Phone messages left by Michael Jackson on Marc Schaffel's answering machine have been entered as evidence for that previously reported lawsuit in which Schaffel is claiming that the pop superstar owes him $3.8m. The jurors in the case heard the increasingly frantic messages, which were played in order to demonstrate how close the relationship between the two men was, and that Jackson had entrusted his associate with multi-million dollar projects. In one of the earliest messages, Jackson is heard to say: "Marc, it's Michael. ... Marc, please never let me down. I like you. I love you. ... I really want us to be friends and conquer the business world together. Please be my loyal, loyal friend. I love you."
Later messages chart the development of a charity single that never actually got off the ground, as well as a project referred to by Jackson as "the Marlon Brando deal", messages which reveal details of the singer's relationship with the late film star. Jackson, says Schaffel, wanted to make a video at Brando's island in Tahiti in which the pair would interview each other, and later had plans for an acting DVD, but both projects ultimately failed to come to fruition because of the huge expense involved. Jackson says in one of the messages: "Marlon Brando has been pushing. He's a wonderful man. He's a god. He wants a lot of money. He wants to get things done right now."
On the charity single, 'What More Can I Give', intended to benefit 9/11 victims, Schaffel explained that the record, which involved more than 30 major guest artists, was never released due to complications with Jackson's label, Sony, adding that the project had cost millions. When it had not been released by 2003, Jackson called Schaffel to suggest it then be released in aid of a charity associated with the invasion of Iraq. "It should be for America in Iraq," he said. "... It's a perfect cause. It means more now than any other causes."
Schaffel also testified that he had arranged ten million dollars worth of credit for Jackson, who also asked him to find a home in Beverly Hills to serve as a hideaway from his Neverland ranch. Sch added that he is also owed 664,000 dollars in royalties from two videos sold to Fox television in the wake of the showing of that damaging Martin Bashir documentary. Jackson, as previously reported, is not attending the trial, having testified via a taped deposition.