A.J. Court Session 27: Who Was Michael’s Business Manager?

On this day, Randy Phillips appeared in the witness stand for the sixth day. He said that on June 25—the day Michael died—he was heading to Staples Center. He had no intention of going to Carol Wood’s house, nor of picking her up to take her to Staples. Most of the questions focused on the relationship between Michael’s business manager and the production costs for the This Is It tour. Penish focused on a letter Phillips had sent to his dismissed business manager, Mr. Tamy Tamy, on June 28, 2009—three days after Michael’s death. The letter, signed by Tamy and returned to A.J. company, was confirmation that Michael Jackson’s company was responsible for paying the production costs of a tour that was no longer going to take place. Phillips said Michael’s costs had exceeded $7.5 million after his death. Phillips said he didn’t know whether Michael was the only person who had the right to sign the tour cost contract, or whether Tamy had authorization on his behalf. The contract stated that the signatory, Dr. Tamy Tamy, declares and guarantees that he is an official employee of the artist (Michael Jackson). The contract had been signed before Tamy was fired. Penish also showed Phillips a letter that had been signed by Michael on May 5, 2009, which removed Tamy from all his authority regarding representing Michael Jackson. Phillips said that on June 28—more than a month after Michael signed the letter dismissing Tamy—he still didn’t know whether Tamy had legal permission to represent Michael. Phillips said he had received a note from Michael stating that Tamy no longer worked for him. However, after Michael’s death, Phillips contacted Tamy. Penish: "Did you receive anything that showed Tamy (after being fired) had returned to his job?" Phillips: "No." Phillips said he had not read the tour production budget attached to the June 28 letter. In that budget, a salary of $450,000 was allocated for Dr. Murray. Penish returned to the emails. Phillips, after Michael’s death on July 16, 2009: "We were all concerned about Michael’s weight during rehearsals, which was 130 pounds (59 kilograms), and we asked him to eat better because he was obsessing over the creative part of the shows and would forget to eat. Kenny Ortega always personally fed him, and I hired someone to be in charge of his food." Phillips said he had asked his friend, Laggner, to help with feeding Michael. Penish: "In this email, it says you hired someone to be in charge of his food." Phillips: "I didn’t hire him—he agreed to help with that." Phillips said that person was never paid. Penish asked Phillips about the highly profitable business opportunities that had arisen for the company after Michael’s death, and displayed one of his emails. Phillips, August 4, 2009: "Michael’s death is a terrible tragedy, but life goes on. A.J. makes money through the sale of merchandise, ticket holding, the tour of memorabilia items, and film/DVD sales. However, I wish he were still here!" Addressing the jury, Phillips said he wished Michael were still alive. In another email, Phillips wrote that the profits from sales go to Michael’s mother and children, and to charities. He also addressed the claim that Michael had been pressured to attend rehearsals. He said Michael died before even a single concert from the tour had taken place. Phillips said that during Tamy’s lawsuit against the Michael Jackson Foundation to collect his claim, he had testified in a hearing session. He said Dr. Tamy was not a traditional manager and had no employees. Phillips: "I didn’t even know where his office was, except the hotel café in Bel Air." These remarks made some jury members laugh. Penish then asked about the employment contract with Tamy. The contract stated that Murray’s duty was to help the company produce the tour. Tamy’s monthly salary was listed as $100,000. The contract was signed by Phillips and Michael. Phillips said Tamy’s salary was paid by Michael as a loan. Penish asked whether it was normal for the artist’s business manager to be asked to follow the company’s policies, and whether that created a conflict of interest for Michael. Phillips pointed out that this was done with Michael’s consent: "In fact, no—Michael Jackson signed the contract, so he must have agreed with it." Phillips said he wanted Michael to have a business manager because they needed someone to negotiate on his behalf. Penish asked whether Michael had become anxious as the tour approached. Phillips: "I never saw Michael anxious." Phillips said Michael never informed him about his sleep problem. After lunch on May 4, 2009, Phillips had a phone call with Dr. Tamy, but said nothing about the issue came up. Penish then asked Phillips whether he had seen any signed contract showing that Frank Delio had been hired as Michael’s business manager. Penish showed a letter dated May 2, 2009, signed by Michael. The letter stated that Delio was one of his representatives. It also included the strange phrase that Delio could act on Michael’s behalf but "only according to instructions." Gangwer wrote to Phillips in an email: "This is a bit strange—how are we supposed to understand 'only according to instructions'?" Phillips replied that they needed a contract or signed letter that would allow paying Delio $50,000. Gangwer wrote: "We should just pray." Phillips: "When it comes to paying people’s money (Michael), he forgets." After reading these emails, Penish asked the CEO whether A.J.’s business method was like this (praying). The answer was no. Phillips said Frank Delio had asked them to give him $50,000 and he believes MJ had accepted. He said it was very difficult to determine who had permission to work on Michael’s behalf and who didn’t. "You needed a schedule table to know who from his team left and who came in?" Penish referred to an email Phillips had sent to Jeff Wald (book publisher) on June 2, 2009, saying that Michael had no representative: "Jeff, remember that focusing Michael on work is not the easiest thing in the world. We don’t have any lawyer, business manager, or even a real business manager—it’s terrible!" Penish pointed out that Phillips meant that Tamy Tamy was not Michael’s real business manager. Phillips said Michael probably had a lawyer on June 2. He said Michael used different lawyers for each of his jobs. Penish showed emails in which Katie Jory, one of the company’s lawyers, expressed concern about Tamy and asked whether he was the "original goods." She also suggested investigating him. Phillips said he trusted Tamy based on the behavior Tamy had with Michael. At the time, he thought Tamy’s work was great. In an email about Tamy, Phillips wrote: "He is a good man who worked miracles for MJ; he’s not just a business manager." Before ending his questions, Penish asked Phillips about his emails to Irving Azoff, an executive in the music industry. In an email to Azoff, Phillips asked what the difficulty of putting on fifty concerts with Michael Jackson was. Azoff replied that having "insurance" was the key. He also praised Phillips’s skill in buying insurance policies: "You’re an expert at this." Penish asked Phillips whether he was trying to act as Michael’s business manager. He referred to many lawsuits Phillips had tried to manage. Phillips answered no. The last question Penish asked was: "Did you feel that handling all matters related to MJ was exhausting?" Phillips: "I wasn’t handling MJ’s affairs. But dealing with MJ was exhausting." After that, Marvin Pontam, the company’s attorney, began asking questions. Pontam showed an email Phillips had sent to Michael Amir Williams, Michael’s assistant. The email proposed holding a meeting to discuss buying Neverland, settling the lawsuit related to Michael’s memorabilia, and discussing the perfume and advertising contract. The meeting was requested at Delio’s request. Pontam: "You said working with Michael Jackson was a challenge?" Phillips: "Michael was unpredictable. That was one of the traits that made him a great person. And at the same time, it made dealing with him impossible. He would change his mind. He would change his representatives as easily as we change our socks." Pontam: "Were you able to decide about his representatives?" Phillips: "No." Phillips said that John Branca had been Michael’s lawyer for years; they had a dispute, and then Michael brought him back some time before his death. Katherine Jackson, who had never liked Branca, shook her head. Branca was the lawyer who helped Michael build the Sony/ATV empire worth more than a billion dollars. He said that, in his view, Michael and Tamy Tamy had a close relationship. Tamy was introduced to Phillips as a business manager. Tamy was first suggested to Michael by Jermaine Jackson. Michael was determined to restart his career. Tamy told Phillips: "It’s time to return." Phillips: "Dr. Tamy was the only way I was able to negotiate with MJ." He said the company never paid Tamy any money due to the contract conditions. Phillips had received Tamy’s dismissal letter from Michael. "Dr. Tamy couldn’t handle the things MJ wanted." According to Phillips’s testimony, Michael had asked him to see Tamy ten days before his death. Phillips said his understanding was that Tamy was responsible for some of his business matters, including buying a house in Vegas and working with Frank Delio. Michael told Phillips that Delio was responsible for handling his professional activities in the programming industry, and Michael believed Tamy was not qualified for the job. Phillips said he thought Michael wanted Tamy and Delio to work together. Phillips said Tamy had been introduced by Michael, so the company didn’t see the need to check his background. After Michael’s death, Phillips met with John Branca’s office to get the details of the tour expenses approved by his foundation. Pontam asked about Phillips’s meeting with Tamy, which had taken place some time earlier. He said Tamy’s lawyer had contacted him and requested a meeting. Phillips said that at the request of the Michael Jackson Foundation, one of the witnesses in a hearing session was formed to review Tamy’s financial complaint against the foundation. Phillips said there was no secret involved because if they had intended to hide anything, they would have arranged the meeting in an office, not a public place. After lunch, Pontam asked Phillips whether he had met with his lawyers at the lunch table. The jury laughed. Phillips: "Yes." Brian Penish always started the afternoon session with this question. Pontam also followed Penish’s lead and asked: "Did your lawyers show you anything during lunch?" Phillips: "Only the food menu." (More laughter) Phillips also explained the meeting between Brenda Richie and Michael’s spirit. This was discussed in Session 26. Phillips said that previously, for ten years, he had been the business manager of Lionel Richie. Brenda Richie, his former wife, called Phillips a few weeks after Michael’s death and said she knew how Michael died. Phillips repeated what she said. Brenda said she had communicated with Michael’s spirit through a mediator—or directly—and that Michael had said Dr. Murray was innocent and that he had mistakenly caused his own death. Brian Penish, Katherine Jackson’s lawyer, objected: "A triple quote" (from spirit to mediator, from mediator to Brenda, from Brenda to Phillips / and finally from Phillips to the court)—the court erupted in laughter. The judge noted that this testimony would certainly not be treated as truth, and Pontam asked Phillips why he hadn’t provided this information to the police during his interrogations. Phillips joked again: "I didn’t want my fate to end up in one of those crazy jackets." The crazy jacket (a jacket designed to protect the hands of those who wear it, keeping them safe in the long sleeves so they don’t harm themselves or others) mentioned in the emails of A.J. executives became a topic during yesterday’s session. The executives were worried that the person—either MJ or Phillips—would go crazy due to tour pressure. Phillips said they meant him, but Penish believed the executives were talking about Michael. Pontam showed the court a signed letter by Michael in which Michael asked for $50,000 to be given to Delio. Phillips said that after having enough time during the interrogations to review his emails and prepare for court, he remembered the timing of the interrogations better. The TI tour was not the first time Michael worked with Phillips. In a contract signed in the 1990s to promote LA Gear shoes between Michael and the shoe company, Michael was represented by Phillips. He described Michael as extremely charming and captivating. The contract was successful, even though the shoes themselves didn’t achieve success. Phillips said that when Michael didn’t like something, he said so plainly. In Phillips’s opinion, some of the shoes were truly ugly. He quoted MJ as saying: "Let’s end this nonsense. It’s ugly. They don’t know what they’re doing. This stuff is nonsense. They (my image) are ruining me." Phillips described Michael as a very shrewd businessman. After LA Gear, MJ and Branca asked Phillips to become Michael’s business manager. He refused. Interestingly, Gangwer, another company executive, had also claimed that Michael offered him management and he refused. Phillips’s next meeting with Michael happened in 2007 during negotiations for the comeback tour. Phillips said Michael didn’t have a team for his tour. He hadn’t held a tour since 1997, and in such conditions, keeping all team members is difficult and expensive. When Michael went ahead with the TII tour, he didn’t have the production money for the tour or the team members. Pontam asked Phillips whether if an artist didn’t want to perform, the company would force him. Phillips: "No, this is a free country—they’re not my slaves. If the artist doesn’t want to perform, there’s nothing we can do." Phillips said that in 2007, two meetings were held in Las Vegas. Michael was eager and energetic. He said that at the first meeting, Michael was excited to see Phillips and Gangwer because "we were familiar faces." One of the meetings took place at the main office of Cloney Capital in Los Angeles. Phillips said that at that time they were talking about Michael’s performance. The biggest issue for Michael was finding a home for himself and his children. Phillips: "He didn’t want to live in other people’s homes anymore." On the tour proposal sheet, Phillips wrote that Michael could have at least $1 million in net profit in a single night. Phillips described Michael as one of the biggest stars in the world. He said Michael talked with him about releasing new music, doing something different, holding a tour, and even producing a film about the Egyptian pharaoh "Tutankhamun." The meeting lasted 90 minutes. Phillips said Michael joked with him by throwing a pencil at him. In the end, Michael didn’t agree to hold the tour. Phillips: "That’s just how Michael was." He said Cloney Capital freed Michael’s ranch, Neverland, from the bank’s mortgage by paying off the loan Michael owed the bank, and thus became a partner in the property. Cloney Capital wanted to meet with Phillips. During that meeting, which took place at Tamy’s request in 2008 at the Bel Air hotel, Phillips met Tamy for the first time. Pontam showed an email dated June 13, 2008, in which Michael’s plans were discussed. Phillips was trying to control and reduce Michael’s expenses. Pontam: "How successful were you?" Phillips"Not very—I blame Paul (Gangwer) for it." Source: eMJey.com / AP & ABC News