The battle between Michael Jackson’s only daughter, Paris, and his legal estate is still marching on. And with this new development, it looks like there may be no resolving it any time soon.
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As we previously told you, in November 2025, Paris sued her father’s estate co-executors, John Branca and John McClain, over allegations that they’d been mishandling money. In the filing, she claimed the “Billie Jean” singer’s $464 million estate was being exploited big time, and her siblings— who are the estate’s beneficiaries— weren’t getting their fair share.
According to Paris, she and her brothers, Prince, 28, and Bigi, 23, had only received their 2021 estate accounting in September 2025 while the executors allegedly took in more than $10 million for themselves. “Paris is increasingly concerned the Estate has become the vehicle for John Branca to enrich and aggrandize himself, rather than serve the beneficiaries’ best interests and steadfastly preserve her father’s legacy,” the filing obtained by Page Six read.
Paris and her legal team also alleged that the executors were paying themselves irregular “premium payments,” unexplained bonuses, and “completely failed” to invest any of Jackson’s $464 million estate properly.
Now, fast forward to January 2026, and the estate’s legal team is now alleging that they’re the ones who are owed money—specifically $115,000 in costs and attorney’s fees. Per PEOPLE, in a recent court filing, Branca and McClain’s legal team are arguing that at least $95,163.02 of that money they’re owed is associated with an anti-SLAPP motion alone, which they filed last year and was granted in November 2025. They didn’t specify where the rest of the money is derived from.
Per this new filing, Branca and McClain are asking for that amount to “account for the fees and costs incurred by the Executors in connection with the anti-SLAPP motion so that the Court can determine the amount of the award.”
However, granted anti-SLAPP motion or not, Paris’ team isn’t taking this new filing and request for money lightly.
“For months, Paris Jackson has worked to address what appear to be troubling discrepancies and financial irregularities in the administration of her father’s estate,” a spokesperson for Paris told People in a statement.
It continued: “It’s no surprise the executors and their lawyers are using every tool at their disposal to take even more money from the Jackson family and use it to line their own pockets. Paris remains undeterred and will continue fighting for transparency, accountability and fairness for her family.”
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