Was AEG legally able to drop claim?

THE SMOKING GUN: Something is weird about the report of AEG dropping the $17.5 million claim against insurer Lloyds of London, given that the concert company supposedly assigned the claim to the Jackson estate as part of its settlement with the estate when AEG and the estate settled post-This Is It. The estate now owns the claim on the policy; therefore, AEG legally no longer has the option of dropping the claim against Lloyds. While Monday’s CNN report failed to make this clear, what has become painfully clear is that Randy Phillips’ questionable character is now becoming part of the public record, and given these damning revelations, it’s shocking to some that more artists and managers haven’t further distanced themselves from him. (9/12a)