Michael Sued by Porn Producer

Another week, another legal thriller for Michael Jackson.

A former business associate of the embattled pop star has filed suit against Jackson, seeking more than $3 million in unpaid loans and fees and accusing the entertainer of financial and drug problems.

Marc Schaffel, a gay-porn producer and ex-Jackson confidant, filed his complaint Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court--the same day Jackson released a greatest-hits box set titled Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection.

In his court documents, Schaffel claims that Jackson still owes him $800,000 of the $3 million he was promised to produce two specials on the "Billie Jean" singer that were intended to counter the damaging portrayal of Jackson put forth by the Martin Bashir documentary Living with Michael Jackson.

Schaffel also alleged that Jackson owed him $2.3 million for loans and payments he made for the singer over the past three years.

The court documents list some of the specifics behind Jackson's requests for cash: $1 million to pay his buddy Marlon Brando for appearing at a concert and in a music video; $600,000 to buy his pal Elizabeth Taylor a piece of jewelry in exchange for her signature on a release.

"Michael had come back and said that Liz wanted this piece of jewelry that she had picked out in order to sign the release," Schaffel said during an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America.

Schaffel claimed he gave Jackson at least $100,000 on several occasions for shopping sprees and that he helped with car payments on Jackson's Rolls Royce Phantom and Bentley Arnage.

He also says he lent the self-proclaimed King of Pop $500,000 in "emergency cash" after September 11, which Jackson requested "in case he needed to take shelter underground somewhere with his family," per Schaffel's court documents.

In total, Schaffel claims he covered Jackson for $8.9 million in payments and loans since 2001 and was repaid only $6.3 million. He said that he wants to get paid while he still can.

"He is a ticking financial time bomb," Schaffel said of Jackson on Good Morning America.

According to Schaffel's suit, Jackson stopped repaying Schaffel when the singer's brother Randy Jackson took control of Michael's finances in June 2004.

Aside from Jackson's alleged financial issues, Schaffel claimed the Neverland denizen struggled with painkiller and alcohol abuse and that his "irrational demands for large amounts of money and extravagant possessions" escalated when he was on drugs.

"When Michael would be on drugs, he would call two, three, four in the morning, very distorted," Schaffel said on Good Morning America. "And he would say, 'Oh, can you give me $70,000 tomorrow? There's this table I saw. I gotta have it for my living room.' "

Jackson's spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, denied Schaffel's allegations on Good Morning America, calling them "slanderous," and said he could not be trusted because of his ties to the porn industry.

But Schaffel pointed out that Jackson had no difficulty trusting him in the past.

"They didn't say that when they needed things from me," Schaffel said.

Schaffel said he is penning a tell-all account of his experiences with Jackson, detailing his relationship with the pop star.

Meanwhile, Schaffel has not escaped ties to the child-molestation case against Jackson. In February, his home was searched in connection with the case.

Though he has not been indicted, Schaffel is one of five alleged coconspirators that the prosecution contends worked with Jackson to try and quiet his accuser and the accuser's family after Living with Michael Jackson aired, using tactics such as surveillance and taking the accuser and his siblings out of school.

Jackson stands charged with 10 felony counts, including conspiracy and administering alcohol to a minor. He has pleaded innocent across the board and remains free on $3 million bail. He is due back in court on Jan. 31.