andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

The death of DJ AM, a.k.a. Adam Goldstein, is going to the courts in a bizarre twist of events that links it with the plane crash DJ AM survived  in Sept. 2008, according to TMZ.

The estate of Adam Goldstein is filing a ‘wrongful death’ suit against Clay Lacy Aviation, the airline responsible for the jet that crashed with both DJ AM and Travis Barker (of Blink 182) on board. The claim is that Goldstein was terrified of flying, and used drugs to calm his nerves.

The suit in the L.A. County Superior Court notes Goldstein was prescribed a number of drugs to cope with the burns he suffered as well as the distress following the crash. The travel service, Goodyear Tire, Learjet and the estates of the two pilots who were killed in the crash are also being sued by Goldstein’s estate.

Goldstein’s death in August was caused by a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs as well as cocaine.

The regret surrounding the tragic death of Adam ‘DJ YM’ Goldstein will deepen when MTV airs his eight-episode documentary ‘Gone Too Far’ on Monday, October 12th, MTV reports.

The documentary will feature DJ AM’s meetings with addicts, along with their friends and family, discussing the struggles, causes and possible solutions of addiction. The episodes will also reveal the details of his personal addiction, predominantly to crack cocaine.

Goldstein’s mission to blow open the discussion on drug abuse in North America came to a halt when he died of an accidental overdose at his New York City apartment on August 28th. Many suspect that the excessive drug use was linked to the mental and physical trauma he suffered after a plane crash in 2008.

His death may help cement the documentary’s conveyance of the dangerous toll that drugs take on the lives of addicts, and also those around them. He is a living example of that senseless fate.

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For a minute there, the entire history of pop music was hanging in the balance of some very unsteady hands. Michael Jackson’s esate, now in the control of his family, is famously known to include the entire Beatles discography but TMZ assures us the Fab Four’s musical history will not be included in a massive auction scheduled for April.

Jackson’s personal effects, many from his fabled Neverland ranch, will be auctioned to boost the assets in order to pay off the debt claimed by a number of creditors, according to the Guardian UK. But the Beatles catalogue, and the rest of Jackson’s publishing catalogue, will stay in the trust of his kids who can expect to profit more from it in the long-term than any immediate return if it were sold now.

In financial reports released in August, Jackson’s bottom line net worth was calculated to be $1,360,839,979, according to TMZ who viewed the documents. Of that, though, $1,150,000,000 is the Sony-ATV Publishing Trust holding the Beatles catalogue. The Jackson trust purchased ATV in 1985, after McCartney turned down the opportunity, and merged it ten years later in a deal with Sony. Now the third-largest music publishing company in the world, it owns the rights to music by Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Willie Nelson and Taylor Swift, to name a few.

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Writer Larry Gelbart, best known as one of the key creative forces behind groundbreaking TV series M*A*S*H, died today at the age of 81.

According the Entertainment Weekly, his wife, Pat Gelbart, said he died of cancer at his home in Beverly Hills. Hailing from Chicago, the writer/director/producer’s work spanned radio, television, film and theatre. Producer-director Gene Reynolds hired him to write the pilot script for M*A*S*H (based on Richard Hooker’s 1968 novel). Gelbart served as executive script consultant and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Korean War sitcom from 1972-76, and also made a contribution by directing several episodes. He also worked and assisted with After M*A*S*H in the 1980’s.

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The poster for Michael Jackson’s This Is It has officially been released by Sony Pictures, who are producing the film. This Is It hits theatres on October 28th and features the legendary singer preparing for his last performance which would have taken place beginning this summer starting at London’s O2 Arena. The Estate of Michael Jackson is in full support of the release of the film.

This news might be a few days old, and it might involve a totally irrelevant celebrity, but it just had to be reported on.

R. Kelly (famous for the one-liner in “Ignition” and a criminal pedophilia lawsuit a few years back) wants to finish the album Michael Jackson had started recording before his death. No lie. You gotta give this guy credit for trying but I think you would agree this is a little tasteful and way too soon.

Michael Jackson’s death was officially ruled a homicide by the L.A. County Coroner, according to TMZ.com.

The cause of death was said to be acute Propofol intoxication. While Propofol and Lorazepam (Ativan) were said to be the cause of Jackson’s death, a host of other drugs were found in Jackson’s system including Midazolam (Versed), Diazepam (Valium), Lidocaine (topical anesthetic) and Ephedrine (used to treat hypotension associated with anesthesia), as listed on TMZ.

Although Jackson’s death has been ruled a homicide at the hands of his doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, it does not necessarily mean criminal charges. Murray is the target of a manslaughter investigation, according to the Los Angeles Times, but Jackson’s history of drug dependency will factor largely into any criminal trial.

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U.S. Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the last surviving brother of the political family, died last night after more than a year battling brain cancer, according to CBC. Kennedy, 77, was surrounded by his family in Hyannis Port, Mass. when he passed.

Kennedy was one of the longest serving senators in American history, spending almost a total of 47 years in office. He was originally elected in 1962 when his brother, John F. Kennedy, was president. In 1980, he sought the Democratic party nomination against sitting president Jimmy Carter but his plans were ruined by a scandalous car accident in Martha’s Vineyard in which he pleaded guilty to leaving the scene.

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Michael Jackson’s death was caused by a lethal dose of Propofol, a sleep aid his doctor, Dr. Conrad Murrary, administered for insomnia, according to a series of reports from the L.A. County Coroner on TMZ.com.

Dr. Murray told the LAPD he gave Jackson a 25 mg dose of Propofol the morning of Jackson’s death, along with a cocktail of other anti-anxiety medication and sleep aids, as reported in a search warrant affidavit. But the L.A. County Coroner says there were only trace levels of other drugs in Jackson’s system, while they confirm a lethal level of Propofol in his system.

TMZ.com posted some helpful figures: it takes 400 mg of Propofol to induce sleep in someone of Jackson’s size, which is 16 times more than the amount Dr. Murray said he administered to Jackson. Dr. Murray also claimed Jackson had become dependent on the drug in doses of 50 mg.

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After weeks and weeks of speculation and waiting, the official word from the Los Angeles corner is MJ’s death was a homicide. The report reveals that a dangerous amount of propofol was found in Michael’s blood. Propofol is a extremely powerful anesthetic that is generally used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. According to the Los Angeles Times, Michael’s doctor Conrad Murray admitted to giving Mr. Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol prior to his death. Additionally upon the arrival of the Los Angeles Police to Michael’s house, police found a variety of drugs for inducing sleep within the home. There has been no official statement from the Jackson family regarding these recent developments.