Michael Jackson Sued by Former Publicist, "Thriller" Star

Michael Jackson's former publicist, Raymone Bain, filed a $44 million lawsuit against the King of Pop on Wednesday, claiming the star failed to pay for her services. According to Reuters, Bain claims in the breach of contract suit that she represented Jackson during his 2005 trial and acquittal on child sex abuse charges and later managed his business affairs. Bain issued a statement, saying, "Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson has elected not to honor the financial obligations of our contractual relationship, despite my numerous attempts to amicably resolve this matter." The suit asserts that Bain was hired in 2003 and became the singer's public voice during a tumultuous period. Bain also says she was appointed general manager of the Michael Jackson Company in 2006.

Believe it or not, Bain's was the second suit to be filed against Jackson just this week. On Tuesday, Ola Ray, who played Jackson's love interest in the 1983 video for "Thriller," filed her own papers, seeking unpaid royalties for her role in the clip, according to the Daily News.

"She just wants to get her fair share of payments from this extremely successful project that she's very proud of," said Ray's lawyer, Jason Feldman. "She did receive some payments early on, but we don't believe they were complete, and they were never timely." He claims his client has not received one dime from Jackson since 1998, and he expects any judgment a jury might render will be "a significant sum." Like Ray, "Thriller" director John Landis also filed a suit against Jackson, seeking back royalties, on January 21st.

Jackson is scheduled to raise himself some major cash during his 50-show run at London's O2 arena, which is slated to begin July 8th. The singer recently successfully sued to halt an auction that would have seen 2,000 of his possessions — from the Neverland Ranch gates to a collection of jeweled gloves — sold to the highest bidder.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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