Siblings claim Michael Jackson forced them to ‘hide’ from lawyer
Members of Michael Jackson’s so-called “second family” — who have allegedly threatened to go public with claims of abuse by him — claim in new documents that, when they were kids, the singer forced them to “hide” so his lawyer would not know they were staying with him.
In court declarations seen by The Post, Frank Cascio, 44, and his siblings Marie-Nicole Porte, 37, and Aldo Cascio, 34, also accuse the late superstar’s estate of coercion, deception and betrayal in trying to quiet their claims. Aldo and Porte refer to their siblings and themselves as having experienced similar “abuse” without detailing what that abuse was.
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Porte claims that in 2003 and 2004 — the period when Jackson was arrested and indicted on child molestation charges not involving the family — she and Aldo were often present at the singer’s residences and hotel suites when lawyer Mark Geragos visited to discuss the case. They would have been 15 and 12, respectively, at the time.
“We were told by Michael to hide . . . Michael seemed nervous and very paranoid about the possibility of Mr. Geragos discovering we were there,” Porte says in the court documents. “He told us things to the effect of ‘the lawyer cannot know you are here’ and ‘stay in here and do not come out until I say it’s okay.’ He also told us not to make any noise.”
Years later, when they told Geragos — who now represents them — he “appeared genuinely shocked to learn that Michael had kept us hidden from him during his representation.”
The declarations are in response to a Los Angeles Superior Court petition, filed in July by the Michael Jackson Company and estate co-executors John Branca and John McClain, alleging that Frank Cascio and unidentified associates are attempting what they describe as a “civil extortion scheme.”
The Cascios’ father, Dominic, met Jackson in the 1980s while working at the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City and became part of the singer’s inner circle — with the Cascio family spending holidays at Neverland Ranch and traveling the world with Jackson.
Son Frank grew up idolizing the star and eventually worked for him as an assistant and manager.
But in 2019, 10 years after Jackson’s death — and immediately after the airing of HBO’s controversial documentary “Leaving Neverland” — Frank told Jackson’s estate executors that he was abused by the late singer.
The late singer’s estate was thriving thanks to projects including Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: One” show in Las Vegas and the promise of Broadway’s “MJ: The Musical,” which was still in development.
Aldo and Porte allege in their declarations that an estate representative visited their father’s restaurant in New Jersey that December to meet with nine family members — including three of their siblings, their parents and some in-laws — to discuss what Porte calls a “purported ‘settlement agreement.’”
According to court documents, there was only one copy of the agreement for everyone to share and it was read aloud to them. “The entire situation was rushed, pressured, and overwhelming,” Porte says.
No lawyers were present and none of the Cascios received a copy afterward, they claim.
Porte alleges that “we were told by the Estate’s representatives that if we involved lawyers, the agreement would not get done or it would take years to finalize. We were confused, frightened, and
desperate to protect our family’s privacy.”
The Estate, the Cascios allege, called it a “life rights agreement.” Aldo and Porte characterize it in court papers as a coercive settlement meant to silence them.
“The pressure was compounded by the Estate’s exploitation of our family’s relationship with Michael’s children ” Aldo claims in his declaration. “We were told not to inform them about the agreement or the underlying abuse, even though keeping that secret was profoundly distressing.”
Aldo said the Estate knew he was in therapy and had even paid part of the cost. “At that time, I was overwhelmed by trauma, feeling that both I and my family were falling apart, and that there was no way out of the hell we were living,” he says in court papers.
The public fallout, Aldo adds, has been unbearable.
“Being branded a liar or extortionist about my childhood abuse has been humiliating, degrading and deeply wounding,” he laments. “I still struggle to wrap my head around the full extent of what Michael has done and the pain that continues to ripple through everything.”
In his 2011 book, “My Friend Michael,” Frank Cascio called Jackson the kindest person he had ever known — and said in interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Wendy Williams that Jackson was innocent of child molestation charges. “Michael had never acted in any way even approximating inappropriate toward us,” he said then. “He was being attacked by liars who were after his money.”
Frank, who says in the declaration that he is dyslexic and struggled to understand the 2019 agreement, signed it in Los Angeles at attorney Howard Weitzman’s office. Weitzman, who long represented Jackson and the estate, allegedly pointed to the signature line, gave him a hug, and told him he was sorry for what the family had gone through.
The Michael Jackson Estate has dismissed the Cascio family’s allegations as false and driven by money. Co-executor John Branca has called the siblings’ new claims part of a $213 million shakedown. The estate filed an arbitration proceeding and contacted law enforcement, calling the allegations a “calculated extortion attempt.”
Branca previously told The Post the 2019 deal was mutual and necessary to protect Jackson’s children and the estate’s future during a turbulent time — as it came months after HBO aired “Leaving Neverland,” a documentary that reignited old accusations against the pop star. Branca said the estate agreed to pay several longtime associates $3 million each and that both sides signed a strict nondisclosure agreement.
“It said you can’t even tell people there’s an agreement,” Branca said. “It allowed us to move forward with projects that would preserve Michael’s legacy.”
A judge will decide next whether the case stays in private arbitration or heads to open court.
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