Despite ongoing litigation, Michael Jackson will be on the American Music Awards after all – just not as a performer. Jackson, who had agreed to sing at the AMAs, pulled out of the awards show last month, angering TV personality/producer Dick Clark enough to file a $10 million lawsuit against Michael Greene, president and CEO of the Recording Academy, alleging that Greene’s policy of refusing to book artists who perform at the AMAs for the Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards forced Jackson to back out of his agreement with Clark.
While Jackson will now appear on the AMAs to accept his Artist of the Century Award, Clark is still going forward with his suit. “This [development] doesn’t affect the lawsuit because it doesn’t address [Greene’s] policy of interference, and Jackson is still not performing [on the AMAs],” Clark’s lawyer, Greg Aldisert, explained.
The suit only names Greene as an individual defendant and does not target the Recording Academy as an organization.
Jackson joins a roster that includes previously announced performers and presenters Britney Spears, ‘NSYNC, Shaggy and Cher.
The 29th annual American Music Awards ceremony will take place January 9 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on ABC, except on the West Coast, where it will be tape-delayed.
Meanwhile, the nominees for the 44th annual Grammy Awards will be announced on Friday, January 4 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The awards will be handed out on February 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the event will air on CBS.
