A California judge agreed Friday to set a new trial in the sexual abuse case brought by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two Michael Jackson molestation accusers featured in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.
The two men and their lawyer, John Carpenter, previously wanted their case heard before the release of the Michael biopic helmed by Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, but the case faced a series of delays and was previously set for trial in October 2027. On Friday, lawyers on both sides agreed to waive deadlines that would otherwise require the case to proceed to trial sooner. They told the court Safechuck’s deposition was delayed by his lawyer’s trial schedule and that the discovery referee assigned to oversee several depositions had limited availability.
Judge Michael E. Whitaker set the new trial date for Feb. 14, 2028, but he ordered everyone back for another hearing in September to keep the case on track. When the judge said it appeared “everything is proceeding fairly well,” almost “seamlessly,” the lawyers chimed in.
“Seamlessly is a bit much,” Carpenter said.
“Obviously the subject matter of the case is very disputed, but we’re working as well as we could,” Jonathan Steinsapir, a lawyer for Jackson’s estate, said. When the judge asked if a secondary discovery referee could potentially double as a mediator in the case, Steinsapir said he’d have to check with his client.
Robson, a choreographer and director, and Safechuck, a writer, actor and director, sued MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures for negligence, breach of duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress in separate lawsuits in 2013 and 2014 respectively. They won the right to consolidate their cases in 2024 after their previously dismissed complaints were revived on appeal. The appellate court found that companies can owe their own separate duty to protect victims even if they’re “solely owned” by an alleged perpetrator of abuse.
The men claim Jackson sexually abused them for years when they were minors, and that employees of his companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, helped enable and conceal the alleged misconduct. Robson, 43, met Jackson through a dance competition when he was 5. He alleges the singer began molesting him several years later during visits to Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California.
Safechuck, 48, met Jackson while filming a Pepsi commercial. He says Jackson began sexually abusing him in 1988, when he was 10, and assaulted him hundreds of times over the next four years.
Jackson, who died in 2009, repeatedly denied allegations of child sexual abuse. Prosecutors in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara investigated claims involving three boys but declined to file charges in 1994 after one alleged victim refused to testify following Jackson’s settlement with the boy’s family.
Jackson was charged in a separate child molestation case in 2003 and acquitted on all counts after a 2005 trial.
