Members of the Cascio family, longtime friends of Michael Jackson, filed a lawsuit against his estate last month — a move the estate's attorney is now calling a “desperate money grab.”
Edward, Dominic, Aldo Cascio, and their sister Marie-Nicole Porte filed suit on February 27 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The filing marks the latest dispute between the Cascio family and Jackson’s estate. According to USA Today, the estate previously paid several members of the family $2.8 million each in 2019, a settlement the estate says it agreed to after the Cascios threatened to make new allegations unless they received what the estate described as “staggering sums.”
"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," Marty Singer, the estate's attorney, said in a statement. "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."
Attorney Howard King, best known for representing Dr. Dre and Marilyn Manson, reportedly opened with a $213 million demand. He was then replaced by Mark Geragos — a former Jackson defense attorney who once called previous accusations against the pop star "a shakedown.”
Geragos reportedly made a $40 million demand on the family's behalf, but the parties did not reach a settlement. King was later rehired, and the family ultimately filed suit in federal court. "Still looking for their multi-million-dollar payday, the Cascios brought back Howard King and are grasping at straws through this frivolous filing," Singer said.
The lawsuit itself alleges that Jackson groomed and sexually abused members of the Cascio family over a period spanning more than a decade, beginning when some were children. The complaint also accuses Jackson’s companies and associates of enabling the alleged abuse and seeks damages from the estate and related entities.
But members of the Cascio family had previously defended Jackson publicly.
In 2010, Eddie, Frank, and Marie-Nicole appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, introduced as Jackson's secret "second family," and were asked directly whether Jackson had ever behaved inappropriately with them.
All three answered in unison: "Never, never."
Eddie volunteered that Jackson "couldn't harm a fly" and was "such a kind and gentle soul." He dismissed the charges from Jackson's 2005 criminal trial as "ridiculous," saying, "Michael was a target, and unfortunately, he was targeted." Jackson was unanimously acquitted after a five-month trial.
Singer noted that Frank's 2011 memoir contains dozens of passages making the same case that Jackson never harmed the family or anyone else.
"Notably, these shakedown attempts come more than 15 years after Michael's death, thus carrying no risk of being sued for defamation," Singer said. "Sadly, in death just as in life, Michael's talents and success continue to make him a target."