NEW YORK (AP) - August 19, 2010
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. granted a motion by lawyers for Jackson's estate to dismiss the case, citing a lack of evidence that the late King of Pop or his family were under a binding agreement to perform at a reunion concert.
AllGood Entertainment, a company started in Morristown, N.J., sued Jackson for $40 million on June 10, 2009, roughly two weeks before the singer's death in Los Angeles at age 50. It claimed Jackson and his then-manager broke a contract for a Jackson reunion show.
AllGood later filed a creditor's claim with Jackson's estate, claiming the potential value of the lawsuit was at least $300 million.
Baer determined that there was a letter of intent between Jackson's then-manager, Frank DiLeo, and AllGood. He noted that neither Jackson nor any other members of the family who were to be involved in the show ever signed a contract.
The judge also wrote in the ruling that if there was a breach in the contract, AllGood broke the agreement first because it did not issue a payment to Jackson before a required deadline.
"This case never had any merit and the claim was frivolous from day one," Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said in a statement. "Michael Jackson never agreed to participate in a concert promoted by AllGood as the judge clearly found in his opinion."
An after-hours phone message left for AllGood's attorney, Ira Meyerowitz, was not immediately returned.
