MICHAEL JACKSON - TITO JACKSON OPENS UP ABOUT LOAN LAWSUIT

TITO JACKSON OPENS UP ABOUT LOAN LAWSUIT

MICHAEL JACKSON's brother TITO has broken his silence over a lawsuit from former pal, British martial arts teacher MATT FIDDES, insisting the legal spat over an unpaid loan is meritless.
Fiddes, who has previously served as the Thriller hitmaker's bodyguard, claims he gave Jackson 5 star Tito $29,800 (GBP20,000) earlier this year (08) so the musician could afford to cover a family trip to England to look at potential properties.
He subsequently filed suit against Jackson for almost $18,625 (GBP12,500), alleging the star hasn't paid the loan back.
But, three months after the news first surfaced, Jackson has spoken out, dismissing the lawsuit as "totally false".
Jackson claims the 10-year friendship turned sour when Fiddes tried to get more involved in the filming of TV documentary The Jacksons Are Coming, which chronicled the family's search for a U.K. home earlier this summer (08).
And when he realised Fiddes was just using him to further his own career, Jackson cut all ties with the martial artist and even stepped down as godfather to Fiddes' children.
He says, "When I saw Matt trying to run me the way he wanted, I put a stop to it. That's when things started falling apart. Some people want to be seen in your company and want to piggyback on your 40 years of hard work. I was supposed to have been godfather to two of his kids, but I cancelled that, because I can't be a godfather if I can't even get along with the father."
But Jackson insists he's not angry at his old friend's behaviour, because he's been dealing with people like that since finding fame with the ABC hitmakers.
He adds, "Matt's a very nice guy and I'm not mad at him. I'm disappointed and that's worse. I shared a lot with him and thought he was my friend... People try and use you because of the family name, and I just deal with it because I've been dealing with it all my life."