Michael Jackson Accusers Suing the King of Pop’s Corporation
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Despite Michael Jackson dying more than a decade ago, alleged victims of his sexual abuse are still seeking legal closure.
On Monday, a panel of judges from the California Court of Appeal tentatively ruled that Wade Robson and James Safechuck have a case against MJJ Productions Inc., the King of Pop’s corporation, claiming that staff who worked for the company were partly responsible for covering up the alleged sexual abuse, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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If the names Robson and Safechuck sound familiar to you, it’s because these two men were also the subject of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. It was a two-part documentary that explored the “parallel experiences” of these men as young boys who were befriended by Michael Jackson when they were seven and ten years old and allegedly sexually assaulted until they reached puberty.
Leaving Neverland (2019) | Official Trailer | HBO
More from the Los Angeles Times:
“The 35-page ruling, if made final, would potentially lead to trials in cases that have dragged on for years. Robson and Safechuck were each suing Michael Jackson’s corporation separately, but the ruling suggests their cases will be combined when they go to trial. Jackson’s company lawyers argued the company had no legal duty to protect Robson or anyone else from Jackson, because it had no ability to control him.”
Safechuck and Robson previously filed lawsuits against MJJ Productions Inc. in 2014 and 2013, but they were eventually thrown out due to the statute of limitations. They eventually returned to trial court while their appeals were pending, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The employees are considered complicit in the men’s alleged abuse because they allegedly witnessed some of Michael’s inappropriate acts and never reported the abuse to the police.
This part of Michael Jackson’s legacy is something that millions of MJ fans across the world are still reckoning with. Many still have cheerful memories of the music icon, but these allegations have caused those same fans to question what they do and do not believe about the Thriller singer.
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