Cascio siblings allege abuse at Neverland, abroad—including homes of Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John—while the estate blasts lawsuit as ‘a desperate money grab’

By Stacy M. Brown

Senior Global Correspondent

The Cascios, once celebrated as Michael Jackson’s “second family," have now turned against him in a stunning federal lawsuit—and for the first time publicly, one of the accusers is a woman.

Michael Jackson with the Cascio Family via wikimedia commons

In a 23-page complaint filed Feb. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Edward Joseph Cascio, Dominic Savini Cascio, Marie-Nicole Porte, and Aldo Cascio allege that Jackson “was a serial child predator who, over the course of more than a decade, drugged, raped, and sexually assaulted each of the Plaintiffs.”

For decades, the Cascios were inseparable from Jackson. Their father met him while working at a luxury New York hotel. The pop superstar embedded himself in their lives, spending holidays at their New Jersey home, celebrating birthdays with them and traveling internationally with members of the family. Jackson’s children stayed with the Cascios. Frank Cascio worked closely with Jackson for years and was considered a trusted insider.

After Jackson’s 2009 death, Frank Cascio published a 2011 memoir defending him and rejecting allegations of abuse. He reiterated those defenses in interviews, including appearances tied to Oprah Winfrey. For years, the Cascios were cited by Jackson supporters as proof that the accusations were false.

Now, members of that same family are accusing Jackson in federal court — including the first public female accuser in his history.

The complaint alleges that Jackson “sexually assaulted Marie-Nicole on interstate and international trips, including at Neverland Ranch, New York, Las Vegas, Florida, and the Cascio family’s home,” and that he “unsuccessfully attempted to sexually abuse Marie-Nicole in Bahrain.”

The filing also claims abuse occurred internationally at homes owned by other celebrities. According to the complaint, Jackson raped and molested Edward “during stops on the Dangerous World Tour; at Elizabeth Taylor’s house in Switzerland; at Elton John’s home in the United Kingdom; and at Jackson’s Santa Barbara County, California estate, Neverland Ranch."Jackson also allegedly raped and molested Dominic on international trips during the HIStory World Tour, including in France and South Africa.

Spokespersons for Elton John and the estate of Elizabeth Taylor did not return messages seeking comment.

The lawsuit accuses Jackson of grooming the siblings with lavish gifts, international travel, and access to his celebrity lifestyle. It alleges he supplied them with alcohol and drugs and relied on what it calls the “Jackson Organization”—employees, advisors, and associates—to facilitate access and conceal conduct.

The plaintiffs bring claims under federal sex trafficking statutes, negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. They seek rescission of a 2019 “Acquisition and Consulting Agreement,” punitive damages, treble damages under California law, and a jury trial.

The Estate’s response was swift and forceful.

In a statement issued through attorney Martin Singer of Lavely & Singer, the Estate called the lawsuit “a desperate money grab by additional members of the Cascio family who have hopped on the bandwagon with their brother Frank, who is already being sued in arbitration for civil extortion.” Singer said the Cascios “staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct,” and described the filing as “a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies.”

He emphasized that Jackson was “unanimously acquitted by a jury after a 5-month trial.” Singer also referenced prior financial demands, including a reported $213 million demand through attorney Howard King and a later $40 million demand during a period when Mark Geragos was involved.

Singer's full statement:

This lawsuit is a desperate money grab by additional members of the Cascio family who have hopped on the bandwagon with their brother Frank, who is already being sued in arbitration for civil extortion. 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.

Statements by the Cascios, including those appearing in dozens of passages throughout Frank Cascio’s 2011 book, as well as in interviews with Oprah Winfrey and others, directly contradict what is being alleged now. Throughout, the Cascios consistently and repeatedly asserted that Michael never harmed any of them or anyone else.

With the estate's financial success growing, the Cascios, through two different attorneys, threatened to go public with heinous accusations that completely contradicted their previous statements defending Michael unless his estate paid staggering sums of money. Last year, the Cascios’ attorney Howard King demanded $213 million. After Howard King was replaced for a time by attorney Mark Geragos, Geragos made a new but equally baseless $40 million demand on behalf of the Cascios. Still looking for their multi-million-dollar payday, the Cascios brought back Howard King and are grasping at straws through this frivolous filing.

This isn't the first time the Cascios have tried to leverage their association with Michael for financial gain. Amid the media frenzy following a 2019 HBO documentary replete with false allegations, they threatened to make accusations that were the opposite of their decades of prior statements supporting Michael unless they were paid millions of dollars. Estate executors, under recommendation of counsel with respect to their responsibility as fiduciaries, 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.

The Cascio family’s former attorney Mark Geragos had been Michael’s defense counsel before being dismissed in 2004 and spent years attesting to Michael’s innocence, including multiple statements in his 2013 book and in an interview that year with HuffPost in which he labeled accusations against Michael “a shakedown.”

Michael was unanimously acquitted by a jury after a 5-month trial, about which Geragos wrote, "The only thing that surprised us was that it took them longer than fifteen minutes to reach that decision.” The Cascios spent decades defending and affirming Michael’s innocence. Notably, these shakedown attempts come more than 15 years after Michael’s death, thus carrying no risk of being sued for defamation. Sadly, in death just as in life, Michael’s talents and success continue to make him a target.”

Two other attorneys not associated with the case also weighed in.

“For Geragos, it’s a couple of things,” said one entertainment lawyer not connected to the case and who did not want his name public. “We as attorneys are already looked upon as ambulance chasers, and what Mark is doing is almost abhorrent. He defended Jackson and knew a lot about the guy, and now he’s going after his money, money Mark has no rights to, and I’m sure when he defended Jackson, he was paid a lot of money and should have been grateful.”

Another attorney who specializes in entertainment and sports law added: “The attorney-client privilege mostly survives the death of the client. The statute reads, ‘Protecting confidential communications from disclosure even during legal proceedings. While the privilege endures to encourage honest communication, it is not absolute and can be waived by the deceased client’s personal representative or through specific exceptions, such as disputes over a will.’ I’m certain that the estate lawyers haven’t made any exceptions for Geragos.”

In April, the estate-backed biopic “Michael” is scheduled for release. Early trailers have generated hundreds of millions of views. The film stars Colman Domingo, Lorenz Tate, and Nia Long, with Jackson’s nephew Jaafar portraying him. Jackson’s son Prince is a producer on the film, and Jackson’s brother Jackie has worked closely with the Estate for years.

“Sadly, in death just as in life, Michael’s talents and success continue to make him a target,” Singer asserted.