As 'Michael' Biopic Nears Release Paris Jackson’s Legal War Threatens Stability of Jackson Estate

By Stacy M. Brown

Senior Global Correspondent

While family members and tens of millions of fans brace themselves for the highly anticipated release of the biopic, “Michael,” drama has continued to build behind the scenes as the King of Pop’s only daughter continues to engage in a nasty battle with the executors of Michael Jackson’s estate.

Behind sealed courtroom doors in Los Angeles, where transcripts remain locked and the public is shut out, the fight over the most successful entertainment estate in history has taken a darker and more consequential turn.

While the face of the battle is being hyped as a dispute over accounting, many legal observers and those close to the matter suggest it’s a battle for full control.

And increasingly, those watching closely are asking whether Paris Jackson is at the center of it or being pulled deeper into it.

At the heart of the escalating conflict is her attorney, Craig Peters, a high-profile trial lawyer whose career has been built on catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and product liability cases. His résumé does not include estate administration, probate litigation, or the management of billion-dollar entertainment assets. Yet he now stands at the center of a legal push targeting one of the most valuable estates in music history.

“This is clearly about Paris’ legal team believing that they can take control of the estate… remove the current executors,” a source told the Black Press. Another source was more direct in their observation and did not place blame on Paris. "These individuals are trying to usurp Michael's will and his wishes for his family and his children."

The estate, managed by executors John Branca and John McClain, has replied with a document that defends their position and criticizes Paris’s legal team for ignoring years of information, court-approved decisions, and past agreements while promoting what they call false claims to the public.

“Ms. Jackson and her attorneys are once again abusing the courts and the legal system by making a series of false allegations as part of a media campaign to distract from their legal setbacks and the inherent weakness of their case,” estate attorney Jonathan Steinsapir said.

The filing itself goes further, accusing her attorneys of making “headline-grabbing, yet false, accusations” and raising “specious concerns over issues previously addressed and resolved,” while increasing costs to the estate.

That tension has now spilled beyond the courtroom.

Just a day after the most recent closed hearing on March 24, where, according to sources familiar with the proceedings, no ruling was issued and the judge appeared to side with the executors on scheduling matters, a firm representing Paris publicly claimed that she had secured a major legal victory.

The firm asserted that Paris had forced the estate to disclose four years of financial documents, covering 2022 through 2025, after years of delay, and that the court had imposed a strict disclosure schedule going forward.

But according to multiple sources, that account is not accurate.

Paris’s team “didn’t win anything,” the source said, adding that the court simply approved the timeline proposed by the estate. The gap between public statements and courtroom events has intensified scrutiny of the case's driving strategy. And that scrutiny is increasingly focused on Peters.

Sources familiar with the matter say there is growing concern that Peters is not simply representing Paris but positioning himself within a larger power struggle over the estate. Some go further, suggesting that he may be exploiting her vulnerabilities to press forward in a case that, on its face, centers on a fraction of the estate’s value.

That fraction is approximately $625,000—money paid as bonuses to lawyers who have represented the estate on various matters. The estate has become the most successful of its kind, and it continues to battle numerous claims that have arrived almost daily since Michael Jackson’s 2009 death.

“That’s a rounding error,” one source said of the $625,000 bonuses. “It’s one-tenth of one percent of the Sony deal. This isn’t about the money.” The numbers surrounding the estate make that point unavoidable. Since the "Thriller" singer’s death, the estate has generated more than $3 billion and is now valued at roughly $2 billion. In 2024, Sony Music Group paid at least $600 million for a 50 percent stake in Jackson’s publishing and master’s catalog, placing the value of those assets as high as $1.5 billion.

Even before that deal, the estate generated approximately $75 million annually. In their filing, the executors dismantle the claims made by Paris’s legal team in detail. On the issue of cash management, the filing explains that most of the estate’s cash was tied up under an IRS lien connected to a tax dispute involving roughly $700 million.

Those funds were held in an escrow account and could not be freely invested.

Until at least mid-2021, there was a real possibility that much or all that money would be owed to the federal government. Under those conditions, the executors argue placing the funds into the stock market would be irresponsible.

Paris’s attorneys suggested allocating 60 percent of that cash to stocks and 40 percent to bonds, a proposal the estate calls “a wildly reckless proposition,” noting that fiduciaries do not risk funds reserved for taxes and that such a move would likely have been blocked by the IRS.

They also point to the economic reality at the time.

“The Executors do not control the Federal Reserve,” the filing states, referencing the near-zero interest rates that defined 2021. While Paris’s team focuses on alleged missed opportunities, the executors point to what they describe as highly successful investments within the music industry that delivered significant returns, all approved by the probate court without objection.

The filing also challenges claims that Branca and McClain are unqualified to serve as producers on projects tied to Michael Jackson’s legacy, including the upcoming biopic, which stars Jafaar Jackson as his uncle, Colman Domingo as Joseph Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Jackson, and Lorenz Tate as Motown founder Berry Gordy.

The executors’ impressive record includes “This Is It,” the highest-grossing concert documentary of all time, Cirque du Soleil’s “IMMORTAL” tour, “Michael Jackson ONE” in Las Vegas, and “MJ: The Musical,” a Tony Award-winning Broadway production with global reach. They have also produced Spike Lee’s documentaries “Bad 25” and “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall,” along with “Thriller 40.”

The filing states that the argument they are unqualified “cannot be taken seriously.” They do not receive separate producer fees, as their larger, court-approved responsibilities managing the estate encompass that work. The executors also address objections to legal fees, stating that many of the payments were already authorized by court order. They note that firms such as Ziffren Brittenham receive a percentage of the estate’s entertainment income under a standing court-approved arrangement.

They also explain that the late veteran attorney Joel Katz billed at the conclusion of his work, which can make standard compensation appear as a bonus, and that Howard Weitzman worked below market rates, with bonuses awarded in certain cases.

The filing characterizes objections to those fees as “frivolous,” particularly given that Paris’s legal team agreed in writing that fee petitions for 2021 through 2024 would not be filed until September 15, 2026.

Settlement payments, including those tied to Quincy Jones, who produced Jackson’s three biggest albums, including the groundbreaking “Thriller,” are also addressed, with the estate stating that those agreements resolved multiple claims that carried far greater financial risk than the amounts paid and were disclosed repeatedly over the years.

After 16 years of administration, the executors argue that the results are clear. The estate has grown from roughly $500 million in debt into a global enterprise generating billions. The court has always allowed payment.

Paris has already received approximately $65 million, more than anyone else, including her two brothers, and she stands to inherit many hundreds of millions more.

“To be clear, the estate and its executors have never given a single gift to anyone for any reason. Additionally, no payment ever made by the estate has ever been disallowed by the court or determined to be unauthorized,” Steinsapir said. He added, “It is shocking that Ms. Jackson, through her attorneys, has made these false and specious objections, considering she has and will continue to benefit substantially from the dedicated and tireless work of the executors of the estate.”