AEG Live, the company that took out a multimillion dollar insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London on the “This Is It” concerts has decided to drop its claim. Supposedly, this doesn’t have anything to do with leaked email that revealed that the concert promoter had doubts about Michael Jackson’s health.
Let me start with a little background information. In 2009, Michael Jackson was scheduled to preform a series of concerts at the O2 Arena in London, England. There were going to be a total of 50 concerts. This was the “This Is It” tour. The purpose was to raise enough money for Michael Jackson to pay off his debts.
AEG Live is the name of the company that promoted this final concert series. AEG Live took out a multimillion dollar policy with Lloyd’s of London on the “This Is It” series of concerts. The purpose of this type of insurance is to cover the costs of cancellation or postponement of the concert series due to Michael Jackson having an accident or illness that caused him to be unable to preform.
Before the tour started, Michael Jackson passed away. The cause of death was from an overdose of Propofol, (a powerful anesthetic), that was administered to him by his physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
As a result, Lloyd’s of London refused to pay out on the “This Is It” insurance policy. The policy was “restricted to losses resulting from an accident only”, and Michael Jackson’s death had been defined as a homicide. The other reason Lloyd’s of London didn’t pay out on the policy was because the insurer felt that AEG did not disclose Michael Jackson’s medical history, and because the singer did not undergo a required medical examination.
Michael Jackson’s estate sued Lloyd’s of London for the $17.5 million the policy was worth, plus an undisclosed amount of “punitive damages”. AEG sued Lloyd’s of London for not paying out on the policy.
Now, AEG has dropped its claim against Lloyd’s of London. This decision was made days after emails from AEG that were made at the time that the company was applying for a policy on the “This Is It” tour from Lloyd’s of London were revealed. The emails make it clear that AEG had concerns about Michael Jackson’s health (which were not disclosed to Lloyd’s of London).
There is a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson’s mother and his three children against AEG. They feel AEG contributed to Michael’s death by pressuring him to prepare for the tour even through the promoters knew Michael was not in good health. They are also suing because AEG hired Dr. Conrad Murray.
Image by tleonard1 on Flickr