A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the child sex trafficking lawsuit filed by four siblings against Michael Jackson's estate must be handled in private arbitration, not in a courtroom.
The decision is a significant victory for the estate, which had argued that a 2019 settlement with the Cascio siblings required all disputes to be resolved through arbitration.
The siblings — Edward, Dominic, Marie-Nicole, and Aldo Cascio — had accused Jackson of raping and molesting them as children for over a decade.
They were once close to Jackson, referring to him as a "second family," and had defended him against past allegations of pedophilia.
However, in February 2026, they filed the lawsuit, claiming that the HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland" had "deprogrammed" them and led them to recant their support.
The estate has categorically denied all sexual assault accusations and paid the siblings a reported $3.5 million settlement in 2019, without admitting wrongdoing.
That settlement contained the arbitration clause, which the judge found enforceable, leaving the court no choice but to send the case to arbitration.
Howard King, attorney for the Cascio siblings, expressed disappointment, saying the family had hoped for a public trial but will now "seek justice from the dark confines of a private conference room."
The estate declined to comment on the ruling.