Michael Jackson's team have settled a $1 million lawsuit with his costume designer
The settlement is roughly double the amount they had sued for, reported the New York Daily News.
The late star's manager Christopher Demers and choreographer Travis Payne claimed they helped Nestor (Zaldy) Goco secure a deal to design the outfits for the 'Beat It' hitmaker's final 'This Is It' residency in London, which never took place as the singer passed away from acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009, weeks before the gigs were due to start.
Payne, who worked with Jackson for 17 years, and Demers introduced the popular designer to the "Beat It" singer earlier that year and urged Jackson to hire him.
The singer died of a drug overdose in June 2009. When he did, they struck a deal with Zaldy to be paid 20 per cent of his royalties. The designer created costumes that dripped with Swarovski crystals and would have dazzled audiences with LED lights.
Zaldy, who has also designed costumes for the likes of Beyonce, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga, stopped paying the pair at some point after Jackson died and they sued last year, saying Zaldy owed them as much as USD 480,000.
"We tried to settle this amicably several times," Demers said. "But he repeatedly defaulted on his own proposed settlements. This was a mess." They agreed to drop the suit when Zaldy agreed to give them 50 per cent of his royalties on the Las Vegas Jackson tribute show, Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson ONE.
The USD 1 million settlement figure is based on an assumption that Michael Jackson ONE, like many Vegas shows, will have a 20-year run.
The suit was dropped by the pair after Zaldy agreed to pay them 50% of his royalties from Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson ONE tribute show, with the $1 million figure being based on the assumption that the Las Vegas show will run for 20 years in total, the New York Daily News reports.
David Trachtenberg, the attorney for Christopher and Travis, said: ''The estimate is probably pretty good, but it may be conservative.''
Of the costumes he created, Zaldy - who has also designed for the likes of Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga - revealed some were covered in Swarovski crystals whilst others wowed with LED lights.
