Michael Jackson’s nude photos could be shared with the world after two men who claim he abused them as children sought to unseal court records.
Wade Robson, 41, and James Safechuck, 46, claim Jackson repeatedly raped them as young children in the 1980s and ’90s at his Neverland ranch and elsewhere.
The pair failed in lawsuits against the singer’s production companies, which since his 2009 death are owned by his estate, but the suits were revived last year.
As part of the case – which could go to trial as early as next year – they are seeking access to sealed police records from Jackson’s 2005 pedophilia charges.
Lawyers for MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures believe the real target is ‘photographs of Michael Jackson’s genitalia and naked body taken by police.’
Michael Jackson ‘s lawyers are trying to shut down an attempt by two men who claim he sexually abused them to access nude photos of the pop icon. He is pictured in a suggestive publicity photo taken while filming the video for his 1995 song You Are Not Alone
Further details of what the photos show and when or why they were taken have not been shared.
Police investigating allegations of sexual assault will sometimes ask accusers for detailed descriptions of their alleged attacker’s private parts and bodies.
Officers do so in a bid to uncover any unique physical features which may corroborate their claims.
It is also unclear why Jackson’s estate believes Robinson and Safechuck are seeking to have the nude photographs shared with the world.
The motion to quash the four subpoenas, which was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, noted the images were sealed by a court-entered protective order.
‘Beyond the invasion of privacy issues, the available records indicate the photographs [the] plaintiffs now seek are also subject to a strict protective order agreed to by Michael Jackson and Santa Barbara law enforcement and entered by the Santa Barbara Superior Court,’ the motion read.
The subpoenas were directed at the county sheriff’s offices and district attorneys of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
The lawyers wrote that Jackson did not take the photos willingly, as ‘they were the result of a court-ordered search based on a false statement in what became a discredited criminal investigation’.
‘To allow [the] plaintiffs to exploit that series of circumstances to their benefit by obtaining those photographs now adds a second defilement to the first.’
Robson and Safechuck’s allegations were detailed in the controversial 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
Wade Robson (pictured with Jackson and an unidentified man) claimed Jackson sexually abused him as a child at his Neverland ranch and elsewhere
James Safechuck claimed Jackson took him shopping for an engagement ring and held a mock wedding between them, and sent them both ‘love letters’
Safechuck claimed he was abused from 1988 to 1992, starting when he was about 11 years old and Robson from 1990 to 1996, starting when he was about eight.
Leaving Neverland included graphic descriptions of the alleged abuse, including oral and anal sex, that they said Jackson made them believe were romantic relationships.
Safechuck claimed Jackson took him shopping for an engagement ring and held a mock wedding between them, and sent them both ‘love letters.’
Robson strongly supported Jackson when the popstar was charged and testified at his trial that we was never molested during visits to Neverland.
‘His music, his movement, his personal words of inspiration and encouragement and his unconditional love will live inside of me forever,’ he said after Jackson’s death.
However, in 2013, he changed his tune and filed his first lawsuit against Jackson’s estate claiming he defended the singer due to ‘complete manipulation and brainwashing’. Safechuck gave similar reasons.
Robson, now a choreographer and director, filed his case in 2013, and Safechuck, a writer, actor and director, filed in 2014 – both for negligence, breach of duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Robson, now a choreographer and director, filed his case in 2013, and Safechuck, a writer, actor and director, filed in 2014 – both for negligence, breach of duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress
Robson and Safechuck’s allegations were detailed in the controversial 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland (archival footage pictured)
The lawsuits were dismissed with a judge finding the production companies had no duty to prevent sexual abuse of children by Jackson.
However, they won the right to continue – this time together – in an appeal ruling in August that found companies can owe their own separate duty to protect victims, even if they are ‘solely owned’ by the alleged abuser.
They would need to prove not only that Jackson abused them, but that production company staff were complicit.
The duo want to go to trial before the Michael Jackson biopic, which is expected to be largely flattering, is released sometime next year.
‘They want the Michael Jackson biopic to come out before the trial. That’s what I think,’ their lawyer John Carpenter told Rolling Stone.
‘These corporations that facilitated the abuse in the first place, they’re rewriting the history.’
Leaving Neverland included graphic descriptions of the alleged abuse that they said Jackson made them believe were romantic relationships
Carpenter disagreed with claims by the production companies the matter was complex and they ‘plan to waive a three-year speedy trial rule because the case won’t be ready for jurors until after December 2026’.
‘They were both children being abused at the same time, so there’s a heavy overlap. With respect to the injuries, that’s where the evidence is different. But liability is the same. These were two boys who were molested,’ he said.
Jackson’s estate said in August that it was disappointed with the court’s decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed.
‘Two distinguished trial judges repeatedly dismissed these cases on numerous occasions over the last decade because the law required it,’ it said.
‘We remain fully confident that Michael is innocent of these allegations, which are contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration, and which were only first made years after Michael’s death.
‘We trust that the truth will ultimately prevail with Michael’s vindication yet again.’