Paris Jackson slams executors of Michael Jackson’s estate in new court filing

Paris Jackson has filed new court documents as part of her ongoing legal battle against the executors of her late father Michael Jackson’s estate.

The 27-year-old, who is a beneficiary of the estate alongside her two brothers, filed an objection in Los Angeles court on Tuesday over the estate’s accounting for the 2021 calendar year, which Jackson’s children only received in September.

In the new filing, she accused the co-executors John Branca and John McClain of abusing their roles in order to “enrich” themselves, failing to invest “enormous sums of cash” and making decisions that are not in the estate’s best interests.

“Paris is increasingly concerned the Estate has become the vehicle for John Branca to enrich and aggrandize himself, rather than serve the beneficiaries’ best interests and steadfastly preserve her father’s legacy,” the filing reads, reports People.

The singer claimed in the document that the executors pocketed more than $10 million (£7.6 million) in compensation from the estate in 2021 alone, arguing that this figure was “more than double the amount distributed to any beneficiary from the family allowance”.

Paris also alleged that Branca and McClain are holding onto more than $464 million (£354 million) in cash and have failed to generate an estimated $41 million (£31 million) in profits due to “unproductive investments”.

Jackson’s second child also expressed concern about their decision to invest in entertainment projects such as the upcoming biopic Michael, in which Miles Teller plays Branca, an executive producer on the film.

“(The estate has) morphed into a private entertainment investment fund managed more for the benefit of Executors and their counsel than its beneficiaries,” the filing alleges.

Paris, who has allegedly not received accounting for 2022 to 2025, has called on the court to disallow the account and force executors to provide an account of their “true acts”.

In a response, a source close to the estate described her new filing as a “misguided” and “weak attempt to change the narrative of their loss”.

A hearing in the case is set for 13 January.