As the Michael Jackson film hit theaters, a family known to be very close to him took the late Michael Jackson to court over allegations of sexual abuse. The family, consisting of Dominic and Connie Cascio and their five children, claims that Jackson abused four children at Neverland Ranch during tours and various travels. This family had previously defended Jackson against abuse allegations on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and other platforms, describing themselves as the singer's "second family."

According to a report by The New York Times, the Cascio family presented these allegations to Jackson's estate managers years ago, resulting in a confidential agreement between the two parties. Under the agreement, the family was to receive approximately $16 million in compensation over five years. However, when payments were halted in 2025, new rounds of negotiations failed, leading to the lawsuit. Jackson had approached Cascio, who worked as a manager at a luxury hotel in Manhattan that he frequently visited to meet Dominic.

Marty Singer, the attorney for Jackson's estate, described the family's move as "desperate money-seeking tactics" and added, "This family has defended Michael Jackson for over 25 years, testifying to his innocence regarding inappropriate behavior. This new court filing is clearly a tactic to choose a forum as part of a plan to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael's estate and companies." The family stated that HBO's 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland influenced their decision to change their stance, claiming it helped them "break free from brainwashing" and process their experiences.

In the lawsuit, Jackson is described as a "serial child predator" who "drugged, raped, and sexually abused each plaintiff" for more than a decade, with some starting as young as seven or eight years old. According to the filing, Jackson deceived them by "brainwashing" them, offering expensive gifts, granting access to a celebrity lifestyle, and telling each of them that he loved and needed them. The lawsuit also alleges that Jackson was "under the constant influence of drugs and often drunk," claiming he provided the children with "alcohol, marijuana, illegal hard drugs, and prescription medications (such as Xanax, Vicodin, and Viagra)." The family stated that Jackson referred to wine as "Jesus Juice" and hard liquor as "Disney Juice."

The lawsuit alleges that Jackson threatened that if "the abusive situations were discovered, their entire lives and the lives of their family members would be ruined" and that he "forced them to prepare in advance what to say if a police officer or another adult asked if he had abused them." It also notes that Jackson's employees, advisors, lawyers, and doctors were "aware of Jackson's abuse and assisted by both facilitating and covering it up."