Michael Jackson estate scores legal win amid extortion battle KiMi Robinson, USA TODAYTue, March 10, 2026 at 11:25 PM UTC 0 Michael Jackson's estate has scored a win in court as representatives take legal action against a former Jackson family friend whom they've accused of extortion. In a March 4 ruling filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, obtained by USA TODAY March 10, Judge Michael E. Whitaker granted the Jackson estate's petition to compel arbitration, meaning the parties can take their legal battle out of court.
Michael Jackson estate scores legal win amid extortion battle
KiMi Robinson, USA TODAYTue, March 10, 2026 at 11:25 PM UTC
0
Michael Jackson's estate has scored a win in court as representatives take legal action against a former Jackson family friend whom they've accused of extortion.
In a March 4 ruling filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, obtained by USA TODAY March 10, Judge Michael E. Whitaker granted the Jackson estate's petition to compel arbitration, meaning the parties can take their legal battle out of court. The decision found that the estate had "a valid and binding arbitration provision" within its legal agreement with Frank Cascio, who'd signed the paperwork in 2020.
The estate must file a proposed order by March 18, with any objections due by April 1, the judge ruled.
In their July 9 petition, the Michael Jackson Company and its officers John G. Branca and John McClain – who are also co-executors of the Jackson estate – accused Cascio of attempting to carry out a "$213 million civil extortion scheme." The petition alleged that he and his family "demanded substantial amounts of money, otherwise they threatened to concoct false allegations against Michael which were the opposite of their prior glowing statements."
1 / 0Revisiting Michael Jackson's life and legacy in photos
Jackson performs an open-air concert in West Berlin on June 19, 1988.
Cascio, who wrote the 2011 memoir "My Friend Michael," and his family "held themselves out as Michael Jackson's 'second family'" for three decades and have been among the pop icon's "most passionate defenders," the petition stated.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Jackson estate's attorney for comment.
Michael Jackson estate's extortion claim is 'groundless,' Cascio lawyer says
In a statement shared with USA TODAY on March 10, Cascio's attorney, Howard King, said, "The only matter moving to arbitration is the Estate's groundless claims against Frank Cascio that he attempted to extort the Estate.
"Given that Frank was already participating in an arbitration, the decision was not noteworthy. The decision does not affect the Federal Court action brought against the Jackson companies by the other four Cascio children."
Hollywood power attorney Mark Geragos, a former supporter of Jackson's who represented Cascio until February, argued in previous filings that the so-called acquisition and consulting agreement was "unconscionable" and should be voided. Cascio alleged he'd signed "under duress" as he did not fully understand the legalese in the agreement, which nine of his family members had already signed, and did not have his own legal representation.
"This petition is not a good-faith effort to compel arbitration pursuant to a valid contract, but rather an attempt by Petitioners [the Michael Jackson Company and estate] to shield themselves and the Estate of Michael Jackson from accountability and public scrutiny," Cascio's Oct. 6 opposition read.
Advertisement
Michael Jackson holds hands with his wife Lisa Marie Presley as they walk with children at his Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California, during a three-day "World Children's Congress."
It continued, "In doing so, Petitioners seek to weaponize an unlawful agreement to silence victims of childhood sexual abuse, smear and discredit Respondents, and preserve Michael Jackson's carefully protected legacy and the Estate's reputational and financial interests."
'Groomed and brainwashed': The claims in Michael Jackson accusers' lawsuit
Frank Cascio's siblings allege Michael Jackson was 'a serial child predator'
On Feb. 27, four of Cascio's siblings sued the Michael Jackson Company and estate, alleging they were sex trafficked as children in the 1990s, with Jackson's employees facilitating and concealing his alleged abuse.
Jackson, who died in 2009 at age 50, was "a serial child predator who, over the course of more than a decade, drugged, raped, and sexually assaulted each of the Plaintiffs, beginning when some of them were as young as seven or eight," their lawsuit stated.
The release of the bombshell HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland" in 2019 "deprogrammed" the siblings and "forced them, for the first time, to become conscious of the reality: Jackson's abuse was wrong and had severely damaged them," their lawsuit stated.
In the complaint, which was filed in California federal court, they claimed they were compelled under pretenses to sign the same agreement as their brother, Frank Cascio, in 2019.
The document they were induced to sign was described to them as a "life rights" agreement, but rather it released the Jackson estate "from liability for Jackson's crimes," per the lawsuit. Had the family "understood the full meaning of the Document, they would not have signed it."
The Cascios alleged representatives of Jackson's estate reached out to them around April 2024 "to increase the estate's compensation," and this time, the siblings retained their own legal counsel. After this, they "demanded compensation proportional to Jackson's crimes and the harm they caused," which, per their lawsuit, prompted the estate to release "false and defamatory statements" about them to the press.
Marty Singer, an attorney for Jackson's company, said in a March 2 statement to USA TODAY that the estate "reluctantly paid the Cascios $2.8 million each over five years to protect Michael's family as well as future projects important to Michael's legacy and fans, which were worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Estate for Michael's beneficiaries."
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support in English and Spanish via chat and at 800-656-4673.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Jackson estate scores win in extortion battle against accuser
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: March 11, 2026 at 01:37AM on Source: MANUEL MAG
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle