NINTH CIRCUIT SIDES WITH JACKSON ESTATE

The estate of Michael Jackson has scored a victory in its ongoing case against HBO and its documentary Leaving Neverland.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of MJ's estate/Optimum Productions in its suit to compel HBO to enter into arbitration over the estate's claims that HBO disparaged MJ in violation of ongoing contractual obligations (stemming from Jackson's 1992 concert film, Live in Bucharest) when it produced Leaving Neverland.

"The trial judge and now the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have unanimously rejected HBO’s arguments. In the court’s own words, HBO ‘agreed that it would not make any disparaging remarks concerning Jackson.’ It’s time for HBO to answer for its violation of its obligations to Michael Jackson," declared lead attorneys Howard Weitzman and Jonathan Steinsapir of Kinsella Weitzman in a joint statement.

Bryan Freedman of Freedman & Taitelman also represented the Jackson estate.