Jackson to appear in court over sheikh’s lawsuit

MICHAEL JACKSON has agreed to appear in person at a London court to respond to a Bahraini sheikh’s $7 million (€5.5m) lawsuit, the singer’s lawyer said.

Jackson had asked to testify by a video link from the US because of an unspecified illness. But his lawyer, Robert Englehart, informed the court yesterday that Jackson “has been cleared by his medical advisers to travel in two days’ time”.

The singer is scheduled to give evidence at the High Court on Monday.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, says Jackson reneged on a contract for an album, a candid autobiography and a stage play after accepting millions in advances. Jackson claims the money was a gift.

Jackson, 50, and the Bahraini royal first made contact when the “King of Pop” was fending off accusations of child molestation in California and Al Khalifa offered to help him. Once Jackson was cleared of the charges in June 2005, Al Khalifa invited him to the small, oil-rich Gulf state to escape the media spotlight.

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. Al Khalifa’s lawyer says the sheikh considered the move a betrayal. The soft-spoken sheikh took the witness stand yesterday, agreeing when Jackson’s lawyer described him as a “devoted fan of Western pop music” and an extremely wealthy man. “I would see myself as somebody who is very fortunate, yes,” said Al Khalifa.

He rejected Englehart’s suggestion that Jackson was emotionally and financially fragile. Part of Jackson’s defence is that the sheikh took advantage of his vulnerability and lack of business acumen.

“Michael is an individual who is very switched-on,” Al Khalifa said. “He is a fantastic intellectual.”

“There’s nothing unusual about him?” asked Englehart.

“No,” Al Khalifa said.

The money at issue includes $1m (€796,000) paid by Al Khalifa into the account of Jackson’s personal assistant, Grace Rwaramba, who is due to give evidence later.