Randy Phillips on Day 24 of the AEG trial: “I hit Michael Jackson!”
On the second day of Randy Phillips’s testimony, Brian Panish—attorney for Katherine Jackson—continued questioning him, the CEO of AEG, and moved on to the press conference on March 5, during which Michael announced that ten concerts would be held in London. That number later increased to 50. In earlier sessions, Paul Gongwer, one of the company’s senior executives, had said that Michael didn’t want to attend the conference, but they had to bring him there.
Michael flew to London by private jet with his three children and his manager, Teme Teme. But when Phillips went to Michael’s hotel to take him to the O2 arena (the O2 conference hall), he found that Michael was not ready yet.
Brian Panish: “Was Mr. Jackson drunk?”Phillips: “No, as far as I know, no.”Panish: “Was he disappointed and discouraged?”Phillips: “No.”
Panish then displayed emails in court that contradicted Phillips’s statements.
In an email to Louie’s team—who later became CEO of the parent company AEG—Phillips wrote: “MJ is drunk and has locked himself in his room. Teme and I are trying to get him to come to his senses and take him to the conference.”
Phillips explained that on that day Michael had a headache because of drinking the night before.
In a second email to Louie, he wrote: “I yelled at him so loudly that the walls were shaking. Teme and I dressed him, and they’re finishing his hair, and then we’re rushing to O2. This is the scariest thing I’ve seen in my life. He’s a wreck emotionally paralyzed, full of self-hatred and doubt—right when it’s time for the show. He’s terrified to the point of death. What I want right now is for this conference to end.”
Louie’s response to Phillips: “Are you messing with me?”
After the emails were shown, Panish asked Phillips whether, on the day of the conference, he had yelled at Michael Jackson.
Phillips justified it: “These events happened over two and a half hours. If you separate part of the text and only read it, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Panish: “So your answer is no? You yelled at Mr. Jackson or you didn’t—yes or no or you don’t remember?”Phillips: “I can’t answer.”
Six months earlier, during interrogations, Phillips had denied that Michael was drunk and discouraged. He also denied yelling at Michael and said he had only raised his voice.
On the stand, Phillips said that in the interrogations he told the truth, but he wasn’t precise when writing the emails: “I relied on what Dr. Teme told me. I wrote them down as fast as possible.”
Panish: “To make the walls shake, you’d have to yell extremely loudly. Are you always inclined to exaggerate?”Phillips: “No.”
In another email, Phillips wrote to a business partner who was waiting outside the hotel with a caravan of cars: “I still haven’t managed to get him moving. You can’t even imagine what things are like. He’s a wreck and emotionally paralyzed. Right now I sent him under a cold shower, screamed at him, and hit him.”
On the stand, Phillips said: “I hit him on the butt with my palm.” He also explained that when he used words, he had exaggerated. The manager compared his action to the behavior of a soccer coach on the field who, by hitting players on the butt with a glove, encourages them to compete.
Phillips said he was worried about Michael “shaking off” his obligations only a month after signing the tour contract with Michael—and more than a week before the press conference.
Phillips: “I was worried that everything would fall apart and his career would end. There were many things I was worried about. It was a very anxiety-inducing situation, and I have to admit that I caused tension in that room because my nerves were completely frayed. Well, time was running out, and it was taking his career with it.”
Randy Phillips had called Michael’s attendance at that conference a “miracle.” After the conference ended, he wrote to Michael’s manager in an email: “That the conference happened is a miracle.”
Despite these concerns, instead of canceling the contract, the company chose to spend several tens of millions of dollars and force Michael to continue the journey—one that ultimately led to his death.
Gongwer wrote to Phillips in an email: “When we sell the tickets—which we have the right to do—(Michael) will be stuck.”
Today, no members of the Jackson family were present in court. The reason for their absence was that earlier today, Paris Jackson—the 15-year-old daughter of Michael—had attempted suicide by cutting her hand. She is in stable condition. (News)
Source: eMJey.com / ABC & AP