Michael Jackson Estate Identifies ‘Extortionate’ Abuse Accuser as ‘My Friend Michael’ Author: ohnotheydidnt — LiveJournal

• At the time, it was reported five new unnamed accusers — who were not featured in the HBO documentary — made their abuse allegations to the estate in 2019. According to Jackson’s estate at the time, the man had previously denied Jackson ever engaged in inappropriate conduct. The estate, at the time, agreed to settle those claims under what it has described as a “business decision.” The settlement deal, signed in January 2020, was styled as a purchase of their life rights and a consulting agreement, with each of the five accusers to receive $3.3mn over six years.

• But in January, before the final $500,000 payment was made to each of the accusers, the man now known as Cascio notified the estate that he no longer planned to abide by the agreement, and that he was seeking $213mn in new payments and would go public if denied.

• The demands came at the time the estate was finishing up a deal for the $600 million sale of a 50% stake in Jackson’s music catalogue to Sony music, valuing the total package at $1.2 billion. Cascio’s lawyer asked the estate if it had disclosed his claim to Sony, suggesting the risk of potentially affecting the deal’s value.

• The new petition says that Cascio, who had known Jackson since he was a child and worked as the singer’s manager, spent years “passionately” proclaiming Jackson’s innocence in interviews and also disputed the child abuse claims in the book My Friend Michael [however, the book says Jackson’s marriage to the late Lisa Marie Presley was not genuine on Jackson’s end].

• The petition states: “Frank’s book adamantly confirmed that he could state ‘with the absolute conviction of a man who saw Michael interact with thousands of kids’ that ‘in all the years that I was close to him, I saw nothing that raised any red flags.’ Frank stated unequivocally, ‘I want to be precise and clear, on the record, so that everyone can read and understand: Michael’s love for children was innocent, and it was profoundly misunderstood.’”

• According to today’s petition, Jackson’s estate says they “reluctantly” agreed to pay Cascio a settlement in 2020 — which previous reporting has tallied at $3.3 million — without admitting any wrongdoing and in exchange for a promise that any future disputes would be decided in confidential arbitration. The settlement also stated- as reported last year- that Cascio and the other accusers had to defend Jackson publicly.

• The estate says Cascio’s newly retained attorney, Mark Geragos- who previously represented Jackson- is once again threatening to bring a public lawsuit unless the estate satisfies a fresh demand of $44 million.

• Jackson, who died suddenly in 2009, was never convicted or held legally liable on any accusation of child molestation. He was accused in 1993 and 2004 of molestation, paying off the 1993 accuser and being acquitted in a criminal trial in 2005. A Jane Doe came forward saying she was paid off in 2016 over abuse in the late 80s, and the son of a former employee of Jackson’s came forward in 2005 during the trial alleging abuse and a settlement from 1996. Two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, are continuing to pursue civil lawsuits alleging Jackson sexually abused them as children.

• The Michael Jackson estate has generated more than $3 billion since Jackson’s death, and it maintains that his accusers are simply seeking to profit off an artist who cannot defend himself because defamation law does not extend to dead individuals.

• The estate called the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland a “one-sided hit job” and sued HBO over the series in 2019. That case has since been settled confidentially, and Leaving Neverland is no longer available on HBO’s streaming platforms.

• This legal battle comes as the long in-production Michael Jackson biopic has been delayed to 2026 due to reshoots of the entire 3rd act. The film depicts the 1993 molestation accusations and shows Jackson as the innocent, naive victim of blackmail by his accuser’s greedy parents. However, the studio was unaware of a clause in the 1993 settlement that blocks Jackson or his estate from depicting the boy, his image or his family in any dramatization of Jackson’s life.