Paris Jackson Questions Michael Jackson Estate Executors' "Wizard of Oz" Tactics

It appears Paris Jackson’s patience with the two individuals managing her late father Michael Jackson’s estate is wearing thin, as reported by Us Weekly.

Sources close to the 27-year-old Paris informed Puck that the only daughter of the iconic deceased pop star is growing increasingly displeased with the estate’s executors, John Branca and John McClain.

Branca and McClain have been in charge since Michael’s passing in 2009 at the age of 50.

Puck journalist Eriq Gardner noted that insiders claimed Paris was “concerned that a system designed to protect an artist’s legacy has been bent over time toward preserving its own power.”

As Us initially revealed, Paris and her legal representatives have expressed their opinions about the executors in court. She likened Branca and McClain to “The Wizard of Oz” while challenging their request for specific fees to be paid to external law firms for services rendered to the estate.

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In official court documents, Paris complained that the executors submitted the fee request years after the work was completed, making it difficult to verify certain details. She also took issue with $625,000 in “lavish gratuities” disbursed to particular law firms.

Specifically, Paris is contesting the executor’s request for fees related to work performed in 2018. Paris stated that “at a minimum, [certain] gratuities, and counsel’s preposterous declarations in support of them, raise red flags.”

“As painful as it is to say in print, the present records suggest a group of closely-knit, highly-compensated lawyers is exploiting the executors’ lack of oversight to skim money from the Estate, in plain view,” Paris’ attorney declared.

Attorney Jonathan Steinsapir, one of the legal representatives for the Estate of Michael Jackson, rebutted Paris’ allegations.

“The historic turnaround and success of the Estate of Michael Jackson on behalf of his children speaks for itself,” Steinsapir previously told Us. “The Estate’s executors’ business judgment has generated billions of dollars for Michael’s children, and they have used that same business judgment to determine fair compensation for a world-class legal team that helped them achieve these unprecedented results, while also fighting back against baseless attacks against Michael by opportunists seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the estate and its beneficiaries.”

The estate’s lawyer continued, “The claims made by this new set of attorneys for [Paris] — who have no meaningful experience representing clients in the entertainment industry — are both baseless and defamatory.”

“We are confident that the Court will reject them outright and will again approve the estate’s accountings as it has done numerous times over the last sixteen years,” he concluded.

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The executors asserted that all payments to outside legal counsel were necessary and not excessive. They highlighted that the estate secured a deal worth $281 million in 2018, the same year Paris raised concerns about.

In a separate legal submission, the executors contended that Paris should be content with their performance.

Their lawyer pointed out, “Few have benefited more from the Executors’ business judgment than [Paris] herself, who has received roughly $65 million from the Estate in benefits. She would have never received that had the executors followed a typical playbook for an Estate like this one in July 2009.”

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For many years, the executors have been grappling with an IRS dispute, which has prevented them from transferring all of Jackson’s assets to a trust. Paris previously stated she believes the assets should be moved as swiftly as possible, which would allow the beneficiaries, including Paris and her brothers Prince and Bigi, to receive their distributions.

Puck reported that even after the assets are transferred, Branca and McClain will retain their authority. Gardner noted, “The biggest difference is that they’ll operate with even less oversight: no court accountings, no judicial approvals, no public filings.”

As Us previously reported, the executors are also involved in a court battle with a man named Frank Cascio, and Cascio’s family.

The executors claim Cascio, who was a long-time friend of Michael and defended him against accusations for years, approached them in 2019 and threatened to make claims against the late pop star.

The estate stated it reluctantly entered into an agreement with Cascio and his family, who received payments over several years. The executors alleged Cascio threatened to make public claims after the payments concluded.

Cascio’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, argued the settlement is not legally enforceable. He claimed the estate drafted the settlement to make it appear as if they were acquiring the “life rights” of Cascio and his siblings.