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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 MJ-fan-1965 on December 19, 2012 at 6:17am: Yes, now that he says in the news that he'll refund the money, take him up on it immediately. Sorry you have had such a rough time w/them Veronica, it shouldn't have been that way for you. :(

Comment by Helen on December 19, 2012 at 8:07am: The two jackets are different in 3 important details: The white house jacket has only 14 buttons, no red on the collar and black sequins between the braiding on the chest.
It's possible that Bush made an honest mistake and pinned the brooch on the wrong jacket, but it still shouldn't have happened, especially since the White House jacket is likely to be worth a lot more than the MTV one.
It's a sloppy mistake that speaks of the same contempt for buyers as offering them empty stain remover cans with badly faked autographs.

Comment by JPC3342 on December 19, 2012 at 12:45pm: wow they all sold for over a million dollars. FAKES LMAO WOOOOOOOOOW i guess theres nothing no one can really do about someone selling fake autographs unless they are caught or recorded on tape to admitting that they forge stuff.

Comment by Veronica Shultz on December 19, 2012 at 3:33pm: Still no answer from them.. I'm not sure who else I can contact now, I'm being ignored.

No one will buy the jacket for that price. And every comment I got is about the signature being real or not. And I'm taking it down now when I have proof it's impossible to sell when everyone think or know it's fake.
As it looks now it seem I'm stucked with it. It's still in the FedEx box it came in, I haven't opened it.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 19, 2012 at 3:38pm: Veronica and anyone else who has a problem getting a refund from Julien's:

Let's give Julien's time to handle refunds and I'll advise NBC News if you're not refunded by the end of next week.

Comment by Travis Christenberry on December 19, 2012 at 3:41pm: It will no doubt take time, because right now I'm sure Julien's are on damage control consulting with their lawyers. I think Veronica will get her refund sooner than later.

Comment by Veronica Shultz on December 19, 2012 at 3:51pm: Thank you Steve, thank you so much.

Comment by MJ-fan-1965 on December 19, 2012 at 4:32pm: I have to tell you Steve, there were some parts of the fan base who kept saying "these guys have an ax to grind with eachother, blah blah" and they didn't want to pay attention. My response is that you have been beyond professional. Your last response to Veronica reads the same way, and a very good response I might add :) You guys have all gone above and beyond.

Comment by TeamMichael777 on December 19, 2012 at 4:40pm: ok, so we here now, i will unfollow the last discussion, Steve could you close discussions on the previous thread, so we dont get confused, thank you

Comment by Wendy Christine on December 19, 2012 at 5:25pm: Yes Helen, not to mention the contempt it shows for Michael Jackson, his loved ones and his Legacy.

It was no mistake.