Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The Reality of AEG

This past Sunday, (9/2) the newspaper, the Los Angeles Times did an article on AEG and the preparation of the now ruined This Is It concerts. I will post the article parts and add my comments. After reading this article, I am more than certain that AEG and Sony are connected and just because the founder of AEG is a Christian, does not mean that he cared about Michael. Let's look at what the article stated and my views on what was stated. 




The link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-aeg-jackson-20120902,0,6711027.story

"I screamed at him so loud the walls are shaking," Phillips told him. "He is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self loathing and doubt now that it is show time."

Instead of understanding the fact that Michael had just recovered from a horrible trial that threatened his livelihood and everything that he worked for, Randy Phillips forgets all of that an make assumptions. At that time, it was the first time in a long time that Michael has performed let alone do a press conference knowing the media will be there, to announced his "comeback" concerts. On top of that, if Michael was indeed "drunk" why tell the boss that? Why couldn't Phillips do something about that? Why scream at a grown man? He could not calmly tell Michael to pull himself together? If Phillips was so use to seeing so much in the Rock and Roll world, why did the whole Michael "drama" bothered him so much? 


The 250 pages of messages illuminate the extent to which top executives were aware of doubts about Jackson's stability as they prepared for his 50-show concert run at their London arena.

The whole time, these idiots knew Michael was not well and lied to anyone that asked them that Michael was "fine" and that he was in "shape". 


They said the messages reviewed by The Times were incomplete and leaked to portray the company in a negative light.

Hmmm, the emails did not look incomplete to me. It clearly shows that these people knew that Michael was unwell and was not ready to perform these concerts. The fact that Michael was upset that these fools gave him 50 shows instead of ten, tells me that Michael was not ready to perform these concerts. The company should be seen in a negative light because they knew the man was not well and made him do the shows anyway. On top of that, what did they do for him to help him get better? All they did was make matters worse. 


The lawyers declined to provide additional emails that they said would give a fuller picture, citing a protective order imposed by a judge in the civil litigation.

Interesting. I wonder what those emails would state? No wrongdoing? The article of these emails are spreading all over the world and no type of defense from AEG? That is off. 


"If you are in the creative arts business, you are going to be involved with individuals who have a great many problems," said AEG attorney Marvin Putnam. "Michael Jackson was an adult and … it is supercilious to say he was unable to take care of his own affairs."

Yes, typical guilty bastards: blame the deceased man who had a handle of his affairs but everywhere he went someone wanted to sue him, accused him of this, take away his livelihood, bankrupt him, destroy his legacy, and I can go on and on. Michael was a man who was responsible with his business but the powers that may be had their own plans for him. Michael had a great many problems bought on by corporate idiots like Sony BMG and AEG. 


The singer and AEG signed a deal in January 2009. According to the contract, AEG agreed to bankroll a series of London concerts at its 02 Arena and Jackson promised "a first-class performance." If he reneged, AEG would take control of the debt-ridden singer's company and use the income from his music catalogs to recoup its money.

That is interesting: if Michael refused to live up to his bargain, AEG would have control of his business and Michael's music catalogues to get the money. So, in a lot of ways, these idiots were threatening Michael. Basically telling him, "you do as you say that you will do or else, we will make you poor." Also, if Michael did not do what AEG wanted him to do and they would have started to take his money, how would they get their hands on Michael's music catalogues? From Sony BMG, right? Right. 


Asked on a questionnaire in the report whether he had "ever been treated for or had any indication of excessive use of alcohol or drugs," Jackson circled "no."

To be honest, I do not think Michael went to an actual rehab facility. You have to understand that in 1993, Elizabeth Taylor, with the help of Elton John, help Michael get into "rehab". Whatever that means in Hollyweird. So, Michael probably went into a rehab facility, but probably did not get the actual treatment that he needed to get better. I want to make it clear that I am not implying, in any way that Michael was an addict. There are medications out there that are very addictive and in order to get rid of that medication out of the system, a rehabilitation center is where that procedure can happen. 


"We are holding all the risk," Gongaware wrote to Phillips. "We let Mikey know just what this will cost him in terms of him making money.... We cannot be forced into stopping this, which MJ will try to do because he is lazy and constantly changes his mind to fit his immediate wants."

Interesting. Michael, who has never had a real vacation in his life because he was always working, never strike me as "lazy". I think that Michael was starting have have doubts about his ability to perform because what he had gone through. I do not think people truly understand the magnitude Michael had to go through during the trial and the various disturbances he had to endure. Michael had suffered with severe insomnia and one of the side affects of insomnia is depression. I have always believed that Michael probably went through some sort of psychological trauma caused by all kinds of nonsense that he had to deal with. That can take a tool on a person and at the end of the day, regardless of the music genius that he was, the amazing person that he was, he was still a human being who was in a lot of pain, physically, mentally and emotionally. Maybe, Michael was done dealing with questionable people an started to get cold feet when the date was coming near to announce these concerts. Of course, these corporate idiots, AEG, did not understand that concept because all they care about is money and not the well being of this man. 


In an interview, AEG's attorney Putnam suggested Phillips had exaggerated in his emails and said Jackson's behavior appeared to be a case of "nerves."

Yeah, right. Randy Phillips "exaggerated" in the emails. You can tell if someone is nervous and you can tell that someone is drunk. Randy Phillips was BSing as usual and wanted to be all dramatic with what was going on with Michael. None of these people cared about how Michael was feeling or if he needed anything to calm him down or relax him. All these fools cared about was looking good to the public. 


Jackson arrived 90 minutes late for the news conference and his brief comments struck some of the 350 reporters gathered as disjointed and strange.

Michael was black and for the most part, most black people are late for certain things. There is nothing wrong with that. Yes, Michael was acting a bit off in the press conference but that is what nerves and anxiety do to a person. I wonder if someone went through what Michael went through and see if they would come on time or act a certain way. I know I wouldn't. 


The show's director, Kenny Ortega, told Phillips their star was not ready for the comeback and called for a psychiatric intervention: "There are strong signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-like behavior. I think the very best thing we can do is get a top Psychiatrist in to evaluate him ASAP.

Of course, Kenny Ortega could have also orchestrated an psychiatric intervention himself. He could have called an Psychiatrist over to check out on Michael and see what was going on with him. He did not have to rely on others to do that. That is called teamwork. You see a person that you are working with in poor health and you go out of your way to help that person. You do not send emails to the bigger boss expecting them to do something. You have to do it yourself. Did these people ever cared about Michael? Nope.  

I read an article that Kenny Ortega did for the website Vulture.com in 2009 and he stated something completely different about Michael's condition.

http://www.vulture.com/2009/10/this_is_it_director_kenny_orte.html

Did you personally see any warning signs?No, no. Michael was tired sometimes because he didn't have great sleeping habits. Whether those are connected to his ultimate demise or not, I don't know. It wasn't This Is It that had any negative impact on Michael Jackson. It was nourishing him. It was an inspirational time in his life.
The speculation was that 50 shows were too many for him ...The people creating these speculations? They don't know what they're talking about. They never [pointed out] that he's doing 50 shows over six months. That's one to two shows a week.

Wow, the lies. Just state that there was a problem. That Michael was not ready to do these concerts. Kenny Ortega had to lie about Michael's true condition for what reasons? If Kenny cared, then tell the truth about what really happened to Michael. 

Back to the L.A. times article - 


He added that Murray, "who I am gaining immense respect for as I get to deal with him more," was confident the singer was ready.
"This doctor is extremely successful (we check everyone out) and does not need this gig so he [is] totally unbiased and ethical," Phillips wrote.

Did Randy Phillips also checked out that "Dr". Conrad Murray was in serious debt and needed money so he can pay his bills and keep his home? Did Phillips checked to see if "Dr." Murray really too good care of Michael? 


That four-hour exam by Lloyd's in London would include three doctors, heart monitoring and blood work. AEG's insurance broker tried to persuade Lloyd's to drop the physical, according to the email discussions by AEG officials. AEG suggested Murray could provide an oral recitation of Jackson's recent medical history instead. Lloyd's refused.

Let's really think about this - if AEG were not hiding anything and were geniune people, why didn't they schedule Lloyd's in London, the insurance company, to have a four hour complete examination on Michael? If they truly care about Michael, why didn't AEG schedule the appointment with them? Instead of doing that, AEG was trying to persuade the insurance company to drop the physical. That is odd to me. That really proves right there that AEG were never interested in Michael's well being. 


Murray responded to the last of the requests June 25 in Jackson's darkened bedroom suite, according to emails presented at the doctor's criminal trial. He wrote that he had talked to Jackson and "Authorization was denied,"

I do not think "Dr." Murray ever asked Michael or talked to Michael about releasing his medical records. "Dr." Murray did not even do medical notes on Michael, let alone ask him permission to release his medical records to the insurance company. 


The celebratory documentary "This Is It," which AEG co-produced alone grossed more than $260 million worldwide.
"Michael's death is a terrible tragedy, but life must go on. AEG will make a fortune from merch sales, ticket retention, the touring exhibition and the film/dvd," Phillips wrote to a concert business colleague in August, adding, "I still wish he was here!"

I remember having a debate, if you want to call it that, with a person (I will not reveal their name) that stated to me that AEG did not receive a dime from Michael's death. This is It, the movie, was co-produced by AEG and the movie made a lot of money. AEG receive profits from that movie and profits from the DVD sales of the movie. The real reason why the idiots at AEG never cared about Michael's well being was because they knew that whatever was going to happen to him, they were going to make money off of him. AEG went out of their way to promote the movie and of course, their buddies on the low, the Executors and Sony Pictures, distributed the movie. All of these people got paid and got paid very well. When I read the article, I was angry because all of this was preventable. This did not have to happen to Michael and I do believe that Michael did not want to perform anymore. However, what made him go on the stage and do his thing were his children and the fans. They were his motivation to keep going. I wish that Michael never dealt with these people and retire from the cruel industry of the entertainment business. Michael did it all and did not have to do anymore. 

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Links: 
"Doubts About Michael Jackson Surfaced Early On" 
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-aeg-jackson-20120902,0,6711027.story?page=1

"This is It Director Kenny Ortega on Memories of Michael Jackson"
http://www.vulture.com/2009/10/this_is_it_director_kenny_orte.html