17 years after his death, Michael Jackson’s alleged abuse of minors is back in the news after four brothers have filed a federal lawsuit against the artist’s estate. Edward, Dominic, Marie Porte and Aldo Cascio claim that the singer drugged, raped and sexually assaulted them for more than 10 years.
The ‘Michael’ biopic is just around the corner, with its release planned for next April, but the creative process of ‘Thriller’ is not the only part of Jackson’s past that is current. In the document filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the plaintiffs describe the artist as “a serial child sexual predator” who allegedly continued his abuse for a decade, starting when they were six and eight years old.
The story of the Cascio family is similar to that described by other alleged victims, stating that the artist would have used his influence to gain their trust, isolating them from their family environment and providing them with alcohol and substances to subject them to the alleged abuse. That is why they are demanding compensation of 200 million dollars for physical and psychological damages.
These detail several episodes of alleged assaults that would have taken place in different places, from Neverland to residences of other people associated with Jackson. Elizabeth Taylor’s house in Switzerland and Elton John’s in the United Kingdom are mentioned, for example. Jackson’s estate, led by Martin Singer, describes the lawsuit as a “desperate maneuver.”
The Cascio family already reached an agreement in 2020 with Michael’s representation team, following the documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’. At that time, the deal consisted of financial compensation in exchange for avoiding trial, but now the plaintiffs call it “illegal” and maintain that the purpose was to buy their silence.
The parents of the four brothers became friends with Michael Jackson in the 80s and it was then that they began to travel with the singer and be invited to his property. Their relationship was so close that when the first accusations of pedophilia arose, several of them publicly defended him.
