A £5million lawsuit brought by Michael Jackson over 'stolen' memorabilia has been thrown out of court in the US, dismissed by a District Judge because Jackson stopped pursuing the case after filing it two years ago.
As previously reported, Jackson originally filed the claim jointly with his sister Janet, claiming that one Henry Vaccaro had a warehouse full of memorabilia that he had stolen from Jackson family members, including gold-trimmed costumes, financial documents, letters, and awards. Vaccaro claimed that he was awarded the items after a failed business venture ended up in the bankruptcy courts, but Janet and Michael said that the New Jersey businessman only had a right to some items originally belonging to siblings Tito and Jermaine and their parents.
Vaccaro's lawyer, Edgar Pease III, has also alleged that the memorabilia also included gold records and personal items including skin bleach, soiled underwear, sexual videotapes, sexual paraphernalia and a hand-drawn picture by Jackson of a 7-year-old boy. Jackson never claimed ownership, of course, of the bleach, sexual materials, underwear or the picture.
Pease also says that virtually all the items, aside from some items taken by the District Attorney, were sold anyway and are therefore no longer in Vaccaro's possession. Janet Jackson's portion of the lawsuit remains active.