Plans to build a museum honouring pop's first family, the jacksons, in their native Gary, Indiana have been put on hold as the troubled clan fix a series of financial issues.
Longtime former family publicist-turned-biographer Phoenix insists Michael Jackson and his kin still plan on creating a memorabilia-packed centre in their hometown - but want to be clear of bad publicity when they launch it.
He says, "I'm still in touch with the Jacksons and this is something that will happen. Due to some problems, they've had to postpone that and concentrate on other things.
"Once they iron out all their current problems, they'll move forward with that. It's still on the cards."
But Phoenix urges fans not to believe everything they read or hear about the Jacksons' financial struggles: "Financially, they're doing fine. They're not the multi-millionaires that they used to be, but they're all doing fine."