Michael Jackson's Alleged Victims Seek Access to Explicit Pictures and Police Records

Trigger Warning: This article contains themes of child abuse that some readers may find distressing.

Michael Jackson's accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck are attempting to obtain access to the late pop star's police records to unravel explicit pictures and information. However, in court documents obtained by People, Robson and Safechuck's claims for access to police papers are being challenged by the Beat It hitmaker's company, MJJ Productions, because they are allegedly seeking "photographs of Michael Jackson’s genitalia and naked body taken by police." The court filings state that "a court-entered protective order from the Santa Barbara Superior Court seals these images."

"Beyond the invasion of privacy issues, the available records indicate the photographs 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 filing states. According to the lawsuit, since July 2018, several subpoenas for the records from Robson, 41, and Safechuck, 46, who were alleged to have been sexually molested by Jackson when they were minors and were highlighted in the shocking four-hour HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, have been "quashed."

Attorneys representing Michael Jackson's production firm contend in the motion that "the photographs Plaintiffs seek were not taken willingly by Mr. Jackson; they were the result of a court-ordered search based on a false statement in what became a discredited criminal investigation." They added, "To allow 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 are presently suing the singer's production firm, alleging that the personnel should be held accountable for permitting the Smooth Criminal singer to mistreat them. 

The choreographer and director Robson and the actor, writer, and director Safechuck won the right to consolidate their lawsuits against Jackson's companies into one in late February. The intention is to go to trial early in the following year, ahead of the April 2025 release of the Michael Jackson biopic, which is helmed by Antoine Fuqua, according to Rolling Stone. “They want the Michael Jackson biopic to come out before the trial. That’s what I think,” their attorney John C. Carpenter stated then. “These corporations that facilitated the abuse in the first place, they’re rewriting the history.” 

The Thriller singer's company said during the hearing "that her clients plan to waive a three-year speedy trial rule because she believes the case won’t be ready for jurors until after December 2026." In separate lawsuits filed in 2013 and 2014, respectively, Robson and Safechuck accused MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures of carelessness, breach of duty, and intentional infliction of mental distress. Since California law required the suits to be filed before the plaintiffs turned 26, the trial court dismissed both cases since the complaint was submitted after the statute of limitations had passed. To receive compensation, Robson and Safechuck must demonstrate that Jackson sexually abused them and that the companies he worked for, who hired him, were aware of the alleged abuse.

Jonathan Steinsapir, attorney for the Estate of Jackson, said, "We are disappointed with the Court's decision. Two distinguished trial judges repeatedly dismissed these cases on numerous occasions over the last decade because the law required it. 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. Michael Jackson himself said, ‘Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons.'" "The Estate will likely ask the California Supreme Court to review the decision, and a settlement is not on the table," a close source concluded. 

CHILD ABUSE: If you know of any children who are being subjected to abuse, please contact The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at (800) 422-4453.