While the world awaits Michael Jackson‘s official announcement today that he is planning on performing a string of dates in the UK this summer (the press conference is about to begin any moment now, fans can click HERE to follow the official MJ Press Conference Twitter feed to keep abreast of the announcement OR can click HERE to watch it streamed live online) there is other MJ news to be had today as well. Last month we learned that Julien’s Auction House was planning to auction off a bunch of Jacko‘s personal (and mostly weird) personal possessions in an attempt to recoup some of the money that he owes his debtors … well, today we learn that Jackson himself is not pleased with the proposed plan to sell off his shizz. He has filed a lawsuit against the auction house in an effort to stop the auction from taking place, claiming that the sale of his personal belongings is unauthorized:

Michael Jackson sued an auction house Wednesday to halt the scheduled sale of thousands of his personal possessions, an action the firm says caught it completely off-guard. The King of Pop’s company, MJJ Productions, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday against Julien’s Auction House. It claims founder Darren Julien promised to send Jackson an inventory of sale items, but that the singer hasn’t given permission to move them all. The suit claims many of the items are “priceless and irreplaceable” and describes the attempt to sell them as “malicious, fraudulent, extreme, outrageous and without any legal justification whatsoever.” Julien said Wednesday night that the lawsuit was a “total surprise to us, because Jackson had been apprised of everything since the day we started. His manager … has approved everything.” In December, Julien’s company announced it would administer a five-day auction in April featuring more than 2,000 of Jackson’s personal items, including his American Music Award for “Thriller,” a velvet cape given to him by his children for Father’s Day in 1998, a pair of rhinestone-trimmed socks from 1981 and a basketball signed by Michael Jordan. Platinum and gold records, a customized Harley Davidson, a Rolls Royce limousine and his own original artwork were also set for sale, according to the original announcement. MJJ Productions authorized the auction house to remove the items from Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, according to court documents, but not to sell them without Jackson’s permission. “There was no other intention when we picked up the items” but to put them up for sale, Julien said. He said that Jackson’s camp had since requested some items be returned, which the firm honored. “Up until two days ago we were working with his managers,” including final details such as a date for the catalog to be ready and signed, he added. Julien, who is in Ireland on a promotional trip and had not been served with the lawsuit, said he would be getting in touch with the Jackson camp before deciding what to do next.

Oh snap! And I really was lookin’ forward to procuring that awesome painting of Jacko for my guest bathroom :( Something tells that Jacko was hit with a case of seller’s remorse. I suspect that he did, indeed, have a deal to sell of his shizz in order to raise money for his debtors but along came this £150 million dollar opportunity to play these upcoming concert dates in the UK and he decided to hang on to his “priceless and irreplaceable” items. I can’t blame him, actually. Sure, the stuff that is being offered for auction may be INCREDIBLY gaudy and strange but these are things that surely mean something to Jackson. My guess is that this auction will not take place … sorry ’bout it :(

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