Well well well, Frank Cascio clearly thought that by releasing a new story in the news yesterday to bank on the hype of the biopic teaser, it would give him some exposure.
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Well well well, Frank Cascio clearly thought that by releasing a new story in the news yesterday to bank on the hype of the biopic teaser, it would give him some exposure. Sorry sugar tit, but your story got lost in all the positivity of the trailer!
And now here we are: Cascio suddenly blaming the Estate, dyslexia, and the weight of his familyās finances for signing an agreementā¦ except his version doesnāt quite line up with what the Estate has told the court. Letās unpack this melodrama.
In a declaration dated October 27, Frank Cascio, once part of Michael Jacksonās inner circle, claimed,
āIn late December 2019, I learned that [members of my family] had already signed a settlement agreement with the Estate but that the agreement would not become effective absent my signature.ā
According to him, chaos was already brewing at home:
āAt the time, my family was in severe turmoil, and the agreement appeared to offer them a sense of closure. Knowing that, I felt immense pressure to sign as well, to avoid causing more conflict within the family during this unbelievably difficult chapter.ā
Cascio said he has struggled with reading comprehension since being diagnosed with dyslexia in fifth grade and struggled to understand the contract:
āI had difficulty understanding many of its terms, particularly the legal concepts.ā
Cascio claims Estate attorneys discouraged outside legal help: if he sought his own lawyer,
it would slow things down, he alleges. Meanwhile, the executors paint a very different picture in court filings, saying the Cascio family actually threatened claims against Michael Jackson unless they were paid, a direct reversal of their years of vocal support.
Cascio also says the Estate insisted on secrecy: calling the document a
ālife rights agreementā to hide it from Jacksonās children. According to him:
āDespite my familyās persistence, the Estate would not budge and said this was non-negotiable.ā
He insists he trusted the Estate and believed signing would bring peace:
āThe attorneys and representatives for the Estate led me to believe they had my best interests at heartā¦ signing the agreement would mean our familyās private information would not be exposed.ā
He describes his mental state at the time as
āfragileā and says he signed
āwithout my own lawyer and without fully understanding its implications.ā He adds that he was alone with an Estate lawyer who
āsimply pointed where I needed to signā and gave him a reassuring hug afterward.
Cascio is now arguing the settlement is invalid and wants to avoid arbitration.
The Estateās Version: Extortion Allegations
Executors John Branca and John McClain say this isnāt a sad tale of confusion, itās a $213 million extortion scheme. They accuse Cascio and family of threatening to flip their long-standing public defense of Jackson unless they were paid.
They allege the family, inspired by
Leaving Neverland fallout, tried to cash in:
āIt was a shakedown.ā
The court filing claims the Cascioās representative even demanded a meeting
at a pool in bathing suits to avoid being recorded, a detail the Estate calls ābizarreā and says screams bad intent.
Executors say they reluctantly settled in 2020 to spare Michael Jacksonās children from more fabricated allegations. They say the ask dropped from $213 million to $44 million when Cascio brought in attorney Mark Geragos.
The Estate now wants the case moved out of public court.
Marie-Nicole Porteās Declaration
Cascioās sister, Marie-Nicole Porte, backs his version, saying the estate rushed them into a single-copy, read-aloud agreement in a private room above their fatherās restaurant. She describes feeling powerless and pressured:
āI had no lawyerā¦ It was a take-it-or-leave-it situation.ā
She also claims the family ārealizedā theyād had similar experiences with Michael Jackson and the Estate quickly tried to shut them down.
And There We Areā¦
So on one side: Cascio as an emotionally overwhelmed, dyslexic, pressured family member who trusted the wrong people.
On the other: the Estate insisting this was a calculated, swimsuit-strategized shakedown to profit off post-
Leaving Neverland controversy.
Either way, terrible timing, Frank. Your big moment vanished under the global hype machine of a teaser trailer for Michael Jackson biopic.
