NEW YORK – The Rev. Jesse Jackson and billionaire Ron Burkle came through with key advice to save singer Michael Jackson from financial disaster when he was fighting child molestation charges, Jackson says in a court deposition.
The Daily News said in Sunday editions it reviewed seven hours of transcripts, finding that the singer believed disloyal advisers took advantage of him financially before a Santa Maria, Calif., jury acquitted him of child molestation in June 2005.
Jackson testified that during his trial he received wise advice during bathroom break cell phone calls with Burkle, the billionaire friend of former President Bill Clinton.
Burkle brought in Jesse Jackson, who has known Michael Jackson since he was a child, to help with the consultations, the newspaper said.
Michael Jackson said in a deposition taken last summer in Paris that the entertainment industry was "full of sharks, charlatans and impostors."
"Because there's a lot of money involved, there's a bunch of schmucks in there," Jackson said. "It's the entertainment world, full of thieves and crooks. That's not new. Everybody knows that."
The deposition was made in preparation for a civil trial expected to begin this week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The case against Jackson was brought by a Hackensack, N.J. finance company that claims Jackson cheated the company of $48 million.
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