Michael Jackson<\/a>‘s estate has been thrown out of court.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Sex trafficking claims against Michael Jackson’s estate have been thrown out of court<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, siblings Edward, Dominic, Marie-Nicole and Aldo Cascio sued the late King of Pop\u2019s estate after alleging the Thriller hitmaker – who died in 2009 aged 50 – “groomed and brainwashed” them when they were minors, but on Wednesday (12.08.26), Judge Hern\u00e1n D. Vera ruled the matter needs to be handled in confidential arbitration under the clear terms of a 2019 settlement between the quartet and the estate.<\/p>\n
In documents obtained by Billboard, the judge wrote: \u201cAlthough the allegations are horrific, the court is without discretion to do aught but enforce the language of the arbitration clause.”<\/p>\n
The siblings – who grew up with Michael and once referred to themselves as his “second family” – had previously been staunch supporters of the singer but in 2019, following the release of shocking documentary Leaving Neverland, they first made allegations against the late star and reportedly claimed privately at the time they had been “deprogrammed” as a result of the film.<\/p>\n
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Although there was no admission of wrongdoing, the estate paid them a \u00a33.5 million settlement, which the Cascios later argued is void and unenforceable because they were coerced into signing the agreement.<\/p>\n
\nBut the judge noted their arguments, “while serious”, do not belong in a public courtroom because of the settlement.<\/p>\n
\nHe wrote: \u201cWhile plaintiffs are fully within their rights to raise questions about unconscionability, those challenges must be presented later before an arbitrator.”<\/p>\n
\nThe ruling echoed a similar decision made in March by a different judge in California, who oversaw legal proceedings relating to fifth brother Frank Cascio’s sexual assault claims.<\/p>\n
\nIn that case, the judge ruled arbitration was required for all future disputes because Frank had signed the same settlement agreement.<\/p>\n
\nThe Cascios lawyer branded the latest ruling “disappointing but not surprising”.<\/p>\n
\nThe attorney, Howard King, said: \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing, but not surprising, that the decision on whether the Cascios were duped into signing an unconscionable agreement with an arbitration clause will be made by an arbitrator rather than a jury of peers.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe family had hoped the court would allow for a public trial over the decades-long molestations of the Cascio siblings by Michael Jackson and the ensuing cover-up by his advisors. Instead, the family will seek justice from the dark confines of a private conference room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe estate previously slammed the claims as a “desperate money grab” and noted the siblings had \u201cspent decades defending and affirming Michael\u2019s innocence\u201d before backtracking.<\/p>\n
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