Michael Jackson Manager Tohme Tohme

Flashback 2009: Michael Jackson Manager Tohme Tohme Said Star Could Do "100 Shows" 07/19/12 11:37am Roger Friedman I wrote the story below in March 2009. Today, the godawful Hollywood Reporter has taken some of this info, wrapped up with some other stuff that is all wrong, and delivered a mess about Michael Jackson. Just to set the record straight: I interviewed Tohme Tohme, Michael's short time manager. I personally and exclusively ascertained that he wasn't a doctor and wasn't a special envoy to Senegal, as he claimed. Shortly after this ran, Tohme was fired. He was replaced by Michael's earlier and most successful manager Frank DiLeo, whom Michael trusted more than anyone. Tohme is now being sued by the Jackson estate. The Hollywood Reporter article is mostly fakakta. Anyway, in effort to un-rewrite history, here goes: For about a year, since right before the chaos involving his Neverland Ranch possibly being sold at auction, Michael Jackson has had a mysterious new manager. The man known as Tohme (pronounced toe-may) called himself a doctor. Different sources said he referred to himself either as an orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon. But there was a discrepancy: who was this man, the latest in a long line of managers who seemed to Svengali the pop star? Yesterday, after many efforts, I finally pinned the 59-year-old Tohme down. A little. He conceded that he is not a licensed physician. "Not at this time," he said. He refused, after repeated attempts, to say what kind of doctor he might have been at any time. His associates declined as well. "If you want to talk about Michael Jackson, fine," he said. "The story isn't about me." But the story is very much about Tohme, who has not only taken over Jackson's life but has a certain conflict of interest: he acts as a consultant to Colony Capital LLC, the company now partnered with Jackson in ownership of Neverland. Colony bought Fortress Investment's $23.5 million note on the ranch last year. More recently, they changed the name of the property to Sycamore Valley Ranch and became partners in the deed with Jackson. A small fortune changed hands, giving Jackson a much needed cash infusion of several million dollars. But the pop singer always needs more money -- he's like a vampire when it comes to funds. So Tohme restarted talks with AEG Live begun in 2007 about Jackson performing at the O2 Arena in London. Now a staggering 35 dates have been set beginning July 8th. Another 15 are likely. Jackson hasn't performed live in a full show since September 10, 2001. Adding to this, Tohme is also responsible for the coming auction of Jackson's personal memorabilia. He set up the auction with Julien's Auction House last fall. Contracts were signed. Now Jackson is suing Julien's, saying he didn't know what was going on. Julien has catalogs printed, and is going forward. So far, Jackson's attorney has not filed for a court order to stop the auction. Sources around Jackson don't have a high opinion of Tohme. They worry that he's just the latest person who's come into Jackson's life with a personal agenda. But Thomas Barrack, head of Colony Capital, says Tohme's a "great guy," someone's he known a long time "in the business world, around L.A." When I asked him how Tohme knew Jackson, Barrack answered: "You'll have to ask him." He did say it was Tohme who introduced him to Jackson. Tohme is fuzzy on this point. "I knew him a long time," he said of Jackson. At first he said he knew Jackson's family, then he backtracked and said his relationship was with Michael. We never really figured that one out. "I love Michael," Tohme said. "I want what's best for him. When the problems with Neverland came, I was approached to see if I could help. I knew him for twenty to thirty years." Tohme told me he set up the AEG Live deal, even though he was clearly not around in 2007 when I first reported the story. I asked him if he set up the auction. "I did not set up the auction, the auction is not going through!" This is in direct contrast to my conversation with auctioneer Darrell Julien last winter, who sang Tohme's praises as the pair worked to put it all together. "We had a certain period of time to empty Neverland last year," Tohme said. "I was looking for a place for storage, a place to dump a lot of stuff like cars. I called Julien's and asked if they could do it, come pick it up." He says an auction could only go through with Jackson's approval. Last week, Darrell Julien told this column: "Michael has plenty of storage facilities. He wouldn't have called me for storage." True enough: Jackson at different times has had airport hangers at Santa Monica airport filled with his belongings. He's also had warehouses closer to home near Neverland. So what about Tohme Tohme, who's not a doctor? There were a lot of questions I couldn't ask him because he kept yelling, and refused to answer. I never got to ask him about a 1996 bankruptcy filing on record in the state of California. In the court filing, vs. Marathon National Bank, he listed himself as "Tohme Tohme, Doctor." A search of the Lexis Nexis database shows no mention of "Tohme Tohme," doctor or otherwise, prior to December 22, 2008 when he issued a statement about Jackson's health. He was charming in our conversation. He said, "If you play it right, you will be the first one to know everything about Michael Jackson." I said, thanks, I already was. He said that Michael is in great shape and could easily do 50 shows. "He could do a hundred." Also read: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/03/24/claim-jackos-rep-threatened-harm-nation-islam/ Categories: Celebrity Claim: Jacko's Rep Threatened Harm From Nation of Islam It should be rockin' at the Hard Rock Café in New York today where famed auctioneer Darren Julien is exhibiting items from the forthcoming Michael Jackson memorabilia sale. Last week, Julien and his partner Martin Nolan entered affavadits into Los Angeles Superior Court claiming that an associate of Jackson's suggested they were in danger from the Nation of Islam if they didn't stop the auction scheduled for Los Angeles next month. Jackson's representative, James R. Weller, Julien says, met with him and Nolan on February 9, 2009 and threatened him with reciprocity from the Nation of Islam. For most of 2004, Jackson was managed by Leonard Muhammad, son in law of Louis Farrakhan. His security was provided by the NOI as well throughout his 2005 trial for child molestation. Julien says that Weller, who is partners with Jackson's manager Tohme R. Tohme in an enterprise called TRW Advertising, asked to meet them at a fast food restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard. There, Julien and Nolan each claim in sworn statements, Weller made a veiled threat on behalf of Jackson and Tohme. "During the meeting, Weller told Martin and me that our lives would be in danger if we did not postpone the auction. Weller said if we refused to postpone it, we would be in danger from "Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam; those people are very protective of Michael." Julien's statement continues: "He told us that Dr. Tohme and Michael Jackson wanted to give the message to us that "our lives are at stake and there will be bloodshed." The next day, Tohme insisted on meeting Julien and Nolan at a Starbucks, Julien says in the declaration. "At that meeting, Tohme dnied any knowledge of Weller's threats, and said that he accepted the auction would need to proceed as agreed." I wrote about this Tohme R. Tohme in this column last week. Although he refers to himself as "doctor" and lets others do so as well, he conceded to me that he is not now a licensed physician. He refused to say if he ever was one, what kind, or where he received a degree. On the website for TRW Advertising, Tohme -- who is Lebanese -- asserts that he's Ambassador at Large to the country of Senegal. Yesterday I spoke with a representative for that country at their Washington embassy who said he'd never heard of Tohme R. Tohme. "There are two ambassadors at large," said Mr. Mansour Gueye. "He isn't one of them." Weller, accused of making the threat, did not return messages. In contrast to Tohme, Weller is considered legit. On the TRW site he lists over twenty years of experience in the advertising world, much of it in Republican politics and verifiable. An associate says he's known Weller for most of that time, and he's on the up and up. Tohme is a different story. Neverland in 'Shambles' Darren Julien, owner of the auction house that is about to sell of the contents of Neverland, couldn't believe the condition of the place when he was summoned there last summer. In his declaration filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Julien lays out what he saw back on July 23, 2008: "When I arrived at Neverland," he writes, "I was surprised to see that it was in shambles. Buildings, amusement rides, industrial equipment, personal automobiles, and Jackson's personal zoo and Tipi village were falling apart. Gardens and lawns were overgrown. Joe Marcus [Jackson's chief of security] and Tohme informed us that Jackson had abandoned the property and has not been there since the trial in 2005." Julien took pictures of the property, which are attached to the declaration. They show the former fantasy property gone to seed, a mere shell of its former glory. By August 8, Julien -- with signed contracts in hand -- began the process of dismantling and cataloging Jackon's belongings. "At that time, Dr. Tohme" -- Julien didn't know Tohme was not actually a doctor -- "confirmed that Jackson had already removed from Neverland whatever personal items he wanted to keep. Dr. Tohme encouraged me and my employees to take whatever property we though we could sell at auction or that would have value. Tohme urged me to take chandeliers, fireplace mantles, carpets and even the brass oven hoods in the kitchens." Tohme, of course, was not only managing Jackson but working for Colony Capital LLC, the firm that had bought the $23.5 million note on Neverland. In the end, Julien says, "I did return certain items to Jackson, including some items that I believed might be embarrassing to him." He doesn't elaborate. Billy & Christie's Kid at the Next Level; Judith Owen Comes to NYC Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley's kid, Alexa Ray, is 22 and a hard worker. She's also a damn good pop singer and composer -- no surprise. Alexa has been gigging around New York and the Northeast now for a couple of years, paying her dues, honing her craft, and growing as a performer. Last night, with mom Christie in attendance, Alexa played her first of three consecutive Monday shows at the Living Room down on Ludlow Street. Since we first saw her at the Cutting Room a couple of years ago, Alexa has matured, grown, and "broken through." She's ready to make her first album. She's also shed the influence of Dad; her songs are now distinctly hers. She's full of hummable singles -- no surprise, either, and her voice has found its own sweet spot. She's reedier than Billy, and also more soulful. Alexa Ray is going to make for a nice new addition to the radio... ...Judith Owen is not 22. She's married to Harry Shearer, comes from Wales and is sardonically very funny while at the same a sterling composer of pop songs in the mode of Carole King with a twist and, uh, a lot of edginess. Starting tomorrow night she takes over the Metropolitan Room in Chelsea for a two week on-off again run. You can check her out at www.judithowen.com. Owen's new album is called "Mopping Up Karma." By the time she's mopped up at the Metropolitan Room, there won't be a dry eye -- from laughing and/or crying -- anywhere. P.S. Harry -- off from Spinal Tap duties -- plays the upright bass and helps out all the way around. It's a great show, not to be missed. P.S.S. Judith has a song called "Here," that is completely phenomenal. If she doesn't sing it at every show, call out for it loudly. They should be using it one of those TV shows like "Brothers & Sisters" or "One Tree Hill." Here's the video, directed by Jamie Lee Curtis. And yes, that's Julia Fordham in the brunette wig playing Judith's mom. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/03/24/claim-jackos-rep-threatened-harm-nation-islam/#ixzz231qwbpmF