13 February 2017
Newsdesk
Katherine Jackson's nephew has broken his silence after the famous family's matriarch accused him of stealing from her and won a restraining order against him.
Trent Lamar Jackson has been accused of emotionally abusing his aunt for years, but during a Crime Stories With Nancy Grace podcast on Monday (13Feb17), he denied taking advantage of the 86-year-old.
He told Grace he knew nothing of her plans to end his employment as a family driver and kick him out of his Calabasas, California home when Katherine left for England to visit her daughter Janet's baby last month (Jan17).
"My aunt left me paying the bills and taking care of the household when she got over there," he says. "We haven't heard from her since she left. It seems to me that someone is over there putting all these things together, going after me so they can control my aunt, I guess. I don't know."
Trent, 52, claims he hasn't been served with the restraining order and he's still living in the Calabasas home he has reportedly been ordered to vacate.
"I'm still at the house right now, and we're all puzzled at why we can't contact her and talk to her," he adds.
"She has attorneys that make sure her money is being advocated in the right way, and we also have an accountant that also looks at the bank statement, and it's gonna be strange when you look at those bank statements, you're gonna really see whos manipulating her with her money, and it's not me... I just can't understand why they're making these accusations."
Trent claims he has been paying Mrs. Jackson's bills for 15 years - a job he was given by her son, the late Michael Jackson: "That was my job - to be her driver, her provider, far as taking care of her, making sure she's taking her medicine, making sure she's going to the doctor," he states. "These are the things Michael told me to do for her, and I've been doing these things for her - very well, by the way - and people who know me, know that this is the second time this has happened. They did this to me before.
"If some family members are still unhappy with the situation Michael made, and they feel like if they could control their mom the way that they want it... I would like to know what is it they're trying to do."
"They are keeping her totally in the dark," he adds. "One thing they don't understand is that she needs special care. My aunt has polio and she limps and needs strong medication... She can’t defend herself when she's around them."
And Trent insists Katherine didn't want to go to London, but he helped persuade her to make the trip to see Janet and her baby, adding, "I had to contact the doctor to get the release for her to even be able to fly."
But court papers obtained by Entertainment Tonight suggest Trent has interfered with Katherine's "business and personal affairs", and screened her phone calls.
"Mrs. Jackson has to hide in her closet to speak to her kids so she can speak freely," the documents claim. "Trent bullies Mrs. Jackson into submission.
"Mrs. Jackson wants to return from London, but is afraid to go home with Trent there. She fears he could physically harm her for terminating him. She fears he could emotionally manipulate her into hiring him back. She fears his access to her financial records and accounts could result in further financial abuse."
A hearing into the case has been scheduled for 1 March (17).
