Four adult siblings filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles on Feb. 27 accusing Michael Jackson’s estate and related business entities of child sex trafficking and sexual abuse, allegations the estate denies while pointing to years when the family publicly defended the pop star.
The new case adds to a legal battle that has been building for months between the Jackson estate and members of the Cascio family, who have described themselves in the past as close friends of Jackson. The siblings say a prior agreement with the estate should not block their claims from being heard in public. The estate argues the family already settled and agreed to handle disputes privately, and it calls the new lawsuit an attempt to pressure the estate for a larger payout.
The complaint was filed by Edward Joseph Cascio, Dominic Savini Cascio, Marie Nicole Porte and Aldo Cascio. They say they met Jackson through their father, who worked at a luxury hotel in New York where Jackson stayed in the 1980s. The siblings allege that as the relationship grew, Jackson used gifts, attention and access to his celebrity circle to win the family’s trust. They say he then isolated them from other adults and abused them over a span of years during travel and at private homes, including locations in the United States and overseas. In one line, the complaint says Jackson “groomed and brainwashed” them while they were still children.
Court records list the case as Cascio et al. v. The Michael Jackson Company, LLC et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California under case number 2:26-cv-02129. The defendants include The Michael Jackson Company, LLC, MJJ Productions, LLC and MJJ Ventures, LLC, along with estate co-executors John Branca and John McClain and attorney Herman Weisberg, according to the federal docket. The plaintiffs demanded a jury trial and are represented by attorney Howard E. King. The complaint itself was not immediately available in full through the court’s public docket listing, but the siblings’ lawyers and several outlets described the case as alleging child sex trafficking and related civil claims.
Attorney Marty Singer, who represents the Jackson estate, rejected the allegations and said the family’s filing contradicts their past public statements. Singer called the lawsuit “a desperate money grab” and said it is “forum-shopping” aimed at getting “hundreds of millions of dollars” from the estate and its companies. Singer also pointed to statements the family made over many years, including in interviews and in a 2011 book by Frank Cascio, a brother who previously wrote about his friendship with Jackson. Singer said those public defenses are at odds with the new claims and argued that the family only changed course as the estate’s financial value grew.
The federal lawsuit lands in the middle of a separate fight over a past settlement that both sides have referenced in court filings and public statements. In January, several Cascio siblings appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom seeking to undo a 2020 agreement they say was an unlawful deal meant to silence people who report childhood sexual abuse. A judge signaled at that hearing that the agreement could limit the family’s ability to sue the estate in open court. Another hearing in that dispute is scheduled for March 5. The estate has argued that the settlement requires confidential arbitration, while the family’s lawyers have argued the agreement should not be enforced.
The Cascio family’s public shift is part of a broader story that has followed Jackson for decades. Jackson faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse during his lifetime, which he denied. In 2005, he was acquitted in a criminal trial in California involving accusations of molestation. Jackson died in 2009 at age 50. His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for giving Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol. Since Jackson’s death, lawsuits and claims about his conduct have continued to surface, and the estate has repeatedly disputed them while managing his music catalog, licensing and other business deals.
The timing also matters for the estate’s business and public profile. Branca and McClain, who are named as defendants in the new lawsuit, have helped oversee major commercial projects tied to Jackson’s name and work. A feature film biopic titled “Michael” is scheduled to reach theaters on April 24, with Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson set to play him. The film’s release has been delayed in the past, and it has drawn attention from both fans and critics who argue over how Jackson’s life should be portrayed. The new lawsuit could add more scrutiny as the movie’s promotional cycle ramps up, even as the estate insists the allegations are false.
Because Jackson is dead, the claims in the new filing are civil, not criminal. In describing the case, the siblings say Jackson transported them across state lines and internationally while they were minors and used influence and control to keep them quiet. They allege abuse occurred over a long period and in several places, including in parts of the United States and abroad. The estate disputes the allegations and has suggested the family is trying to escape the limits of the prior settlement and move the fight into a public courtroom. In the coming weeks, the estate is expected to respond in federal court, where it could seek to dismiss the case or ask a judge to send it into arbitration.
For now, the dispute is split across two tracks: the newly filed federal case and the earlier settlement fight set for argument on March 5. The siblings’ lawsuit was filed Feb. 27, and court records show requests for summonses were submitted the same day. No trial date has been set, and the next key milestone is the March 5 hearing on whether the earlier agreement limits what the family can pursue in court.