Michael Jackson Accusers Seek $400M Payout for Alleged Abuse

Michael Jackson’s accusers, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, are seeking a $400 million payout, over accusations that he sexually assaulted them as children.

Michael Jackson’s estate revealed the eye-watering number in new court documents related to a dispute with Jackson’s daughter, Paris, 27, about legal fees, as per Us Weekly. 

Until this point, the specific amount Robson, 43, and Safechuck, 47, were seeking in their lawsuits against Jackson’s companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, was unknown.

The Estate is currently involved in at least five litigations and arbitrations. 

Adding to the financial strain, Paris is fighting the Estate’s lawyers over the growing fees incurred after they hired multiple firms to handle various issues, including the ongoing legal battle against Safechuck and Robson. 

The Estate is concerned that if lawyers are not paid, it could force them to default in Robson and Safechuck’s lawsuit, which would be ‘disastrous.’

‘Without counsel, the Estate would be forced to default in pending litigations, where liability would be devastating,’ the executors said.

‘The Estate would also lose the benefit of counsel maintaining its intellectual property portfolio, the lifeblood of its businesses. The Estate would lose the benefit of legal advice regarding its numerous successful projects and investments … MJ One Cirque show, MJ: The Musical and the upcoming motion picture, Michael.’

In her motion, Paris deemed certain legal fees excessive and asked the court to limit the executors’ power to pay them. 

The executors, however, dispute her claim, arguing the fees paid and requested are average for the industry. 

Robson and Safechuck claim they were sexually abused by Jackson as children, as detailed in the HBO documentary ‘Leaving Neverland.’

Jackson was never convicted of a crime, and his companies continue to deny the allegations.

Robson claims that Jackson groomed him from the age of seven until 14 after meeting the star when he won a Michael Jackson dance impersonation context.

He and Safechuck have teamed up as they sue the late singer’s estate in a bid for justice.

Despite his accusation, in 2005, Wade took to the stand and defended Jackson when he was accused of repeatedly molesting a 13-year-old boy, which led to a jury in Santa Barbara finding the star not guilty.

Reflecting on his decision to testify in Jackson’s defense in the documentary, Wade recalled how the singer had repeatedly asked him to speak up in his defense.

‘[Jackson] said “We can’t let them do this to us, we can’t let them take us down” Us, us, us. I definitely had a real fear of what he said about if anyone ever found out, that he and I would go to jail,’ Wade said.

Wade and James’ former lawyer Vince Finaldi claimed that the Thriller singer would repeatedly ring him and kept ‘begging’ him for help.

‘Somehow I worked up the courage to tell Michael that I didn’t want to testify,’ Wade said, but he was then served a subpoena by the court, meaning he had to provide evidence in the trial.

He told the documentary he lied during the court case in order to protect Jackson.

‘I loved Michael, Michael loved me,’ he said. ‘This was something that happened between us, that’s it. It didn’t bother me, I’m okay, I’m fine, it would be a big deal to everyone else but it’s not a big deal to me, so it’s not worth the trouble.’

During the trial Wade was asked if Jackson had ever touched him sexually. He replied: ‘No, absolutely not,’ adding ‘I just [looked] him in the eye and [was] clear.

‘I wasn’t able to tell the truth. Absolutely not.’

It wasn’t until after Wade got married and had a son of his own that he brought lawsuits against MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, the production companies that were owned by the singer at the time of his death in 2009.

They brought on these lawsuits and alleged that their interactions with Jackson were organized by his staff, who they claim were aware of the abuse they claimed they suffered.

James said it was a big decision on whether to join the lawsuit or not, eventually filing one in 2014, a year after Wade. He said: ‘I wanted to fight for little James, fight for him and fight for myself.

‘I’m recently trying to connect with little James and imagining telling him that it’s okay, that I love him so I’m trying to reconnect with myself as a child.’

In 2017, Wade and James’ cases were thrown out by the courts because the statute of limitations – the time period under which a former child abuse victim could take legal action – had expired.

However, the law changed and extended the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual assault from the time a victim is aged 26 to age 40.

But the alleged victims had their cases thrown out by the court again, leading to them taking it to the Californian Court of Appeals.

Three justices conducted a hearing remotely in 2023 and ruled in favor of Wade and James to bring their civil claims to court.

On June 25, 2009, news of Jackson’s death aged 50 shocked the world. He’d suffered a heart attack following an overdose of the surgical anesthetic drug Propofol, just days before he was due to begin a 50-date comeback tour.

Jackson had been administered the powerful drug by his personal doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, who told investigators that the singer called the substance (which he took via an IV drip) ‘milk’ and said he needed it to sleep.

Jackson’s death was ultimately deemed a homicide by investigators and in November of 2011 – more than two years after the entertainer’s passing – Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to four years in prison.

Jackson had an unprecedented career in music, as one of the best-selling artists of all-time, who won 13 Grammys over 38 nominations. Honors included Best Male R&B Vocal Performance on Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough in 1980, Album of the Year for Thriller in 1984 and Record of the Year for Beat It the same year.

He was also given the Grammy Legend Award in 1993, and posthumously, The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. He had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.