James Safechuck, one of Michael Jackson's accusers, has been criticized by the late singer's companies for waiting years after his death to file allegations of sexual abuse.
MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, Jackson's companies, completely denied all allegations in their January 30 legal response to Safechuck's updated lawsuit.
Safechuck, now 46 years old, alleges the "Billie Jean" singer abused him from 1988 to 1992, per Variety.
"In Jackson's hotel room in Paris, Jackson told [Safechuck] he 'was going to change [his] life by showing him how to masturbate,' " the lawsuit claimed. "Jackson demonstrated on himself, and then made [Safechuck] try."
The companies claimed, in documents obtained by In Touch, that "because of [James'] own affirmative claims that he made false statements and obstructed justice in prior judicial proceedings and other inequitable conduct by him and his associates, all claims in [his complaint] are barred, in whole or part, on the grounds that this entire action was brought by unclean hands, in bad faith, is frivolous and by inequitable conduct."
They also noted, "[James] waited almost four years after Michael Jackson had died before he made his scurrilous and frivolous allegations."
On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication in Los Angeles, California. He was 50 years old.
They argued that defending against such claims is impossible without Jackson himself.
"The impossibility of fully and completely defending against [James'] false allegations is further magnified by the fact that [James] himself steadfastly denied these allegations during the entirety of Michael Jackson's life," they declared.
Safechuck's lawsuit, filed in 2014, alleges he met Jackson during a 1986 Pepsi commercial shoot, and their relationship turned abusive during the singer's 1988 "Bad" tour. Safechuck described incidents of alleged abuse and claimed Jackson gave him jewelry as a reward, calling it "selling me some."
The companies requested the case be dismissed and for Safechuck to cover legal fees.
Read more: Michael Jackson's Biopic Now in Jeopardy Over Unearthed Legal Agreement With Molestation Accuser
Both his and Wade Robson, another one of Jackson's accusers, lawsuits were initially dismissed due to statute of limitations, but later reinstated when California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that extended the statute for child sexual abuse in 2020.
Robson, now 46 years old, alleges that Jackson began sexually abusing him during visits to Neverland in 1990 when he was 7 years old, Variety reported.
Their allegations were detailed in Leaving Neverland, the 2019 HBO documentary series where they alleged Jackson sexually abused them.
In 2023, Jonathan Steinsapir, attorney for Jackson's estate, told PEOPLE how he is "disappointed with the Court's decision. Two distinguished trial judges repeatedly dismissed these cases on numerous occasions over the last decade because the law required it. We remain fully confident that Michael is innocent of these allegations, which are contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration, and which were only first made years after Michael's death."
He added: "We trust that the truth will ultimately prevail with Michael's vindication yet again. Michael Jackson himself said, 'Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons.'"
-- Originally published in Enstarz
