Michael Jackson was in court in California yesterday where concert promoter Marcel Avram is suing him for an alleged $21 million which Avram claims he lost when Jackson cancelled two millennium concerts (he was due to perform two midnight concerts – one on each side of the dateline). Jackson's testimony was brief, limited to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers.
In the lead up to the trial both sides blamed the other for the cancellation of the concerts. Attorney Louis ‘Skip’ Miller told the court that Avram was left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses after Jackson backed out of the shows. Jackson attorney Zia Modabber countered by saying Avram wanted out of the shows after two charity concerts also involving Jackson failed to make a profit.
While Avram confirmed that his contract with Jackson covered two for-profit millennium concerts and two charity concerts, and that the charity shows lost money, he says that far from wanting to cancel the millennium dates, he expected to recoup his losses through them.
It’s not the first time Avram and Jackson have been in court together. In 1994 Avram's promotion firm sued Jackson for $20 million after the singer failed to complete his 1993 Dangerous world tour (the tour was cut short as Jackson faced those child molestation charges, though the official reason for the cancellation was that Jackson was being treated for addiction to painkillers). The lawsuit was settled when Jackson guaranteed the promoter the rights to forthcoming Jacko tours. When Jackson started shopping round for a new promoter for a proposed Invincible tour (that never happened) Avram sued him again – that suit is still pending.