Blanket, the son of the late iconic pop star Michael Jackson, has asked a court to stop his grandmother from using funds from his father’s estate to fund the legal battles.
This comes shortly after their recent $600 million deal with Sony. Blanket, who now goes by the name Bigi, is fighting to stop his grandmother from finding her legal fees as she battles the Jackson estate executors.
According to court records that Billboard obtained, Bigi’s issue with his grandmother, Katherine Jackson, started sometime last year. A ruling gave the estate co-executors John Branca and John McClain approval to proceed with an unnamed transaction.
However, neither Katherine nor Bigi approved of this transaction. Therefore, they both took the executors to court last year. When the ruling was not in their favor, Bigi decided to take a step back and accept the judge’s decision.
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On the other hand, Katherine opted to keep fighting. She filed an appeal even though evidence proved that it would be a long shot for her to win. In December, she went on to file motions asking that the estate pay for her legal bills stemming from her objections, including the ongoing appellate case.
However, Bigi believes it would be unfair for her to ask him and his siblings to pay for the case. He also believes that her efforts will surely face “long odds.” “It is readily apparent that a reversal on appeal would be an extreme longshot,” Bigi’s lawyers wrote.
“Given those odds, Bigi decided not to waste his resources to participate in an appeal. Nonetheless, Katherine has decided to appeal this court’s ruling. That decision is not for the benefit of the heirs.”
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The estate co-executors, John Branca and John McClain, also do not support her claim. In fact, they mentioned in the filing that they oppose estate payments for her “failed objection” and “meritless appeal” quite strongly. How high is the fee Katherine is asking for that makes everyone oppose it so vehemently?
According to a filing by Branca and McClain earlier in March, the Jackson grandmother is requesting over $561,548. The huge sum will cover legal fees for her initial objections and the current appeal.
To Bigi, this is a lot of money, and he argued that her request “might be high.” He also criticized her choice to hire “four lawyers charging fees of $840 to $1,400 per hour.”
Furthermore, the pop star’s son did not entirely oppose Katherine’s request. He approved of the estate paying for her legal bills for only her initial opposition. However, his grandmother wants them to cover both fees.
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“Katherine’s petition has the practical effect of requiring Bigi and his siblings pay for her appeal,” his representatives wrote. “It would be unfair to make those beneficiaries shoulder this burden when they expressly decided an appeal would not be in their best interests.”
Katherine and her lawyers have yet to respond to media requests for comment, and the estate’s representatives have also not issued an official statement.
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