Paris Jackson has just accused the executors of her late father Michael Jackson’s estate of “wasting resources” in the latest step in her lengthy legal battle.
The 27-year-old singer has filed a new legal document in her dispute with John Branca and John McClain, filing her latest motion seeking to recover attorneys’ fees, intended to “make it as expensive and time-consuming as possible for Paris.”
According to PEOPLE magazine, the new letter from the opposition in Paris was in response to the estates’ recently granted anti-SLAPP motion, which seeks relief from a strategic lawsuit against public participation, claiming the motion “could not and did not have any impact on the lawsuit, except to cause delay.”
In January, the executors had filed a second motion stating that they were entitled to more than $115,000 in legal fees related to the anti-SLAPP motion, but Paris’ latest filing specifically opposes the motion and alleged McClain and Branca “admitted that the [anti-SLAPP] The motion was merely a “procedural” objection, and its minimal impact could be fully overcome by simply filing a functionally identical pleading, styled as a “motion” rather than a “petition.”
They noted that the anti-SLAPP motion “did not result in the dismissal of any cause of action, as the relief sought by Paris in the Petition to Withdraw remained unaffected by the executors’ SLAPP motion.”
Her lawyers added in the documents: “Executors allowed two of the same law firms that received improper payments to attack Paris… For this self-interest, executors paid these law firms an additional $115,355.52 in attorneys’ fees and costs.”
“The SLAP [lawsuit] was a waste of resources that executors should have avoided and probably could have avoided,” the report said.
This comes after Paris Jackson previously expressed “concerns” that executors have used their positions to “enrich” themselves.
An earlier document said: “Paris is increasingly concerned that the estate has become a means for John Branca to enrich and glorify himself, rather than serving the interests of the beneficiaries and steadfastly preserving her father’s legacy.”
