Skin doctor seeks a slice of Jacko Inc
Sunday November 01 2009
IT'S fitting that in death, the essence of Michael Jackson as he lived should be preserved by those who knew and loved him best. Which for some, it seems, means no opportunity for profit left untapped.
And so Michael Jackson Inc continues to grind on, long after the man himself has been laid to rest. Just when we thought that his father using the platform of his memorial concert to plug his latest business endeavour (who could forget the interview where he raved about blue ray technology?) was the ultimate in tacky, comes the news that one of Michael's closest friends, his beloved (and needless to say, indispensible) dermatologist has made a claim on the MJ estate for almost $50,000 worth of unpaid bills.
Botox, Restylane, eyelash-lengthening ointment. These are the vices that Dr Arnold Klein had generously administered to his charge in the last months of his life, according to documents submitted in Los Angeles. You might remember Dr Klein -- a lovely fella best known from previous Jacko-related public scandals such as: "Jackson's dermatologist: 'I am not the father of Jacko's children'."
He became something of a celebrity in his own right when he went on Larry King with not one, but two lawyers -- a civil and a criminal one -- to discuss the speculation that charges would be pressed against him in relation to the King of Pop's death.
Anyhow, it seems like concerns about his culpability in the whole death thing are currently taking a back seat to more pressing matters. Like how to make sure he gets his cash. Which explains why Dr Klein has once again turned for assistance to his heavyweight legal team. After all, those drugs and procedures don't come for free. Though you'd think, given what good friends they claimed to be, Klein would at least have charged mate's rates.
- Julia Molony
Sunday Independent
