Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Suit Vs. AEG Can Proceed, Judge Rules

Katherine Jackson and family are pursuing a claim against concert promoter.
By Gil Kaufman


Michael Jackson

When he was alive, Michael Jackson was forever embroiled in a series of complex and expensive-sounding lawsuits. But even in death, the late King of Pop is the subject of major legal action. None could potentially be bigger than the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the pop icon's mother, Katherine Jackson, against concert promotion giant AEG Live.

Reuters reported that a Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday that the civil lawsuit can go forward. It will proceed in parallel with the criminal case against Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson's June 2009 death from an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol. Murray is the only person charged in Jackson's death and he is currently awaiting trial in that matter.

Katherine Jackson's lawsuit — filed in September on behalf of her and Jackson's three young children — accuses AEG of being responsible for the medical decisions made by Murray, whose salary was paid by the touring company behind Jackson's attempted "This Is It" comeback shows in London. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos denied a motion on Wednesday by AEG to dismiss Katherine Jackson's suit, but warned Jackson's attorneys that they would need to show evidence of "fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy" in order to win the case.

The judge has already said she doubts they can prove the latter charge, because the suit does not detail any agreement between Murray and AEG to break the law in providing medical care to Jackson.

"If the object was to get him to rehearsals, I don't see that as a wrongful or illegal act," the judge said. A lawyer for AEG told the judge that the company could not have predicted beforehand that Murray's medical decisions would result in Jackson's death. Court papers also show that AEG "did not choose to hire Murray" and had only participated in negotiations to bring him on as an independent contractor. Michael, who had previously been treated by Murray in Las Vegas, was reportedly the one who suggested the cardiologist serve as his personal, on-call physician during the "This Is It" rehearsals and shows.

Katherine Jackson's attorney recently dropped choreographer Kenny Ortega from the lawsuit based on new information they received about his actions. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 22, just six days before Murray is due back in court for his trial. Jackson's father, Joseph, has twice attempted to file a wrongful death suit in the matter, though his is focused on Murray and the Las Vegas pharmacy that supplied the propofol, not AEG Live.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657214/michael-jackson-wrongful-death-suit.jhtml

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Chuckie Will Debut Michael Jackson Remix In Miami

Official 'Hollywood Tonight' remix coming to Miami Music Week.
By Akshay Bhansali


Chuckie
Photo: Jason Ano/ One and Only Productions

Leaving the South by Southwest festival, Lavo New York and Las Vegas' Marquee in his wake, house DJ Chuckie has his sights set on the week ahead. With Miami Music Week now upon us, Chuckie plans to seize the opportunity to debut new material. Fans will be tickled to know the Dutch producer has tracks in the can with Kelly Rowland and T-Pain, but when MTV News caught up with him Friday in New York, Chuckie shared the achievement of which he's most proud.

"I did a Michael Jackson remix, which was really scary — to touch Michael Jackson vocals," Chuckie said. "I did this remix for this track 'Hollywood Tonight.' I couldn't say it for a minute: The label called me, and they said, 'You can't say nothing about this. It's kind of a secret project.' It's gonna come out anytime now."

"Hollywood Tonight" was originally produced by Teddy Riley for Jackson's posthumous Michael album, and Chuckie's mix of the song will be the sole official remix of the track.

"I will play it Miami," Chuckie revealed. "I told them this is the best week to launch the remix. So it feels really good. I'm the only one remixing that Michael Jackson track, and they are considering it a single. For me, especially, it's an honor to remix the King of Pop because he died on my birthday."

So, will the mix be a thundering Chuckie Dutch house banger or will it have a melodic progressive house feel, like his Marquee remix of Diddy-Dirty Money's "I Hate That You Love Me"? Well, according to the "Let the Bass Kick" producer, fans will be getting a healthy dose of both.

"I had to bring in the raucous," Chuckie confessed. "Yeah, I did the Chuckie flavor, but then again, I wanted to make it really musical, so I went progressive (house) on it."

Chuckie will be performing twice at Miami Music Week: at the Cr2 Records Party at Wall Lounge on Wednesday, and then headlining "No Sugar Added" at Nikki Beach on Friday.

Are you excited to hear Chuckie's remix of Michael Jackson's "Hollywood Tonight"? Let us know in the comments below!

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Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Slash Light Up Super Bowl XLV Halftime Show

Foursome is joined by special guests and tons of lights for smash-hit medley.
By Mawuse Ziegbe


Black Eyed Peas perform during the Super Bowl XLV halftime show
Photo: Getty Images

The Black Eyed Peas promised a party at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday (February 6), and the pop supernovas definitely delivered, with a performance teeming with lights, dancers and surprise appearances from celebrity pals.

Following a Chatter.com commercial that showed animated versions of the Peas showing off their social-media skills, the group kicked things off with their 2009 smash "I Gotta Feeling," descending from the ceiling on illuminated platforms onto a stage surrounded by a cluster of dancers clad in white bodysuits. The foursome led the team of fist-pumping troops in "Tron"-like getups, with Taboo sporting an outfit covered in flashing lights, will.i.am rocking a shiny hairpiece, Apl.de.ap wearing huge bright studs and Fergie vamping it up in bling-laden shoulder pads.

When the speaker-busting bass of "Boom Boom Pow" dropped, the dancers dispersed across the field to create arrow-shaped formations as the glow-in-the-dark lights on their suits illuminated the stadium. Then rumored surprise guest Slash of Guns N' Roses rose from below the stage for a "Sweet Child O' Mine" duet with Fergie. The GNR great rocked a finger-searing solo in a studded version of his signature black top hat as more angular platforms and dancers moved across the gridiron. The platforms were bearing scores of marching-band musicians who blasted their horns and pounded away on their drums as the Peas went into "Pump It" and blue lights splashed across the production.

Quick streams of fog heralded the arrival of the Peas' second surprise guest, Usher, who swooped in on a long chain to bust out his will.i.am-assisted joint "OMG." Rocking a sparkly collar on an otherwise all-white ensemble, the R&B hitmaker cranked out several counts of energetic choreography, enlivening moves from his "OMG" video and at one point jumping over Will and landing in a split.

A spray of pyro ushered in the collective's breakout 2003 hit "Where Is the Love?" as the oddly shaped platforms spelled out the word "Love" in bright-red letters. The team of dancers, which appeared to have multiplied to over 100, formed hearts across the field as will updated the lyrics of the smash with lines like, "Obama, let's get these educated."

Then the group jumped ahead to their most recent single, 2010's "The Time (Dirty Bit)," as several back up hoofers rocking cubed helmets joined the Peas onstage and dancers lined up along the gridiron to simultaneously bust out the Running Man, a move which drew cheers from the crowd.

The platinum-selling Peas wrapped up the performance with a reprise of "I Gotta Feeling," as the quartet triumphantly signed off amid of blitz of fog, firepower and flashing lights.

Ripping the halftime show was clearly a touching moment for will, who tweeted beforehand, "Me and apl started the peas when we were 16 yesterday we were dreamin now were livin it. Wow. I'm not crying out of sadness or nervousness its joy and pride and memories and the journey."

And once the crew left the stage, the frontman was not only proud, but pumped. "That was so freakin sick," he wrote. "Wow...!!!"

What did you think of the Black Eyed Peas' Super Bowl performance? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657356/black-eyed-peas-usher-slash-super-bowl.jhtml

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Justin Bieber Shows Off New Hairdo In 'That Should Be Me' Clip

Video features Bieber performing song with country band Rascal Flatts.
By Jocelyn Vena


Justin Bieber
Photo: Neil Mockford/ Getty Images

The weekend that Justin Bieber cut his hair, he also shot the music video for his "That Should Be Me" remix, featuring country band Rascal Flatts. This weekend, the full music video premiered, and it shows off that very famous cut.

The video is a meta-statement on making videos. The guys of Rascal Flatts pull up to the studio while Bieber sits in a room practicing the track. Bieber and the band sit and rehearse the song before they are brought to the room to shoot the lo-fi performance video.

We see the camera and lights filming the guys, who stand in front of a white backdrop performing the song. Bieber is occasionally seen in the sparse room alone singing the track, dressed in black. Shots of the finished performance are edited with those of Bieber and the band rehearsing the track, off his Never Say Never - The Remixes album, which was released last month. The video ends with Bieber walking off the set.

"They flipped out," lead singer Gary LeVox said of bringing his daughters to the set the day of the shoot with the teen star. "Brittany ended up singing one of his songs to him. He was hugging them and was so sweet to them. I've even got a low-grade Bieber fever. I think I'm in the running for dad of the year."

Bieber also tweeted about the video's runaway success on Sunday, writing, "And just saw... #ThatShouldBeMe vid with @rascalflatts is now #1 on ITUNES!! Thank u all so much. We are very proud of that song. #MuchLove."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1659796/justin-bieber-that-should-be-me-clip.jhtml

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Tyler The Creator Wants To Take Justin Bieber 'Egging Cars'

After meeting the Biebs, Odd Future MC tells MTV News he wants them to 'do fun sh-- that I feel like he hasn't been able to do.'
By Steven Roberts, with reporting by Christopher "CJ" Smith


Tyler, the Creator
Photo: MTV News

Needless to say, Justin Bieber has a lot fans. From Kanye West to Kim Kardashian to nearly every teenage girl in the world, Bieber has amassed quite a dedicated following. But he seems to have picked up a rather odd fan along the way as well.

Odd Future's Tyler, the Creator has Bieber Fever in a big way. In fact, the MC has called the teenage Canuck his idol. In the days leading up to the premiere of Bieber's 3-D movie, "Never Say Never," Tyler could be found online tweeting down the days until its release. So of course, when the two finally met late last month, Tyler was excited.

"I WAS JUST WITH JUSITN F---ING BIEBER. F---," Tyler tweeted. "HE LIKED YONKERS, F---."

Two photos emerged of the two together, one blurry and the other showing the teen sensations posing side-by-side. When MTV News caught up with Tyler — and the rest of Odd Future — at South by Southwest, he still had a huge smile on his face.

"We [were] kicking it with him for like 10, 20 minutes. He's a chill dude. First thing he was like, 'Oh, I just finished talking about your video, that sh-- was crazy," Tyler said. "He just started asking me questions about my sh--, and it was kind of weird because I was going to ask him sh--. But he was intrigued enough [about] what we had going on."

He also said he showed the Biebs how to pose for their photo. Initially, Bieber threw up the peace sign, but Tyler convinced him to swag it out another way. Bieber was really chill and Tyler hopes they'll hang out soon.

"I want to take him egging cars and f---ing sh-- up and paintball and just go skate and go do fun sh-- that I feel like he hasn't been able to do," the MC said.

What do you think of Tyler and Justin's budding bromance? Tell us in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1660519/odd-future-tyler-the-creator-justin-bieber.jhtml

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