Katherine Jackson was shocked to see Eric Briggs taking the stand to testify on behalf of AEG Live during the Jackson family's trial against the concert promoter. After all, Briggs had worked with the family before, being employed as a consultant to estimate the value of Jackson's most valuable piece of property: the Sony-ATV music catalog, which hosted the rights to The Beatles among other big music acts. How did Briggs find it ethical to speak for AEG? Well, he got permission from the lawyer representing Michael's estate.
Briggs said that Jackson lawyer Jeryll Cohen "was well aware of everything that was going on" when he was questioned about the connection in court. AEG paid the consultant $700,000 for his services, but that seemed like a pittance compared to the $40 billion in damages the Jackson are asking for. Briggs worked to disprove the earnings estimates given on behalf of the family by accountant Arthur Erk.
Erk testified on behalf of the family earlier this month that Jackson probably would have earned $1.5 billion over the next several years had he not died in 2009. Erk based his findings on a proposed world tour of nearly 260 shows, as well as a hypothetical Las Vegas stage show and endorsements. Erk said that he was "reasonably certain" that Jackson would have earned more than $300 million in endorsements.
Briggs testified that Erk's findings were off base, at least with regards to advertising and endorsements. He said that Jackson's likability among the public was far too low to generate that much in corporate sponsorships. According to his numbers, Jackson had a "Q score," a measure of testing celebrity likability, that on par with other performers in 1993. That indicates that around half of a population found him to be likable. However, Briggs said that Jackson's Q-score began to slip in 1993 when he entered rehab for an addiction to painkillers. By the time Jackson's child molestation trial had ended, only one in eight people found him to be likable. He said companies would be "very anxious" to attach Jackson's name to their products.
