The two men who filed separate sexual abuse lawsuits against the estate of the now-deceased Michael Jackson are now asking a judge to combine their cases and allow them to go to trial together.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, alleged victims Wade Robson, 41, and James Safechuck, 36, want to join forces in a long-simmering court battle to hold the Billie Jean singer accountable for the alleged abuse they endured at the Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara and other locations.
“This motion is made on the grounds that all actions arise out of the same type of harmful, abusive, course of conduct, by the same Defendants, at the same locations and physical places, in the presence of the same employees, employed by Defendants, during the same time period, in a pattern of abuse that was common to both Plaintiffs,” their lawyers stated in court documents.
“All matters involve common questions of law and fact; all matters will involve the same witnesses and their respective testimonies, and two separate trials may also result in entirely different verdicts and a waste of judicial resources,” the motion read.
“Complete consolidation and a single trial for all of these matters will significantly reduce redundant costs and delays and further serve the interests of judicial economy and convenience of all of those involved.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Robson who was prominently featured in the HBO docuseries Leaving Neverland, got a huge break in August when the California Court of Appeals reversed a 2021 decision that tossed out his lawsuits against Jackson’s MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures.
Safechuck, who appeared in Jackson’s 1988 Pepsi commercial at age 10 filed his own lawsuit in May claiming the Smooth Criminal singer allegedly molested him during the infamous 1988 Bad Tour.
The hitmaker’s estate was expected to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court – but for now, a trial conference on the motion is set for February 28 before Judge Mark A. Young.
The singer’s late lawyer Howard Weitzman has previously scoffed at Robson’s and Safechuck’s claims.
“This is a young man who has testified at least twice under oath over the past 20 years and said in numerous interviews that Michael Jackson never did anything inappropriate to him or with him,” Weitzman said previously about Robson.
Weitzman called Safechuck’s claims “false and “scurrilous.”
Robson charged he was allegedly molested during a period of seven years after the singer allegedly made sexual advances inside the massive amusement park-styled home.
Jackson, who died from an overdose at age 50 in 2009, allegedly encouraged Robson to call him “Dad” while the singer affectionately called him “Son.” Robson came forward in 2012 after suffering multiple nervous breakdowns.
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Safechuck charged he was abused inside Jackson’s Century City condo dubbed “The Hideout” and the singer allegedly staged a mock wedding, complete with rings and a mock marriage certificate.
“Defendants knew this improper sexual conduct in the past, and/or were continuing to engage in such conduct with Plaintiffs, and failed to take reasonable steps, and implement reasonable safeguards, to avoid such conduct by Jackson in the future,” the court documents stated.
“In both the Safechuck and Robson cases, there will be evidence of payment by the MJJ Defendants to other child sex abuse victims of Michael Jackson…. Both Robson and Safechuck’s complaints go on to allege that Defendants facilitated Michael Jackson’s sexual abuse of children. Both cases allege that Defendants concealed the facts concerning Jackson’s sexual misconduct from plaintiffs, their parents, and law enforcement authorities.”
