LONDON — Lawyers for Michael Jackson have reached a settlement with a Bahraini sheik who says the singer owes him $7 million after breaching a signed contract, the pop star’s spokeswoman said Sunday.
The out-of-court settlement means Jackson will not give evidence at London’s High Court as scheduled today, Celena Aponte said.
“As Mr. Jackson was about to board his plane to London, he was advised by his legal team to postpone his travels since the parties had concluded a settlement in principle,” Aponte said. “Therefore, he will not be attending court on Monday.”
A representative for the sheik could not immediately be reached late Sunday.
Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa said he gave the singer millions and planned a series of collaborations following Jackson’s acquittal on child molestation charges in June 2005. Al Khalifa, 33, invited Jackson to the small, oil-rich Gulf state to escape the media spotlight.
Al Khalifa said he gave Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his finances and subsidize Jackson’s lifestyle in Bahrain — including more than $300,000 for a “motivational guru.” Al Khalifa, an amateur songwriter, says the pair even moved into the same palace to work on music together.
But Jackson dropped the project in 2006, leaving Bahrain and pulling out of the contract.
Jackson’s lawyers have maintained the money was a gift and argued that the musician wasn’t bound by the deal because the contract was signed on behalf of 2 Seas Records, a venture which never got off the ground.
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