Four siblings from a New Jersey family that spent decades inside Michael Jackson's inner circle went on camera Sunday night and accused the late pop star of grooming and sexually abusing all four of them as children, allegations they say spanned roughly 25 years and took place at locations ranging from Neverland Ranch to the homes of Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John.
The Cascio family's interview aired on "60 Minutes Australia" and followed a lawsuit the siblings filed in February against The Michael Jackson Company, alleging Jackson "drugged, raped, and sexually assaulted each of the Plaintiffs, beginning when some of them were as young as seven or eight." A lawyer for Jackson's estate dismissed the claims as a "money grab."
The broadcast marks one of the most detailed public accounts yet from alleged victims who were once considered part of Jackson's extended family, people who defended him publicly during his lifetime and, as the estate's attorney noted, now come forward more than 15 years after Jackson's 2009 death.
The family's connection to Jackson began in the 1980s, when the siblings' father, Dominic Cascio Sr., met the singer while working at the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City. What started as a chance encounter grew into something far more intimate. Jackson became a fixture in the family's life, visiting their New York home, sometimes late at night, unannounced, and eventually folding the Cascios into his traveling entourage.
The family spent holidays at Neverland Ranch and accompanied Jackson on world tours. Eddie Cascio, now 43, told "60 Minutes" he first met Jackson when he was just two years old.
Eddie described the early dynamic in terms that will sound familiar to anyone who has followed grooming cases:
"My parents were young. For them to have such a big celebrity want to be friends with them... they definitely felt special, and so did we. He made us feel like we were his family, his kids, his everything."
That sense of belonging, Eddie said, was the foundation Jackson built on before the abuse began.
Eddie claimed Jackson started molesting him in 1993, during the Dangerous world tour, when Eddie was 11. He said Jackson began rubbing his legs while Eddie sat on his lap, then kissed him on the lips.
"That's when my world started to change. We were on tour, and that's when Michael started to get closer and started rubbing me on my legs. I was sitting on his lap, and that's when the first kiss happened, where he kissed me on the lips."
Dominic Cascio described a pattern of escalating physical contact. He said Jackson played a game he called the "booty rumble" and alleged that the singer would lay him on top of himself, pressing their bodies together. Dominic said he was about 12 years old at the time.
His account included details that are difficult to read. Dominic claimed Jackson drank his urine and told him, "This is how much I love you." A child's mind, Dominic said, processed the act as proof of affection.
"And I said, 'Oh, I guess he really does love me. I mean, I would never want to drink someone's urine, so he must really love me.'"
The pattern of adults in positions of trust allegedly exploiting children echoes other recent cases in which victims came forward only after years of silence.
Aldo Cascio, described as the youngest sibling, alleged that Jackson began molesting him while they lay in bed together and played video games. His account was graphic and direct:
"He just pulled down my shorts and started giving me oral sex. And he'd [say] right away, 'Doesn't that feel good? See, I love you. I love you.'"
Marie-Nicole Cascio said Jackson made her undress when she was 12 and masturbated while looking at her. She also alleged he gave her prescription drugs at an even younger age.
"He gave me Xanax and Vicodin at 11 years old and told me I'd be floating and I would love it."
The February lawsuit goes beyond the televised interview. The filing alleges Jackson was "a serial child sex predator who sexually abused victims at the homes of Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John." It also claims Jackson used gifts, fame, isolation, and a support system of employees to groom and conceal the alleged abuse, including on trips across the United States and abroad.
The complaint names four plaintiffs, Frank Cascio, Dominic Cascio, Marie-Nicole Porte, and Aldo Cascio, and targets The Michael Jackson Company. The lawsuit alleges the abuse began when some of the children were as young as seven or eight and continued for roughly a decade.
The filing also claims Jackson "groomed and brainwashed" the siblings throughout their childhood using "methods typical of child predators." The siblings alleged Jackson trained them for interrogation by police and parents, a claim that, if true, would suggest a calculated effort to maintain secrecy.
Cases involving the sexual exploitation of minors have drawn renewed public attention in recent years, and the Jackson allegations add a high-profile dimension to that broader reckoning.
Marty Singer, a lawyer acting for Jackson's estate, gave a statement to "60 Minutes" that left no ambiguity about the defense's posture. He called the allegations a "money grab" and pointed to the timing.
"Notably, these shakedown attempts come more than 15 years after Jackson's death, thus carrying no risk of being sued for defamation."
Singer added a broader lament about Jackson's legacy:
"Sadly, in death just as in life, Jackson's talents and success continue to make him a target."
The estate's response raises a fair point about timing. Jackson cannot defend himself. He cannot testify. He cannot be cross-examined. And the Cascio family, by the estate's account, previously defended Jackson and accepted a prior settlement, facts that any jury would weigh heavily.
But the timing argument cuts both ways. Grooming victims often take years, sometimes decades, to recognize what happened to them, let alone speak publicly. The Cascios say they were children who idolized a global megastar. The question is whether a court finds their account credible on the merits, not whether it arrived on a convenient schedule.
Several important questions hang over this case. The court in which the February lawsuit was filed has not been identified in available reporting. No law enforcement agency has been reported to have taken action related to these specific allegations. It is unclear whether "60 Minutes Australia" obtained corroborating documents or witnesses beyond the siblings' own accounts.
The celebrity world has seen no shortage of high-profile misconduct cases in recent years, and each one tests the same tension: the public's desire for accountability against the accused's right to a fair hearing.
Dominic Cascio's summary of Jackson was the interview's sharpest line, and the one the estate will most aggressively contest:
"He's a monster, he's evil, what he did was evil. And he's tricked the whole world to think he's this innocent, perfect human being, and he's not."
That is one man's characterization, not a verdict. But it is now on the record, in a lawsuit, and on international television.
The Cascio family's claims are allegations, unproven in court, denied by the estate, and lodged against a man who cannot answer them. The legal system will sort the facts from the feelings. But if even a fraction of what four siblings described on camera is true, the institutions and individuals who kept Jackson's world running for decades have their own questions to answer.
Wealth and fame can buy a lot of silence. As other high-profile cases remind us, it cannot buy it forever.
