Gangwer in Day 18 of the AEG Trial: The Tour Would Go On, With or Without Michael’s Consent
Week five of the AEG company trial began on Tuesday with Catherine Jackson and her three children, Janet, Rebbie, and Randy. Of course, only one of these three was allowed to enter the courtroom with Catherine. Janet attended the morning session, and Rebbie was with her in the afternoon.
Paul Gangwer is one of the defendants in this case, and the Jackson family (Michael’s mother and his three children) is suing him. Today, Catherine Jackson’s lawyer called him to the stand to give testimony.
Gangwer, who had worked as a manager on earlier Michael Jackson tours, is one of AEG’s senior executives and the second vice president of Concerts West (Concerts West), a subsidiary of AEG. He served on the tours of the Backstreet Boys and Led Zeppelin, and he is currently involved in the Rolling Stones tour. In 2004, he produced the Prince tour, and since then he has not worked on any tour as a producer or advertising manager. Since the end of the Prince tour, he has had no dealings with Prince. He is an official accountant in Washington and New York. He does not know whether his accounting certificate has been invalidated because he has not checked it and there was no need to do so.
Gangwer said that signing a deal with Michael Jackson—whom he considered the greatest artist of his era—was a major achievement for AEG.
In an email in 2008 to Randy Phillips, the representative and CEO of AEG, he explained how the company should negotiate with Michael and his manager regarding the execution of a comeback tour.
“We should start with the most important things. The difference between us and Live Nation (the competitor) is huge. We rely on the artist; they have Wall Street behind them (influential and wealthy people). We are smart people. We are honest and straightforward with everyone. This is what Phil (Anshats, the company owner) wants.”
Gangwer said he had also worked on Elvis Presley’s tour. Panish, Catherine Jackson’s lawyer, asked whether Elvis also died due to drug use, and whether Gangwer answered yes.
On July 5, 2009, in response to an email sent to him to offer condolences for Michael’s death, Gangwer said:
“When Elvis died, I was busy preparing his tour (referring to Michael’s death, which also occurred during tour preparations), so in a way I knew I should expect it. But I was still shocked.”
Panish: “So when Michael Jackson died, you were expecting it, right?”
Gangwer: “Yes, to some extent I knew what was going to happen.”
After Michael’s death, Gangwer told the police that he had known about his drug use in the past years but had not intervened.
Gangwer said another artist he had worked with who had a drug abuse problem was Rick James.
Panish questioned Gangwer about Concerts West. He asked about his work with the Jackson Five (Michael and his brothers when they were children), and Gangwer said he had no connection to that group. He had served on Michael Jackson’s Dangerous tour from 1992 to 93. Panish pointed out that Michael earned $100 million from that tour and donated all of it to charitable causes. Gangwer said he didn’t know anything about that. Gangwer had met Michael in Las Vegas along with Colonel Parker (Elvis’s manager). Michael wanted to meet with Colonel Parker. Gangwer then explained the difference between being a tour manager and managing a tour, and talked about Michael’s History tour.
Panish: “Did you know that MJ paid to get off drugs after the Dangerous tour?”
Gangwer: “Yes, based on the statement he released after the tour.”
Gangwer said that although he was the tour logistics manager, until the end of the tour he didn’t know anything about Michael’s addiction to painkillers. Of course, he knew that Michael had been using pain medication for years. Gangwer said he knew Michael had used drugs in two situations during the Dangerous tour.
Gangwer: “If I had known something was wrong, I would have intervened.”
He said he knew that during the tour a doctor was giving Michael medication, but he hadn’t realized anything beyond that.
Gangwer: “I didn’t have time to deal with the rest; I had to take care of my responsibilities.”
Panish pointed out that Dr. Finkelstein, the doctor of the Dangerous tour, had sworn in his testimony that Paul Gangwer knew about Michael’s addiction to painkillers before the end of the Dangerous tour.
Panish: “Do you not accept that testimony?”
Gangwer: “I knew he (Michael) was in pain.”
Gangwer explained that Finkelstein was his doctor. They had been friends for more than 35 years.
When Panish asked about Finkelstein’s willingness to be hired as Michael’s personal physician, Gangwer said he couldn’t remember, but he knew Finkelstein wanted the job. Gangwer continued that he had never offered Finkelstein to become Michael’s personal doctor, and if Finkelstein had said otherwise, he was mistaken.
Gangwer said that he met Finkelstein a few times a year, but until now there had been no discussion about MJ.
Panish asked whether Finkelstein had asked about whether Michael was clean of painkillers. Gangwer said he didn’t remember.
Gangwer had once called Finkelstein to ask what a reasonable salary would be for a tour doctor. The doctor said $10,000 per week, which equals $40,000 per month. Murray’s salary was $150,000.
Gangwer: “Maybe after Michael’s death we had conversations, but I don’t remember the details.”
In his testimony, Finkelstein had said that after the Dangerous tour concert in Bangkok, he had given Michael pain medication, after Michael had undergone surgery on his scalp.
Through repeated questions about Gangwer’s memory and the time he had spent reviewing his testimony with his lawyers, Panish succeeded in exposing his contradictions.
The recorded video of Gangwer’s testimony was played in court:
- “Did you ever ask Dr. Finkelstein whether he treated Michael during the Dangerous tour?”
- Gangwer’s answer: “He didn’t talk about it.”
In another part of this video, Gangwer says: “Yes, sometimes he treated Michael.”
Back to court…
Panish: “Were you always honest with MJ?”
Gangwer: “I believe so.”
Panish: “Did you try to trick Michael Jackson?”
Gangwer: “I didn’t try to trick Michael.”
During the bad tour, Michael Jackson filled 10 stadiums with 75,000 people each.
Panish: “That’s a very big number.”
Gangwer: “Amazing.”
Panish: “How many tickets were sold in two hours?” (This Is It tour)
Gangwer: “In our initial presale, we sold tickets for 31 concerts.”
Panish: “Faster than anything you’ve experienced?”
Gangwer: “Yes.”
Gangwer continued: “Nobody knows how many concerts we could have held with Mike.”
Panish asked about the name “Mikey,” and Gangwer said he was often called that.
An email from Gangwer to Phillips dated February 27, 2009 (one day before the contract was signed):
“We have taken on all the risk. If MJ doesn’t accept, we will start the work without his consent. We will let him know what it costs him if he’s looking for money. We are putting on concerts in London, with or without his consent. He can’t stop us, and of course he will try, because he’s lazy and always changes his mind to get what he wants right away.”
He said that his use of the name “Mikey” was out of affection, not disrespect. He described the word “lazy” as an unpleasant way to convey his meaning. He said he meant that Michael truly wasn’t willing to do rehearsals.
Gangwer: “He (Michael) truly wasn’t willing to rehearse. He didn’t want to do these things.”
Gangwer: “People had learned that a press conference would be held in London. If Michael didn’t attend the conference, it would cost us money.”
Although Michael’s consent was not important to the company, showing it to the public was of great importance. If Michael was going to perform in London, then he had to be seen at the conference.
“He didn’t want to do these things, but if he wanted to perform, it was important that he be seen by the world.”
At that time, doing this did not cost the company anything special.
Gangwer: “There was no risk involved; we hadn’t spent any money.”
He also talked about the company’s concern that the media would have a negative effect on ticket sales. He said that “in London, the media constantly referred to Michael as ‘wacko Jacko’, and the company was worried that this would lower ticket sales.” But the company had miscalculated, because all tickets were sold within a few hours. In fact, the This Is It tour holds the record for the fastest ticket sales in history.
Panish presented many of Gangwer’s emails as evidence showing that AEG intentionally misled Michael about his tour income and the time intervals between concerts.
Gangwer had written to his boss, Randy Phillips, that in their negotiations to close the contract, they should present Michael with the gross revenue from ticket sales—not the net profit figure.
Another email from Paul Gangwer to his assistant showed that he had wanted to change the color of Michael’s calendar. He had instructed that workdays should be made brighter and rest days should be emphasized more.
Gangwer: “When Michael looks at the calendar, I don’t want the concerts to stand out too much. I want it to look like he isn’t working that much.” (More rest than work.)
Panish: “You wanted to change the color of the schedule on the calendar so that MJ would think he isn’t working hard?”
Gangwer: “Yes.”
Panish: “Were you trying to trick him?”
Gangwer: “No, I wasn’t trying to trick him. I wanted to show it to him in the best possible way.”
Gangwer said the workdays and rest days were clearly defined, and he wasn’t tricking Michael.
In an email dated March 25, 2009 (20 days after the announcement that the tour would be held in London), Kenny Ortega (the tour director) wrote to Gangwer: “He (Karen Faye) strongly believes that performing the tour is dangerous and unreasonable for Michael.” Karen Faye was Michael’s makeup artist.
That same day, Gangwer wrote to Randy Phillips in an email, repeating the issue and stating: “I don’t know what to say.”
Phillips’s response to Gangwer: “We should stop it; I’ll explain.”
Panish: “Mr. Phillips wanted to cancel the tour schedule, right?”
Gangwer: “I think he was referring here to ending the cooperation with Karen Faye. We never talked about canceling the tour—never, in any way. Kenny Ortega requested ending her cooperation because of her behavior. She was trying to control access to MJ, and Kenny didn’t like that.”
Panish played a previously recorded video of Gangwer’s testimony in court. In it, he said he didn’t understand Phillips’s meaning of “we should stop it.” He said he didn’t remember Phillips saying they should stop the tour.
In court, Gangwer said: “I think Michael was doing well on the day of the press conference (March 5 in London).”
Gangwer explained that on that day he was waiting in the hall, but Phillips was with Michael.
Gangwer: “MJ was late. Randy said he was trying to get him to the hall.”
Panish: “Did Randy tell you that Michael was drunk and discouraged?”
Gangwer: “No, he only said it was hard to get Michael to the hall.”
Panish: “Is Mr. Phillips your good friend?”
Gangwer: “I work with him.”
Panish played a video of Phillips’s interview with the Sky TV network after Michael’s death. In the video, Phillips says he hired Conrad Murray.
Gangwer said: “I was told that Michael wanted him as the tour doctor.”
He said he had no knowledge of Michael having any illness.
Gangwer: “He gave an exercise test and he passed it, and as far as I know he didn’t have any problems. Maybe he had a bit of seasonal allergies.”
Panish: “Did you see the result of his blood test?”
Gangwer: “The result was good.”
Gangwer said he didn’t see the test result and he didn’t know who had seen it. He explained that Bob Taylor, the insurance broker, had told him in an email that everything was fine and Michael had succeeded.
Regarding his meeting with Dr. Murray, Gangwer said he had seen him twice. In one session, during rehearsals, and in a meeting at Michael’s home. He said that in the rehearsal session he only greeted Murray:
“I only said hello. On the stage floor. Mikey asked me to put him in service. I never hired him.”
Gangwer was told that Murray was going to be the tour doctor in London. Gangwer had only spoken to Dr. Murray by phone twice. The first time Murray requested a fee of five million dollars, and the second time he agreed after Michael offered 150,000 dollars.
Panish: “At first, did you ask about Dr. Murray’s requested salary?”
Gangwer: “Yes.”
Panish: “He said he wanted five million, right?”
Gangwer: “He said that. He said he had four offices and (to be with Michael) he had to close them all. He had to dismiss his employees. I told him I wouldn’t agree to that salary.”
Gangwer added that Michael then offered a monthly salary of 150,000 dollars. But Murray was still not satisfied.
Gangwer: “He said he wanted more. I told him that this offer was made directly by Michael. A few minutes later he accepted.”
Panish: “In your opinion, was his acceptance out of necessity?”
Gangwer: “No. He only accepted Michael’s offer. I think he would accept any salary Michael offered.”
Gangwer said that Dr. Murray would earn a salary of 1.5 million dollars over 10 months—something equal to Kenny Ortega’s salary, the tour director.
He said that nobody at AEG had investigated Dr. Murray’s background. According to him, Murray had served as Michael’s personal doctor for the three years before that.
“That he had served Michael for three years was enough for me.”
Gangwer said he didn’t know how many times Michael had met with Murray.
Gangwer: “Michael insisted on hiring Murray; he suggested him. My job wasn’t to tell MJ what kind of person his doctor should be. He wanted a doctor, and I wanted him to be healthy and safe for the tour.”
When Panish asked whether whatever Michael wanted was provided, Gangwer said he tried to provide what Michael needed to do his job.
With reluctance, Gangwer agreed that he had entered negotiations with him to hire Murray, but he said that his only role in this process was negotiating the salary, and the rest was up to the team and Wylie. Gangwer and the Wylie team (company employees) are old friends, and both are currently serving on the Rolling Stones tour.
Panish asked him whether he was aware of Murray’s financial problems. Gangwer answered no.
Gangwer added: “The final contract wasn’t made. We agreed on the salary, but there were still many issues that needed to be resolved.”
Panish played a recorded video of Gangwer’s interrogation. In the video, he contradicts himself. At first he insists he had never negotiated with Murray. But when his emails and previous testimony are put in front of him, he changes his position and says: “The only negotiation I did with Dr. Murray was about the salary.”
Gangwer said he had never read Michael’s and the company’s contract: “When Michael signed it, I was there, but I didn’t read it.”
He insisted: “Dr. Murray was 100% part of Michael’s costs. 90% of the tour production costs were Michael’s, and the company only covered 5%.”
Panish: “Who decided that a contract was needed to hire Murray?”
Gangwer: “I don’t know.”
Panish: “You could have told Murray at any time that you didn’t need him, couldn’t you?”
Gangwer: “No.”
Panish then pointed out that Gangwer had fired MJ’s children’s nurses.
Panish: “Did you have a hand in firing one of Michael’s children’s nurses?”
Gangwer: “Yes.”
Gangwer had told Grace Rwaramba that they no longer needed her services because AEG was looking to reduce MJ’s costs.
Murray’s salary was categorized in the tour production expense list. Panish asked Gangwer whether he had approved the tour production budget for the months of April through July, in which Murray’s salary was also included. He answered that he didn’t know which parts he had approved. He said he should have studied the detailed expenses, but he didn’t have time to study the budget. Although he was the tour manager, without reading the budget he approved parts of it. He said that instead of studying the detailed expenses, he trusted the tour accountant:
Gangwer: “I thought the accountant knew what needed to be done.”
Panish: “Do you think you do your job well?”
Gangwer: “Yes.”
Panish: “Very well?”
Gangwer: “I think so.”
During his testimony, Gangwer repeatedly complained about his weak memory. He said he might have met Michael for the This Is It tour ten times, but he only remembered two of those. In one of these meetings, Murray was also present. He didn’t remember a meeting at Michael’s home in which a vase broke. In one meeting, Michael signed a contract. In an early-June meeting, Gangwer had been present at Michael’s home alongside Kenny Ortega, Randy Phillips, Frank Delio, and Dr. Murray to discuss Michael’s needs for the upcoming tour.
“The meeting was to ensure that Dr. Murray had everything he needed to take care of Michael’s health.”
Sean Trell, the company’s senior attorney, had said in a previous court session that the company had ignored Murray’s request to have certain medical equipment that he believed was necessary for Michael’s care.
The text of the police interrogation of Gangwer was read in court. He said that Michael’s health was discussed, including his diet, weight, mental and physical strength, and issues of that kind.
Gangwer said that on the day of Michael’s meeting, Michael seemed a bit unwell. He had just returned from Dr. Klein’s office with a delay and couldn’t speak well.
“I think medication was affecting him. This was the only time I saw him like that.” He said he didn’t know what medication Klein was injecting into Michael.
Gangwer said that on that day there was no talk about Michael skipping rehearsals.
Michael had missed some rehearsals, and it was said that at home he danced alone.
Gangwer: “But they realized he was only watching videos at home. Conrad Murray was receptive to their concerns and said he would address the issue.”
Source: eMJey.com / AP & ABC & LA Times & NY Daily