Paris Jackson slammed the two executors in charge of her late father Michael Jackson’s estate … claiming they are bullying her for asking questions about money spent, TMZ has learned.
Paris’ claims come after the executors said Paris was “more interested in playing to the media than” working out any issues. According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Paris and her legal team say the executors, John Branca and John McClain, are filing court documents that “mock and belittle” Michael’s only daughter. For their part, Branca and McClain claim Paris and her legal team are spreading incorrect information about the case to the press.
The executors claim that while Paris may claim she doesn’t want the case in the press, her media team tried to spin the court’s “rather routine actions” at a recent hearing “as some sort of blockbuster ruling by the court in favor of Paris.”
As TMZ previously reported, Paris and the executors have been going back and forth about payments made to third-party law firms who worked for the estate … with Paris questioning the process for handing out huge bonuses and fees.
Branca and McClain have been arguing that their work turned the estate from insolvent to worth billions. They also argue Paris has benefited greatly from their hard work.
In her new filing, Paris sounds fed up, saying … “At nearly every hearing, and again in this filing, executors try to avoid the merits by characterizing Paris’ concerns as lawyer-driven or in service of some purported desire for media attention. Neither is true.”
She adds that the “litigation is painful” and “a distraction from her own life and her own career.”
She claims Branca’s use of “the media to attack Michael Jackson’s daughter is unacceptable and is not mirrored by any concomitant effort by Paris” … insisting the executors’ claims she was milking the battle for press coverage are “unfounded.”
Paris says the executors are using “her father’s money to attack her in the media,” calling out a recently released statement from the executors they’re calling “sexist” … which described her as “strutting” into a hearing and “further patronized Paris by describing themselves as the ‘grown-ups,’ in contrast to a 28-year-old woman and her adult siblings.”
Paris believes the executors are attempting to bully her into submission. The executors have scoffed at Paris’ claims in court in the past.
Attorney Jonathan Steinsapir, who reps the estate, previously told TMZ … “To be clear, the estate and its executors have never given a single gift to anyone for any reason. Additionally, no payment ever made by the estate has ever been disallowed by the court or determined to be unauthorized.”
He continued … “The executors have been meticulous and conscientious in every decision that they have made. It is shocking that Ms. Jackson, through her attorneys have made these false and specious objections, considering she has and will continue to benefit substantially from dedicated and tireless work of the executors of the estate. Ms. Jackson has already received roughly $65 million in benefits and stands to inherit many hundreds of millions more.”
Jonathan added, “This is from an estate that was $500 million in debt and facing bankruptcy at the time of Michael’s death, but was turned by the executors into a business generating billions in revenue.”