Frank Cascio and his siblings allege Michael Jackson groomed, manipulated, and molested them for decades, from the late 1980s until his death in 2009. On Wednesday, they appeared in a Beverly Hills courtroom seeking to void a “purported settlement” with Jackson’s estate that they describe as “an unlawful agreement to silence victims of childhood sexual abuse.”
A judge heard arguments on both sides and declined to issue an immediate ruling on the estate’s petition to force the Cascios into confidential arbitration. Marty Singer, a lawyer for the estate, told the court that the Cascio family members reached an initial “deal” with the estate in January 2020, later re-negotiated it for “significantly more money upfront,” and now are seeking to file a public lawsuit that would violate the arbitration and confidentiality clauses of the original pact.
“We categorically dispute these claims,” Singer told the court, referring to the allegations Jackson subjected all five Cascio kids to sexual abuse. “The reason this case is going forward is because there was an extortion demand of $213 million last summer.”
Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the Cascios, told the court he felt “passionately” that the judge’s tentative ruling, which was issued before the hearing and said the court was poised to compel arbitration, was “wrong on the law and wrong on the trend in the legislature.” In court filings, Geragos has argued that the Cascios felt coerced into signing the agreements.
“The rushed process was intended to, and did, in fact, take advantage of the Cascio siblings’ shock and trauma upon realizing this had happened to all of them, unbeknownst to each other and contrary to what they had been told,” Geragos wrote in a filing last October. “During this vulnerable time and before the Cascios could fully process what had happened to them, the estate exploited their confusion and vulnerability by pressuring them into an unfavorable agreement, misrepresenting both the nature of their rights and the consequences of refusal.” Geragos says the deal is unenforceable because it included illegal nondisclosure provisions used to conceal childhood sexual abuse.
After the hearing, Geragos spoke with the family members in the hallway, with one brother appearing to be in tears. “They wanted to see for themselves the position that the estate has been taking, which is basically to call them liars,” Geragos told Rolling Stone when asked why the relatives traveled from the east coast to attend the hearing. He said the family would appeal if the judge adopts his tentative and forces arbitration with the estate.
In a notable twist, Geragos previously represented Jackson when the pop star was under criminal investigation for child molestation in 2003. Jackson was charged and later acquitted at a trial in 2005.
In declarations filed in October, siblings Aldo Cascio and Marie Cascio told the court they recalled being with Jackson at locations, including a Las Vegas hotel, when Jackson allegedly told them to “hide” in a separate room when Geragos would arrive for meetings. “Michael was adamant that Mr. Geragos not see us or know we were there with him,” Aldo wrote.
“I recall Michael giving my siblings and me similar instructions when he was meeting with another one of his criminal defense lawyers, Thomas Mesereau, shortly after that,” Aldo wrote. “At the time, I accepted Michael’s instructions without question, but in hindsight, it was clear he was concealing us deliberately.”
In filings opposing the estate’s effort to compel arbitration, Geragos said the siblings were “brainwashed” into thinking they were uniquely “special” to Jackson, and that their relationship with him was “exclusive.” The lawyer said Michael used “psychological conditioning” to ensure the siblings’ loyalty, but then a breakthrough came when the family members watched the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.
The docuseries was a bombshell for the family, leading them to share their experiences, Geragos said. It centered on Wade Robson, a choreographer and director, and James Safechuck, a writer, actor, and director, who allege Jackson molested them in the 1980s and 1990s, sometimes during overnight stays at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. Robson stepped forward with his allegations after testifying in Jackson’s defense at his trial. Frank Cascio, meanwhile, told CourtTV during the jury deliberations at the criminal trial that he “wouldn’t be here if I thought that man was a pedophile.” Robson and Cascio allege they were still under the singer’s spell during the criminal trial.
Howard King, another lawyer for the Cascio family, said after the hearing on Wednesday that he has 10 hours of sworn testimony, on video and audio, “of all five family members talking about the horrific abuse, in detail, that they suffered at the hands of Michael Jackson.” The statements were recorded in 2024, he said. “If they succeed in muzzling this, it’ll never come out,” he said, referring to the estate.
King said that he showed some of the video to Singer and another lawyer for the estate. “I was told by Marty Singer, ‘We’re going to resolve this. That video will never see the light of day. … Make me an offer.’” Singer declined to comment as he left the courthouse on Wednesday.
Frank Cascio, his sister Marie, brothers Aldo and Dominic, and their parents also left the courthouse Wednesday without giving a statement. A follow-up hearing related to sealing documents in the case was set for March 5.
Taylor Swift at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Here’s to 20 Years of ‘Taylor Swift’
It’s strange to think the songs we used to sing from one of the most famous self-titled debut album’s turn 20 years old today. You know the ones I’m talking about. The song in the car, my favorite song, the whispered songs, “Mary’s Song,” “Our Song.” Twenty years ago, Taylor Swift invited the world into the one she built with these melodies.
Taylor Swift wasn’t just the singer-songwriter’s first album that turned her into a rising Nashville star. It was also the first chapter that sealed Swift’s future success as a superstar musician. Within a year of its release on Oct. 24, 2006, the LP debuted at Number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned platinum status, and made hits out of singles “Tim McGraw” and “Our Song.” It’s the reason we’re here today, reflecting on two decades into a career so massive, even the curly-haired mess of a dreamer couldn’t fathom it at 15 years old. That teenager grew into a pop goliath, but it’s easier to fathom when you remember that it’s always been about the songs.
With Taylor Swift, a precocious teen met listeners in their own teenage heartache, their deep-seeded loneliness, and that overarching, painful desire to fit in with a collection of country-pop gems. Who hadn’t cried over an unrequited love the way Swift did on “Teardrops on My Guitar” or felt the chilling rejection apparent on “Cold As You,” or the thrill of finding a best friend who lets you show your true colors like on “I’m Only Me When I’m With You” or even known a friend who suffered from eating disorders as discussed on “Tied Together With a Smile”? Here was a voice singing these stories she’d written, each sigh and imperfect note, making the keen observation of the worlds that much more sincere. That’s what connected with audiences and began the success story that we know so well today.
Throughout her self-titled debut, Swift tapped into the country music songwriting tradition of reminding listeners she’s the one with the pen. On the banjo-driven jaunt, “Our Song,” she laments the fact that there is no song to sum up her rosy romance — until she “grabs a pen and an old napkin” and cements the slamming screen doors and surreptitious late-night calls into her own song. With the help of producer Nathan Chapman and co-writer Liz Rose, Swift learned to master this trick.
Her debut single, “Tim McGraw” is the real shining example of this. On its face, the track chronicles a fleeting summer romance, but the wistful tune turns into a knockout that cemented Swift into country music history when she offers a prescient promise, “I hope you think of me.” With that simple line, the musician showed the transportative power of music.
Taylor Swift is also the first time we heard of the tropes that still run through the singer-songwriter’s catalog. The little black dress in “Tim McGraw,” the front seat in “Our Song,” the rain scattered across multiple songs, the photographs in “Picture to Burn,” the numbers 89 and 87 on “Mary’s Song (Oh My, My My).” With every nano-specific detail, Swift built out her own cinematic universe.
You can hear Swift map out the world-building that would turn into her next 12 albums on the self-titled centerpiece, “A Place in this World.” Over an acoustic guitar, she quips, “I don’t know what I want, so don’t ask me” before declaring, “I’m just a girl, trying to find a place in this world.” That’s the kind of sassy, yet uncertain attitude she brought to her very first album. But really, she always knew what she was doing in some capacity, especially if the hidden or “A Place in This World” is any indication. The uppercase letters in a lyric booklet of lowercase ones spell out: “I Found it.”
In a fitting twist of fate, 2026 not only marks a major anniversary for Swift’s self-titled debut album, it’s also the first year she’s eligible to be recognized in two very prestigious institutions: the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. By Monday, the girl who cried all those tears on her guitar will be both the youngest woman to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall, and youngest-member of the Nashville edition.
During her Songwriters Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Swift reflected on the power of her craft. “As writers, we can only hope to meet people where they are in their lives,” she said. Since 2006, when she was just a high school freshman with a habit of writing songs on her bedroom floor or in math class, she has done exactly that.