligations has been turned into a $2 billion estate.”
They continued, “If Michael wanted to restrict the power of his Executors to sell Estate property, he could have said so. Instead, he did just the opposite: He expressly gave them “full power . . . to sell” Estate property as they “deem best.”
Regarding assets not being transferred to the Trust, the executors said that was due to an ongoing tax dispute with the IRS. They said even if the assets were held in the Trust, they have the power to sell them.
In addition, the executors point out that Katherine had not objected to previous sales by the executors of Michael Jackson’s assets.
Paris and Blanket raised objections. Michael’s other son Prince said he had no issues with the deal after spending a “significant time, countless hours educating himself” about the transaction.
Blanket told the court the transaction might be “a good business deal” but he objected on “emotional” grounds.
Paris testified via Zoom. She said that she was “with my grandmother and little brother [Bigi] on this [redacted].” Michael’s daughter then left the feed.
Katherine said Paris and Blanket were both on her side. Despite it all, the probate judge sided with the executors.
As a result, the executors asked that Katherine’s appeal be dismissed.
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my heart goes out to the family…. awful news. i always knew John Branca was a terrible man. Michael tried hard to fried him and Branca came back when Michael never want it that.
i stop supporting the estate last year. i’m with everyone else i don’t know how to feel about the biopic anymore.