LOS ANGELES — A California appeals court on Friday revived lawsuits from two men who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them for years when they were boys.
A three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the lawsuits of Wade Robson and James Safechuck should not have been dismissed by a lower court, and that the men can validly claim that the two Jackson-owned corporations that were named as defendants in the cases had a responsibility to protect them.
Michael Jackson arrives at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse on May 25, 2005, for his child molestation trial in Santa Maria, Calif.
It’s the second time the lawsuits — brought by Robson in 2013 and Safechuck the following year — have been brought back after dismissal. The two men became more widely known for telling their stories in the 2019 HBO documentary “ Leaving Neverland.”
A judge who dismissed the suits in 2021 found that that the corporations, MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc., could not be expected to function like the Boy Scouts or a church where a child in their care could expect their protection. Jackson, who died in 2009, was the sole owner and only shareholder in the companies.
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The higher court judges disagreed, writing that “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 that “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.”
In July, Jackson estate attorney Jonathan Steinsapir said that the men’s allegations were unproven and untrue, but apart from that it does not make sense that employees would be legally required to stop the behavior of their boss.
“It would require low-level employees to confront their supervisor and call them pedophiles,” Steinsapir said.
Holly Boyer, an 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.”
Steinsapir said evidence that has been gathered in the cases, which have not reach trial, showed that the parents had no expectation of Jackson’s employees to act as monitors. He said a deposition from Robson’s mother showed she did not even know the corporations existed when she first brought her 7-year-old son into the pop star’s presence.
Wade Robson, from left, director Dan Reed and James Safechuck promote the film “Leaving Neverland” on Jan. 24, 2019, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“They were not looking to Michael Jackson’s companies for protection from Michael Jackson,” Steinsapir said.
Robson, now a 40-year-old choreographer, met Jackson when he was 5 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 9 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.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were victims of sexual abuse. But Robson and Safechuck have come forward and approved of the use of their identities.
A timeline of Michael Jackson’s life and career, from the Jackson 5 to ‘Leaving Neverland’
EARLY YEARS
—1958: Born Aug. 29 in Gary, Ind. He is the seventh child of Joseph and Katherine Esther Jackson.
—1969: In Los Angeles, the Jackson 5 debut as Motown’s newest act.
In December, the group’s single “I Want You Back” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Top 40 Chart.
—1970: Jackson 5 hits “ABC, “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” all reach No. 1 on Billboard charts.
FILE – In this Sept. 15, 1972 file photo, The Jackson 5, from left, Tito, Marlon, Michael, Jackie and Jermaine perform during the “Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” in Los Angeles. (AP Photo, file)
—1972: First No. 1 solo hit “Ben,” a song about a movie rat.
—1974: Introduces a dance step called the robot on “Soul Train.” The step sweeps the country.
—1978: Played “The Scarecrow” in the movie musical “The Wiz,” alongside Diana Ross, Richard Pryor and Nipsey Russell.
—1979: Jackson’s “Off the Wall” solo album catapults him to superstar status.
KING OF POP
Jane Fonda presents record awards to Michael Jackson in Los Angeles, Feb. 25, 1983. (AP Photo/Wally Fong)
—1982: “Thriller” is released, eventually selling more than 100 million copies. It makes Jackson the biggest pop music star of the decade. The record becomes one of the best-selling albums of all time.
—1983: “Beat It” reaches No. 1 on the charts.
“Billie Jean” also becomes a gigantic hit, and the influential video, featuring more of Jackson’s electric dancing, remains a landmark.
“Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever,” airs on NBC. After a memorable performance by “The Jacksons,” Michael wows the crowd with a rendition of “Billie Jean,” which included the jaw-dropping moonwalk.
The high-concept, 13-minute “Thriller” video, directed by John Landis, becomes a huge sensation.
Singer Michael Jackson looks out from an ambulance as he arrives at Brotman Memorial Hospital in Culver City, Jan. 27, 1984, after suffering second-degree burns on his scalp while filming a Pepsi commercial, according to officials. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
—1984: Jackson’s hair catches on fire during filming of a Pepsi commercial.
—1987: News reports say Jackson tries to buy the skeleton of the “Elephant Man.” The album “Bad” is released and sells more than 8 million copies.
—1988: Michael Jackson donates $125,000 from a concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., and some personal memorabilia to start off a fundraising drive to preserve and improve the Motown Historical Museum.
Releases “Moonwalk,” an autobiography.
FILE – In this Feb. 24, 1988 file photo, Michael Jackson leans, points and sings, dances and struts during the opening performance of his 13-city U.S. tour, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Cliff Schiappa, File)
PERSONAL TRIALS
FILE – In this Jan. 31, 1993, file photo, Michael Jackson performs during the halftime show at the Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File)
—1991: Releases “Dangerous” album, certified for 7 million in sales.
—1993: In his first TV interview in 14 years, Jackson tells Oprah Winfrey that the change in his skin complexion is from a disorder called vitiligo.
A lawsuit claims that Jackson seduced and abused a 13-year-old boy.
—1994: Settles the lawsuit with substantial payment to the plaintiff. Los Angeles and Santa Barbara district attorneys don’t file child molestation charges against him.
Marries Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley.
US pop star Michael Jackson and Lisa-Marie Presley leave a hotel at Euro Disneyland, Paris on Sept. 5, 1994. (AP Photo)
—1996: Presley files for divorce.
Jackson marries nurse Debbie Rowe.
—1997: Rowe gives birth to son Prince Michael.
The Jackson 5 are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
—1998: Rowe gives birth to daughter Paris Michael Katherine.
Michael Jackson, center, joins Motown Records mogul Berry Gordy, second from left, and Jackson’s brothers, from left, Marlon, Tito, Jackie (front) and Jermaine, as the Jackson 5 are in inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Tuesday, May 6, 1997, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA
—2001: The “Invincible” album is released with a respectable 2.1 million copies sold, but only two minor hits.
—2002: Third child, Prince Michael II is born.
—2003: Faces charges of child molestation. Posts $3 million in bail and throws up the “V” sign, while standing on a black Suburban, before leaving the courthouse in Santa Maria, Calif.
—2004: Jackson pleads not guilty to child molestation charges in January.
—2005: In June, Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges.
The entrance to pop star Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch home is seen in this Dec. 17, 2004 photo, in Santa Ynez, Calif. Jackson has closed the house on his Neverland Ranch and laid off some of the employees there but has not completely shuttered the sprawling estate, the pop star’s spokesman said late Thursday March 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
—2006: The main house on the Neverland Ranch closes after Jackson faces financial hardships.
He also makes his first public appearance since his trial.
—2008: “Thriller 25” and fan-curated compilation “King of Pop” are released.
—June 25, 2009: Jackson dies at the age of 50.
Donovan Brown, 6, sits on his fathers, Wesley Brown, shoulders, as a crowd gathers to dance and sing to the music of Michael Jackson in the wake of his death at the Apollo Theater in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Friday June 26, 2009. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES
Michael Jackson fans wait in line to buy tickets for the “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” film, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. The film was produced from hundreds of hours of backstage footage of rehearsals. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
—2009: Sony releases “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” a documentary featuring rehearsal footage from Jackson’s tour that was supposed to begin in July 2019. Jackson’s family was publicly against the release of the film.
Jackson won four posthumous American Music Awards
—2011: Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murphy, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was released in 2013.
—2013: Wade Robson and James Safechuck file a civil lawsuit claiming Jackson sexually abused them as children
Wade Robson, from left, director Dan Reed and James Safechuck promote the film “Leaving Neverland” on Jan. 24, 2019, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
—2019: “Leaving Neverland,” a documentary highlighting Robson and Safechuck’s allegations against Jackson, premieres at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Jackson estate condemns the documentary and files a lawsuit against HBO.
Several radio stations stop playing Jackson’s music. “The Simpsons” remove a 1991 episode that featured Jackson’s voice.
“Leaving Neverland” is released on HBO.
—Summer 2020: The Broadway musical “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” is scheduled to premiere. A test run in Chicago was cancelled in early 2019, three weeks after the premiere of “Leaving Neverland.” Producers cited “scheduling difficulties.”
FILE – In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Marlon Jackson, second from left, Jackie Jackson, second from right, and Tito Jackson, far right, brothers of the late singer Michael Jackson, and Tito’s son Taj, far left, pose together for a portrait outside the Four Seasons Hotel, in Los Angeles. Michael Jackson’s brothers said they were already in a rough period of managing his memory and legacy, with their father, Joseph Jackson’s, death in 2018 adding to it, before they heard that the documentary “Leaving Neverland” was coming. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
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Sources: Free Press archives; USA Today; “Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll”; NPR; The Associated Press; New York Times.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.