Interview with John Branca discussing getting to the facts
- 4 years ago
John Branca discusses Michael Jackson and using lawsuits to have the opportunity to get to the facts. It's more about a sense of fairness.
Brian Price: So, apart from the personal relationship aspect of it, in terms of being a lawyer and a counselor, tell us what your role is in... in the Neverland documentary, why it's important to you as an executive of the estate or as a trustee of the business. Tell us about why that's important to you, John.
John Branca: Well, of course, there's a financial motivation, of course, you know? But as importantly (and maybe more importantly), I have a sense of fairness. I have a sense of, you know, from my point of view, if somebody made a documentary and they talk to other people who spent years with Michael, if they talk to Tom Mesereau, if they talk to the jurors in the trial when Michael was acquitted, if they talk to Macaulay Culkin and Brett, they talk to everybody, they put that up on the screen, I'm okay. I'm okay. Let everybody form their opinion.
What I'm not okay with is to present this very slanted and narrow view. So, from a personal point of view of fairness, Michael Jackson was good to me. I feel I was good to him. I think we owe it to him and his memory and his legacy the best we can to speak up for him. And that's why Mesereau, Weitzman, Freedman, we're going to use this vehicle of a lawsuit against HBO and other lawsuits to come, not so much about the money (we’ll take it), but more about the opportunity to get to the facts.
Brian Price: So, apart from the personal relationship aspect of it, in terms of being a lawyer and a counselor, tell us what your role is in... in the Neverland documentary, why it's important to you as an executive of the estate or as a trustee of the business. Tell us about why that's important to you, John.
John Branca: Well, of course, there's a financial motivation, of course, you know? But as importantly (and maybe more importantly), I have a sense of fairness. I have a sense of, you know, from my point of view, if somebody made a documentary and they talk to other people who spent years with Michael, if they talk to Tom Mesereau, if they talk to the jurors in the trial when Michael was acquitted, if they talk to Macaulay Culkin and Brett, they talk to everybody, they put that up on the screen, I'm okay. I'm okay. Let everybody form their opinion.
What I'm not okay with is to present this very slanted and narrow view. So, from a personal point of view of fairness, Michael Jackson was good to me. I feel I was good to him. I think we owe it to him and his memory and his legacy the best we can to speak up for him. And that's why Mesereau, Weitzman, Freedman, we're going to use this vehicle of a lawsuit against HBO and other lawsuits to come, not so much about the money (we’ll take it), but more about the opportunity to get to the facts.