Jacko in Trouble

MICHAEL Jackson's music manager has denied a report that the pop star is in financial trouble and must make a $70 million (£45 million) payment to a lender by Tuesday.

Charles Koppelman said no payment was due in that amount to the Bank of America or anyone else.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Jackson, who is facing child-molestation charges in Santa Barbara County, owed $70 million to the bank under a loan agreement.

Koppelman said in a phone interview that Jackson's assets far exceeded his debts but he declined to go into detail about the singer's money. He disclosed Jackson, like most people with large assets, also has large debts and that Jackson routinely renegotiates loans.

Jackson, Koppelman also revealed, would be involved in a significant financial transaction in the next few days but declined to provide details.

"Michael is an individual who has the ability to generate huge sums of money," Koppelman said.

Bank of America spokeswoman Jennifer Tice declined to comment on the report.

Koppelman also said Jackson's ability to raise money had not been hurt by his current legal problems or his association with the Nation of Islam, as was reported by the newspaper, which cited unidentified Jackson advisers.

Koppelman denied that the Nation of Islam had any involvement in Jackson's financial affairs, and he asserted that high-ranking Nation of Islam member Leonard Muhammad has not taken on the role of Jackson's chief adviser. He said Muhammad was a friend of Jackson's and one of many advisers.

The Nation of Islam advocates black self-empowerment and a separate African-American state.

I can imagine more things for him to be worryign about just now but I'd be interested to know how much his portfolio of copyrights goes for.