Jackson Drops Auction Action
Michael Jackson has dropped a legal challenge against an auction of his former personal items. The auction house and owners of the memorabilia have reached a deal with the pop star to let the sale go ahead. Now over a 1,000 items including costumes, lyrics and awards from the careers of the Jackson family will be sold by Guernsey's auctioneers in Las Vegas on 30-31 May. The belongings were claimed from a storage facility after the Jackson family allegedly defaulted on a bill for the items. Michael Jackson's publicist told the press the singer was "satisfied" with the settlement, which means some of the money goes to charity. Items for sale include a gold record awarded to Jackson for Thriller in 1982, the original test pressing for the Jackson Five's I Want You Back and Tito Jackson's handwritten lyrics for ABC, the complete collection is initially valued at around $50m (£25m). Jackson had tried to prevent the auction and force the return of goods he claimed were personal property, court papers show he also wanted unspecified damages.Tagged in Michael Jackson