Michael Jackson lawsuits alleging sexual abuse against boys revived by appeals court
Two men who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were boys should not have had their cases dismissed, judges at a US court have said.
Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who claim Jackson abused them for years, will now be allowed to pursue lawsuits against companies owned by the late singer.
It’s the second time the lawsuits – which were brought by Robson in 2013 and Safechuck in 2014 – have been brought back after dismissal.
Both men detailed their claims of abuse in the 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
James Safechuck is pictured aged 10 with Jackson
Robson, now a 40-year-old choreographer, met Jackson when he was five years old. He went on to appear in three Jackson music videos.
His lawsuit alleged that Jackson molested him over a seven-year period.
Safechuck, now 45, said in his suit that he was nine when he met Jackson while filming a Pepsi commercial. He said Jackson called him often and lavished him with gifts before moving on to sexually abusing him.
A three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal has now found that their lawsuits should not have been dismissed by a lower court.
Legal row over duty to protect children
A judge who dismissed the suits in 2021 found that the corporations – MJJ Productions Inc and MJJ Ventures Inc – who were both named as defendants in the case, could not be expected to function like the Boy Scouts or a church where a child in their care could expect their protection.
But the latest decision means that Robson and Safechuck can now validly claim the corporations had a responsibility to protect them.
Jackson, who died in 2009, was the sole owner and only shareholder in both companies.
In their report, the higher court judges wrote: “A corporation that facilitates the sexual abuse of children by one of its employees is not excused from an affirmative duty to protect those children merely because it is solely owned by the perpetrator of the abuse.”
They added: “It would be perverse to find no duty based on the corporate defendant having only one shareholder. And so, we reverse the judgments entered for the corporations.”
‘We remain fully confident Michael is innocent’
Jonathan Steinsapir, attorney for the Jackson estate, said they were “disappointed” by the decision.
Mr Steinsapir told The Associated Press: “Two distinguished trial judges repeatedly dismissed these cases on numerous occasions over the last decade because the law required it.
“We remain fully confident that Michael is innocent of these allegations, which are contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration, and which were only first made years after Michael’s death by men motivated solely by money.”
Vince Finaldi, an attorney for Robson and Safechuck, said in an email that they were “pleased but not surprised” that the court overturned the previous judge’s “incorrect rulings in these cases, which were against California law and would have set a dangerous precedent that endangered children throughout state and country. We eagerly look forward to a trial on the merits”.
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Mr Steinsapir had argued for the defence in July that it does not make sense that employees would be legally required to stop the behaviour of their boss, saying: “It would require low-level employees to confront their supervisor and call them paedophiles.”
He also said the parents of the boys had not expected company staff to monitor Jackson’s actions.
Holly Boyer, another attorney for Robson and Safechuck, countered that the boys “were left alone in this lion’s den by the defendant’s employees. An affirmative duty to protect and to warn is correct”.
In a concurring opinion issued with Friday’s decision, one of the panellists, Associate Justice John Shepard Wiley Jr, wrote that “to treat Jackson’s wholly-owned instruments as different from Jackson himself is to be mesmerised by abstractions. This is not an alter ego case. This is a same ego case”.
The judges did not rule on the truth of the allegations themselves. That will be the subject of a forthcoming jury trial in Los Angeles.
Jackson always denied any allegations he was involved in abusing underage boys.
His Neverland Ranch, in California, was sold in December 2020 for $22m (£16m).
Donald Trump has been urged to fire US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth following the leak of highly sensitive war plans – as national security adviser Mike Waltz said he took “full responsibility” for organising the group chat.
The conversation on the messaging app Signal between US officials, including vice president JD Vance and Mr Hegseth, was leaked to American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to the chat in error.
They discussed plans to conduct airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, which took place on 15 March.
Latest: White House deflecting from scandal
Mr Waltz – who had mistakenly added Mr Goldberg to the Signal discussion – said: “I take full responsibility…I built the group.”
Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of the US House of Representatives, described Mr Hegseth as “the most unqualified Secretary of Defence in American history” and called for him to be sacked.
“His continued presence in the top position of leadership at the Pentagon threatens the nation’s security and puts our brave men and women in uniform throughout the world in danger,” he wrote.
“His behaviour shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law.
“Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth should be fired immediately.”
The president has defended national security adviser Mike Waltz. Pic: Reuters
Speaking from the White House, Mr Trump downplayed the incident and said he believed the chat contained “no classified information”.
“They were using an app, as I understand it, that a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use,” he told reporters.
Trump expressed support for Mr Waltz, telling NBC News his national security adviser “has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man”.
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How serious is US chat breach?
The US president said officials would “probably” not use Signal any longer but did not agree to a full investigation of what Democrats have called a major security breach which required high-level resignations.
Included in the conversation on Signal were Mr Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mr Hegseth.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe – who were both also in the chat – testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that no classified material was shared.
Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe were under pressure as the Senate Intelligence Committee challenged them about the leak. Pic: Reuters
But Democratic senators have voiced scepticism, noting that the journalist, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, reported Mr Hegseth posted operational details “including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing”.
Republican majority leader, John Thune, said on Tuesday he expected the Senate Armed Services Committee to look into Trump administration officials’ use of Signal.
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Meanwhile, the White House has mostly attacked the journalist responsible for the original story instead of admitting culpability. The integrity of Mr Goldberg has been repeatedly called into question.
Posting on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Mr Goldberg of sensationalising the story, and White House communications director Steven Cheung called the media coverage of the security breach a “witch hunt”.
Group chat gaffe wouldn’t happen in UK
If a British defence minister was found to have shared details about a live military operation in an unofficial messaging group with colleagues, they would be sacked.
That President Donald Trump has tried to dismiss the revelation that his top defence and security team not only did just that but accidentally included a journalist in the chat will be watched with deepening horror by US allies and growing glee by American enemies.
In public, the UK government is still insisting security ties with the US are as strong as ever.
But in private there will doubtless be horror – though perhaps not surprise – within Whitehall at this extraordinary lapse in the most basic operational security by the president’s national security adviser, defence secretary, national intelligence chief and even the boss of the CIA.
Any information about plans to – for example – launch bombing raids against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen would ordinarily only be shared on specially designated government systems that ensure classified information is secure.
The fact that Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, felt it was acceptable to set up a group on the commercial messaging app Signal – which does provide encryption but is only as secure as the device that it is being used on (so not secure at all if a mobile phone or laptop is compromised) – to discuss plans to attack the Houthis is bad enough.
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The Atlantic has hit back, dismissing those claims. “Attempts to disparage and discredit The Atlantic, our editor, and our reporting follow an obvious playbook by elected officials and others in power who are hostile to journalists and the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” it said in a statement.
Mr Hegseth told reporters on Monday no one had texted war plans – prompting Mr Goldberg to call those comments a lie during an interview on CNN.
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It remains unclear why the officials chose to chat via Signal instead of secure government channels typically used for sensitive discussions.
The Pentagon reportedly warned of a known vulnerability on the Signal chat app, in an email sent out prior to the publication of The Atlantic article, according to reports by Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.
The email reported: “Russia-aligned threat groups are actively targeting the Signal Messenger application of individuals likely to exchange sensitive military and government communications related to the war in Ukraine”.
Employees were told the vulnerability could be mitigated by updating to the latest version of the app and applying proper settings.
“FUBAR”.
That’s one congressman’s response to the jaw-dropping news that Trump officials discussed war plans in a group chat on the Signal app.
It’s an old military acronym meaning ‘F***ed up beyond recognition” or “…beyond repair”.
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, reports he was accidentally added to an encrypted messaging group.
(L-R) US vice president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, and national security adviser Mike Waltz on 13 March. Pic: Reuters
The conversation appeared to include vice president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz.
They were discussing highly sensitive security information relating to an impending attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“I didn’t think it could be real,” writes Goldberg, “… then the bombs started falling”.
A fighter plane takes off for an operation against the Houthis. Pic: US Centcom/Reuters
Brian Hughes, spokesman for the National Security Council, confirmed the veracity of the Signal group.
“This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” he said.
“Only one word for this: FUBAR,” said Democrat representative Pat Ryan, an army veteran who sits on the armed services committee.
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The leak raises huge questions about national security, but legal experts suggest establishing the group on Signal may violate the espionage act.
Remember how often Donald Trump called for Hillary Clinton to be jailed for using a private server for emails when she was US secretary of state?
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Old alliances ‘abandoned’ by White House
As if that’s not enough, the online conversation appears to shed further light on the Trump administration’s abandonment of old alliances.
Vance seems to question the president’s decision to strike, writing: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
Hegseth replies: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. PATHETIC.”
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Trump and his team argue that European countries benefit from US protection of shipping lanes in the Red Sea, a frequent target for attacks.
Goldberg’s initial scepticism is understandable – with participants using emojis like praying hands, the US flag, a fist and a fire, in a highly sensitive military discussion.
“Amateur hour,” said Democrat senator Ruben Gallego, a marine veteran.
JD Vance is less liked among the UK public than Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer or any other major UK politician, a new poll shared with Sky News has found.
Just 14% of the British public have a favourable view of the US vice president, compared with 21% for Mr Trump and 29% for the prime minister and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Ipsos questioned 1,132 adults aged 18 and over across Great Britain online between the 14 and 17 March – just weeks after the heated exchange between Mr Vance, Mr Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House over military assistance to Ukraine.
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The poll was carried out before a conversation on the messaging app Signal – between US officials, including the vice president – was accidentally leaked to an American journalist, who was added to the encrypted chat in error.
In the conversation, Mr Vance and other officials – including National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – discussed plans to conduct airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, which took place on 15 March.
During the discussion, Mr Vance questioned the rationale behind the military action, arguing that attacking the Houthis would largely serve European interests, with the continent benefiting from US protection of shipping lanes in the Red Sea that are a frequent target for attacks
US security breach latest: Trump dismisses war plan ‘glitch’
In a message addressed to Mr Hegseth, Mr Vance said: “If you think we should do it let’s go. I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
Mr Hegseth, who had made the case for military action against the Houthis, replied: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. PATHETIC.”
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‘I know nothing’ about leak of military plans
Keiran Pedley, Ipsos director of politics, told Sky News: “It is clear from these numbers that Vance is unpopular with the British public.
“A majority hold an unfavourable view of the vice president, including clear majorities of Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem voters. Reform UK supporters are more split, with slightly more holding an unfavourable view than a favourable one.”
The leak of the messages to Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, has raised concerns about US national security and the Trump’s administration’s attitude towards Europe as it seeks to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.
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Leaked security chat explained
President Trump has dismissed the significance of the accidental leaking of US military intelligence to Mr Goldberg, telling Garrett Haake, a reporter from Sky News’ US partner network NBC, that the journalist was “a sleazeball” and that his presence on the Signal chain had “no impact at all”.
Asked how he came to be added to the chat, Mr Trump said it was one of Mr Waltz’s staffers who “had his number on there”.
Asked if he still had confidence in Waltz, Trump said he did: “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.”
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The US president also expressed confidence in his team and supported comments by his defence secretary that the story was a non-issue, arguing it was “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one”.
Downing Street has also insisted it is confident any UK intelligence shared with the US was being handled appropriately.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The US is our closest ally when it comes to matters of defence, we have a long-standing relationship on intelligence and defence cooperation.
“We will continue to build on the very strong relationship we already have with the US on defence and security matters.”
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