Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe is suing a woman for nearly $500,000 (£316,000) over claims she wanted money rather than custody of her children.

Rebecca White told the US TV show Extra that Ms Rowe was not interested in access to her two children with Jackson – Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, 11.

Ms Rowe sued over the comments in July, but Ms White failed to respond.

Her lawyers are now seeking a default judgment. A court hearing to decide the outcome is scheduled for November.

In legal papers filed in Los Angeles, Ms Rowe’s lawyers claim she should be awarded $490,000 (£300,000) in general and punitive damages.

The defamation and invasion-of-privacy action is seeking to recoup any money that Ms White may have been paid for her interview, Lawyers have estimated the fee to be $100,000 (£61,000).

They are also seeking $100,000 for emotional distress, $45,000 (£27,000) for medical and legal fees and $245,000 (£150,000) in punitive damages. Read on…

Ever since Michael Jackson’s death in June, we’ve heard conflicting reports about who the biological mother and father of his three children really are. Today, another man enters the fray, claiming that Paris Jackson is his biological daughter. Former child star Mark Lester told reporters that he donated sperm for Debbie Rowe, the mother who gave birth to Paris and Prince. He says the 11 year old Paris bears an uncanny resemblance to his own daughter, and he’s willing to take a paternity test to prove his claim.

This comes on the heels of a custody claim by another man, dermatologist Arnold Klein, who is also rumored to be the Jackson kids’ real daddy. When is the madness going to stop? These kids need a chance to be normal, and that’s never going to happen if they keep getting dragged into custody fights.

ABC News has more:

Less than a week after Jackson’s 79-year-old mother Katherine Jackson was awarded custody of his three children a former British child star has come forward saying he believes he’s the father of Jackon’s 11-year-old daughter, Paris.

“I believe that Paris could be my daughter, and I would be willing to take a paternity test,” Mark Lester, star of the 1967 film “Oliver,” told British tabloid News of the World.

Lester, 51, said that he donated sperm for Debbie Rowe, mother of Jackson’s two oldest children, Paris and Prince Michael I, 12. He contends that Paris bears an uncanny resemblance to his own daughters, particularly his 15-year-old.

“Looking at pictures of Harriet and Paris, there’s a very strong resemblance between the two of them,” Lester, also the children’s godfather, told News of the World,” “Paris has blue eyes, pale complexion and high cheekbones.”

At the beginning of the week, a custody plan between Rowe and Katherine Jackson was finalized, giving the Jackson matriarch custody of Paris, Prince, and Blanket. NY Daily News reports that Rowe, the surrogate mother of Michael’s two older children, was “concerned” about father Joe. Joe Jackson has been dogged for years by allegations that he abused Michael.

So the Jackson clan jumped into damage control mode, with Joe preparing a court declaration that promises he won’t meddle in the childrearing decisions of his grandkids. As part of the deal, Joe got barred from living at the family compound, where the kids will stay. Let’s hope Katherine Jackson knows what she’s doing!

More from the NY Daily News:

Joe Jackson has promised a judge he will step aside in the raising of Michael Jackson’s three kids.

“I do visit the family residence from time to time and will continue to do so; however, I will not be involved in raising the children,” the patriarch said in a two-page court declaration.

He said all “decision-making authority” will rest with his wife, Katherine Jackson.

Joe Jackson can’t live at the family compound in Encino, Calif., under the custody deal between Katherine and Debbie Rowe, biological mom of Michael’s two eldest children.

Rowe was concerned about Joe’s influence because Michael had accused his dad of physical abuse, a source told the Daily News.

Why does dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein think he has any authority over the kids’ future? The surprise request made on behalf of Klein has the gossip mags churning out more rumors that the dermatologist is the real biological father of Jackson’s elder two children. What a tangled web of connections! Klein has yet to confirm or deny these rumors.

More from E! Online:

Acting on behalf of Dr. Arnold Klein, attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan made a surprise appearance in court today to express his client’s concern for the “education, health care and welfare” of Jackson’s two eldest children, Prince Michael and Paris.

Not that Klein, who still has never flat-out denied that he is the biological father of those kids, thinks that their grandmother Katherine Jackson shouldn’t be taking care of them.

Klein is merely “acting on promises he made to Michael with respect to ensuring the long-term health and stability of the children and their ability to enjoy as normal of a life out of the spotlight as could be reasonably possible,” Kaplan and cocounsel Bradley P. Boyer said in a statement Monday night.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, who earlier today awarded Katherine Jackson custody of her three grandchildren and agreed to visitation rights for Paris and Prince’s biological mother (and Klein’s former assistant), Debbie Rowe, said that Klein had no standing to challenge his decision at this time.

Not so fast, says the New York Post, which is reporting this morning that Debbie Rowe is in fact getting a pretty chunk of change from the Jacksons. $4 million to be exact! It was grandmother Katherine Jackson who agreed to give Rowe these “spousal support payments,” even though Rowe didn’t have written documentation of any agreement between her and Michael. Guess the family was tired of dealing with her, huh?

Here’s the article:

Debbie Rowe has hit the baby-making jackpot!

A child-custody agreement announced yesterday will keep Michael Jackson’s two oldest children with his relatives — but only if they continue to pay the kids’ human incubator about $4 million as part of an informal “spousal” arrangement she had with the King of Pop before he died, sources said.

Lawyers for both sides tried to spin it that no money had changed hands, but in a carefully worded statement, the family admitted yesterday they would continue paying her dough promised to her by Jacko — a verbal contract that died with him.

We hope that now the kids will finally get a chance at a normal life. It seems like Katherine Jackson has a good head on her shoulders. Good luck!

From LA Times:

The mother of Michael Jackson will retain custody of his children, and the biological mother of the two elder children will visit and maintain her legal parental rights under an agreement reached by both sides,  The Times has learned.

Katherine Jackson, 79, the late pop icon’s mother, and Debbie Rowe, 50, who bore Jackson’s two older children, also agreed to mutually hire a child psychologist to advise them on how, when and where Rowe’s visits should take place, a knowledgeable source said.

The agreement will go before a Los Angeles judge Monday, and both sides expect the judge to approve it, the source said. Rowe did not ask for custody. “Debbie is really happy” about the arrangement, said the source, refusing to be identified because the agreement has yet to be announced.

The source said Rowe did not receive any money under the arrangement and will pay half of the fees for the child psychologist.

Neither side made any demands that were rejected, the source said, and the arrangement was agreed to without contentious negotiation.

This, however, is a ruling Debbie Rowe and other people may challenge in the future. The two older children, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, were born when Rowe was still married to their father, making her their legal mother. Rower reportedly signed away her parental rights to the children after the divorce, but an appeals court reestablished her parental status in 2006. California attorney Gloria Allred commented, “Katherine would have to show it would be detrimental to the kids for Rowe to have custody. That’s a very heavy burden.” (source)

It seems that even though Jackson most likely has his wishes stated in his will (which will be filed in California courts later this week), those wishes would still only be used as a suggestion and not be legally binding. Not legally binding? Why on earth do we even have wills? We can only hope that whatever happens, it is truly what’s best for the children.

LOS ANGELES, July 16 (Reuters) – Michael Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe on Thursday sued a woman for defamation on Thursday after news reports that claimed Rowe was willing to accept millions of dollars in exchange for giving up her custody rights to her two children with the dead pop star.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rowe contends that Rebecca White committed defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Read on…

According to Debbie Rowe, she never said that she would trade money for custody of the children. She claims that White has fabricated all the evidence for these slanderous accusations.

LOS ANGELES – Debbie Rowe says “Hell no!” to raising the two children she bore to ex-hubby Michael Jackson, a bombshell email published by ExtraTV.com reveals.

“My lawyer is telling me I have to take some responsibility about the welfare of the children,” Rowe wrote in a July 5 email to friend Rebecca White, obtained by Extra. “Do I want the kids? Hell no. Does it look good for me to ask for them? Absolutely. I don’t want to look like the woman who gave away her kids and just forgot about them.”

Rowe, 50, is considering a bid for custody of Michael Jr., 12, and Paris, 11, as her lawyers discuss private settlement options with Katherine Jackson, the grandmother named their temporary guardian, sources told the Daily News.

A search of Michael Jackson’s doctor’s home turned up Propofol, the powerful sedative that may have killed the King of Pop, the gossip Web site TMZ reported Monday.

Based on an interview with of Dr. Conrad Murray, police conducted another search of his home and found the prescription drug, which is supposed to be administered only in a hospital, TMZ reported.

The Los Angeles Times cited unnamed sources saying detectives also found large amounts of Diprivan – the brand name for Propofol – at Jackson’s home.

Read more…