Michael Jackson Estate Takes Legal Action Over Abuse Accuser’s Demands For $213M: Reports
Written by djfrosty on September 20, 2024
Michael Jackson’s estate has filed a legal action against a man who it claims has threatened to resurface ugly abuse allegations ahead of the upcoming release of a biopic about the King of Pop, according to multiple media reports.
As detailed by both the Washington Informer and the Financial Times on Friday, Jackson’s estate has filed a private arbitration case against the unnamed accuser, claiming his alleged threats violate an earlier, never-before-reported settlement over the abuse accusations.
In the arbitration case, the estate reportedly alleges that the earlier settlement — struck in 2020 — saw the accuser paid $3.3 million in return for signing a non-disclosure agreement. But the estate reportedly claims he’s now threatening to breach the agreement if he’s not paid another $213 million.
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In an interview with the Informer, estate executor John Branca reportedly said: “The associate’s lawyer even said to us, ‘If you don’t meet our demands, we’re going to have to share these allegations with a wider group of people.’ It was a shakedown. Enough is enough.”
The name of Jackson’s accuser and the details of his supposed allegations were not disclosed in media reports. It’s unclear when the arbitration case was filed, or what exactly it alleges. The Jackson estate would not confirm the accuracy of the reports and declined to comment on the matter.
The article from the Financial Times reported that the Jackson estate had also referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. A spokesman for that office did not immediately return a request for comment from Billboard.
The threats to go public come as the Jackson estate prepares for the premiere of Michael, a movie about the singer’s life starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the titular role. The biopic, directed by Antoine Fuqua, is set for release in April 2025.
Jackson, who died suddenly in 2009, was never convicted or held legally liable on any accusation of child molestation, but is still dogged by such allegations. Two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, continue to claim Jackson sexually abused them as children, spending the last decade pursuing civil lawsuits. And their allegations were amplified in 2019 by HBO docuseries Leaving Neverland, which laid out their claims in disturbing detail.
The Jackson estate has always vehemently denied all such claims, pointing out that the singer was acquitted in a 2005 criminal trial and arguing that his accusers are simply seeking monetary gain from an artist who cannot defend himself because defamation law does not extend to dead individuals.
Shortly before Leaving Neverland aired, the estate sued HBO over the series, claiming that “Michael Jackson is innocent. Period.” The case claimed the network had breached a decades-old contract that it signed to air a Jackson concert back in 1992, which included a provision banning HBO from making “any disparaging remarks” about the singer.
That lawsuit was eventually sent to private arbitration in 2019, where it remains pending. The status of such arbitration cases, similar to the one reported on Friday, are intentionally kept more private than traditional litigation and are difficult to ascertain from public records.