Michael Jackson Turns Up Late for Calif. Court Case
Fri, Nov 15, 2002Thu Nov 14, 6:46 PM ET
By Dan Whitcomb
SANTA MARIA, Calif., Nov 14 (Reuters) - Superstar Michael Jackson (news) turned up hours late for court on Thursday after his lawyer objected to a photographer whose pictures set the Internet buzzing over the reclusive singer's bizarre appearance.
Jackson had mysteriously failed to appear for his second day on the witness stand in a $21 million lawsuit over canceled millennium concerts.
No explanation was given for his morning no-show. But the pool photographer said he had been summoned to the judge's chambers because of objections by Jackson's lawyers to the courtroom pictures on the grounds they were distracting. The photographer was not however barred from the court.
Photos of Jackson on the stand on Wednesday showed him with a Band-Aid-type plaster on his scarred nose, pink lipstick, heavily black-penciled eyebrows and the
beginning of a goatee-styled beard all framed by a long black mane of hair.
Web services said the close-up pictures -- a rare glimpse of Jackson off-stage -- were some of the most viewed of the last 24 hours.
DROWSY
When the self-styled King of Pop finally returned to the courthouse at Santa Maria -- the central California town nearest to his Neverland Valley ranch -- he appeared drowsy. His eyes drooped and he had to be prompted to answer by lawyers as testimony proceeded at a snail's pace.
Jackson was called as a hostile witness in a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by international concert promoter Marcel Avram over two canceled millennium concerts.
Avram says Jackson signed a deal in early 1999 to perform four concerts -- two charity benefits in June of that year and two 1999 New Year's Eve concerts in Hawaii and Australia.
Jackson headlined the charity shows but allegedly pulled out of the millennium concerts, citing recording commitments.
Jackson insisted during testimony on Wednesday that it was Avram who canceled the shows with a single phone call.
"I remember feeling a little bit upset because I was looking forward to doing the millennium shows," Jackson said. "I was so excited about them that I told people in my organization that we should reach the Guinness Book of World Records because I felt that these would be the most-watched events of all time."
Scores of fans spent a second day gathered outside the courthouse awaiting Jackson. Several were rewarded with a wave, an autograph and a soft "God Bless You" from the award-winning singer.
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