Judge dismisses promoters' lawsuit against Jackson

NEW YORK – A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a concert promoter against the late Michael Jackson over a failed reunion concert. US District Judge Harold Baer Jr. granted a motion by lawyers for Jackson's estate to dismiss the case, citing a lack of evidence that the late King of Pop or his family were under a binding agreement to perform at a reunion concert. AllGood Entertainment, a company started in Morristown, N.J., sued Jackson for $40 million on June 10, 2009, roughly two weeks before the singer's death in Los Angeles at age 50. It claimed Jackson and his then-manager broke a contract for a Jackson reunion show. AllGood later filed a creditor's claim with Jackson's estate, claiming the potential value of the lawsuit was at least $300 million. Baer determined that there was a letter of intent between Jackson's then-manager, Frank DiLeo, and AllGood. He noted that neither Jackson nor any other members of the family who were to be involved in the show ever signed a contract. The judge also wrote in the ruling that if there was a breach in the contract, AllGood broke the agreement first because it did not issue a payment to Jackson before a required deadline. "This case never had any merit and the claim was frivolous from day one," Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said in a statement. "Michael Jackson never agreed to participate in a concert promoted by AllGood as the judge clearly found in his opinion." An after-hours phone message left for AllGood's attorney, Ira Meyerowitz, was not immediately returned. — AP