Sixteen years after outrightly denying any kind of sexual abuse by pop star Michael Jackson, Cascio siblings have now claimed that their older statement was a lie.
The five children, along with their parents Dominic and Connie Cascio, were considered Jackson’s “second family” after the star had become good friends with Dominic, a manager at a New York City hotel where Jackson often stayed.
Jackson’s closeness with the family spanning over two decades involved him having meals at their New Jersey Home, taking them to his Neverland Ranch, touring the world with them and even celebraring with them on holidays.
A year and half after Jackson’s death, the family — Dominic and Connie Cascio along with three of their five children — appeared on the Oprah Winfrey talk show and defended their friend against the the vicious sexual abuse allegations that had plagued him for long.
What they said in 2010
In 2010 talk show episode, Winfrey had asked the Cascio siblings, Eddie, Frank and Marie Nicole: “Were there ever any improprieties with you and Michael Jackson?”
To this, the three, who were now adults, responded in unison with a “never” while shaking their heads.
Speaking on the allegations that were a blot on Jackson’s legacy, Eddie asserted that their friend Michael, “was a target”.
What they say now
Now, 16 years later, they have termed their statment a “lie”, explaining that they were groomed to protect Jackson. With this, they had become his “soldiers” — front line of his defence.
In a lawsuit, and also in an interview to The New York Times, they alleged that each one of them were repeatedly sexually assaulted by Jackson. According to the fifth sibling, even though he was abused, his lawyers said he cannot join the suit with his siblings, owing to legal reasons.
Why now?
Some them said that they, at a very early age, identified Jackson’s behaviour as inappropriate. But, they felt too overwhelmed by the thought that his celebrity status and signs of affection would pose a hindrance in going public with the allegations.
Others however said they did not identify what had happened to them as an abuse until they watched a 2019 documentary on Jackson’s case. The film showed two men accusing Jackson of molesting them.
A 35-year-old Aldo said Jackson started giving him oral sex when he (Aldo) was 7 in the guise of playing Game Boy. The acts continued for years, and Aldo eventually became aware that they were wrong. However, he was convinced that he could never disclose it and started to believe, “I’m just going to live to die”.
According to the court documents, the abuse took place at a number of places. These include Jackson’s home, trips and tour stops.
Just days before Jackson’s death in 2009, he had requested that they they go to “Disneyland” — which he described as a coded request for sex.
The controversy over Jackson’s life has now been revived not just by the lawsuit but also by his biopic, “Michael,” that released on Friday. Expected to be followed by a sequel, and produced in partnership with the estate, the film depicts events in Jackson’s life till 1988, before the first set of the allegations surfaced.
What Jackson estate says
Jackson and, ever since his death, the Jackson estate have maintained that all the accusations about the pop star molesting children were false. Marty Singer, a lawyer for the estate, termed the lawsuit as “a desperate money grab”.
“The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct. 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 siad in his statement.
In the years before filing their lawsuit, the Cascios sibking had approached the estate alleging that they had actually been abused by Jackson. But in 2020, the parties reached an agreement, and the siblings received an amount of roughly $16 million in payments over five years. Their accusations never came to light until now.
— with inputs from The New York Times
Pop superstar Michael Jackson performing during the halftime show at the Super Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File) 
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