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It allegedly ruined the tour.
This spring, we reported on the 7-figure default judgment against Jermaine Jackson.
He was being sued for sexual assault, and never responded to any summons — or even to an LA Times ad.
Jermaine claims that he had no knowledge of the lawsuit, that he wants to defend himself, and that news about it spoiled son Jaafar Jackson’s film promotion.
He claims to have had no knowledge of the lawsuit
TMZ reports that Jermaine’s new legal filing claims that he had no idea that Rita Butler Barrett was suing him for sexual assault.
Remember, in addition to numerous efforts to serve him, the court authorized a Los Angeles Times ad to serve to notify him of the lawsuit.
Jermaine never responded, and Barrett received a default judgment of $6.5 million back in May.
He says that he was blindsided during the press tour for his son’s quasi-biopic, Michael.
Now, he’s hoping to get the default judgment tossed out.
In his filing, Jermaine complains that press coverage of the default judgment ruined “what should have been a proud and important professional moment for my son and our family.”
He went on to claim that he felt “shocked and deeply concerned about the effect of those reports on my reputation.”
Jermaine continued: “And on the promotion of my son’s motion picture.”
His reputation notwithstanding, it’s hard to say that anything about the allegations against Jermaine damaged the film’s promotion.
Surely, anyone willing to attend Michael despite the subject matter — or how it avoids the subject matter — wasn’t going to be troubled by the lead actor’s father facing an allegation.
Did the scandal really interfere with the success of the film?
As we previously reported, Barrett alleges that Jermaine sexually assaulted her in 1988.
According to her lawsuit, he showed up at her home uninvited and then raped her before abruptly leaving.
Sometimes, money is the best justice that one can hope to get in America. Especially if it means courtroom vindication.
However, Barrett never got the chance to voice her claims in court because Jermaine never responded.
Initially, some wondered if Jermaine hoped that not responding would simply handle it as quietly as possible.
However, it no longer appears that this was the strategy.
Jermaine claims that, despite the numerous attempts to reach him, he had no idea about the suit.
He alleges that he wants to defend himself in court, claiming that he never tried to avoid the lawsuit.
If the court tosses the $6.5 million default judgment, he is apparently ready to do battle in court.
This sounds like a complicated time for Barrett, and arguably for Jermaine, depending upon the judge’s ruling.