{"id":29986,"date":"2026-06-12T14:24:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/michael-jacksons-leaving-neverland-accusers-get-2028-trial-date\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T14:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:24:51","slug":"michael-jacksons-leaving-neverland-accusers-get-2028-trial-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/michael-jacksons-leaving-neverland-accusers-get-2028-trial-date\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson\u2019s ‘Leaving Neverland’ Accusers Get 2028 Trial Date\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

\n\tA California judge agreed Friday to set a new trial in the sexual abuse case brought by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two\u00a0Michael Jackson\u00a0molestation accusers featured in\u00a0the 2019 documentary\u00a0Leaving Neverland<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two men and their lawyer, John Carpenter, previously wanted their case heard before the release of the Michael\u00a0<\/em>biopic helmed by\u00a0Training Day\u00a0<\/em>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\u2019s deposition was delayed by his lawyer\u2019s trial schedule and that the discovery referee assigned to oversee several depositions had limited availability.<\/p>\n

\n\tJudge 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 \u201ceverything is proceeding fairly well,\u201d almost \u201cseamlessly,\u201d the lawyers chimed in.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSeamlessly is a bit much,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cObviously the subject matter of the case is very disputed, but we\u2019re working as well as we could,\u201d Jonathan Steinsapir, a lawyer for Jackson\u2019s estate, said. When the judge asked if a secondary discovery referee could potentially double as a mediator in the case, Steinsapir said he\u2019d have to check with his client.<\/p>\n

\n\tRobson, 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\u2019re \u201csolely owned\u201d by an alleged perpetrator of abuse.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 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\u2019s Neverland Ranch in California.<\/p>\n

\n\tSafechuck, 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.<\/p>\n

\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n

\n\tJackson, 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\u2019s settlement with the boy\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\n\tJackson was charged in a separate child molestation case in 2003 and acquitted on all counts after a 2005 trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A California judge agreed Friday to set a new trial in the sexual abuse case brought by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two\u00a0Michael Jackson\u00a0molestation accusers featured in\u00a0the 2019 documentary\u00a0Leaving Neverland. The two men and their lawyer, John Carpenter, previously wanted their case heard before the release of the Michael\u00a0biopic helmed by\u00a0Training Day\u00a0director Antoine Fuqua, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[431],"tags":[20242,1026,7874,4304,2664,20241,644],"class_list":["post-29986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rock-music","tag-accusers","tag-date","tag-jacksons","tag-leaving","tag-michael","tag-neverland","tag-trial"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/michael-jackson-accusers-get-trial.jpg?w=1600&h=900&crop=1",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Rock & Roll Music<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"A California judge agreed Friday to set a new trial in the sexual abuse case brought by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two\u00a0Michael Jackson\u00a0molestation accusers featured in\u00a0the 2019 documentary\u00a0Leaving Neverland. The two men and their lawyer, John Carpenter, previously wanted their case heard before the release of the Michael\u00a0biopic helmed by\u00a0Training Day\u00a0director Antoine Fuqua,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}