Jackson Family

Michael Jackson's personal assistant has filed a class action lawsuit against AEG, claiming he and the rest of the employees connected with the "This Is It" tour lost lots of money because the company negligently hired and supervised Dr. Conrad Murray.

Michael Amir Williams claims in his lawsuit, obtained by TMZ ... AEG agreed to pay MJ's staff up to $7.5 million for their services connected with the tour ... a tour that didn't take place because Dr. Conrad Murray pumped the singer with a fatal dose of Propofol.

Williams alleges AEG screwed up by failing to act responsibly by hiring Murray and then failing to properly manage or supervise him.

Jermaine Jackson has filed a request to legally CHANGE his last name ... trading out "Jackson" for "Jacksun" ... TMZ has learned.

Jermaine filed a petition for a change of name with L.A. County Superior Court yesterday asking for the change in nomenclature.

In the docs, Jermaine says he wants to make the change for "artistic reasons" ... but he does not give any further details about the move.

The request has NOT yet been approved by a judge -- but a hearing has been scheduled.

Barring any crazy legal situations, Jermaine will be required to have his name change announced publicly several times in the next couple of months before it can be made official. A public announcement consists of having the name printed in a local publication ... just like Ron Artest had to do when he changed his name to Metta World Peace.

They're a little old (if ya know what we're sayin') ... but a bunch of ripped, nearly naked men showed up at Michael Jackson's death house recently for a very steamy not-gay-at-all photo shoot.

TMZ obtained the pics ... taken roughly 3 weeks ago at Michael's former residence on Carolwood Dr. in the Holmby Hills area.

Sources connected to the shoot tell us ... the guys are models for the Jo's underwear line ... which is said to enhance one's bum area. Not that we were looking, but some of the man panties are "assless."

We're told the models all had a blast in the home ... especially when they realized its historical significance.

As we previously reported, the owner of the mansion has struck a deal to sell the house ... and the new buyer moved in last week ... even though escrow has not closed yet.

The house where Michael Jackson died is in escrow and about to close ... TMZ has learned ... and the buyer was so anxious, he's moving in weeks before escrow is scheduled to close.

The buyer is Steven Mayer, a super-rich investment banker.

Our sources say the purchase price was somewhere between $17 and $20 mil -- it was listed for nearly $24 mil.

And this is interesting ... for some reason the seller is letting Mayer move in before escrow closes -- something real estate honchos think is high risk.

Mauricio Umansky at The Agency represented Mayer and the seller of the home. We reached out to him, but haven't heard back.

Joe Jackson's gun is 100% legit -- TMZ has learned, Michael Jackson's dad is fully-licensed to carry a concealed weapon in the State of Nevada ... this according to a rep for the Las Vegas Metro Police.

The rep tells TMZ, Joe was issued a CCW permit in 2010 by the LVMPD -- allowing him to carry a concealed handgun on his person anywhere in Nevada. The permit expires in 2015.

As we reported, Joe showed off the concealed weapon at a recent event in Vegas, and claimed he doesn't leave home without it.

FYI -- Nevada's what they call an "open carry" state -- meaning anyone (over 21) can literally walk down the street with a handgun strapped to his or her body, as long as it's exposed.

With Joe's permit, he's allowed to keep it inside his jacket.

Joe Jackson FLASHED A HANDGUN to a room full of people at a recent event in Vegas ... and told the crowd it's just like an American Express card ... he doesn't leave home without it.

The bizarre moment all went down while Joe was at the Tuscany Hotel and Casino in Vegas this weekend to be honored at the Black Music Awards (apparently that's a thing).

Joe was introduced by his friend -- Majestik -- who told the crowd a story about Joe confronting Michael Jackson's bodyguards two weeks before MJ's death.

During the alleged confrontation, Majestik says Joe flashed his gun at the guards and said -- "If I hear you all givin' my son drugs or doing anything illegal with my son ... I'ma kill all of you."

When Majestik turned the mic over to Joe -- JJ corroborated the story ... saying, "It's very true. Every word he said."

Then Joe told the crowd ... "I carry a piece everywhere I go ... I'm gonna show it to you."

Joe proceeded to open up his suit jacket, revealing a handgun holstered by his hip. Joe explained, "I've been threatened a lot of times and so I need to be safe."

Here's Michael Jackson's 14-year-old daughter Paris Jackson at an event in L.A. on Thursday (left) -- and '80s supermodel and former "Celebrity Apprentice" star Carol Alt, 51, in NYC on Thursday (right).

Pretty young things.

La Toya Jackson insists ... she did not raid Michael Jackson's home just hours after his death, pillaging plastic bags filled with cash -- and now, she's threatening to sue a major magazine for saying otherwise.

La Toya has fired off a cease-and-desist letter to Vanity Fair, claiming its recent article entitled "Estate of Siege" is "replete with misstatements of fact, false innuendos, and defamatory insinuations."

According to La Toya's letter, the article falsely claims she showed up at MJ's Carolwood mansion shortly after his death and loaded plastic bags filled with cash into a duffel bag. The VF article goes on to describe La Toya's bf leaving the home in a moving van.

La Toya claims the article describes her visit as a "mad scramble for money" -- strongly insinuating she stole large sums of cash from MJ's house.

According to La Toya ... the allegations are nothing but lies and she wants a full retraction asap.

You would think Joe Jackson would be flattered when anyone wanted to take a picture of him ... but he flipped out when a Vegas tourist tried photographing him, and it almost landed the famous dad in the pokey.

Here's the low down. Joe was at The Palms Thursday when a hotel guest recognized the famous dad and aimed his camera in Joe's direction. Jackson allegedly went ballistic, screaming "Don't take pictures of me!" The guest claims Joe lunged at him, making contact.

Joe almost got more publicity than the time he announced he signed a new rap artist days after Michael died ... because the guest called security and demanded to get Vegas cops involved.

But Joe got a reprieve ... by the time cops arrived the guest cooled down and decided not to press charges.

But here's the thing. We don't think the guest got his picture, so here you go

We tried squeezing Michael Jackson's secret french toast recipe out of his ex-cook Kai Chase -- and ended up with some even awesomer dishes ... from dead celebs. Hungry?

While celebrating Michael Jackson's birthday on Wednesday, La Toya and Paris Jackson partied it up by hanging out with a look-alike MJ impersonator.

La Toya and Paris snapped pics with tribute artist Carlo Riley at the annual "Goin' Back to Indiana" birthday celebration for the King of Pop in his hometown of Gary.

Riley looks so much like MJ that he said Katherine Jackson told him, "You're going to make me cry." While Paris added, "I love your outfit."

Jermaine Jackson says he celebrated Michael Jackson's birthday by spending time with his family and watching sentimental home videos ... but JJ explained it's also a day marked with great sadness.

Jermaine was out with his kids in Calabasas yesterday where he told us, "Today is a day to remember a wonderful human being ... but we're sobbing ... always."

Sadly, Jermaine told us the family "didn't really have birthday parties" for Michael over the years ... but says he will always cherish the memories of the two performing on stage together.

Prince, Paris and Blanket were spotted in Gary, IN yesterday ... along with their co-guardian Katherine Jackson and their aunt La Toya. TJ Jackson -- the OTHER co-guardian -- also made the trip.

Michael will be honored at the annual "Goin Back to Indiana" celebration in Gary ... which kicks off tonight with a candlelight vigil in front of MJ's childhood home.

The kids are also expected to throw out the first pitch at a Gary SouthShore RailCats baseball game this week.

TJ Jackson is now PERMANENTLY sharing guardianship of Michael Jackson's children with their grandmother Katherine Jackson, an L.A. judge just ruled.

As we previously reported, TJ was awarded temporary co-guardianship of Prince, Paris, and Blanket along with Katherine ... but that was made permanent today.

TJ has received enormous support from the Jackson family to take a guardianship role, including from Katherine herself ... as well as MJ's kids. TJ has been a father figure to the children for years.

The judge told TJ in court to be mindful of the giant rift currently tearing apart the Jackson family -- and asked TJ to make sure the children aren't negatively affected.

As co-guardian, TJ will assume many of the day-to-day tasks involved in taking care of the children -- including management of household personnel and security.

We have more info on Katherine Jackson's request for the Michael Jackson Estate to pay for expenses related to Janet Jackson's Las Vegas home, and it turns out toilet paper -- NOT mortgages -- is on her mind.

As we previously reported, the Estate filed documents asking the court to allow the Executors to pay Katherine for "expenses relating to .... a residence in Las Vegas."

We're told the residence is Janet Jackson's home. Fact is ... there's no need to cover any mortgage expenses, because we're told Janet doesn't have a mortgage -- she owns the home outright, but never spends time there. In fact, we're told she bought the home so Katherine could use it. And, she has provided various other forms of support for Katherine over the years. So what we reported initially -- that the Estate would pay part of the mortgage -- isn't the case.

Sources connected to Katherine now tell us, Katherine wants the money because she incurs various expenses when she spends time at Janet's property. Our sources say the expenses include, food, cable, utilities, Internet, travel and even toilet paper.

A grease-filled barbeque torpedoed a big party at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch this AM.

A large group was there for the shindig, when the staff lit the BBQ to get the coals hot. We're told a grease build-up on the system ignited the hood system and caused some panic.

Three engines from the Santa Barbara County Fire Dept. arrived but the blaze had already been put out.

The BBQ was cancelled.

El Pollo Loco anyone?