Despite multiple reports that Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, had accepted a multi-million payment to settle a potential custody battle over the two children she had with the singer, lawyers for both Rowe and the Jackson family said on Tuesday (July 14) that no deal has been reached.
Anonymously sourced reports in the New York Post that Rowe, who relinquished custody of the children, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael, 12, in 1999 after the couple divorced, had agreed to take a $4 million payment in exchange for not fighting Jackson's mother, Katherine, over custody of the kids is "completely false," according to CNN, citing an open letter to the New York tabloid from Eric George, Rowe's lawyer.
"There has been no agreement reached between Ms. Rowe and the Jacksons," George wrote in the letter, in which he demanded an immediate retraction of the story. "Ms. Rowe has not and will not give up her parental rights. No determination has been reached concerning custody or visitation. And Ms. Rowe has not accepted and will not accept any additional financial consideration beyond the spousal support she and Michael personally agreed to several years ago."
George did not return MTV News calls for comment, but he's expected to be at a Los Angeles family court on Monday, along with Rowe, when a guardianship hearing has been set. The hearing was originally slated for July 13, but was reportedly pushed back at the request of lawyers for Jackson and Rowe, a court official told CNN. Katherine Jackson was granted temporary guardianship of the children following Michael's death on June 25, and while Rowe is not believed to have played an active role in their upbringing since the couple's divorce, her lawyer told CNN two weeks ago that "Debbie has not reached a final decision concerning the pending custody proceedings."
Radar also reported on Tuesday that Rowe had not reached a monetary deal in the custody case, citing Katherine Jackson's attorney, L. Londell McMillan, who said "the reports are false." McMillan could not be reached for comment at press time, but, citing multiple anonymous sources close to the situation, the site reported that "there is no deal that has been reached."
Further fueling the fire of the potential custody battle between Rowe, the biological mother of the two children, and Katherine Jackson, the person Michael Jackson appointed in his will to take care of his three offspring, is a report from Extra in which Rebecca White, who interviewed Rowe for MTV News in 2008, said that the former nurse is conflicted about reuniting with her kids.
"I know she's seeking custody of the children," White told the entertainment news show. "I think she wants the best for the children." However, White supplied an e-mail from Rowe dated July 2, 2009 in which her friend appears unsure about seeking custody, allegedly writing, "I'm not going after custody ... These kids are not mine. They were never mine. They were always Michael's. I was Michael's best friend."
In another e-mail, reportedly sent on July 5, Rowe wrote to White that, "My lawyer is telling me I have to take some responsibility about the welfare of the children ... 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. Would Michael want Joe [Joseph Jackson, the family patriarch] to have them? I think it would be the last thing that he would ever have wanted."
White told Extra that Rowe, who received a multi-million payment in her divorce settlement from Jackson, is motivated to seek custody for financial reasons. "The motivation is money," White said. "I really have to be honest ... If the children aren't the ones she wants, what else will she gain from it?" While the two sides are not due back in court until Monday, White said a secret custody deal is in the works and hinted that a text message from Rowe predicted the matter would be solved on Tuesday.
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