Former Jackson Associate Speaks Out
Nov. 17, 2004 -- -- A former associate of Michael Jackson says "The King of Pop" sometimes called him in the middle of the night while high on drugs to ask for money and that the beleaguered singer is a "ticking financial bomb."
On Tuesday, Marc Schaffel, a reputed porn producer and one-time Jackson confidant, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Jackson seeking more than $3 million for alleged breach of contract and other agreements. In his lawsuit, Schaffel alleges the entertainer is broke and has had problems with drugs and lavish spending.
In his complaint, which was obtained by ABC News, Schaffel says the pop star's need to borrow money "accelerated when Jackson's increasingly more frequent excessive use of drugs and alcohol impelled him into irrational demands for large amounts of money and extravagant possessions." In an exclusive interview with ABC News' senior legal correspondent Cynthia McFadden on "Good Morning America," Schaffel speculated that Jackson has a dependency on painkillers and pain medication and said the singer would call him in the middle of the night seeking loans for one of his spending sprees.
"When Michael would be on drugs, he would call two, three, four in the morning, very distorted," Schaffel said. "And he would say, 'Oh, can you give me $70,000 tomorrow? There's this table I saw. I gotta have it for my living room."
Jackson, 46, is set to face trial in late January for allegedly molesting a now-14-year-old boy who spent time at his Neverland ranch. The alleged victim is believed to be a cancer survivor who appeared with Jackson in the British documentary "Living With Michael Jackson." Jackson has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges that include felony conspiracy with 28 overt acts involving child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. The conspiracy charge against Jackson refers to his alleged attempts through five associates to quiet the alleged victim and his family after the documentary aired early last year.
