Day 19 of the AEG trial: Nobody at AEG cared about Michael Jackson
Today, Paul Gongwer returned to the witness stand.
He said that Michael was one of the parties to the contract with Dr. Murray. He said he had never read the contract." Gongwer stated that the company could not cancel Murray’s contract because hiring this doctor was Michael’s request. He said he entered negotiations with Murray at Michael’s request. He pointed out that he did not know whether Karen Faye, Michael’s makeup artist, acted as an independent contractor or was hired.
Brian Panish, the attorney for the Jackson family, tried to discredit Paul Gongwer. Throughout today and yesterday, after posing questions to Gongwer, he played Gongwer’s earlier videos and/or read out his prior testimony text in order to show the jury the contradictions in what he was saying.
In one of the videos, Gongwer says that the meeting at Michael’s home was about “Dr. Murray and his obligations.” He then takes another position and says that “he” referred to Michael Jackson.
When Panish asked what “obligations” meant, Gongwer said: “I think we were talking about making sure that Michael was focused on the tour and had the commitment.”
“In my view, Kenny (Ortega) was concerned about that. He wanted Michael to stay focused on the work.”
Gongwer said that in that meeting they had discussed Michael’s diet, not his health condition.
Michael had missed several rehearsal sessions for the TII tour. Gongwer said that in previous tours, he had also missed rehearsal sessions.
“When Michael arrived in London for the tour, he would get excited.”
According to Gongwer’s testimony, Dr. Murray had not told him anything about Michael’s insomnia problem. He had previously said he could not remember whether Murray had said anything or not. This led Panish to ask him what caused him to remember that Murray definitely had not told him anything.
Emails showed that Gongwer had told other AEG executives that Michael needed a nutrition specialist and a therapist. Gongwer said he was trying to find a nutrition specialist, but he had not interfered with Michael’s diet.
Panish then played another portion of Gongwer’s testimony video, in which he said he had not had any involvement in finding someone who knew nutrition.
In court, Gongwer said that a nutrition specialist and someone who knows nutrition do not necessarily mean the same thing.
On June 15, 2009, in response to Kenny Ortega’s request for a nutrition specialist and a therapist, Gongwer wrote: “AEG has big sports teams. We think we can find the right person quickly.” Kenny had replied: “Great. Do it as soon as possible!”
Panish then asked about a person named David Lagoner, a friend of Randy Phillips, who was supposed to work with Michael. Gongwer said he did not know whether he was a nutrition expert or not.
“He wanted to make it so Michael could eat more.”
Gongwer said he was not aware of Lagoner’s services for MJ, but the person had also worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias.
Gongwer said he was present the entire time in the building where the tour rehearsals were held, but he did not attend rehearsal sessions.
He said: “We were always thinking about Michael’s health.”
If Gongwer was not in the rehearsal sessions, then who was overseeing the company’s intended resources during those rehearsal sessions? Gongwer’s answer was: “Kenny Ortega.”
Gongwer explained that Kenny Ortega’s job was to keep an eye on everything, including Michael and his health.
Panish: “Do you think Ortega was being overly sensitive about Michael’s health?”
Gongwer: “I knew that when the tour started, Michael would be there and would perform. I wasn’t as worried as Kenny.”
Michael’s absence from the TII tour rehearsal sessions had not made Gongwer either surprised or concerned. Gongwer explained that Michael simply did not like rehearsing. He had not attended rehearsal sessions for the History tour either, but when the tour began, Michael was there.
Panish then moved on to one of the most fundamental emails he had referred to as a “trump card” against the company. In an email to Ortega and Delio, Gongwer had written that Murray should be reminded that his salary was paid by the company, so he had to carry out his obligations.
In a prior interrogation video recorded in December 2012, Gongwer had told Kevin Boyle, the Jacksons’ attorney, that he did not know what he meant by saying that. The video was played in court:
Gongwer: “I don’t understand that sentence. We weren’t paying him a salary.”
Kevin Boyle: “So why did you write something like that?”
Gongwer: “I have no idea.”
Kevin Boyle: “When you say his salary, who is ‘him’?”
Gongwer: “I don’t know.”
Kevin Boyle: “If you don’t know who he was, then how did you write that you were paying his salary?”
Gongwer: “I don’t remember that email.”
Kevin Boyle: “Didn’t you just say that we weren’t paying his salary?”
Gongwer: “We, AEG.”
Kevin Boyle: “Yes, I mean something else. You just testified that you weren’t paying his salary. Just a few seconds ago.”
Gongwer: “I think so.”
Kevin Boyle: “Alright, so who’s salary were you referring to—Dr. Murray?”
Gongwer: “Yes.”
On the stand, Gongwer said that he had set aside time to study this email and match it with the other emails.
With a sharp, sarcastic tone, Panish asked Gongwer: “After finally meeting with your lawyers and talking with them for an hour or two, did you finally understand what you meant by writing that sentence?”
Gongwer: “I came to the conclusion myself, and then I shared it with my lawyers. When you review it, you find the facts.”
Panish suggested that perhaps Gongwer had experienced memory issues: “You didn’t use a psychologist to help you remember? You don’t want your psychologist to put you to sleep—Judge intervened here and said: hypnosis—so you can see whether you can remember or not?”
Gongwer: “No.”
He added: “I still don’t remember writing that email, but I accept that I wrote it.”
Panish then examined Gongwer’s email word by word.
Panish: “Your reference is to Dr. Murray, and what you expect from him is correct, right?”
Gongwer: “Yes. We were talking about Dr. Murray’s salary, but the contract was never signed. His duty was to care for his patient.”
Panish: “Didn’t Dr. Murray know what his duty was and that he needed to be reminded?”
Gongwer said that if he had known that four years later several lawyers would be asking him about this email, he would have been more careful with his wording. He then claimed that this email was a response to Kenny Ortega’s request to hire a nutrition specialist. He continued: “I definitely think that Dr. Murray has the knowledge to do this (nutrition). He’s a doctor!”
Panish asked Gongwer why, when Michael had his own personal doctor, he thought he needed a nutrition specialist. Gongwer said: “That was Kenny’s request.”
Gongwer explained the email he had written on June 14, 2009, and read other parts of it: “This is a short note between me, Kenny, and Frank. The email is: Frank and I talked about this, and we want to request an in-person meeting with the doctor. Probably Monday. We want to remind him that this is AEG that pays his salary, not MJ. We want him to know what is expected of him. So far he has been dodging meetings with Frank.”
Gongwer said: “If MJ had signed Dr. Murray’s contract and instructed us to pay his salary, we would have done it.”
In May 5, Gongwer wrote to Carla Gracia, the assistant to the Loic team’s executive managers, that he did not know exactly which day the tour would open because Michael would not be in rehearsals. Gongwer had asked this woman to pray for him because everything had been like a “nightmare.”
Email: “Pray for me. This is a nightmare. It’s not random—I have nightmares every night. Cold sweat is on my body. Life used to be better before.”
On the stand, Gongwer said that this email did not indicate his concern about Michael’s ability to carry out the tour; rather, he was simply joking with his boss’s assistant.
To justify what he said, Gongwer used very casual words: “Carla is really a sweetheart, and I was just trying to flirt with her. I don’t have nightmares. I don’t get cold sweats. I sleep great.”
Panish: “Were you lying?”
Gongwer: “What lie? I was just joking.”
Panish: “When you joke, you ask people to pray for you?”
Gongwer: “I said that at the time.”
Email from Jon Hagedal (tour production manager) to Randy Phillips dated June 19, 2009:
“He (Michael) needs a psychologist to prepare him mentally for the tour, and then he wants a trainer to prepare him physically as well. (It’s better if Kobe—name of a person—is available.) Over the last eight weeks, his condition has been getting worse and worse right in front of my eyes. In April, he was able to spin 360 degrees in a row (one of Michael’s dance moves), but if he tries to do it now, he will hit the floor on his butt.”
Randy Phillips’ response: “Baxie (Hagedal’s nickname), I know because I just received Kenny’s (Ortega) voicemail. When he arrives, what did he do and what happened between him and K a (Kenny Ortega)? I have a meeting with MJ tomorrow morning.”
Email from Hagedal to Phillips and Gongwer: “MJ arrived and looked at the arrangements for the fireworks (for the tour), approved them, and then went to his room and asked Kenny, ‘You don’t want me to kill you, do you?’ We thought his reference was to fireworks. But Kenny said Michael was shivering and couldn’t hold a knife and fork. Kenny cut his food into pieces so he could eat, and then he had to use his fingers. I don’t know how many times a crow becomes forty crows, but apparently Kenny had said that MJ wasn’t in a condition to go on stage and rehearse. He made a small complaint about why no one was taking responsibility for taking care of Michael and preparing him, and that we might reach a point where there’s no turning back. ”
On the stand, Gongwer said about this email: “I wasn’t worried. It seemed like he was sick, and they were supposed to talk about it the next day.”
Email from Phillips to the Loic team dated June 19: “We’re facing a major problem.”
Loic’s response, the same day: “Set up time for you and me to meet with him. I want Kenny to be there too.”
Phillips’ response to Hagedal: “Me and the team (Loic) are going to see him (Michael) tomorrow. But I don’t know what the issue is—physiological or chemical?”
That day, Gongwer was at a wedding for one of his relatives and hadn’t paid much attention to this email. It was the first time he heard that Michael was sick.
Gongwer’s response to Phillips: “Take the doctor with you—why wasn’t he there last night?”
On the stand, Gongwer explained: “Yes, if MJ was sick, why wasn’t his doctor with him?”
Phillips had responded: “He (Dr. Murray) isn’t a psychologist; I don’t know how effective he can be in this matter. Definitely, bringing him to that place isn’t our concern—this is beyond those kinds of things.”
On the stand, Gongwer said: “I think Randy was expressing his own opinion here.”
Before Gongwer, Panish asked whether he knew what Phillips meant by “the issue is beyond those kinds of things.” Gongwer said no and that “that day, they were supposed to discuss exactly this.”
Panish: “You weren’t worried?”
Gongwer: “Not necessarily.”
Panish: “Didn’t anyone tell you where Dr. Murray was?”
Gongwer: “No.”
Panish: “And you never tried to find out?”
Gongwer: “No.”
Gongwer: “The meeting took place on June 20. I wasn’t with them.”
Email from Randy Phillips to Gongwer on June 20: “Unfortunately, our time is running out. This is my biggest fear.”
On the stand, Gongwer said: “He was afraid, but I wasn’t. I didn’t agree with him.”
Panish asked him whether the company had put too much pressure on Michael to carry out the tour. He asked about Gongwer’s view that “in any case, the show must go on.”
Gongwer rejected it. He told the jury that he was thinking about Michael’s health, but he believed that Kenny Ortega was overly worried. Still, he accepted that in the entertainment industry, “the show must go on.”
Gongwer said the company’s policy was to work only with people it knows, or who are introduced as artists or are industry insiders. He said he didn’t know when Murray’s contract would be signed, but the contract was for the London concert tour.
On June 20, Randy Phillips, in another email to Gongwer’s hidden address, brought up Ortega: “This man is worrying me. Read his email and my response. Randy and Dr. Murray are meeting with MJ today at 4 p.m. at the Forum.”
In court, Gongwer said he wasn’t sure whether Phillips’s “this man” meant Kenny Ortega. He said it might have meant Michael or Murray. He said: “The health of the artist is more important than anything. Without the artist, there is no show. The artist is the most important thing.”
Email from Ortega to Randy Phillips, June 20, 2009: “I will do everything I can to improve this situation. Now that we’ve brought in Dr. (Murray) and asked him—along with kindness—to be stricter and to tell him it’s now or never; my concern is that the artist (Michael) won’t be able to reach peak readiness due to emotional issues. He (Michael) looked tired and weak today. He was extremely cold, shivering, talking nonsense, and was obsessive. Everything tells me he needs a psychologist. If we have a chance to get him back on stage, that requires help from a therapist and a nutrition specialist. Our choreographer told me that tonight, during costume fitting, he noticed Michael’s weight had dropped even further. As far as I know, there is no one who is responsible for taking care of him day by day. Where was his assistant tonight? Tonight I fed him and wrapped him in a blanket to warm him up. I massaged his legs to calm him down and called his doctor. Four security officers are standing outside his room’s door, but none of them are giving him a cup of hot tea. It’s important that everyone knows this. In my view, this tour is important to him and he truly wants it. If we pull the plug now (cancel the tour contract), it will break his heart. He’s terrified that everything will fall apart. Tonight he asked me many times whether I intend to throw him away. He was basically begging me to trust him. My heart hurt. He was like a lost boy. There is still a chance for him to get to where he needs to be, if we don’t withhold the help he needs.”
Phillips’ response to Ortega: “Kenny, once I’m informed about what’s going on, I’ll let you know. We have someone—Bridget—who is handling the arrangements for his (Michael’s) stay in London. We will bring her and Frank (Delio, MJ’s manager) back to Los Angeles as soon as possible. But I’m stuck—I don’t know who to hire as a therapist, and how this person can help him in such a short time.”
Gongwer about Ortega: “He was definitely worried.”
Panish: “Seriously worried?”
Gongwer: “That’s how it seemed.”
Gongwer said he had been waiting to learn the result of the meeting that day with Michael. He clarified that Bridget was a lawyer who was arranging a home in London for Michael’s stay.
Gongwer expressed his opinion about the artists: “They are special people.”
Email from Phillips to Ortega after meeting Dr. Murray, June 20, 2009: “It’s better that neither I nor you nor anyone else claims knowledge of medical and psychological matters. You can’t imagine the further harm caused by stopping the tour at this stage.”
Panish: “Can you name someone from the company staff who reviewed Dr. Murray’s background?”
Gongwer: “I don’t know whether anyone did that. I don’t know anything about him. Some people work for reasons other than money, but I don’t know whether Dr. Murray was one of them. I believe all doctors are unbiased and ethical. I’ve never checked any of the doctors I’ve gone to. I only go to them based on other people’s recommendations. I’ve never checked their financial situation.”
Gongwer continued that everyone thought Michael was the richest person in the world, and that it wasn’t strange for employees to ask him for high salaries. He said that before this court hearing, he had not heard anything about Dr. Murray’s financial situation.
Panish: “He (Phillips) knew that MJ’s health had worsened based on what the doctor told him. Right?”
Gongwer: “Yes.”
Gongwer: “I spoke with him (Phillips). He said that the meeting (June 20) went well.”
Email from Hagedal to Gongwer, June 22: “Let’s keep the two documentary people away from here today (Staple Center), or if they’re going to stay, they shouldn’t come out of the dressing room. We have rehearsal tomorrow.”
(The documentary that was made from the tour was shown in theaters after Michael’s death.)
Panish: “Sir, Michael was sick these days, wasn’t he, sir?”
Gongwer: “I don’t know. He showed up the next day and he was great.”
Panish: “But you weren’t at the rehearsal meeting. Sir?”
Gongwer: “I saw the reports that were taken.”
Gongwer said he wasn’t present at many rehearsal sessions, but he had seen Michael’s trailer performance on June 24, one day before his death. However, that was the only time Gongwer attended rehearsal sessions.
Gongwer: “He was completely focused on his work and involved in it. I remember watching the trailer performance because it was the first time they were rehearsing in stage costumes, and I wanted to witness it.”
Source: eMJey.com / ABC & NY Daily & LA Times & AP & CNN