RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Michael Jackson's estate won a huge victory in court against four siblings who claimed the King of Pop raped and molested them as children ... TMZ has learned.
A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday the "horrific" allegations the Cascio siblings -- Edward, Dominic, Marie-Nicole and Aldo -- made against Michael in their bombshell child sex trafficking lawsuit against the MJ estate must be handled in private arbitration, rather than a courtroom.
In the decision, the judge found the 2019 settlement between the two parties -- which clearly stated that all disputes would be resolved in private arbitration -- is enforceable and left the court with no choice but to send the case to arbitration.
As you may know, the Cascio siblings were close with MJ as kids, referring to him as "second family." When claims of pedophilia surfaced against MJ, the siblings became loyal defenders of the pop star.
But then everything changed in February 2026, when the siblings filed their lawsuit against Jackson's estate ... claiming MJ raped and molested them as children for more than a decade.
The siblings said the 2019 HBO documentary, "Leaving Neverland," deprogrammed them ... and led to them recanting their previous support of MJ.
MJ's estate categorically denied all sexual assault accusations and paid the siblings a reported $3.5 million settlement, but did not admit to any wrongdoing. That settlement contained the arbitration provision. Now, the judge's ruling forces the Cascios to settle their differences with the MJ estate in arbitration.
Howard King, an attorney for the Cascio siblings, tells TMZ ... "It's disappointing, but not surprising, that the decision on whether the Cascios were duped into signing an unconscionable agreement with an arbitration clause will be made by an arbitrator rather than a jury of peers."
King continued ... "The family had hoped the court would allow for a public trial over the decades-long molestations of the Cascio siblings by Michael Jackson and the ensuing cover-up by his advisors. Instead, the family will seek justice from the dark confines of a private conference room."
We reached out to MJ's estate ... they declined to comment.
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