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Four siblings who were longtime friends of Michael Jackson have filed a lawsuit in California accusing the late pop star of being a serial child predator." Edward, Dominic, and Aldo Cascio, alongside their sister Marie-Nicole Porte, allege in a U.S. District Court complaint that Jackson drugged and sexually assaulted them for over a decade. The plaintiffs claim the abuse began when they were as young as seven or eight years old. The plaintiffs met Jackson through their father who worked at a hotel that Jackson often stayed, the lawsuit said.
The Michael Jackson Company and individuals associated with the estate, trust and production companies attached to the late entertainer were named as defendants. Plaintiffs reject the Jackson Estate's morally bankrupt efforts to control and silence them, plaintiffs; attorney Howard King wrote in the federal lawsuit filed on Feb. 27. Plaintiffs bring this action to hold the Michael Jackson Estate, its affiliates and the persons who control or work on their behalf, accountable for Jackson's conduct and their own wrongdoing.”
Veteran entertainment industry attorney Martin Singer, representing the Jackson estate, called the lawsuit a desperate money grab.” This new court filing is a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies, Singer said in a statement.
Singer pointed out that Edward Cascio's 2011 book “My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man, included family statements that consistently and repeatedly asserted that Michael never harmed any of them or anyone else. Singer also noted during a 2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Edward, Frank and Marie-Nicole Cascio all agreed that Jackson never harmed them, Singer said. The Cascios spent decades defending and affirming Michael’s innocence, Singer said. Notably, these shakedown attempts come more than 15 years after Michael’s death, thus carrying no risk of being sued for defamation. Sadly, in death just as in life, Michael’s talents and success continue to make him a target,” Singer said.
