A-ROD was mentioned on Wednesday during the wrongful death trial against concert promoter AEG Live.
“Let’s talk about A-Rod. Have there been allegations against Mr. Rodriguez about certain activities?” Jackson family lawyer Brian Panish asked a witness in an apparent reference to the accusations of steroid use dogging the Bombers third baseman.
“They’re still coming about, surfacing every once in a while,” responded Arthur Erk, a Manhattan accountant called to the stand by the Jackson family.
Panish brought up A-Rod, along with Tiger Woods, to draw examples of mega-stars who made big money after being struck by scandal.
“How is he doing?” Panish continued, referring to A-Rod.
“At least according to media reports, he’s still doing fairly well,” Erk replied.
At issue was whether scandal — in this case Michael Jackson’s molestation trial — would have hurt his earnings. Erk caused a stir during the civil trial earlier this week when he testified that, in his estimation, the King of Pop could have made $1 billion or more had he lived to go on his long-planned comeback tour, and done a host of subsequent tours.
AEG lawyers had tried to knock down that testimony, citing alleged damage to Michael’s reputation caused by his past molestation trial. Panish dropped A-Rod’s name in a bid to counter those arguments.
A-Rod has millions left on his contract, but he’s now hurt, rehabbing in the minors, and is being investigated by Major League Baseball for alleged ties to a medical clinic in Florida that is at the heart of baseball’s newest steroid controversy.
Erk defended his eye-popping estimate Wednesday by noting that Beyoncé recently scored a reported $50 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi. Erk argued that Jackson would have stood to cash in on sponsorship deals.
AEG lawyer Sabrina Strong attacked the comparison to Queen Bey, highlighting the years of child molestation accusations against Michael that culminated in a 2005 trial in which the Gloved One was acquitted.
“(Beyonce) has never been a defendant in a criminal trial,” Strong suggested to the jury. “In fact, Beyonce has never really suffered any negative publicity.”
The Jackson family’s lawsuit says that AEG — the firm behind Jackson’s comeback tour — negligently hired the doctor who was convicted of manslaughter for supplying the singer with the medication on which he overdosed in June 2009.
AEG execs deny any wrongdoing, arguing that Michael personally hired Dr. Conrad Murray and kept his reckless use of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol a closely guarded secret.
Also on Wednesday, the jury heard videotaped testimony from Paris Jackson.
Paris, whose testimony was recorded during a deposition in March, said her father still had hits up his sleeve, but needed to take a break from touring.
A lawyer for AEG had asked her about claims her famous dad planned to “retire” from the music business.
“He still had a lot of music that he was still working on, but he kind of needed to relax,” Paris said as the jury watched the footage on a huge courtroom video screen.
“Did he tell you he wasn’t going to tour anymore after O2,” AEG lawyer Marvin Putnam asked, referring to the 50 shows that were booked at the famous London arena but ultimately cancelled following Michael’s overdose death on June 25, 2009.
“Yes,” Paris replied.
AEG played the deposition testimony in an attempt to contradict Erk’s projection that Michael could have pulled in an earnings bonanza had he lived to take the “This Is It” tour across the globe.
Erk had testified that he believed Michael could have parlayed his success in London into higher ticket prices in other countries, and four more world tours stretching into 2026.
Jurors then saw a second clip of Paris’ testimony requested by lawyers for her grandmother, family matriarch Katherine Jackson.
“Did (your dad) explain to you how long the (‘This Is It”) tour was going to last,” Putnam asked Paris in the second excerpt shown Wednesday.
“I assume a long time since it was a world tour,” she said. “Those usually last a long time … He told us that we were going around the world on tour.”
Source: NYDaily News / MJ-Upbeat.com
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