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  • Michael Jackson Bombshell! FIVE Siblings Who Defended MJ For Years Say He Molested Them, Too! – Perez Hilton

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    Michael Jackson’s relationship with children is once again being called into question.

    Prior to his death in 2009, the King of Pop was accused of child abuse at two separate points in his career. Once in 1993, a case which was settled outside of court, and again in 2005, when he was acquitted in court. But throughout it all, the Cascio family stood behind him.

    The Cascio Family

    If the name sounds familiar, it’s because they’re the bunch Michael dubbed his “second family.” Back in the ‘80s, he met patriarch Dominic Cascio while staying at the Helmsley Palace in New York. They quickly became friends, and Dominic introduced the Thriller singer to his family, which included wife Connie, and their two sons. The husband and wife went on to have three more children: two boys and one girl, and Michael remained an active presence in all of their lives.

    Over the years, the family has been open about the dinners they shared with Michael in their New Jersey home, Christmas gift exchanges, shopping sprees, Disneyland trips, and stays at Neverland Ranch in California for the kids. All along they said it was innocent.

    Related: Priscilla Presley Hit With Lawsuit Claiming She Lied To IRS About MILLIONS

    The eldest boy, Frank Cascio, authored a book called My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship With An Extraordinary Man — a 2011 memoir about the nature of his relationship with Michael, where he vehemently defended the singer. He wrote:

    “I want to be precise and clear, on the record, so that everyone can read and understand: Michael’s love for children was innocent, and it was profoundly misunderstood.”

    He continued:

    “In all the years that I was close to him, I saw nothing that raised any red flags, not as a child and not as an adult.”

    Frank went on to claim Michael “was being attacked by liars”, maintaining:

    “There was nothing ambiguous about the whole thing. These people were after Michael’s money. But he was innocent, and we were going to destroy them in court.”

    However, Frank’s tune has now changed.

    The Accusations

    Over the weekend, DailyMail.com reported that all five Cascio children came together earlier this month to file a bombshell suit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Michael of of grooming, sexually abusing, and “brainwashing” their family for 25 years. Of the alleged abuse, a source told the outlet:

    “It was everything sexual: sex with under-age children. When they all realized what had been going on it was the most traumatic thing. Their story is insane.”

    According to filings seen by the outlet, the siblings claim:

    “From the early 1980s until at least 2009, Michael Jackson had intimate contact with the Cascio children. This abusive contact occurred over a span of decades and involved hundreds of instances. Each of the Cascio children were groomed, brainwashed and severely manipulated to believe that each was uniquely ‘special’ to Michael and that their relationship with him was exclusive.”

    The docs continue:

    “This emotional manipulation was designed to secure each family member’s loyalty and ensure their silence, making them feel indebted to Michael and isolated from any source of protection or perspective. Through years of psychological conditioning, Michael cultivated dependence and fear in the Cascios, making respondents believe they had no choice but to comply and no safe way to break free. The effects of this conditioning persisted into adulthood, leaving respondents with a deeply ingrained belief that speaking out would constitute betrayal — a dynamic the estate has continued to exploit in its dealings with them.”

    Wow.

    We know there are many MJ fans out there who never wanted to believe any of the allegations from longtime accusers James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who participated in the shocking 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland. But the Cascio family were some of his biggest defenders, and now even they’ve switched sides.

    What Sparked The Lawsuit

    Speaking of Leaving Neverland, multiple insiders tell DM it was the HBO doc that first sparked movement in the case. Safechuck and Robson, now both in their 40s, accused the Beat It star of subjecting them to years of abuse — Safechuck from 1988 to 1992, and Robson from 1990 to 1996. The doc changed things for the general public AND for the Cascios.

    According to sources earlier this year, when the Cascio family raised alarms, the Jackson estate attempted to get ahead of more public accusations in January 2020. Instead they tried to settle behind the scenes.

    The involved parties reportedly reached a confidential settlement that included payouts over five years. However, the Cascio family’s attorney allegedly demanded an additional $213 million in 2024 against a threat the family would “expand the circle of knowledge” to negatively impact the Jackson estate’s business dealings, per the New York Post. The estate has since responded by calling the case a “civil extortion scheme” before initiating arbitration in September 2024, accusing the family of breach of contract and civil extortion.

    However, the filings further accuse the Jackson estate of “exploiting the same patterns of trust, fear and conditioned loyalty” employed by Michael in order to get them to sign the agreement in 2020.

    Family Fallout

    This shocking about-face from the Cascio family follows an implied change even closer to home. Fans noticed Paris Jackson recently got her MJ tattoo covered up. And she’s since raised even more suspicion that she believes the worst allegations against her father.

    When one of the actors in an upcoming Jackson Family biopic said Paris and her family were “very much in support of our film,” she hit back hard! She not only said she “wasn’t involved at all,” she told everyone why:

    “A big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it. A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.”

    The fantasy… of his innocence? Did things change for her because of the documentary? Because of the Cascios?? Will she speak out against him, too??

    This is some seriously troubling stuff! What do YOU make of it? Let us know in the comments down below!

    [Images via Michael Jackson/YouTube & WENN]

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    Perez Hilton

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  • 16,000-acre wildfire in Santa Barbara County prompts evacuations near vineyards, Neverland Ranch

    16,000-acre wildfire in Santa Barbara County prompts evacuations near vineyards, Neverland Ranch

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    A wildfire in the mountains above Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley has exploded to more than 16,000 acres, prompting evacuations near vineyards and Neverland Ranch.

    The Lake fire was sparked near Zaca Lake on Friday afternoon just before 4 p.m. and quickly spread through dry grass, brush and timber, officials said. The fire was zero percent contained on Sunday.

    The Sheriff’s Department expanded the evacuation area Saturday night along Figueroa Mountain Road near Neverland Ranch, once owned by the pop star Michael Jackson. More ground crews were dispatched to the area.

    “Our goal is to keep [the fire] away from all those structures,” said Kenichi Haskett, the public information officer assigned to the firefighting operation. “It’s going to continue to grow.”

    The fire was burning in the mountains above Foxen Canyon Road, where there are more than a dozen vineyards. Several wineries north of Los Olivos were closed Sunday after fire officials cut off access to the road.

    But there was no need to evacuate, said Ashley Parker, co-owner of Fess Parker Winery.

    Though she could see the glow at night north of the winery, the wind appeared to be taking the fire farther north, away from populated areas, Parker said.

    The threat level was low enough that the youngsters were simply entertained by the fire helicopters sucking water from the vineyard reservoir, she said.

    “My nieces and their husbands live on the ranch,” Parker said. “All the kids were getting a real thrill out of it. Those helicopter pilots are really amazing. So lucky to have great fire crews.”

    The fire was fueled by low humidity and hot inland temperatures. When the fire started, a red flag warning was in place because of gusty winds. The wind has now calmed down, but temperatures remain high.

    “With less wind, they can get aircraft in there to drop retardant,” said Joe Sirard, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “But it’s life threatening heat for these firefighters.”

    He said the humidity was still in single digits in some areas of the fire, especially in the highest elevations. The cause of the fire is unknown.

    Amid scorching temperatures, crews continued to battle several wildfires in inland areas across California. The largest is the Basin fire in Fresno County, which started June 26. The fire, which has burned 14,027 acres, was 60% contained on Sunday.

    Crews also gained the upper hand on the French fire, which began on the Fourth of July and briefly threatened the town of Mariposa outside Yosemite National Park. The 908-acre fire, which temporarily triggered mandatory evacuations and closed State Route 140 leading into the park, stands at 60% containment.

    The weather service has issued an excessive-heat warning until 9 p.m. on Wednesday for inland valleys from Cuyama in San Luis Obispo County down to the Antelope Valley in Los Angeles County. Forecasters say the highs along this stretch of inland California are expected to range from 106 to 116 degrees.

    The relentless heat shattered records in some parts of the state on Saturday. Palmdale tied its all-time record of 115 degrees. Death Valley set a new record for July 6 with a high of 128 degrees.

    On Saturday, a cooling trend prompted the weather service to call off excessive-heat advisories and warnings in many of the coastal areas.

    In Los Olivos, vineyard managers said they were optimistic the fire would soon be contained. Parker said she expected her winery to reopen Monday.

    “I really do believe the firefighters knocked it back and that area is going to be up to speed in a day,” she said. “The last thing I want to do is encourage people not to come. The town of Los Olivos is in good shape. Businesses are open. People are having a good time.”

    Adrian De La Cruz, who works at Petros Winery closer to town, said customers were being seated indoors because of the air quality.

    “The smoke is getting really bad today,” he said. “Yesterday it was raining ash.”

    He said one fire patrol officer stopped by, but he did not have time to talk to him.

    “We were busy,” he said.

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    Melody Petersen, Doug Smith

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