AceShowbiz - Four siblings have initiated a lawsuit against the estate of Michael Jackson, accusing the late pop icon of sexually trafficking and abusing them over a period spanning more than ten years. The plaintiffs—Frank, Dominic, Marie-Nicole, and Aldo Cascio—recently appeared in court seeking to overturn a previous settlement agreement they claim was intended to "silence victims of childhood sexual abuse." A court ruling on this matter is scheduled for March 5.

The new legal filing, submitted on February 27 in Los Angeles, follows just a month after the siblings’ last court appearance. According to the complaint, the Cascio siblings’ father met Michael Jackson while working at a luxury hotel where the singer was a frequent guest. The lawsuit alleges that Jackson began sexually abusing each of the siblings when they were around seven or eight years old.

The complaint details disturbing claims that Jackson exposed the siblings to pornography, including child pornography, and forced the two brothers to witness assaults on Marie-Nicole. During these acts, Jackson allegedly told her that such behavior was "a normal thing between a man and a woman." The lawsuit further alleges that Jackson provided the children with alcohol, hard drugs, and prescription medications such as Xanax and Viagra. He reportedly used childlike terms to encourage their use, calling wine "Jesus Juice" and hard liquor "Disney Juice."

The siblings claim that employees working for Jackson were complicit in these abuses, frequently procuring alcohol and drugs with knowledge of their intended use. The lawsuit asserts that Jackson warned the children their lives and their family’s reputation would be destroyed if the abuse became public. He allegedly coached them on how to respond if questioned by adults about molestation.

Additional allegations describe manipulative tactics employed by Jackson to isolate the siblings from each other and their community. This included convincing their parents to homeschool them and taking the children on numerous interstate and international trips arranged by the Jackson organization. The abuse is said to have continued up until a few days before Jackson’s death in 2009.

Howard King, the Cascio siblings’ attorney, told Pitchfork, "Ignoring threats from the Michael Jackson Estate of financial ruin and faced with the Estate's false public accusations of extortion and lying, the Cascios have elected to remain silent no longer." He added that the family is seeking fair compensation for more than a decade of abuse and hopes their case will inspire other victims and enablers to come forward and break their silence.

Previously, the Cascio family had publicly supported Michael Jackson during his 2003 trial, where he was acquitted of molestation charges involving 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo. In media appearances, the siblings referred to themselves as Jackson’s "second family." Frank Cascio also disputed many allegations in his 2011 memoir, My Friend Michael, expressing a desire for readers to see the singer through his perspective rather than through scandal and rumor.

It was reportedly the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland that led the siblings to reconsider their experience, which they say helped them recognize the abuse and its harm. That same year, before obtaining legal counsel, the siblings signed a Confidential Acquisition and Consulting Agreement. They claim the document was presented as a "life rights" contract, but it contained non-disparagement and binding arbitration clauses that would have prevented them from reporting abuse to police or suing the estate in court.

In addition to the child sex trafficking allegations, the Cascio siblings’ lawsuit includes claims of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, negligent hiring, and fraud. In response, Martin Singer, the attorney representing the Jackson estate, dismissed the lawsuit as “a desperate money grab by additional members of the Cascio family who have hopped on the bandwagon with their brother Frank, who is already being sued in arbitration for civil extortion.”

Singer further stated, "The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct. This new court filing is a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies."

This case adds to ongoing legal challenges facing the Jackson estate. A separate lawsuit filed by James Safechuck and Wade Robson, the subjects of Leaving Neverland, is set to go to trial in November 2024 after being revived in 2023.