A fresh television report aired on Sunday has prompted renewed attention on allegations that Michael Jackson sexually abused members of the Cascio family.
Eddie, Aldo, Dominic and Marie-Nicole Cascio spoke to 60 Minutes Australia, describing a long-running connection to the singer that they now claim escalated into sexual abuse.
The siblings said the relationship began in the mid-1980s after Jackson formed a friendship with their father, hotel manager Dominic Cascio Snr.
Jackson later referred to the Cascios as his ‘second family’.
They said Jackson spent three months living at their New Jersey home and that they also visited him at Neverland Ranch.
Over the years, the family said they received expensive gifts, travel on private planes, and time with Jackson while he toured. They also appeared on Oprah in 2010—one year after his death in 2009—where they defended him amid earlier allegations of sexual assault.
Now, they say their public support was untrue, alleging they were ‘brainwashed’ and ‘groomed’ over more than two decades.
In the new interview, the siblings detailed allegations they described as deeply disturbing, including claims of sexual abuse, ‘twisted sex games’ and the allegation that Jackson allowed one of the children to urinate in his mouth to demonstrate ‘how much he loved him’.
The family said Jackson remained close to them after his November 2003 arrest tied to child sexual abuse allegations.
At the time, Jackson faced multiple counts including lewd acts upon a child under 14 and administering intoxicating agents. He denied wrongdoing and described the accusations as a ‘big lie’. After a 14-week trial in 2005, he was acquitted on all charges.
Following his arrest, Jackson alleged he had been ‘brutally manhandled’ by police, later showing bruises and cuts he said were caused by handcuffs being put on ‘too tight behind my back’.
Dominic Cascio now claims those bruises were not the result of police conduct, but instead part of a calculated effort to create injuries for the cameras.
Dominic, who alleges the abuse began when he was eight, said Jackson asked him to strike him to produce visible bruising.
“Realistically, he had that bruise on his arm because he begged me and begged me to punch him in the arm multiple times to create a bruise so he can show to the world that he was abused by the police when that wasn’t the case.
“And I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want to hurt him, I didn’t want to punch him, I’m not violent, like, but he begged me and said,’ If you love me, you’ll do this’.”
The siblings, who filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against Jackson’s estate in February, alleged the abuse occurred at Neverland Ranch, in hotels around the world, and at their own home—while their parents were unaware.
Aldo, the youngest sibling, claimed Jackson molested him as he lay in bed playing video games. Marie-Nicole alleged Jackson masturbated as she removed her clothes and later told her it was ‘normal’.
She also claimed the singer ‘gave me Xanax and Vicodin at 11 years old and told me I’d be floating and I would love it’.
In a statement provided to 60 Minutes, attorney Marty Singer, acting for the Michael Jackson estate, accused the Cascios of pursuing a ‘desperate money grab’.
He said that, for years, the family had “consistently and repeatedly” maintained that Jackson never harmed them or anyone else.
Singer also pointed to the family’s previous public statements defending Jackson, including the 2010 Oprah appearance in which they said there was ‘never any improprieties’ between them and the singer.
“Notably, these shakedown attempts come more than 15 years after Michael’s death, thus carrying no risk of being sued for defamation. Sadly, in death just as in life, Michael’s talents and success continue to make him a target,” he concluded.
Speaking on the siblings’ 2026 lawsuit, Singer said: “The family staunchly defended Michael Jackson for more than 25 years, attesting to his innocence of inappropriate conduct.
“This new court filing is a transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michael’s estate and companies.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.