Paris Jackson is hitting back at the estate of her late father, Michael Jackson, with a new opposition brief in her ongoing legal dispute
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The filing obtained by PEOPLE claims that the Michael Jackson estate's anti-SLAPP motion was "a waste of resources" that aimed to "make it as expensive and time-consuming as possible for Paris"
The opposition is a response to the January motion filed by attorneys for the late King of Pop's estate executors, who asked a judge to award them $115,000 in costs and attorney's fees
Paris Jacksonis firing back at her late fatherMichael Jackson's estate amid their lengthy legal dispute — claiming in a new filing that the executors' recent motion, for which they now seek to recover attorneys' fees, was "a waste of resources" that aimed to "make it as expensive and time-consuming as possible for Paris."
The new opposition brief, filed in a Los Angeles court on Feb. 26, comes after the executors of Michael Jackson's estate filed an anti-SLAPP motion — a motion seeking relief from a strategic lawsuit against public participation — against Paris in November 2025. That motion was filed in response to Paris's petition to rescind, which asked the Court to modify the process by which the estate executors seek legal fees from the estate.
The executors' anti-SLAPP motion was granted by the court, and Paris' attorneys allege that the anti-SLAPP motion "could not, and did not, have any impact on the litigation other than to cause delay," according to the opposition obtained by PEOPLE.
In January, the executors filed a secondmotionalleging that they were entitled to more than $115,000 in fees connected with the anti-SLAPP motion, as reported previously by PEOPLE.
In the latest Feb. 26 filing, which specifically opposes that request for fees, Paris' attorneys allege that the executors of Michael's estate "admitted that the [anti-SLAPP] motion was merely a 'procedural' objection, and its minimal effects were entirely overcome simply by filing a functionally identical pleading styled as a 'motion' rather than as a 'petition.'"
Paris' attorneys write in the filing that the anti-SLAPP motion filed by Michael's estate "did not achieve dismissal ofanycause of action, as Paris's requested relief in the Petition to Rescind remained unimpacted by Executors' SLAPP Motion."
"Executors allowed two of the same law firms who received improper payments to attack Paris... For this self-interested work, Executors paid these law firms an additional $115,355.52 in attorneys' fees and costs," the opposition brief alleges, adding that "The SLAPP [lawsuit] was a waste of resources that executors had a duty to avoid and likely could have avoided."
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PEOPLE has reached out to the attorneys for Michael's estate for comment on Paris' latest filing.
Paris' opposition brief comes weeks afterestate executors John McClain and John Brancafiled the fee request for the anti-SLAPP motion on Jan. 9, which itemized and explained all of the fees and costs they claim they are owed for time spent researching and responding to the petition filed by Paris, who is one of the beneficiaries of Michael's estate.
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The filings, which were obtained by PEOPLE, indicated that Branca and McClain's attorneys are seeking $93,924.63 in fees and $1,238.39 in costs connected to their anti-SLAPP motion alone, which was filed last year and granted in November, among other costs and fees related to recovering the funds.
In October 2025, documents filed by the executors claimed Paris had received approximately $65 million in benefits from her father's estate.
The disclosure came in the midst of Paris' legal attempt to challenge their control and alleged lack of transparency, particularly overalleged bonus and "premium payouts"in 2018.
Read the original article onPeople
