Judge asks Michael Jackson’s lawyer about meaning of extractions from Thriller in court
BBC – US Tax Court Judge Mark Holmes had always been puzzled by the rap at the end of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, so when the star’s former lawyer John Branca appeared in front of him on Monday, he took the opportunity to settle the matter.
“You’re familiar with Thriller,” Holmes said. “What exactly does ‘the funk of 40,000 years’ mean?”
“Karma,” answered Branca.
The exchange came during the first day of a trial looking into Michael Jackson’s debts to the taxman.
The IRS claims that Jackson’s estate owes it more than $700 million (£566 million) in taxes and penalties, a massive chunk of the star’s estimated $1bn fortune.
It puts Jackson’s team in the strange position of arguing the star was worth much less, after his image was tarnished by accusations of child molestation, skin bleaching and drug use.
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