Michael Jackson’s Mom in Hot Water Because of Former Partner Sued by Son’s Estate

You cannot make this up. Remember Howard Mann? He was the guy who went into business with Michael Jackson’s mom, Katherine. He had the contents of the warehouse with a lot of Michael’s memorabilia. He bought it out of bankruptcy. Then he published a book with Mrs. Jackson and (no one really knows) 25,000 copies. The Michael Jackson estate sued him and won a defining settlement. The Estate got back all its copyrights. Mann was supposed to ante up $2.5 million. Everyone thought it was over.

But you know, with Michael Jackson’s family, it’s never really over.

The estate did not sue Mann’s girlfriend and/or business partner, Sonia Lowe, who was working with him on all those projects. Now it turns out — are you ready for this? — she’s behind the so-called documentary with Mrs. Jackson and Michael’s kids that’s being promoted on fundanything.com.

I mean, really.

Lowe was dumb enough to list her credit as producer of the doc on LinkedIn. She also answered fans’ queries on Twitter about her involvement. She admitted that the documentary was her project and tried to explain crowdfunding to angry Jackson fans.

And lurking in the background, inevitably, is Howard Mann. I’ve sent them each emails. Neither of them has responded.

If Mann is operating through Lowe to get the doc made, he could be in violation of the settlement agreements he signed with the Michael Jackson estate last year.

Meantime, the proposed doc– called “Remembering Michael”–has so far raised only $3,736 toward a $3.2 million goal on fundanything. Yikes.

The Estate has issued this statement:

The Estate of Michael Jackson has no involvement with the solicitation of funds for the completion of the purported documentary film being promoted on the FundAnything.com internet site. The Estate would never ask Michael’s fans to contribute their money to finance any speculative project.  

Furthermore, the site is offering merchandise bearing the Michael Jackson name, likeness and/or trademarks which are the intellectual property of the Estate of Michael Jackson and which may be legally exploited only by the Estate and by its authorized licensees.

The Estate will continue to release only the highest quality finished, professional projects showcasing the genius and humanity of Michael such as the This Is It film and the two very successful shows with Cirque du Soleil (Immortal and ONE).