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Jackson Sued over Nixed Y2K Shows
Marcel Avram, Michael Jackson's Munich-based promoter for nearly three decades, slapped Jackson with a $21.2 million lawsuit last week, alleging the Gloved One pulled out of two millennium concerts that cost Avram millions.
Avram's lawyers filed the suit Friday in Santa Barbara, California, Superior Court, according to a statement issued by Avram's company, Mama Concerts & Rau, from its Munich headquarters.
The statement claims Jackson had, on January 14, 1999, signed a four-concert deal that included two New Year's Eve concerts straddling the international date line: one in Sydney and, a speed jet ride later, one in Honolulu.
The suit, which claims damages for breach of contract and fraud, acknowledges Jackson did perform two charity concerts in Seoul and Munich as stipulated by the contract, but that "ticket sales were dismal."
According to the suit, Jackson didn't tell Avram until October 1999 that he wouldn't be playing the Y2K Eve concerts in Sydney or Honolulu.
When Jackson dropped out, Avram said, he "was left to explain Michael Jackson's erratic behavior--and to pay all of his bills."
The suit says Avram, who paid Jackson $1 million upfront, tried to settle with the megastar amicably for six months--even though the singer's contract allegedly had no escape clause.
"There is nothing else we can do but to remind Michael Jackson of his responsibilities as an artist and businessman. Saying 'I love you' is not enough," Avram, who has been Jackson's concert promoter since 1972, tells Reuters.
Avram wants $10 million for out-of-pocket losses (including advanced costs associated with promoting and producing the four concerts); $1.2 million to pay for old debts incurred by Jackson; about $10 million in lost profits from the millennium concerts; and yet-to-be-determined costs arising from damage to Avram's professional reputation.
Not that Avram had that great a rep to begin with. The last time he made headlines was in 1997, when he was jailed for three and a half years in Germany on 12 counts of tax evasion.
And this isn't the first time Avram and Jacko squared off in court. In 1993, Avram sued Jackson for $20 million for canceling his "Dangerous" world tour--that complaint was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Jackson's company, MJJ Enterprises Inc., had no comment on the latest suit.
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