Paris Jackson has won big in her legal battle against the executors<\/a> of her father Michael Jackson\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n A Los Angeles judge has ruled in favor of the 28-year-old daughter of the late pop star after she raised concerns last year<\/a> over $625,000 in bonuses that were paid by executors John Branca<\/a> and John McClain to third-party law firms in 2018. Paris became one of the beneficiaries of Michael\u2019s estate after his death in 2009<\/a>, along with her brothers Prince and Bigi.<\/p>\n Now, the money will have to be returned to the estate in a new ruling demanding transparency in the way that the Jackson family\u2019s money is spent.<\/p>\n \u201cParis has always been focused on what’s best for her family and this ruling is a massive win for them,\u201d a spokesperson for Paris said in a statement shared with The Independent. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter years of delay, the Jackson family will finally get the transparency and accountability measures Paris has fought for. The Jackson Estate is supposed to be a prudent, fiscally responsible entity that supports the Jackson family \u2013 not a slush fund to help John Branca live out his Hollywood mogul fantasies.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement\u2019s reference to Branca\u2019s \u201cHollywood mogul fantasies\u201d might point to the recent Michael Jackson biopic, which Paris publicly opposed <\/a>despite the involvement of several of her family members. Branca was portrayed in the film by actor Miles Teller.<\/p>\n Paris\u2019s spokesperson continued: \u201cAfter months of engaging in sexist, scorched-earth tactics against a beneficiary, it’s time for John Branca to acknowledge his many missteps and act in the best interest of the family he has a fiduciary duty to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n Next, the attorneys are expected to file their accountings so that their estate attorneys\u2019 fees from 2019 to 2024 can be approved. The filings are expected to be submitted by September 15.<\/p>\n When approached for comment, the estate executors pointed out that the judge acknowledged their \u201cexceptional service to the estate\u201d in the ruling.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are gratified that the Court itself recognized and praised the work of the Executors and its outside counsel in today’s decision,\u201d Branca and McClain said in a statement shared with The Independent. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile the Court has previously approved several other bonuses to outside counsel over the years for their extraordinary services, and this was the first time they were the subject of objections, the Executors have always understood that legal fees are subject to court approval and have always required outside counsel to agree to return any funds to the estate if the payments were not approved.\u201d<\/p>\n The executors also made it clear that none of the $625,000 in bonuses were paid to them, and that there were no inappropriate payments that benefited them.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, while we disagree with the decision, we fully respect it and plan to move forward accordingly,\u201d the estate executors said.<\/p>\n Last month, the actor accused Branca and McClain of attempting to mock and belittle her<\/a> in the eyes of the public after she called them out for skimming money from her father\u2019s estate.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis overlitigation is waste,\u201d Paris\u2019 April 6 filing said. \u201cAt nearly every hearing\u2026 Executors try to avoid the merits by characterizing Paris\u2019s concerns as lawyer-driven or in service of some purported desire for media attention. Neither is true.\u201d<\/p>\n The court documents continued: \u201cThis litigation is painful for Paris. It is a distraction from her own life and her own career. She would rather there be no press coverage of it whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n Paris\u2019s attorneys went on to allege that Branca and McClain \u201chave used her father\u2019s money to attack her in the media.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese attacks may serve Mr. Branca\u2019s personal interest in attempting to bully Paris into submission, but they have nothing to do with the merits of the litigation and are not in the interests of the Estate,\u201d the filing said. \u201cThe fact that Michael Jackson\u2019s money is paying for these attacks makes them even more offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[16743,157021,557,4080,267487,47671,77,44154,137736,267492,267489,267491,56787,267488,2249,254180,107047,267490,16,15,659,17246],"class_list":{"0":"post-957879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-arrival","9":"tag-arts-culture-and-entertainment","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-city-of-los-angeles","13":"tag-color-image","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-film-industry","16":"tag-film-premiere","17":"tag-john-branca-lawyer","18":"tag-lions-gate-films","19":"tag-michael-film","20":"tag-miles-teller","21":"tag-photo-call","22":"tag-photography","23":"tag-premiere-event","24":"tag-red-carpet-event","25":"tag-the-dolby-theatre","26":"tag-uk","27":"tag-united-kingdom","28":"tag-usa","29":"tag-vertical"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116569398882013872","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Paris](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1681624166.jpg\")
Paris Jackson has won her legal battle against Michael Jackson’s estate (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2272319869.jpg\")
John Branca was portrayed by Miles Teller in the new Michael Jackson biopic (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MixCollage-13-Nov-2025-02-50-PM-1354.jpg\")
Michael Jackson\u2019s daughter Paris was named one of the beneficiaries of the singer\u2019s estate after his death in 2009 (Getty)<\/p>\n