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Paris Jackson is raising new concerns about how her father’s estate is being run, and this time, she’s calling out the men in charge for what she says are years of bad business and self-serving decisions.
In a filing submitted Tuesday, Nov. 18, in Los Angeles, the 27-year-old pushed back against the long-delayed 2021 accounting from Michael Jackson’s estate. She and her brothers, Prince, 28, and Bigi, 23, didn’t receive the documents until this September, nearly four years late, and Paris says what she saw raised red flags.
At the center of her complaint are co-executors John Branca and John McClain. Paris says the pair has allowed “enormous sums of cash” to sit untouched, earning almost nothing, while making decisions she believes don’t reflect the best interests of the beneficiaries or her father’s legacy.
“Paris is increasingly concerned the Estate has become the vehicle for John Branca to enrich and aggrandize himself, rather than serve the beneficiaries’ best interests and steadfastly preserve her father’s legacy,” the filing says.
A source close to the estate quickly dismissed her objections. “This is another misguided attempt by Paris Jackson’s attorneys to provide themselves cover,” the source said. “The fact is, Paris Jackson’s lawyers lost their latest case against the Estate and have been ordered to pay the Estate’s attorneys’ expenses. All the beneficiaries are well taken care of by the Estate. This is a weak attempt to change the narrative of their loss.”
Paris’s filing lays out her financial concerns clearly: she alleges the executors collected more than $10 million in compensation in 2021, “more than double the amount distributed to any beneficiary from the family allowance.” She estimates their total compensation at $148.2 million through the end of 2021, an amount she says far exceeds what she and her siblings have received.
She also argues that more than $464 million is being held in cash, generating returns of “less than 0.1%” due to what she calls “unproductive investments.” With more strategic investing, she claims the estate could have earned roughly $41 million in profits.
Paris takes particular issue with what she describes as “risky” entertainment investments, including the upcoming Michael biopic. Branca is an executive producer on the film and, according to the filing, cast Miles Teller in the role of himself. Paris argues that the executors lack the industry experience needed to greenlight such projects responsibly.
“[The estate has] morphed into a private entertainment investment fund managed more for the benefit of Executors and their counsel than its beneficiaries,” the filing states.
Another sticking point: Paris says the executors still haven’t provided accounting for 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025. She believes the delays are intentional and aimed at keeping the estate open “indefinitely” while the pair continues pursuing high-risk ventures.
Her pushback follows an October motion from Branca and McClain claiming Paris has already received “approximately $65 million in benefits” from the estate. The executors have also defended their stewardship, noting that Michael Jackson was more than $500 million in debt when he died in 2009. In the filing, they say they turned the estate into a “powerhouse and a force in the music business.”
They previously denied Paris’ claim that they awarded $625,000 in gifts and gratuities to three law firms, calling the allegation “knowingly false.”
Paris is now asking the court to throw out the 2021 accounting and order the executors to file a revised version that fully documents their “true acts.” A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
