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NBC News Investigates Julien's Auction's Michael Jackson Autograph Scandal

NBC News Los Angeles aired an investigative report on Julien's Auction's Tompkins & Bush Michael Jackson sale on Tuesday, Dec. 18's 11:00 News. Watch the report and read the accompanying article on NBC Los Angeles's website.

Julien's held the Tompkins & Bush Michael Jackson auction on December 2, but outrage has flooded Michael Jackson fan sites and the world of rock autographs since mid-November, as fans, dealers and collectors alike told Julien's CEO, Darren Julien, that almost all of the autographs in the sale were obvious forgeries.

The pleas to cancel the sale fell on deaf ears. All 290 lots of autographs were sold for a total of almost $1.5 million. The only autograph in the sale commonly believed to be genuine brought $896.

A discussion on this site about it, Michael Jackson Signing Styles in Julien's Tompkins and Bush Sale, was started on November 19. At 153 pages to date it is the longest discussion in the history of Autograph Magazine Live. Scores of suspected forgeries from the sale have been analyzed in the discussion. The consensus is that the most of the autographs were likely forged by the consignor, Jackson's long-time friend and costume designer, Michael Bush. The autographs have many of Bush's handwriting characteristics.

Julien's filed a copyright infringement claim against Autograph Magazine Live on December 13. On Dec. 17, our website company removed all the images Julien's claimed violated their copyright from this site pending our response and any further actions Julien's may take. We are legally allowed to use the images under Fair Use laws, and will file our counterclaim this week.

We will have uncontested images of autographs from the auction up starting tomorrow.

UPDATE: According to NBC, Darren Julien said that any client who questions the authenticity of the Michael Jackson autographs they bought in the Tompkins & Bush auction can return them for a refund. If Julien's will cover shipping both ways, that's the best news possible.

Tags: Julien's, michael jackson, nbc, tompkins and bush

7 members like this

Comment by TIMOTHY on December 31, 2012 at 6:48pm: Thank You Steve

Comment by TeamMichael777 on December 31, 2012 at 7:02pm: Just to clarify Juliens Auctions gets 20 to 25% from buyer, and 20% from seller!! In previous post i had stated it was 35% total, sorry for the error, this raises the stakes i guess... for sales up to £49999. buyers premium is 25%. 20% for lots over $50,000. Plus seller pays 20%. So that's a hefty 45% Darren was holding on to for dear life!!

Comment by MJ-fan-1965 on January 7, 2013 at 9:16am: To read and discuss the interviews Darren did with two large fan groups regarding the Bush Tompkins Auction, go to this thread.

http://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/darren-julien-interv...

Please use only that thread to discuss the interviews. Thanks !

Comment by Scott Neuman on January 26, 2013 at 9:49am: I think it's interesting that all the autographed items that the auction has sold so far, that Darren couldn't tell it was or wasn't authentic. I've always found Darren and staff to be professional in the deals I've had with them.