Michael Jackson Hologram Will Appear At Billboard Music Awards, Judge Rules

Michael Jackson may have been dead for some time now but that doesn’t mean his millions of fans can’t still enjoy him and his music, even if that “him” is in the form of a hologram.

But a certain Alki David, who claimed he owns the rights to the technology associated with the projection of the hologram, very nearly put a stop to the whole idea.

David filed a lawsuit on Thursday against pretty much everyone, from the Michael Jackson Estate to MJ’s production company as well as Dick Clark Productions, in order to stop them from showing the hologram at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards.

The basis of the lawsuit surrounds the life-size, 3D image of Michael Jackson which will debut a Jackson song, “Slave to the Rhythm,” which has not been heard by the public before.

David contends that if Billboard uses “his” projection technology it will ruin his plans for a high-profile Michael Jackson performance later this year!

A lawyer for the Jackson estate, Howard Weitzman, spoke to TMZ about the lawsuit claiming it is nothing but a stunt: “This is another Alki David stunt, no different than his claiming that Brandon Howard was Michael Jackson’s son. It is ludicrous… and the show goes on,” he said.

On that note, Judge Kent Dawson ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that the 3D images to be projected would violate patents and that the companies failed to provide sufficient evidence that their patents were being used to create the Jackson hologram.

That means that the Michael Jackson hologram will be debuted along with the never-heard-before “Slave to the Rhythm” which the show producers have called a “history-making performance.” And that’s despite the fact that the legendary Michael Jackson will only be at the Billboard Music Awards in spirit, and not in person.