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17 Oct 2025 18:48
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Paris Jackson has compared the men who run her late father Michael Jackson's estate to the Wizard of Oz

    The 27-year-old actress has filed new court documents as part of her opposition to a request from ex ecutors John Branca and John McClain to pay fees for third-party law firms and blasted the pair for their "arrogant" behaviour


    In documents obtained by Us Weekly after they were filed earlier this month, Paris' lawyer wrote: "ex ecutors admit making six-figure, extra-contractual payments in 2018, and they likely paid millions more in undisclosed gifts over the past seven years.

    "That conduct, born of comfort and arrogance, is indefensible, and ex ecutors have done nothing to indicate otherwise.

    "Instead, like the Wizard of Oz, they demand that the Court trust them blindly, refusing to let anyone look behind the curtain.

    "ex ecutors' only attempt to justify these payments consists of a conclusory assertion that the payment of gratuities to music lawyers is 'not uncommon.'"

    Paris' legal team insisted the excutors have made "no attempt to establish the veracity of this self-serving assertion, no attempt to justify the amount of any payment, and never address their payments for purportedly unbilled work."

    And the Star actress insisted they had no right to fight her petition, especially because all of her evidence was found in the ex ecutors' own court filings, and she should be entitled to ask questions.

    Her lawyer wrote: "Indeed, it should be obvious that ex ecutors are not immune from criticism based on misconduct disclosed in their filings."

    Paris - who has accused the ex ecutors of trying to stall the discovery process - argued the two men didn't have the authority to give out "extra-contractual gifts", "did not calculate the 2018 gifts based on any metric" and initially failed to disclose such gifts in their initial filings.

    Her lawyer added: "This record would be highly problematic even if the extra-contractual payments could, theoretically, be justified, and they cannot."

    In response, the estate claimed Paris has received around $65 million from the estate since Michael died in 2009 aged 50.

    The ex ecutors wrote in their response: "Few have benefited more from the ex ecutors' business judgment than [Paris] herself, who has received roughly $65 million from the Estate in benefits. She would have never received that had the ex ecutors followed a typical playbook for an Estate like this one in July 2009."

    McCain and Branca claimed Paris' "argument that the payment of about $600,000 in bonuses (that would be returned if not approved) in a year where the Estate earned almost $300 million would justify dramatically impeding the ex ecutors' ability to operate the Estate's businesses is hardly worth responding to further."

    Their lawyer noted: "The ex ecutors welcome review of their actions. They always have. And why wouldn't they? In the Court's own words, the ex ecutors' business judgment has taken an estate that 'started out as nothing but debt and substantial ongoing obligations' and 'turned [it] into a $2 billion estate'-an estate that is now 'a powerhouse and a force in the music business today.' "

    Paris previously claimed amounts had changed on various invoices for work done in 2018 and accused the ex ecutors of paying massive bonuses to legal firms which she felt shouldn't have been authorised.

    McCain and Branca asked a judge for the matter to be shut down and insisted the expenses were proper and necessary in order to keep the estate running.

    A judge has yet to rule on the matter.

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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