Karen Faye Testimony
May 9, 2013 Morning session
Direct examination by Jackson attorney Brian Panish
Karen Faye starts her testimony by explaining what a makeup and hair artist does. She says she works on television shows, videos, commercials and works with celebrities. Karen states she started working for Michael either 1982 or 1983. She says her first job with Michael was the Thriller album cover, Karen was hired by the photographer Dick Zimmerman for the job. Panish shows a vinyl copy of Thriller album and ask Karen Faye to read the dedication section which says “This album is lovingly dedicated to Katherine Jackson”.
Karen talks about Michael bringing a baby tiger to the photoshot and how she played with it and had fun. Karen Faye says Michael liked to have a distraction away from him when working because he did not like all of the attention on him.
Karen says Michael got her phone number from Dick Zimmerman and called her to work on the next project – the cover for ET.
Karen explains how makeup and hair artists get the celebrities photo ready and how it’s a job that they get personal with the person as they are required to be close and touch the people while working on their hair and makeup.
Panish asks about the Pepsi burn accident and how that had an effect on Michael’s makeup and such. Karen says she had to work along Michael to hide his injury such as using hairpieces to hide the burn.
Karen says that she worked for Michael for 27 years and she travelled all around the world. She calls these experiences magical. Karen says she and Michael were very close, like a brother and sister and they could call each other if they were having problems.
Panish asks Karen if she went on any tours with Michael and she says she was on 3 tours. She mentions also working on special appearances and being with Michael when he met dignitaries, presidents and celebrities. She also mentions spending time with Michael outside the tours such as going to museums, book stores, hospitals, amusement parks and spending time at Neverland.
Panish asks about Michael’s work as a humanitarian and asks Karen if she was involved. Karen replies no, saying it was something Michael just did and did not share much.
Karen Faye: “he used to say, "I only tour because I get to go to other countries and to see the kids and the hospitals and the orphans." that was his main reason. He didn't care about the tour all that much.”
Panish: can you tell us, since none of us met him, how would you describe Michael’s personality?
Karen Faye: he was a gentleman. He was elegant. He was brilliant.
Panish asks Karen about Michael’s sense of humor, creativity, perfectionist nature and Michael’s relationship with fans.
Panish shows several photos: first picture is a picture of Karen and Michael with a note from Michael on it which says “to dearest Karen Faye. You are definitely one of the loyal family. Love always. Your brother, Michael Jackson”
The second picture was taken at Motown Café in NYC. Panish asks if there is a story behind that picture. Karen explains
Karen Faye: “well, Lisa Marie Presley was calling Michael the day before this was shot and saying -- begging him not to divorce her. They weren't getting along. And so she called repetitively and begged him, "don't file for divorce. I really want to try to work this out." and Michael kept saying, "no. I don't think it's really going to work out." so she begged and begged, "please don't file yet. Please don't file yet." so he promised her he wouldn't file for divorce. But the next morning, it was all over the press she had gone ahead and filed divorce before him. So he was devastated by that, because he really decided to try again. She was, like, convincing him to try, and she turned around -- and I guess she just wanted to beat him to the punch in the press. So he said, "Come on. Let's give the press something to talk about," in relationship to this announcement. So we went out, and I was the mysterious blonde, and we went to the Motown cafe.”
Third picture is the picture where Michael is doing Karen’s makeup. Fourth picture is taken during “Leave me alone” video shot. Another photo is Michael in a clown makeup with Karen. Panish shows another set of photos of Michael which Karen did the makeup.
Panish shows them to the jury asking Karen to tell about anything she can tell about the pictures. Photos include Annie Leibovitz photo shot for Vanity Fair, Dangerous, LA Gear, live concert photos and so on. Panish also shows videos from concert performances and asks Karen to explain where they are, what song, what concert etc. (Karen once comments Michael looking sexy and mentions she visited Dracula’s castle)
Karen talks about Michael sweating a lot during concerts and losing 2-3 inches of water weight. She says it was her job to keep Michael hydrated during the shows.
Karen also talks about how she had to go on stage to touch up Michael and put his hair in a ponytail and the concert in Bucharest, how her daughter accompanied her during the tour and her daughter was on stage with Michael during “Heal the World”.
Panish goes back to the Pepsi burn incident and asks Karen to tell what happened. Karen explains the accident, how Michael did not realize his head was on fire and how Miko Brando wrestled Michael to the ground and put out the fire with his hands. Panish plays the video of the accident. Karen says she was devastated and worried and she couldn’t get in touch with anybody to find out how he was. She says she saw her on TV, his head bandage, visiting other patients.
Karen says at first they just healed his skin and later on he had surgeries. Karen says after his skin healed, they put a small hairpiece on the top of his head that would cover the spot where Michael’s hair would never grow again. She says this wasn’t the best way for performances so Michael wanted to see what he can do to heal that spot to get his hair grow back there. So he had operation on his scalp where they tried to pull the hair together over the bald spot. To do that they put balloon under the skin so that it stretches and they have enough skin to pull over. Karen says Michael’s schedule was so busy that he never had time to heal from that. Michael was getting intense migraine headaches as the nerve endings start growing back together again. Karen says migraine headaches only happened during the healing period and he did not complain about them later.
Panish asks Karen about Munich bridge accident. Karen explains what happened. Karen says when the bridge fell, she feared Michael could be dead and she wanted to run out to Michael but the security guards hold her back. She says she saw Michael come up on the stage and finish the song. After the song in the quick change room, she says to Michael “we need to get you to the hospital” and he says he can’t go, he can’t disappoint the audience. Karen says after the show Michael collapsed in the dressing room and the security took him to a hospital.
Karen says Michael complained about back pain from that point on and he usually complained about back pain when he was under physical or emotional stress.
Panish asks Karen if there were any other instances when something happened during mid performance and Michael continued to perform. Karen drifts and talks about how Michael always said “please” and “thank you” etc, mentions his low pain tolerance and high adrenaline during performing. Panish stops her and shows Seoul Korea performance where a fan run on the stage and got on the cherry-picker and Michael continued the performance while holding the fan. Karen says Michael was scared to death and saving the fans life while Panish replies Michael did not seem too worried about it.
Panish then asks about music videos and making Karen tell about them. He plays Thriller. Panish mentions the Super bowl performance. He talks about the “toaster”, Michael’s performance at MTV awards, he mentions “moonwalk”, plays Dangerous video, “you are not alone”, asks Karen to explain what is a short film, plays “will you be there”.
Panish asks Karen if Michael had difficulty sleeping during tours. Karen explains that his adrenaline would get so high it would take him at least 24 hours (sometimes 2 days) to relax his body enough to get to mode where he could actually sleep. Panish asks Karen what would Michael do. Karen says in the beginning of the tours the shows will be spaced out enough to give Michael enough time to unwind and relax (such as 1-2 concerts a week) but as the tours went on the shows got closer and closer. Karen says it would get worse and worse and Michael would get less and less sleep.
Panish asks Karen if Michael relied on other people to help with his pain or sleep. Karen replies “doctors”
Panish: “what were his thoughts? Did he believe and trust doctors or not trust them? What were your observations and discussions with him about doctors?”
Karen: “uhm, Michael always believed that a doctor had his best interest at heart. He always believed if he got something through a doctor, that it was safe, and it was okay to use.”
Panish asks Karen if she knows Michael ever took prescription medication. Karen says she doesn’t know as Michael never showed her that, never took them in front of Karen and he never told her he was taking medication.
Panish: do you know what the doctors were doing with him?
Karen: no, sir.
Panish asks Karen about anything unusual happening before Dangerous tour in regards to doctors. Karen says they were doing a short film for Adams Family and this was the time Michael was going through the pain from the scalp balloon operation and having migraines. She says Michael was having patches put on to regulate pain medication to slowly release pain medication to help him with his scalp.
Karen says Debbie Rowe would come to the trailer and she had a little bag with her.
Karen says Jim Morey (a manager at that time) asked Karen she would carry the pain relief patches into Bangkok and Debbie Rowe asked her if she would learn how to give injections. Karen says her first inclination was “yeah whatever you want me to do” but when she went home she thought about it and decided no she wasn’t qualified in any way to handle medication and give injections. Karen called Jim Morey and told her not to send her the patches and she wouldn’t do it.
Karen is asked about Dangerous tour, she says Paul Gongaware was the tour director. Karen says Gongaware was in charge of logistics. She says the tour consisted of 350 people and there were three groups of people: A, B and C group. Gongware was in charge of the band group and logistics on moving them.
Karen says Dr. Stuart Finkelstein came to Bangkok and she learned that Paul Gongaware was the one who called him when Karen refused to take medical packages into Bangkok. (She later says she saw Dr. Finkelstein and Gongaware being friendly on tour) She says Dr. Finkelstein treated Michael on the tour. She says Dr. Finkelstein told her he was glad she wasn’t carrying the package because it had vials and syringes in it and if she brought it in, she might not be there. Karen says she did not see Dr. Finkelstein giving medicine to Michael. She later learned that
Karen Faye: “I came to learn that there was a balance of medications that had to be administered that it was strong enough to overcome Michael’s pain but not strong enough that he couldn't perform.”
Karen also mentions another doctor, Dr. Forecast. She says she doesn’t know where he actually came on tour. She says he learned that Dr. Forecast was insurance doctor brought by Lloyds of London.
Panish asks if there was a time Michael was given too many drugs and had problem with performing. Karen says it was Singapore show. Karen says she went to Michael’s dressing room to get him ready. She says Michael had a hard time walking and he was stumbling. Karen says he was kind of glazed and the fell over a potted tree decoration. Karen says Dr. Forecast was there and she said to Dr. Forecast Michael can’t go on. Karen explains Michael had to go through the toaster and she was worried that he can hurt himself in that condition. Karen says to Dr. Forecast “You can’t make him go out there like that” and she put her arms around Michael saying “you can’t take him”. Dr. Forecast says “yes I can”, backs Karen up against a wall and puts his hands around her neck, pushed her up the wall and says “you don’t know what you are doing”. Karen says she couldn’t breathe and she nearly fainted and fell to the floor. Dr. Forecast grabbed Michael and took him to the stage. The show was eventually cancelled.
Panish asks if there were other shows cancelled and Karen says yes. Karen says Michael was getting worse and he was under a lot of stress at the time because of the 1993 child molestation accusations. Panish asks if Michael ever complained about physical and emotional pain at the time. Karen says he would never say anything like that to her because Michael always wanted to be brave and strong.
Karen says it appeared that Michael was getting more and more prescription medication during that time. She says the tour ended early because everyone knew Michael had a problem and they called Elizabeth Taylor to come and take Michael into rehab. Karen says initially she didn’t know where Michael went to rehab but later Michael wanted her to come to her. She says she was taken to countryside outside of London, it was a beautiful country home and they had sessions and sit and talk about their issues.
Panish asks about how the experience on Dangerous tour made Karen felt about the doctors on tour with Michael. Karen says she got worried when she saw a doctor and she was afraid that Michael was in either emotional, psychological or physical pain and the doctors were giving him something for it.
Karen says she on the first leg of History tour. She says she did not travel with Michael but she was there and did his makeup and hair. She says Dr. Neil Ratner was on the tour and she saw it at the very end of the first leg. She says Gongaware was on History tour as well and this time he had a lot more responsibility.
Panish asks about the HBO event and Karen says Michael collapsed on stage and the diagnosis was over-exhaustion and dehydration.
Panish asks about the 30th anniversary show and if anything happened. Karen says she went to Michael’s room to get him ready and she was met by a doctor who opened the door. Doctor looks surprised and tells Karen she can’t come in, he tells Karen he has just given Michael something and he’s asleep and he won’t be awake for another 5-6 hours. Karen says this can’t happen as they need to be at MSG in 2 hours. She says Frank Cascio helped her, she made his hair and makeup, walked him around the room, gave him Gatorade and bagels so he could perform. She says he had a whole audience, his family there. She says they eventually get to MSG and Michael performed.
Panish asks about the 2005 criminal trial. Karen says at first Michael was being really brave. She tells that she would go to Neverland around 2:00 – 3:00 AM every morning to get Michael ready because he needed to leave by 6:00 – 7:00AM. She says they made him parade every single day; they had a red carpet for him with all the media to put him on display while they allowed other witnesses go around the back. She tells how they prayed “I hope to god he sees the truth”, washing his hair, watching Three Stooges, Michael Bush dressing him.
Karen says towards the end it got worse. Michael couldn’t eat, he was afraid, he got thinner, his physical pain / back pain kicked in. Karen says Michael said he couldn’t eat because he didn’t want to throw up because he had to watch all these people who he loved and cared about tell all these lies about him. If he had to go to the bathroom, one of the guards had to go and stand behind him and Michael was too shy for that so he wouldn’t drink either.
May 9, 2013 Afternoon session
Panish asks Karen about when she learned about TII tour. She says she learned about it after the announcement in London beginning of March. Karen says she got a phone call from Michael Amir Williams. MAW asked Karen if she would be available to talk to Michael on the phone. Michael calls Karen a few hours later. Karen says they hadn’t spoken for a long time and they were on the phone for 45 minutes. Karen says after pleasantries Michael told her he would be doing TII and would like Karen work with him, Karen accepts.
Panish asks if Karen had any concerns when Michael first contacted her. She says she had a problem with Raymone Bain and Grace Rwaramba because she knew they didn’t like her and didn’t want her around. Karen says she did not have any concerns about the TII concerts at the time of the phone call but after the conversation she went online and viewed the concert schedule. She says she thought the concerts were too close and there wasn’t enough time for Michael to recuperate, rest, sleep between shows so Karen contacts Kenny Ortega and says there needs to be a change to the schedule. Karen says Kenny kind of fluffed it off and did not seem real concerned about it.
Karen says negotiations for her rate happened with Paul Gongaware and later Gongaware turned it over to Timm Woolley. Karen says the written contract took a while to get it done and she started working prior having a written contract. Karen says that she wasn’t paid for her work until the contract was signed. AEG paid her for the work she did before after the contract was signed. Panish shows Karen’s contract which was signed by Karen, Taunya Zilkie and Gongaware. Karen says before the contract was written up, she believed she had an oral agreement to work on TII. Karen’s contract says that she will render services to the company at photo sessions, press, media events, sound or audio recordings or other production sessions. Karen says AEG is the company that is directing and managing TII.
Karen tells that she took directions from Frank Dileo, Kenny Ortega and reported to Timm Woolley and once in a while spoke to Randy Phillips. Karen says Phillips was the top executive, Gongaware worked under him. Karen says Gongaware came to rehearsals every day and Phillips only came once in a while.
Karen is asked about Kenny Ortega, John Hougdahl aka Bugsy, Travis Payne, Michael Bush and what they did on TII.
[In the afternoon session there are two long sidebars about hearsay. We learn that Karen was deposed for 5 days and majority of her deposition and testimony is like “Kenny Ortega told me Randy Phillips said that..”, “Michael Bush told me Michael said…” or “Michael Jackson told me…”. AEG argues it’s textbook hearsay and the judge agrees. AEG suggests the proper way to handle this is to put other people (such as Kenny Ortega and Michael Bush) on stand and ask them what they were told and if required use Karen Faye’s deposition testimony to impeach them.
AEG also has issues with “Michael Jackson told me that..” and argues it is hearsay and unreliable. AEG also argues there’s no evidence that any of Michael’s statements ever communicated to AEG. They argue it would only become relevant if Karen told what Michael told her to AEG people. Jackson lawyers argue that they will not offer it as truth but to demonstrate Michael’s state of mind. AEG argues Michael’s state of mind is not an issue in this lawsuit. AEG and Jacksons also argue about the law. AEG argues that there’s a rule that says in a wrongful death lawsuit statements of decedent (Michael) cannot be used against the defendant (AEG). Jacksons lawyers disagree and cite OJ Simpson case where Nicole Simpson’s statements were used to show her state of mind. AEG states Karen can testify what she observed, felt or understood.
So most the questions are worded accordingly and Panish repeatedly tells Karen not to tell what people told her. Karen gets frustrated at times. ]
Karen testifies that Michael at times were frustrated.
Karen Faye: “in the beginning, when I first saw him, I thought he was great. He was very happy, very – it was just so great to see him, and very upbeat, very clear. But he was on the thin side, was my opinion, for starting a tour. At that time, in the very beginning, I thought he had plenty of time to put on some body mass, some muscle mass. Usually performers, even through rehearsals, start gaining some weight muscularly from repeating the dance moves. He'd start working out, and -- and I thought through diet that he probably could”.
Karen testifies as the time went on it looked worse and worse. Karen says Michael was excited and brought all of his energy to the production meetings but she saw a change in Michael when he had to go on stage and rehearse. Karen testifies that the band and the dancers needed to rehearse with Michael and it was Ortega and Phillips’s responsibility to make sure Michael rehearsed. Karen says rehearsing is something you have to do, you have to rehearse but there come a time where they had to make Michael rehearse.
Karen says during this time she saw changes at Michael, like his skin was drier than she has ever seen. She says his eyes were dry. Karen thinks it was either not enough water or not enough nutrition. Karen also says Michael was losing weight and getting thinner.
Karen adds that Michael was repeating himself a lot and at times he seemed paranoid. Such as telling Karen make sure that he can see her on stage all the time and then repeat it again. Karen says Michael was also paranoid about fans hearing the loud music from outside. Karen says there was a time Michael was pretty good and then these things happened very suddenly. She says the turning point when Michael had to get up on stage and actually perform.
[Karen testifies hearing Gongaware on the phone with Michael Amir Williams telling him to get Michael out of the bathroom and bring him to the rehearsals at Forum]
Karen testifies that she was concerned about Michael’s psychological well being and adds that she wasn’t aware if anyone else was concerned about Michael’s condition. Karen says she shared her concerns around the week of June 15. Karen says Kenny Ortega was the first person she told her concerns. Karen says she told Ortega about her concerns about Michael’s psychological well being and told that she felt a psychologist should be brought in to assess MJ.
(After a long sidebar) Karen tells that Ortega told her Phillips hired one of the top 10 doctors in the world, Judge gives the jury a limiting instruction in regards to this statement.
Karen testifies she later learned this doctor was Murray and says she saw Murray at only one rehearsal. Karen says she once ran into Randy Phillips in the hallway and talked to him about her concerns and Randy told her about Michael being drunk at the London announcement. Karen also testifies that Phillips told her that it was important for him and he really wanted to see Michael successful again. Phillips felt like Michael’s popularity had waned and he wanted to be the one to revive that.
Karen says at one point she was told to communicate her concerns directly to Frank Dileo. Karen says it was her understanding that Dileo was working for AEG. Karen says Dileo was the person she was supposed to go and she believed Dileo was going to report these concerns to Phillips. Karen says she phoned and sent emails to Frank Dileo. Karen testifies on phone she told Dileo that she was worried about Michael’s state of health psychologically, emotionally and physically. Karen says she also forwarded fan emails to Dileo with comments added to them.
Karen mentions that once Michael was late for rehearsal and Ortega and Phillips went to Michael’s house to talk to him. After that meeting Karen says she was instructed to not to listen to Michael and listen and take directions from Phillips. Karen says she was told to get Michael on stage and put the ear piece in his ear even though he did not want that. Karen testifies she felt torn about whom to listen to.
Karen says Michael was again late for a rehearsal around June 16-18 and Ortega and Phillips again went to talk to Michael. Karen says she thinks Michael and Murray was at this meeting. Karen says she talked to Ortega after this meeting but the some of questioning ends due to hearsay. She says she was told not to listen to what Michael was telling her and show Michael tough love.
Panish goes back to ask about Michael and doctors on tour in general. Karen says she was concerned because doctors meant Michael had emotional or physical pain and it meant they were prescribing in drugs. Karen says at those times Michael seems to be under the influence of something by the way he looked, walked and talked.
Karen says she trusted Dr. Metzger.
Karen tells that she talked to Dileo and Ortega around June 18 and she was getting emails from fans at this time period as well. Karen says she forwarded the emails to Dileo. Karen testifies she did not give the emails to Phillips and Phillips talked to her at Michael’s funeral saying he read the emails Karen sent to Ortega and tried to do everything he could. Karen says she had no response to that as Michael was lying in a casket only a few feet away.
Karen says on June 18 Michael came to rehearsal late and he looked stoic. Karen says Michael and she did not talk much and Michael looked frightened.
Karen says she was instructed by Dileo to not to talk to fans anymore. Karen says this was before she forwarded emails to Dileo.
Panish asks about the June 19 rehearsal. Karen says Michael was cold as an ice cube that day and he was shaking violently. Karen says she wrapped Michael in blankets, held him close to her and had a space heater on. Karen says she asked Ortega to call Michael’s doctor because she was scared to death. She says Ortega called the doctor. Karen says Michael had a fitting earlier in the day and that seemed to be going all right but later in the day he started to get really really cold. Karen says Kenny massaged Michael’s feet and Kenny tried to feed Michael (she says Kenny always tried to feed Michael by cutting his chicken for him).
Panish shows the June 19 fitting photo and asks Karen is she has seen Michael looked like that before. Karen replies Michael was thin and it was bad at the end of the 2005 trial but she has never seen him so emaciated as this. Karen says while trying on the clothes, Michael seemed to be okay. Karen again stopped when she tries to tell what Michael said. Karen says Michael was frustrated and repeated “why can’t I choose?” judge later strikes this statement.
Panish goes back to the fan emails and what she forwarded to Dileo. Karen forwarded the following email on June 20th.
Karen’s comments: “Frank, unfortunately, she is right. I am fearful he will make himself so sick he will die. If he doesn't do this show, he has nowhere else to go."
Fan email: “ hello, Karen. I'm gonna try to make this one short but I don't know if I will be able to. Last week I was in LAwith a friend to see Michael. We got really lucky and Michael kindly invited us both on the set of the 3d "thriller" ghosts thing. My friend had made a jacket for him. He was dressed with white pants -- I think she meant (reading
-- really tight, and a white shirt, really tight, too. He had a red small jacket on. I told Michael to try it because he became really thin, we were afraid it wouldn't fit. He took his jacket off and I saw something horrible a skeleton. Watched his back. It was only bones. I am still in shock, and my best friend too. We knew he was skinny, but we were always seeing him with a jacket on or a large top. But as he was dressed this day, it was as if he was naked and we saw how awful it was. We don't know if he is anorexic and stopped eating, as he told us, or if it's something more complicated than that, a disease or something else. But in the case he just stopped eating, here is what I want to tell you. If we do nothing, he will die. And it's natural logic. I know people who work for him cannot tell him anything; and even if they do, he won't listen. I know his own family tried to help him, but he won't listen. But I also know that it is humanly impossible for a human being to be a skeleton and dance for two hours straight without any danger.”
Karen says Dileo did not respond to email and they later talked about it. She says Dileo’s statement bothered her. On June 22nd Karen sends another email to Dileo.
Karen testifies that on June 23rd and June 24th Michael was doing better and she felt a little bit relief. She says Michael was still cold and thin and repeating stuff on june 23rd. Karen says she learned Randy Phillips put a person in Michael’s dressing room. She says she doesn’t know why Phillips put that person there and she testifies that Michael was bothered and unhappy by it.
Karen testifies there were a lot more people around for the June 24th rehearsal and Phillips was there. Karen says Michael was wrapped in blankets on June 24th.
Karen Faye Testimony
May 10, 2013 Session
Panish asks Karen about the fitting. Karen says there was a living space and bathrooms in the rear. Karen says Michael sweated and Michael Bush changed Michael in the bathroom area while Karen was in the living room area. Karen says once they were in the Staples center and Michael Bush was changing Michael in the bathroom while Karen was waiting in the living room. She says Michael Bush exited the bathroom, came to her and said “oh my God Turkle I could see Michael’s heart beat through the skin in his chest”. Karen says she just acknowledged it saying “yeah I know, he’s really thin”. Karen says Michael Bush was upset and sounded like he was in shock.
Panish goes back to the emails Karen forwarded to Dileo, she says she did not get a reply from Dileo. Karen says she asked Dileo about it when they were at Staples center and he said to her “I got it under control, don’t worry about it”. Karen replies saying “but he’s losing weight really rapidly. Why don’t you ask Michael Bush to verify taking in his pants and how much weight he is actually losing”. Karen says Dileo went to the dressing area which was right next to makeup area and separated by curtain. Karen says she heard Dileo ask Michael Bush about Michael’s weight and heard Dileo say “Get him a bucket of chicken”. Karen says this was a cold response and broke her heart.
Panish asks Karen how she heard about Michael’s death. Karen says she was at Staples center in the hallway between makeup room and Ortega’s room. She says Ortega came to her, put his arms around her and told her in her ear. Karen says her knees went weak and Ortega was holding her up. Karen says Ortega went on with the business of dealing with the situation and all of the people that were there.
Panish asks about Michael’s funeral. Karen says she prepared Michael’s body for his family to view in the casket.
Karen is asked about TII movie and tells that she was asked to come and retouch the footage. She says she didn’t do it because it was a lie and she did not want to lie.
Karen: “everybody was lying after he died, sir, that Michael was well, and everybody knew he wasn't. And I felt retouching Michael was just a part of that lie.”
Panish plays a part from “they don’t really care about us”. Panish asks if Karen was watching that performance as it happened, she replies yes. Panish asks if accurately depict how Michael looked in the last 2 days of his life. Karen says in real life he looked thinner to her, especially in his legs. (AEG lawyer objects and says there was no retouching of the footage)
Panish shows a picture to Karen from TII and asks how Michael looks, Karen replies skeletal and sick. She’s shown a picture of Dangerous gold pants and a picture from TII. Karen says the gold pants picture shows the muscle he needed to perform. She’s shown another picture from TII and says you can see the bones in his neck, his arms slender and he has a lot of clothes on. Karen’s direct examination ends by Karen saying she was concerned about Michael’s physical appearance.
Cross Examination by AEG attorney Putnam
Putnam asks Karen about what she does when she is asked to retouch footage. Karen says she was working on retouching footage when Michael was dying. She says Michael asked her to go and work with the technicians to make the Dome project videos that will be used in the concerts. Karen says she wasn’t retouching the footage but showing the technicians how to retouch it.
Putnam asks about retouching TII movie. Karen says she was asked and she was torn about. She didn’t want to lie and she also wanted him look good if the movie was going to be released. She says she called her rep and asked for advice. Putnam asks if Karen has any idea in what way or how the footage was or was not retouched, Karen says she was no idea, she did not participate and did not talk to anyone about it.
Putnam asks about Taunya Zilkie. She says Taunya was her rep for several years and she had a personal relationship with the Jacksons. Karen testifies that Taunya and Randy Jackson seemed very close. She says Taunya and Randy had a long on and off romantic relationship.
Putnam points out that they were at Staples center on June 23rd and June 24th and that was time Karen heard Dileo utter “Get him a bucket of chicken” through a partition. Karen testifies that on June 23rd and June 24th Michael’s rehearsals was better but he was still thin and cold. Putnam asks if Karen thought Michael looked too thin during the entire time she was with Michael in 2009. Karen replies she did not feel he was too thin when she first met him, she thought he did not have enough muscle mass to do a concert and he progressively got worse.
Karen says one of her concerns was Michael being thin and the other concern was Michael’s psychological health. Karen says she started to get worried when Michael started not coming to rehearsals and it peaked at the week before Michael’s death.
Putnam asks about Dileo. Karen says he was a manager after Thriller period and left his job at Sony to become Michael’s manager. Putnam asks if there were a lot of people who were fired and then came back and then fired /hired/fired/hired. Karen says correct. Putnam asks if Karen was one of those people that was fired / hired, Karen says she was never fired, she was released. Karen says she’s a freelance artist so she can’t really be fired. Putnam asks if middle of a tour Michael’s manager Tarak told her , her services were no longer needed, Karen replies yes.
Karen says she did not talk to Michael during the last leg of History tour and she did not see Michael between 2005 verdict and when she started to work on TII in 2009. Putnam asks “so you were one of these people who left MJ’s life for a period of time but came back in”, Karen replies correct. Putnam asks if it was odd that people came and went and Karen says it wasn’t odd and it happened once in a while.
Putnam lists Karen’s work history with Michael: Moonwalker movie, Bad tour, Wembley concerts, meeting Princess Diana, Smooth Criminal and Beat it videos from Wembley DVD, Dangerous tour, Bucharest concert, Ireland concert and so on.
Karen says Ortega was the creative director for the Dangerous tour but she thinks he was not on the whole tour. Usually when the tour set up, Kenny went on to other things.
Putnam goes over what Karen said about Dangerous tour, Dr. Forecast, Michael goint to rehab. Putnam reminds what Karen said the previous day about Gongaware having some role in cancelling the shows. Karen says she has no way of knowing if Gongaware actually cancelled a show and she says he might have been involved in figuring out what to do if something happened regarding a cancellation.
Putnam asks Karen if she knew what Gongaware did on Dangerous tour; Karen replies she knows some things but not the details. Karen says Gongaware was working with their passports and visas, logistics, rearranging scheduled. Karen says Gongaware travelled with B group during Dangerous tour. Putnam asks to the extent of cancelling a show, Gongaware would have to rearrange people’s schedules and Karen replies correct.
Putnam asks if Karen knows if Gongaware had any interaction with Michael during Dangerous tour. Karen says yes because many times their hotels were together. When asked, Karen cannot remember a specific time.
Putnam asks about Bangkok, reminds Michael had scalp surgery before this time. Karen says before they left for Bangkok the inflation device was removed and the operation to bring his scalp together was done. Michael was having migraine headaches due to the surgery. Also this was the time first molestation accusations become public. It was the same time period. Putnam asks Karen she suspected Michael had a problem with painkillers over the time and she says yes because of patches, vials and syringes she was told about. Putnam again asks who asked Karen to bring the patches and she replies Jim Morey and Debbie Rowe. Putnam asks Karen explain the patches. Karen says she never saw them but she understand them to be like the smoking patches and explained to her that it would relieve Michael’s pain from surgery.
Putnam asks Karen as a makeup artist for Michael Jackson why would she have a conversation with a nurse (Debbie Rowe) of one of Michael’s doctors (Klein). Karen says it’s because she was going along with Michael and she knew Klein as she was a patient of Klein.
Putnam asks Karen if she ever discussed painkillers issue with Michael at Dangerous tour asking “I’m concerned you have problem with painkillers” or “I’m concerned you are using too many painkillers”. Karen replies no. Karen says she never spoke to Michael but believes he knew she knew as she saw him at Singapore. Putnam asks if Karen talked to Michael after Singapore event saying she was concerned. Karen says she was a place of safety for Michael so she did not bring up drugs or accusations to Michael.
Putnam asks if Karen talked Sandy Gallin or Jim Morey about her concerns about Michael’s drug use at that time. Karen says no and adds that she was afraid of them because they asked her to carry the patches. Karen is asked if she ever contacted Dr. Klein or Debbie Rowe about her concerns of painkillers, she says no.
Putnam asks if Karen saw Michael taking drugs or injections during Dangerous tour, she says no. She’s asked if she’s given Michael drugs or painkillers. She says no. Putnam asks if there were any medicine prescribed to Michael in her name, Karen says no. Putnam asks if Karen discussed the medications with Dr. Metzger, she says no.
Putnam asks if Karen brought any medicine on tour for Michael. Karen asks if Latisse would be considered a drug, Putnam replies if it is by prescription. Karen says it grows eyelashes. Karen says she wanted it for Michael and Dr. Metzger prescribed it in her name during TII preparations. Karen says Propecia (grows hair) was also prescribed by Dr. Metzger in her name for Michael. Karen says she discussed it with Michael, Metzger and Klein to make sure these were okay for Michael to take. Karen says she also had conversations about Botox on Michael’s scalp for sweating, she says she did not get Botox. These were for TII tour.
Putnam asks if Karen got prescriptions for Michael during dangerous tour and she says no. Putnam asks if Karen talked to Michael’s family. She replies she talked with Rebbie but believes it was after Dangerous tour. Karen says Rebbie came to her house but she cannot remember when that discussion happened. Karen says she talked with Latoya after Michael’s death. Karen says she met with Katherine and Michael’s family after Michael’s death to answer their questions.
Putnam goes over again asking Karen if she talked to anyone about her concerns during Dangerous tour. Karen says “the molestation and the drug issue I avoided like the plague” when talking about what she said or did not say to Michael. Karen says she might have brought up being asked to bring drugs to Bangkok years later with Michael but she’s not sure. She doesn’t recall a discussion but says it’s possible.
Putnam asks if Karen told anyone about Dr.Forecast choking her, she says Michael was in the room and she probably told it to Michael Bush – but she doesn’t recall for sure. She says she did not mention it to Michael’s managers.
Putnam asks Karen about Dr. Forecast and Karen says it’s her belief that he was the Lloyds of London insurance doctor. Putnam asks if she ever had an understanding that Dr.Forecast was Michael’s personal physician during the tour, Karen replies she never got that impression. Putnam asks if anyone told Karen that Dr.Finkelstein was on the tour for crew and others. Karen replies he served in that purpose also. Putnam asks Karen if she knows how many times Dr. Finkelstein treated Michael in the absence of Dr. Forecast, Karen says she doesn’t know. Putnam says Dr. Finkelstein only treated Michael twice and it gets sustained.
Putnam asks about end of Dangerous tour and Michael going to rehab. Karen says Michael did not know that there would be someone there to intervene to take him to rehab. Karen says it’s her belief that Michael did not even know because it was never mentioned to her. Karen says she learned after the fact that Michael left for rehab. Karen says Michael’s personal assistants (either Norma or Evvy) later asked her to go and see Michael. Karen says she doesn’t know who (Elizabeth Taylor, Dr. Forecast, Dr. Finkelstein) was involved in the intervention. Karen testifies that when she was visiting Michael in rehab she talked to the person who was in charge of therapy. Karen says the therapist asked Karen about her concerns. Karen says entire leg of Dangerous tour she was concerned with doctors telling her they are trying to balance of killing the pain for him and being able to perform. Karen says she can’t remember any specific time other than Singapore event.
Karen says UK after Dangerous tour was the only time she saw Michael in rehab. She says she also talked to Michael and Michael though he should not be in rehab because he didn’t think he had a problem. Karen says she encouraged Michael by saying “this is a nice place, everybody is really nice. I think it’s good for you”. Putnam asks if Karen had an understanding why Michael called her to UK to visit him at rehab; Karen says she thinks he wanted her to maintain him cosmetically. Karen says she was there for a few days and she left after she was done.
Putnam asks about Michael’s public announcement about going to rehab and plays the video of it. Putnam asks Karen to confirm if it was the announcement. Karen confirms it and says Michael had the eyelashes that she hated. Putnam asks Karen to explain and Karen says she went to Neverland to get Michael ready for the announcement and put eyelashes that Michael wanted. Karen says she doesn’t remember if she was in the room or if she left the room while they were filming that. Putnam starts asking a question that the announcement occurred the day after the tour ended and Karen is surprised and asks Putnam his own question (it happened after the tour ended? The day after?). Putnam stops her and asks if Karen recalls when this announcement occurred and she says she can’t be accurate as to when it happened. Putnam says that Karen testified the she did not know where Michael was but could it be she knew where he was because she helped him with the announcement. Karen says she knows she was there to do his makeup for the announcement but doesn’t remember where this announcement was at Mexico city or at Neverland before he left for UK.
Putnam asks Karen if she tweets and if she has a blog and a website. Karen says yes, although she hasn’t been on her blog for a long time. Putnam asks if it is fair to say Karen sent hundreds to thousands of emails about Michael, Karen replies probably. Putnam asks if Karen wrote extensively about Michael on her blog. Karen replies she wrote for a while but stopped writing because it was too painful. Putnam asks if the photos the jurors were shown yesterday was from her blog, Karen doesn’t remember if the photos were on her blog or on other Internet accounts she uses. Putnam asks if Karen posted and had communications on MJ fan sites. Karen says when she worked for MJJSource she made statements.
Putnam asks in all of these tweets and blogs and all the things she has been writing, she has said a number of unfavorable things about AEG. Karen replies by saying “I’ve stated the truth as far as my experience”. Putnam says he’s not asking whether or not it’s the truth but if Karen have or have not posted unfavorable things about AEG. Karen asks Putnam to define “unfavorable”. Putnam explains it as a bad light, one would not consider not favorable. Karen replies by saying “I pain them in a truthful light, as far as my experience”. Putnam asks if she consider that a positive light, is she lauding AEG in these sites. Karen says she’s not lauding them, she’s not saying praises.
Putnam goes back to the rehab announcement and asks Karen if she’s not sure when that announcement occurred, Karen replies correct. Karen says she’s sure she was there to do Michael’s hair and makeup. Putnam asks about Karen returning home after visiting Michael at rehab and Michael telling her he didn’t believe he should be at rehab. Putnam asks if Karen told this to Michael’s family, his managers or his doctors. She replies she wasn’t in contact with those people. Putnam says just months ago Karen was in contact with Michael’s doctors. Karen says the tour was over and she was going about her own life.
Putnam asks if Karen worked for Michael after rehab and she says yes. Putnam asks if she discussed Michael’s rehab stay with him, Karen doesn’t remember. Putnam asks Karen if she was worried about Michael’s drug use between 1993 to 1996. Karen doesn’t remember what they were doing at that time period and she asks Putnam for help to tell her what Michael was doing at time period. Putnam says he has no idea what Michael was doing. Karen says “I bet some fans back there know”. Panish tells Karen not to do that.
Putnam asks if Karen recalls, Karen asks Putnam what album was out, Putnam says to his knowledge “History” was about to come out. Karen says there was History trailer in Budapest and Michael was married to Lisa Marie Presley at the time. Karen says Michael was staying in New York for a good deal of time. Karen says she doesn’t remember having concerns at that time period.
Putnam asks about History tour, Karen says she was on a portion of it and she was informed after the first leg that her services were no longer needed. Karen says Michael asked her to accompany her to History tour. Karen says Ortega, Payne, Gongaware was also all on this tour as well.
Putnam asks if Karen knew whether there was a company called AEG at that time, Karen says she did not hear about AEG. Putnam asks if Karen knew who Gongaware worked for and Karen says she assumed he worked for Tarak. Putnam asks who is Tarak and Karen says Tarak was working with a Saudi Prince or King. Karen says she doesn’t know if Tarak Ben Ammar was Michael’s manager at the time. She says she was just doing her job and not inquiring. Putnam asks Karen to explain what Tarak was doing. Karen says she travelled with B group and Tarak traveled with A Group. Karen says she had to go in and negotiate with Tarak for History tour.
Putnam asks about why Karen did not continue on the tour after the first leg and asks if this was after an argument Karen had with Tarak. Karen says yes and she doesn’t want to tell it initially. Karen later tells that she felt that Tarak was trying to get rid of her by making things very difficult for her. She says Tarak would allow her to do Michael’s makeup but would not allow her to speak to Michael while she’s doing his makeup. She says Tarak would also reduce her pay and give her a low rate and Karen says she could no way financially handle the low rate, a child and a home to support and being away for a long time.
Putnam asks why Tarak wanted Karen to do Michael’s hair & makeup but did not want her speaking to Michael. Karen says she doesn’t know why but her feeling was it was about control. She says most every manager wanted to replace her because she was in a position that stood in front of Michael and touched him. Karen says Michael told her about management wanting to replace her and she calls this a power struggle. Karen says it was common for her to have somebody not wanting her in Michael’s company for a long period of time.
Putnam: and did you come to understand at that time that the reason was because there were people who thought you were making it difficult for them to do their jobs?
Karen: I didn't know anything, sir, other than what I was told.
Karen says she was let go from the History tour and she did not talk to Michael. Putnam asks if anyone from Michael’s camp reached out to Karen to ask why she’s not continuing with the tour. Karen says Michael Bush did. Putnam asks if Michael inquired why she wasn’t there, Karen says no. Karen says Michael Bush told her Michael asked him why she wasn’t there and it indicated to her that Michael did not know. Karen says as she wasn’t there she didn’t know what anybody knew or did not know.
Putnam asks if Karen come to have a belief that Debbie Rowe had any role in her not being there. Karen says a little bit. Karen explains Debbie Rowe was married to Michael at this time. Karen says after Tarak was gone and she came back to work for Michael after History tour Debbie Rowe told her she was involved and apologized to Karen for playing a role in that situation.
Putnam asks Karen to explain it in detail. Karen says she needed another person to work on tour with her and Debbie introduced her to a hairdresser named Tommy Sims. Tommy was a good friend of Debbie. Karen says Debbie was pregnant and in love with Michael. Karen says Debbie told her for many years that it was her desire to be with Michael. Karen says Debbie told her she was jealous of Karen being there as Michael’s makeup artists and she thought Michael liked Karen better than her and Debbie felt more comfortable with her friend Tommy Sims taking Karen’s place. Karen says it appeared that Debbie Rowe was jealous of her and uncomfortable at her presence. Karen says she thought it was possible that this was an element of why she was let go at the time.
Putnam says he’s trying clarify everything as much as he can. Karen replies saying that after Michael died she tried to put these things behind her and move on with her life and it’s difficult for her to put all these information out like this. Putnam asks her about all of her tweets and blogs and asks if those were things she did after Michael died, Karen replies “mostly”.
Putnam goes back to History tour and asks if Karen was concerned about Michael using drugs on the first leg of History tour. Karen says she was always concerned because he had a previous drug history but he seemed to be fine at first leg of the History tour and she didn’t see anything that led her to be concerned during the tour.
Putnam says if Karen saw any doctors during History tour. Karen says she saw Dr. Ratner at the end of first leg once or twice. Karen can’t recall if she saw Dr. Klein or Dr. Metzger on tour. Putnam asks if Michael was seeing doctors at the cities where they stopped on the tour. Karen says it would be hard for her to follow because they traveled in different hotels as there were A,B, C travel groups.
Putnam asks Karen how she started working with Michael again. Karen says Michael’s assistant Evvy called her and said Michael wants to have you back, Karen replied great. Putnam asks if Karen ever explained Michael what happened between she and Tarak. Karen says a little bit because Michael was in the room when he asked Debbie to apologize to her.
Putnam starts asking about 1999 bridge collapse. Karen tells they did two concerts Seoul first, Munich second and bridge collapse happened in Munich. Ortega and Payne was working in those 2 concerts but Gongaware had no role. Putnam reminds Karen’s dramatic testimony about bridge collapse and plays the full video, going past the moment where it comes down.
Putnam asks if Michael seem thin to her. Karen says she wasn’t looking for that, she says Michael was always slender. Karen says Michael became hefty when he went of the rehab and during Invincible release.
Putnam asks if Karen was concerned about Michael during these two concerts in 1999, she says no. Putnam asks if there were doctors during these two concerts, Karen cannot recall. Putnam asks about 30th anniversary show event. Karen says it was doctor she didn’t see before and she did not saw him after that and she did not know his name. Putnam asks her how she knew he was a doctor. Karen says because he told her he gave Michael a sleeping aid and come back in about five or six hours. Karen says he did not tell her what the sleeping aid was.
Putnam asks if Karen saw Michael concurrently with the doctor saying that. Karen says she did not go in Michael’s bedroom. Karen thinks it was Frank Cascio who went into Michael’s bedroom and got Michael up and brought him to the living room. Karen says she’s a lady and she doesn’t go into men’s bedrooms unannounced.
Putnam asks who Michael’s manager was at the time. Karen doesn’t know, isn’t sure if Dieter was Michael’s manager. After a discussion Karen says she looked to people as above the line and below the line and she was below the line and she was never sure what position the line of responsibilities went between the people above the line. She says there were a lot of people around and she was never really clear as to their position and she did not ask anybody to clear it for her.
Putnam asks if Karen continued to work with Michael after 1999 Munich and she says yes. Putnam mentions Karen previously testifying working for Michael during 2005 criminal trial. Putnam asks if this was the time Karen was also working with Taunya Zilkie and Randy Jackson on the MJJSource website. Karen says yes. This is also the first time Karen met Taunya. Karen says the time they spent together during the trial was intense and they got very close. Karen says after MJ’s trial she asked Taunya if she would be interested in representing her, negotiate contracts, and follow up payments and so on.
Putnam asks about the time Karen was concerned about Michael during the trial. Karen says the signs of a possible drug use were there. Michael was in physical pain, from his back, the emotions, he could not sleep. Karen says she became increasingly concerned at that time period. Putnam asks if Karen expressed her concerns to Michael, she says no. Putnam asks if Karen told her concerns to Randy Jackson and Taunya Zilkie, Karen says she think so. Karen says she also told her concerns to Michael Bush. Putnam again asks Karen if she ever talked to Michael, she says no.
Karen Faye: “I have to go back to, the time I spent with him was a time of peace, not confrontation, sir. He had to go into court. I didn't see him other than that space in time every morning. And it was my job, and it was my duty as a friend, sir, to make that time and space as peaceful and calm as I could before he had to go to where he had to go. I didn't want to confront him with anything. And no matter what he was doing, I could never blame him for that because of the pain.”
Putnam asks if Michael ever asked her for painkillers, she says he once did and she said she didn’t have any. Karen says he never asked her again. Putnam asks if Karen said anything to Michael the moment when he asked for a painkiller about her concerns about Michael using drugs again. Karen says no. Putnam asks if she ever saw Michael use drugs in that time period, Karen replies no.Putnam asks if Karen ever saw Michael under the influence, Karen says it was pretty obvious on the Pajama day after he came from the hospital. Putnam asks if Karen knew why Michael went to the hospital, Karen says he told her that he was suffering extreme pain in his back and it was associated with the fall in Munich.
Putnam asks Karen if Michael ever personally admitted to her he had a problem with drugs, Karen says no.
Putnam again asks about Karen talking to Rebbie and when it happened. Putnam asks if it could have happened during or after the 2005 trial. Karen doesn’t remember the time period and says only thing she can say is it happened between 1990 and 2005 and to ask Rebbie.
Karen says she only had an extensive talk with Rebbie and only briefly talked to Randy Jackson about Michael’s drug use during the 20005 trial. Karen says it is her understanding that Michael’s family several times tried to get Michael go into rehab but they weren’t successful. Putnam asks if Karen knew Rebbie came to talk to her in connection with trying to get Michael to go to rehab. Karen says they had suspicions and they come to talk to her as she spent great deal of time with Michael. Karen says she didn’t know why they had suspicions. Karen says she doesn’t know if they talked to other people.
Putnam asks Karen where she was when the verdict was announced. Karen says she was in a hotel room in Solvang with her daughter and Taunya. Karen says she never saw Michael after the verdict announced. Karen did not see Michael for several years. The next time she saw him was in Carolwood house in 2009.
Karen Faye will be called at a later time to finish her testimony.