Four siblings from a New Jersey family who spent decades publicly defending Michael Jackson — appearing at his 2005 criminal trial, sitting on Oprah Winfrey’s sofa in 2010, and publishing a memoir praising his character — filed a federal lawsuit in February accusing the pop star of drugging and sexually assaulting them as children, starting when some were as young as seven or eight years old.
The plaintiffs — Edward, Dominic, Marie-Nicole, and Aldo Cascio — filed their complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging child sex trafficking, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, and breach of contract, and seeking compensatory and punitive damages. A fifth sibling, Frank, has made similar allegations in a separate pending arbitration proceeding but is not party to the federal suit.
The Cascios entered Jackson’s orbit through their father, who managed a luxury Manhattan hotel where the singer frequently stayed. The family became so close to Jackson that he described them as his “second family” — appearing in home videos, vacationing together, and visiting Neverland Ranch. During a 2010 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah asked three siblings directly whether there had ever been any impropriety with Jackson. All three answered in unison: “Never, never.”
That public stance collapsed after the 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which the siblings say finally helped them process what they experienced. After watching the film, the Cascios said they were “deprogrammed” — forced to confront the reality of what had happened to them. They then approached the Jackson estate. The parties reached an agreement in 2020 under which each sibling received approximately $690,000 per year over five years. When payments stopped in 2025 and negotiations collapsed, the lawsuit followed.
The complaint describes Jackson giving the children alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs including Xanax and Vicodin, calling wine “Jesus Juice” and hard liquor “Disney Juice,” and using coded phrases like “Can I have a meeting” to signal abuse sessions. It also names the Jackson estate, estate attorneys John Branca and John McLain, and private investigator Herman Weisberg, alleging they were falsely presented to the family as representing the Cascios’ interests during settlement negotiations.
The Jackson estate’s attorney, Marty Singer, dismissed the lawsuit as “a desperate money grab by additional members of the Cascio family,” adding that Howard King had demanded $213 million, and a subsequent attorney, Mark Geragos — who once publicly called abuse accusations against Jackson “a shakedown” — later submitted a $40 million demand on the family’s behalf.
The estate has since filed a motion to compel arbitration and stay the case, with a hearing currently scheduled for early June. The lawsuit became public on the opening weekend of the Jackson biopic Michael, which pulled in $12.6 million in Thursday night previews alone, projecting a record-breaking opening for a music biopic. Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed said the film’s success proved that “people don’t care that he was a child molester.”
Unbelievable! Literally. The Cascio’s for years swore to Michael’s goodness and innocence without one tiny hint of any misdoings. There is lots of money to be gained for them here if this goes anywhere. So, now four ADULT kids all the sudden have “stories”. Laughable. Two plus two always equals four. The math here is simple.
Finding Neverland was removed from streaming because of the obvious lies. Bret Barnes, who was mentioned in Finding Neverland, without his knowledge, had plenty to say about Michael having ZERO interest in anything sexual, but was a kind, good friend. Jordy Chandler admitted that his father made him lie. So, it seems like LIES are behind every accusation. The Cascio’s would not be an exception.