Paris Jackson fights John Branca bid to seal estate fee papers
Paris Jackson says Michael Jackson estate executor John Branca should not be allowed to keep parts of their latest court fight private.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Paris Jackson’s court fight with Michael Jackson’s estate has moved into a fresh lane: whether key filings in the fee dispute should be kept away from the public.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Jackson is opposing a request from estate executor John Branca to seal certain records connected to her objections to his bid for fees.
Branca argues in the filings that public disclosure could hurt future business deals involving the estate or give ammunition to people on the other side of disputes with the estate, TMZ reported.
Jackson is pushing back. In her paperwork, she says the material should remain public and argues Branca’s sealing request appears aimed at protecting his own image rather than advancing the estate’s interests, according to TMZ.
A win, then another fight
The filing follows a recent victory for Jackson in another piece of the broader estate battle. In her paperwork, she points to having persuaded a judge to side with her effort to block the estate from making future bonus payments to outside law firms, TMZ reported.
The new dispute centers on access to documents, but the filings show the deeper argument between Jackson and Branca is still very much alive.
According to TMZ, Jackson has suggested in court papers that the estate has remained open for years because of the way it has been managed. She also says she has been left largely without information about the estate’s finances.
Branca rejects that framing. In the filings, he says Jackson’s claims disregard the circumstances surrounding the estate and argues that much of her motion is filled with “inflammatory rhetoric about matters that are irrelevant” to the sealing issue, TMZ reported.
Big money at the center
Jackson also takes aim at compensation paid to the estate’s executors. According to TMZ, she says Branca and John McClain, the estate’s recently deceased co-executor, received more than $120 million for their work on the estate.
Jackson says that figure is far from what she and her two brothers have received since their father’s death, TMZ reported.
The executors have previously disputed that kind of comparison. According to TMZ, they have argued that Paris Jackson and her siblings have received millions of dollars in benefits since Michael Jackson died.
For now, Jackson is asking the court to reject Branca’s request to seal the information at issue, TMZ reported.
The ruling will determine how much of the latest fight over fees and estate management plays out in public. The larger legal battle between Michael Jackson’s daughter and the people overseeing his estate remains ongoing.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.