Which one is more scary – the real Michael Jackson or this wax statue, unveiled at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum earlier this month? Photo credit: PRPhotos.

He was once one of the richest men in the music industry, and now Michael Jackson seems to be mooching off his new friends and pissing off his old ones. The latest to take to the courts to collect millions from the fallen pop star is film director John Landis, who directed Jackson’s legendary “Thriller” video. Landis, who also directed Jackson’s “Black or White” video as well as “Coming to America,” “Trading Places” and “An American Werewolf in London,” has been a longtime friend and defender of Jackson, but now that the former King of Pop owes him a substantial amount of royalty money, their friendship appears to be at an end.

The good ship Michael Jackson is sinking in red as you read this.

Jackson was sued yesterday by one of his old friends, director John Landis, who says he’s owed around a million dollars by the singer in royalties for their classic “Thriller” video. This comes on the heels of settling a $7 million lawsuit with Prince Abdulla of Bahrain.

Landis was one of Jackson’s last friends and supporters, so the suit is a last resort effort on his part.

At the same time, I am told that Jackson borrowed heavily again through Thomas Barrack’s Colony Capital so he could afford his $100,000 a month rental in Beverly Hills. The refi came as Jackson let Barrack become his partner in Neverland, where Colony now holds a $24 million note.

The few people left around Jackson who know his perilous financial situation are wondering why he borrowed more money and question where this is all going to end. One place might be bankruptcy court, as 50 year old Jackson — whose on paper 50% ownership of Sony/ATV Music is leveraged every which way — continues not to take any real responsibility for his own finances.

[From Fox News]

I will never forget one scene from the now-infamous Martin Bashir documentary about Jackson. He was shopping in Las Vegas and was just wandering around a high-end decorating shop, pointing at items and telling the sales person he wanted them and to put them on his account. By the end of the trip he had dropped about a half a million dollars on things he didn’t even seem to care about. You have to wonder if that kind of behavior is still going on – it sure seems like it. Sooner or later he is going to have to pay the consequences. It’s just too bad that he is burning all these bridges in the process. He owes everyone money- but as recently as last October, he was spotted buying a plane. I guess he doesn’t get the concept of the word “budget.”