{{POV|date=May 2026}}{{Short description|First accusations against American singer}} {{good article}} {{Use American English|date=October 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}In 1993, '''Evan Chandler''', a dentist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, accused the American singer Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son, '''Jordan Chandler'''. Jackson had befriended Jordan after renting a vehicle from Jordan's stepfather. Though Evan initially encouraged the friendship, he confronted his ex-wife, who had custody of Jordan, with suspicions that the relationship was inappropriate.
Chandler demanded money from Jackson, threatening to go to a criminal court, but no agreement was reached. After Jordan told a psychiatrist that Jackson had molested him, the Los Angeles Police Department began a criminal investigation. The investigation found no physical evidence against Jackson. In August 1993, as the second leg of Jackson's Dangerous World Tour began, news of the allegations broke and received worldwide media attention. Jackson canceled the remainder of the tour, citing health problems arising from the scandal. Jackson's sister La Toya Jackson spoke out against Jackson, but produced no evidence and withdrew the accusation, saying she had been forced to make it by her husband.
In September 1993, the Chandlers filed a lawsuit against Jackson. They and Jackson reached a financial settlement in January 1994; Jackson and his legal team stressed that this was not an admission of guilt. In September 1994, the investigation closed after the Chandlers declined to cooperate, leaving the case without its main witness.
The allegations damaged Jackson's public image, health, and commercial standing. Several of his endorsement deals were canceled, including his decade-long Pepsi endorsement. Further allegations of abuse by Jackson led to the ''People v. Jackson'' trial in 2005, in which Jackson was acquitted.
==Background== According to ''Consequence of Sound'', in 1993, Jackson was the most popular singer in the world.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Graves"/> That February,<ref group="lower-roman" name="Wilson">{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jeff |publication-date=August 27, 1993 |title=Case Files: Boy Says Jackson Molested Him |work=Associated Press |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.apnews.com/b271ff7f4d8b6e5ca3c1e76b34c2597c |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620052152/https://www.apnews.com/article/b271ff7f4d8b6e5ca3c1e76b34c2597c |url-status=dead |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Jackson's car broke down and was towed to a garage, Rent-a-Wreck. The Rent-a-Wreck owner, David Schwartz, called his wife, June Chandler-Schwartz, to meet Jackson. She brought her son from a previous marriage, Jordan Chandler. Jordan's father, Evan Chandler, was a dentist who treated Hollywood celebrities. He was also a screenwriter who co-wrote the 1993 comedy ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights.''<ref group="lower-roman" name="Graves">{{cite magazine |last=Graves |first=Wren |title=The Unsolved Controversies of Michael Jackson |publication-date=April 28, 2017 |magazine=Consequence |url=https://consequence.net/2017/04/the-unsolved-controversies-of-michael-jackson/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226062024/https://consequence.net/2017/04/the-unsolved-controversies-of-michael-jackson/ |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
Jackson and Jordan became close; the ''National Enquirer'' ran a featured story titled "Michael's New Adopted Family", implying that Jackson had "stolen" Jordan from Evan. Jackson invited Jordan, his stepsister and his mother to visit his home, Neverland Ranch, on the weekends. They would also take trips to Las Vegas and Florida.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=254}}</ref> These trips interfered with Jordan's scheduled visits with Evan, with Jordan preferring to visit Neverland Ranch.<ref group="upper-roman" name="auto">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=50}}</ref>
In May, Evan encouraged Jackson to spend more time with Jordan. Evan suggested that Jackson should build an extension onto Jackson's house; when they were denied planning permission, Chandler suggested Jackson buy him a house. In the same month, Jordan and June flew with Jackson to Monaco for the World Music Awards.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=42–43}}</ref> According to June's lawyer, Michael Freeman, Evan was jealous and felt left out. Upon their return, Jackson stayed in the Schwartz-Chandler home for five days; Jackson slept in a room with Jordan and his stepbrother.<ref group="upper-roman" name="Fischer 217–218"/> Chandler said this is when he became suspicious of sexual misconduct by Jackson, although he said that Jackson and Jordan were clothed when he saw them in bed together, and never claimed to have witnessed sexual misconduct.<ref group= "upper-roman" name="Fischer 217–218">{{harvnb|Fischer|2012|pp=217–218}}</ref> Jordan and Jackson's contact ended in June 1993.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Wilson"/>
== Allegations == [[File:Aerial-NeverlandRanch2-28-08.jpg|thumb|Jackson's Neverland Ranch home, where the sexual abuse was alleged to have taken place]] On July 8, 1993, Schwartz phoned Chandler to discuss Jordan's relationship with Jackson. Unbeknownst to Chandler, Schwartz recorded the phone call.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |last=McGovern |first=Kyle |title=A Complete Timeline of the Michael Jackson Abuse Allegations |website=Vulture, New York |publication-date=February 28, 2019 |publisher=Vox Media |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/michael-jackson-abuse-allegations-timeline.html |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226065030/https://www.vulture.com/article/michael-jackson-abuse-allegations-timeline.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Chandler was hostile about Jackson, describing him as "evil". He said he had hired "the nastiest son of a bitch he could find", the lawyer Barry Rothman, to humiliate Jackson, and said:<ref group="lower-roman" name="Graves"/>
{{Blockquote|Once I make that phone call, this guy's just going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. And I've given him full authority to do that ... If I go through with this, I win big time. There's no way that I lose ... I will get everything I want, and they will be totally—they will be destroyed forever ... Michael's career will be over ... This man is gonna be humiliated beyond belief ... He will not believe what's going to happen to him. Beyond his worst nightmares. He will not sell one more record. }}
When Schwartz asked how this would affect Jordan, Chandler replied:<ref group="lower-roman" name="Graves"/>
{{Blockquote|text=It's irrelevant to me. The bottom line to me is, yes, June is harming him, and Michael is harming him. I can prove that ... It cost me thousands, tens of thousands of dollars to get the information I got, and I—you know I don't have that kind of money and I spent it, and I'm willing to spend more, and I'm willing to go down financially... }}
On August 2, Chandler extracted one of Jordan's teeth. While Jordan was under the effects of Amytal, a sedative with hypnotic properties, Chandler asked him if Jackson had ever touched his penis; Jordan said yes.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=485–486}}</ref> Chandler and his legal team approached Jackson asking for $20 million, threatening to take the dispute to a criminal court. A few weeks later, Jackson's legal team made a counter-offer of $1 million; this was declined by Chandler, who then requested $15 million. Jackson refused and lowered his offer to $350,000, which Chandler also refused.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=54}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=494}}</ref> According to some sources, Evan unsuccessfully sought a $20-million film production deal with Jackson to avoid going to court.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton & Nazario"/>
On July 15, the child psychiatrist Mathis Abrams wrote to Rothman, who was seeking an expert opinion to help establish the allegations against Jackson. Abrams wrote that there was "reasonable suspicion" of sexual abuse without having met Chandler, Jordan or Jackson. He also said that, if this were not a hypothetical case, he would be required by law to report the matter to the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services.<ref group="upper-roman" name="Sullivan 258">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=258}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Knopper|2015|pp=210–211}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Fischer|2012|p=220}}</ref> On August 17, Chandler took Jordan to Abrams and told him Jordan had been molested. Over a three-hour session, Jordan told Abrams that Jackson had sexually abused him for months and gave graphic accounts of masturbation and oral sex.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Graves"/> Jordan repeated these allegations to police and described Jackson's penis.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=52–53}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=496}}</ref> According to the county's DCFS reports, Jordan had difficulty remembering the times and dates of his alleged molestation, but was consistent in his story.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Nazario |first1=Sonia |author-link1=Sonia Nazario |last2=Wallace |first2=Amy |publication-date=August 26, 1993 |title=International Furor Stirred by Allegations on Jackson : Inquiry: Police focus on entertainer's contact with at least 4 boys, source says. No charges have been filed |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-26-mn-28196-story.html |archive-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115065056/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-26-mn-28196-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
== Investigation == On August 18, the Los Angeles Police Department's Sexually Exploited Child Unit began a criminal investigation into Jackson. June Chandler-Schwartz initially told police that she did not believe Jackson had molested her son; however, her position wavered a few days later.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=260}}</ref> On August 21, a search warrant was issued for Neverland Ranch. Investigators questioned a group of boys identified by the accuser —reportedly four boys, including the child actor Macaulay Culkin — all of whom denied any inappropriate behavior by Jackson and stated that no improper conduct had occurred.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 1993">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=August 24, 1993 |title=1993: Michael Jackson accused of child abuse |work=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/24/newsid_2512000/2512077.stm |archive-date=January 18, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118154358/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/24/newsid_2512000/2512077.stm |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman" name="Campbell 44–45">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=44–45}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Nazario and Wallace |title=Jackson’s Contact With 4 Boys Reportedly Under Investigation : Inquiry: Molestation allegations are the first against singer, source says. LAPD contends it has no details of extortion claim. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-26-me-28238-story.html |access-date=2 May 2026 |agency=Los Angeles Times |date=26 August 1993}}</ref> Gary Hearne, Jackson's chauffeur, testified in his deposition to driving Jackson to Jordan's house at night and collecting him in the morning for a period of about 30 days.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=167}}</ref>
On August 24, the day the allegations were made public, Jackson began the third leg of his Dangerous World Tour in Bangkok. That day, Anthony Pellicano, a private detective hired by Jackson, held a press conference accusing Chandler of trying to extort $20 million from Jackson. He did not mention that Jackson had made several counter-offers.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 1993"/><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=46}}</ref> The Jackson family also held a press conference, saying it was their "unequivocal belief" that Michael was a victim of extortion.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=504}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=59}}</ref> On August 26, Jackson's promoters released an audiotape of him apologizing to his fans for cancelling his second show in two days.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton & Nazario"/>
On August 31, the attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference stating she had been retained on behalf of the Chandlers, and implied a civil suit against Jackson would be made.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |last=Sandler |first=Adam |title=Lawyer Allred calls for 'truth' in Jackson story |publication-date=September 3, 1993 |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/lawyer-allred-calls-for-truth-in-jackson-story-110253/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214205510/https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/lawyer-allred-calls-for-truth-in-jackson-story-110253/ |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> On September 10, Allred said that she was off the case, without saying why.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=September 11, 1993 |title=Allred Says She's Off Jackson Case : Inquiry: Attorney refuses to say why she is no longer representing the 13-year-old boy who made allegations against the singer. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-11-me-33944-story.html |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620060612/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-11-me-33944-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> On September 13, the Chandlers hired Larry R. Feldman, the former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, September 1994"/>
On October 6, 1993, Jordan Chandler underwent a psychiatric interview with Dr. Richard Gardner in New York. Gardner had formulated parental alienation syndrome (PAS) in 1985, a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Demosthenes|2014|pp=323–344}}</ref> Jordan gave his account of what allegedly happened between him and Jackson in May 1993, during their trip to Monaco for the World Music Awards.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Halperin|2009|p=313}}</ref> On November 8, police searched the Jackson family home, Hayvenhurst.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 1993"/><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=89}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman" name="Fischer 267">{{harvnb|Fischer|2012|p=267}}</ref>
The Schwartzes gave the tape of Chandler's July conversation with Schwartz to the authorities, who leaked it to the press.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Graves"/> The recorded conversation was a critical aspect of Jackson's defense against the allegations made against him.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Philips & Ferrell"/><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=September 2, 1993 |title=Tape Aired to Back Claims of Extortion Attempt |work=Deseret News |url=https://www.deseret.com/1993/9/2/19063925/tape-aired-to-back-claims-of-extortion-attempt/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228220212/https://www.deseret.com/1993/9/2/19063925/tape-aired-to-back-claims-of-extortion-attempt/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Jackson and his supporters argued that he was the victim of a jealous father whose only goal was to extort Jackson.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=476–482}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Liam |publication-date=January 27, 2025 |title=The tragedy of Michael Jackson's 'lost boy': Whatever happened to Jordan Chandler? |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/tragedy-michael-jacksons-lost-boy-whatever-happened-jordan-chandler/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228220752/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/tragedy-michael-jacksons-lost-boy-whatever-happened-jordan-chandler/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> The tape was publicly released by Pellicano, after edits had been made.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton & Nazario 1993">{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Jim |last2=Nazario |first2=Sonia |author-link2=Sonia Nazario |publication-date=December 22, 1993 |title=Investigator, Lawyer Quit Jackson's Defense Team |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-22-me-4447-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228201242/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-22-me-4447-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
=== Testimony from staff and other children === Brett Barnes, aged 11, publicly stated that he had shared a bedroom with Jackson, and insisted that no sexual abuse had taken place. The dancer and choreographer Wade Robson, then aged 10, told Fox Television that he too shared a bedroom with Jackson and that nothing sexual had happened. Several parents presented details of aggressive investigative techniques by police; they explained that the police had frightened their children with lies such as "we have nude photos of you",<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, November 1993">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=November 17, 1993 |title=Jackson's Lawyers Attack LAPD Investigation |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-17-me-57719-story.html |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620052200/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-17-me-57719-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> and told parents their children had been molested even though their children had denied it.<ref group="upper-roman" name="Fischer 267"/>
In September 1993, police officers traveled to the Philippines to interview two of Jackson's ex-housekeepers. However, the ex-employees lacked credibility due to a back salary argument they had with Jackson.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=September 23, 1993 |title=Jackson's Ex-Staff Questioned : Inquiry: Police travel to Philippines and interview two former housekeepers. The couple say they reported child abuse but give no details. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-23-me-38166-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228220934/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-23-me-38166-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman" name="Fischer 267"/> A former security guard made various allegations about Jackson, saying he had been fired because he "knew too much", and alleged that he was ordered by Jackson to destroy a photo of a naked boy. Instead of reporting this alleged event to the police, he sold the story to ''Hard Copy'' for $150,000. On December 13, 1993, Jackson's maid, Blanca Francia, alleged that she "quit in disgust" after seeing Jackson in a shower with a child, but did not inform the police. Lisa D. Campbell reported that Francia had been fired in 1991 and had sold her story to ''Hard Copy'' for $20,000.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=114–115}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=October 24, 2018 |title=Jackson back maid says she quit in 'disgust' |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/12/14/jackson-back-maid-says-she-quit-in-disgust/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228222149/https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/12/14/jackson-back-maid-says-she-quit-in-disgust/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> However, when Diane Dimond interviewed Francia on the show, she denied being fired but acknowledged being compensated by ''Hard Copy.''<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Dimond|2009|p=121}}</ref>
On December 2, 1993, attorney Charles Mathews held a press conference about his clients allegedly being threatened and harassed by Pellicano's machinations. Mathews was representing Jackson's former security guards in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed on November 22. The lawsuit alleged wrongful termination due to "firsthand personal knowledge of many of [Michael Jackson's] nighttime visits with young boys".<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=December 3, 1993 |title=Michael Jackson's guards say they've been threatened |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel |volume=136 |issue=331 |page=11 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19931203.1.11&srpos=49&e=------199-en--20--41-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-%22michael+jackson%22----1993---1 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228235931/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19931203.1.11&srpos=49&e=------199-en--20--41-byDA.rev-txt-txIN-%22michael+jackson%22----1993---1 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
=== Investigation into Chandler === The police also began an investigation into Evan Chandler for extortion, finding that he was $68,400 behind in his child support payments despite being well-paid as a dentist.<ref group="upper-roman" name="auto"/> Following a five-month investigation, deputy Los Angeles County District Attorney Michael Montagna released a public statement stating no charges had been brought against Chandler, citing Jackson's lawyers' failure to file for extortion in a timely manner and Jackson's willingness to negotiate with Chandler for several weeks. Montagna explained that settlements were encouraged as they were favored by the law. Montagna also said the discussions between Jackson's representatives and Barry K. Rothman, Chandler's attorney at that time, appeared to have been attempts to settle a possible civil case, not efforts to extort money.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, January 1994"/> Pellicano vehemently rejected that the discussion was to settle a civil claim, noting that no lawsuit was mentioned and Chandler's lawyer threatened if they do not get what they want, they will go public with accusations.<ref name="Newton, January 1994" group="lower-roman" />
=== Use of sedatives === Ian Halperin reported that sedative sodium amytal, which is often associated with cases of false memory syndrome, was used during Jordan's dental surgery that Chandler oversaw, during which Jordan said Jackson had touched his penis. Halperin also stated that the description by Jordan of Jackson’s private parts was inaccurate; Jordan depicted Jackson as circumcised, when he was not.<ref>https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/the-final-chapter-1.845074</ref><ref name="Graves" group="lower-roman" /> Jackson's autopsy report confirms that Jackson's "penis appears uncircumcised".<ref>https://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/09/mj_autopsy.pdf</ref> Mark Torbiner, the dental anesthesiologist who administered the drug, told ''GQ'' that if sodium amytal was used, "it was for dental purposes".<ref group="upper-roman" name="Fischer 221">{{harvnb|Fischer|2012|p=221}}</ref>
=== Police raids === Between August and November 1993, authorities searched Jackson's Neverland Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, his Century City condominium, a Las Vegas suite where Jackson had stayed and his parents’ home in Encino.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Associated Press |first= |date=1993-11-10 |title=Jackson's Photos Reported Seized In Probe |url=https://www.deseret.com/1993/11/10/19075817/jackson-s-photos-reported-seized-in-probe/ |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pringle |first=Paul |date=2004-02-05 |title=Old Allegation Could Affect Jackson Case |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-feb-05-me-jackson5-story.html |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Among the seized items were the books "Boys Will Be Boys" and "The Boy: A Photographic Essay,” both containing nude photographs of boys.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seized books presented in Jackson case |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2005/04/30/seized-books-presented-in-jackson-case/ |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref> "Boys Will Be Boys" reportedly contained a handwritten inscription by Jackson himself: "Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys' faces, this is the spirit of boyhood, a life I've never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chawkins |first=Steve |date=2005-04-30 |title=Judge Bars Journalist's Testimony in Jackson Trial, but Allows Jurors to See 'Boy' Books |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-30-me-jackson30-story.html |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In a 1995 interview with Diane Sawyer, Jackson was asked about reports of photographs and books depicting nude boys; Jackson didn’t recall them and suggested they may have been unopened items sent by others.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1995-06-15 |title=Michael Talked Marriage First |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/1995/06/15/michael-talked-marriage-first/ |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=New York Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref> Following the search in Neverland and Jackson's condo, a high-ranking police source stated that no medical or taped evidence was found and nothing that would warrant a criminal filing.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-27-mn-28516-story.html|title=Police Say Seized Tapes Do Not Incriminate Jackson : Investigation: Officials continue to interview children in connection with molestation allegations.|first=Jim Newton Jim Newton is the former editor at large of the Los Angeles|last=Times|date=August 27, 1993|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
===Strip search=== On February 10, 1993,<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Michael Jackson Gives First Live Interview to Oprah Winfrey |publication-date=February 8, 1993 |magazine=Jet |page=62 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1boDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62 |url-status=live |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228223042/https://books.google.com/books?id=1boDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&lr&pg=PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Jackson had revealed in a televised interview that he had vitiligo, a skin disorder that destroys skin pigmentation and creates blotches. The interview was watched by 90 million viewers, and after it aired expert information on vitiligo was widely shared in the media.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=17}}</ref> According to Pellicano, Jordan Chandler said in July 1993 that Jackson once lifted his shirt to show the blotches on his skin.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=53}}</ref>
On December 20, 1993, investigators for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and the LAPD issued Jackson with a warrant for a strip search, as police wanted to verify Jordan's description of Jackson's private anatomy. The officers photographed Jackson's entire body.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Brockell">{{cite news |last=Brockell |first=Gillian |publication-date=March 3, 2019 |title=The Michael Jackson denial of child sexual abuse carried live around the world |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/03/02/michael-jackson-denial-child-sexual-abuse-carried-live-around-world/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228223409/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/03/02/michael-jackson-denial-child-sexual-abuse-carried-live-around-world/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Reuters |publication-date=November 19, 2003 |title=Michael Jackson sings of D.A. on previous album |work=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/19/jackson.prosecutor.reut/index.html |archive-date=December 2, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031202182018/https://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/19/jackson.prosecutor.reut/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> The police were looking for discoloration, any signs of vitiligo that Jordan had spoken about, or any other skin disorder. Refusal to comply would have been used in court as an indication of guilt.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=141}}</ref>
Those present for the prosecution were District Attorney Tom Sneddon, a detective, a photographer, and a doctor. Those present on behalf of Jackson were his two attorneys, a physician, a detective, a bodyguard, and a photographer. The attorneys and Sneddon agreed to leave the room when the examination took place. At Jackson's insistence, the prosecution detective also left. In an emotional state, Jackson stood on a platform in the middle of the room and disrobed. The search lasted for approximately 25 minutes. He was never touched.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=534–537}}</ref>
On January 27, 1994, Reuters reported that a source said the pictures did not match Jordan's description.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=173}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Halperin|2009|p=84}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Ebert|2010|p=201}}</ref> Jordan claimed that Jackson was circumcised; however, Jackson's autopsy report showed that he had not been circumcised.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Lee |publication-date=July 29, 2009 |title=The final chapter: An interview with Michael Jackson biographer Ian Halperin |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/the-final-chapter-1.845074 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228224821/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/the-final-chapter-1.845074 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Pinder|2021|p=113}}</ref><ref group="lower-alpha">{{cite web |title=Documents related to Michael Jackson's death: Michael Jackson's Autopsy |website=Los Angeles Times |publication-date=June 25, 2009 |url=https://documents.latimes.com/michael-jackson-autopsy/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228231259/https://documents.latimes.com/michael-jackson-autopsy/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref> In 2009, Ian Halperin wrote that "''USA Today'' and Reuters cited law enforcement sources confirming that 'photos of Michael Jackson's genitalia do not match descriptions given by the boy.'" In March 1994, Jackson's mother, Katherine, was called to testify in front of the LA County Grand Jury. Investigators asked whether her son changed his appearance so that it does not match the accuser's description.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, March 1994">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=March 16, 1994 |title=Grand Jury Calls Michael Jackson's Mother to Testify |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-16-me-34715-story.html |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225135605/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-16-me-34715-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref>
On January 4, 1994, Larry Feldman filed a court motion in an effort to obtain the police photographs of Jackson. The motion stated a "multiple choice" request: either provide copies of the photographs, submit Jackson to a second search, or the court could bar the photographs from the civil trial as evidence. Feldman said that the district attorney's office previously refused the request of these photographs.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=January 5, 1994 |title=Boy's Lawyer Seeks Photos of Michael Jackson's Body |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-05-me-8514-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228231617/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-05-me-8514-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Jackson's lawyers asked a Santa Barbara County judge to order prosecutors to return the photographs, fearing they would become public, but were denied.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Sandler |first=Adam |publication-date=February 10, 1994 |title=Jackson VP testifies; prosecutors keep photos |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://variety.com/1994/biz/news/jackson-vp-testifies-prosecutors-keep-photos-118239/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228231855/https://variety.com/1994/biz/news/jackson-vp-testifies-prosecutors-keep-photos-118239/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
== Allegations by La Toya Jackson == [[File:La Toya Jackson cropped.jpg|thumb|240x240px|Jackson's sister La Toya Jackson in 2010]] On September 2, 1993, as a guest on the ''Today'' show, Jackson's sister La Toya Jackson expressed support for her brother, stating: "I stand by [Michael] one thousand percent... If you think about it, he has been convicted before a trial." In the same interview, she said she could not tell if the allegations were true. A few weeks later, on the ''Maury'' show, La Toya said Jackson was being convicted by the public without having been charged with any crime. She said there was nothing inappropriate about his relationship with children and that she would never believe such allegations.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=68}}</ref>
On December 8, 1993, La Toya, who had been estranged from the Jackson family and not seen her brother for several years, said Jackson was a pedophile.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=538}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=128}}</ref> She said she had seen checks made out to different boys' families and that Jackson's abuse as a child had turned him into an abuser. She and her then-husband Jack Gordon also said that Jackson had tried to kidnap and kill her.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=December 9, 1993 |title=Jackson's Sister Says She Believes He Is a Molester : Scandal: 'This has been going on since 1981, and it's not just one child,' LaToya Jackson tells reporters in Tel Aviv. She has been estranged from other family members. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-09-me-49-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228183003/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-09-me-49-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=December 8, 1993 |title=La Toya: Charges Are True |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/12/09/la-toya-charges-are-true/8a89ad75-1576-468a-9be2-ff806de274f6/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228185117/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/12/09/la-toya-charges-are-true/8a89ad75-1576-468a-9be2-ff806de274f6/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> On December 9, La Toya repeated her suspicions to Katie Couric on ''Today'': "I do know he'd have boys over all the time and they'd stay in his room for days. Then they would come out ... There'd be another boy and he'd bring someone else but never two at a time."<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=December 10, 1993 |title=La Toya's Views Leave Gumbel 'Speechless' |work=Deseret News |url=https://www.deseret.com/1993/12/10/19081012/latoya-s-views-leave-gumbel-speechless/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228185858/https://www.deseret.com/1993/12/10/19081012/latoya-s-views-leave-gumbel-speechless/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Tsioulcas |first=Anastasia |publication-date=March 5, 2019 |title=Michael Jackson: A Quarter-Century Of Sexual Abuse Allegations |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/699995484/michael-jackson-a-quarter-century-of-sexual-abuse-allegations |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228190439/https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/699995484/michael-jackson-a-quarter-century-of-sexual-abuse-allegations |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
La Toya said she had proof of Jackson's pedophilia and offered to disclose it for $500,000. A bidding war between US and UK tabloids began, but fell through when she did not produce the proof.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=539}}</ref> The Jackson family disowned her. In later years she recanted the allegations, saying she had been forced to make them by her husband.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{cite web |title=Transcript, Larry King Live on CNN — Interview with La Toya Jackson |website=CNN |publication-date=March 4, 2003 |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2003-03-04/segment/00 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228194028/https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2003-03-04/segment/00 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Prior to making the allegations, Gordon had been arrested for assaulting her, and the couple divorced three years later.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=29}}</ref> By 2003, Jackson had forgiven his sister.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=540}}</ref> In 2009, when recanting her 1993 statements to the broadcaster Barbara Walters, she said that Jackson had not been a pedophile and had never indulged in improper relations with a child.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=September 9, 2009 |title=La Toya Jackson: Life After Michael's Death |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/MichaelJackson/la-toya-jackson-life-michael-jackson-barbara-walters/story?id=8541838 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228195131/https://abcnews.go.com/2020/MichaelJackson/la-toya-jackson-life-michael-jackson-barbara-walters/story?id=8541838 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
== Lisa Marie Presley == According to Chris Cadman, Jackson met singer Lisa Marie Presley in October 1974, during a Jackson 5 engagement at the Sahara Tahoe. Her father, Elvis Presley, was closing a two-week engagement at the Sahara Tahoe while the Jackson 5 were just about to begin one.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=267}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=506}}</ref> In November 1992, Jackson was reconnected with Presley through a mutual friend, and they talked almost every day by telephone.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |last=Gliatto |first=Tom |title=Neverland Meets Graceland |publication-date=August 15, 1994 |magazine=People |url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-neverland-meets-graceland-vol-42-no-7/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228200624/https://people.com/archive/cover-story-neverland-meets-graceland-vol-42-no-7/ |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> As the abuse accusations became public, he became dependent on Presley for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=518–520}}</ref> She stated, "I believed that he didn't do anything wrong, and that he was being wrongly accused and, yes, I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it."<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=510}}</ref> She described him in one call as high, incoherent and delusional. He proposed to her over the phone in late 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?"<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=520}}</ref> They divorced less than two years later.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=580}}</ref> They maintained an on-and-off relationship for roughly 4 years after the divorce.
== Jackson's health == Jackson took painkillers for his scalp surgeries following an accident while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984, and became dependent on them to deal with the stress of the allegations.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Deseret 1993">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=November 16, 1993 |title=Warrant Allows a Strip-Search of Jackson |work=Deseret News |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/321101/WARRANT-ALLOWS-A-STRIP-SEARCH-OF-JACKSON.html |archive-date=July 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716033938/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/321101/WARRANT-ALLOWS-A-STRIP-SEARCH-OF-JACKSON.html |url-status=dead |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Within a few months of the allegations becoming news, he lost approximately 10 pounds and stopped eating.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=514}}</ref> According to Jackson, he had a tendency to stop eating when "really upset or hurt" and his friend Elizabeth Taylor had to make him eat: "She took the spoon and would put it into my mouth." He said that he eventually became unconscious and had to be fed intravenously.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Vieira |first=Meredith |author-link=Meredith Vieira |publication-date=September 25, 2009 |title=Children 'saved me,' Michael Jackson said |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32987303 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228004923/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32987303 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
While in Mexico City on November 8, 1993, in a court deposition unrelated to the alleged child abuse, Jackson appeared drowsy, lacked concentration, and slurred while speaking. He said he could not remember the dates of his album releases or the names of people he had worked with, and took several minutes to name some of his recent albums.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=125}}</ref> On November 12, Jackson canceled the remainder of his tour and flew with Taylor and her husband to London. When Jackson arrived at the airport, he collapsed and was rushed to the home of Elton John's manager and afterward to a clinic. When he was searched for drugs on entry, 18 vials of medicine were found in a suitcase. Jackson booked the whole fourth floor of the clinic and was administered Valium to wean him from painkillers. While in the clinic, he took part in group and one-on-one therapy sessions.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=525}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=104}}</ref>
On November 15, Jackson's lawyer, Bert Fields, spoke publicly of their last meeting in Mexico City and Jackson's painkiller addiction: "[Michael's] life was in danger if he continued taking these massive quantities of drugs. He was barely able to function adequately on an intellectual level."<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Jim |last2=Hall |first2=Carla |publication-date=November 16, 1993 |title=Jackson 'Barely Able to Function,' His Lawyer Says |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-16-mn-57518-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228201808/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-16-mn-57518-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=527}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman" name="Deseret 1993"/> Fields said a U.S. drug rehabilitation center would not have the privacy Jackson wanted, and that Jackson was not trying to evade investigation: "If Michael Jackson wanted an excuse to stay out of the United States, all he had to do is stay on his tour."<ref group="lower-roman" name="Deseret 1993"/> On November 23, Fields resigned from the case.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton & Nazario 1993"/>
==Jackson's response== On December 22, 1993, Jackson responded to the accusations for the first time via satellite from Neverland Ranch. He denied all the allegations and stated his intent to prove his innocence. He accused the media of manipulating the allegations to "reach their own conclusions", and described the "dehumanizing" police search as "the most humiliating ordeal of my life".<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |last=Rothstein |first=Kate |title=Every Time Michael Jackson Addressed Sexual-Abuse Allegations on the Record |website=Vulture |publication-date=February 28, 2019 |publisher=New York |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/every-time-michael-jackson-addressed-abuse-allegations.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228202400/https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/every-time-michael-jackson-addressed-abuse-allegations.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Pareles |publication-date=June 18, 1995 |title=POP VIEW; Michael Jackson Is Angry, Understand? |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/arts/pop-view-michael-jackson-is-angry-understand.html?sq=HIStory+album+michael+jackson+review&scp=4&st=nyt |page=1 |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620052151/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/arts/pop-view-michael-jackson-is-angry-understand.html?sq=HIStory+album+michael+jackson+review&scp=4&st=nyt |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> On January 5, 1994, a few weeks before the settlement, Jackson gave a five-minute speech at the 26th NAACP Image Awards asserting his innocence and received a standing ovation. During the ceremony, one presenter had included Jackson in a list of names, calling him "Michael (Innocent Until Proven Guilty) Jackson".<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Leonardi |first=Marisa |publication-date=January 7, 1994 |title=Michael Jackson Shares Whitney Houston's Spotlight : Honors: Houston wins five NAACP Image Awards, but Jackson gets cheers in a show marked by controversy. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-07-ca-9458-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228203240/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-07-ca-9458-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
==Media reaction== Most of the information available on the allegations was released (officially or unofficially) by the prosecution and unchallenged by Jackson. He was largely portrayed as guilty by the media, which used sensational headlines implying guilt when the content itself did not support the headline.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=Charles |publication-date=May 25, 2011 |orig-date=May 2, 2010 |title=Michael Jackson: It's Time For Outlets to Take Responsibility in Covering the Rock Star |work=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-jackson-its-time_b_482176 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228204314/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-jackson-its-time_b_482176 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Stories were purchased of his alleged criminal activity,<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=78–81}}</ref> police investigation material was leaked,<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=147}}</ref> and unflattering photographs of Jackson were printed.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=501}}</ref>
Two weeks after the allegations were reported, the headline "Michael Jackson: The Curtain Closes" reflected the attitude of most tabloid media.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=71}}</ref> The ''New York Post'' ran the headline "Peter Pan or pervert".<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Kurtz |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Kurtz |publication-date=September 1, 1993 |title=Malice in Neverland? The Michael Jackson Story |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/09/01/malice-in-neverland-the-michael-jackson-story/730a7aee-90a5-4c77-95d8-306f2dc71ab1/ |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109073106/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/09/01/malice-in-neverland-the-michael-jackson-story/730a7aee-90a5-4c77-95d8-306f2dc71ab1/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> ''Hard Copy'' ran a story stating it had acquired "new documents in the criminal investigation of Michael Jackson, and they are chilling; they contain the name of child movie actor Macaulay Culkin". In fact, the document stated that Culkin denied being abused by Jackson.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=45}}</ref>
Two tabloid media outlets bought confidential leaked documents from the LAPD for $20,000.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=49}}</ref> A number of Jackson's former employees—most of whom had worked at Neverland—sold stories which alleged prior sexual misconduct on Jackson's part, instead of reporting their claims to police. One couple asked for $100,000, claiming that Jackson had sexually caressed Culkin. For a fee of $500,000, they would also allege that Jackson put his hands down Culkin's pants. Culkin strongly denied the allegation and did so again in court during Jackson's 2005 trial.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=80}}</ref>
When Jackson left the US to go into drug rehabilitation, the ''Daily Mirror'' (UK) held a "Spot the Jacko" contest, offering readers a trip to Disney World if they could correctly predict where he would appear next.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Transatlantic Hide-And-Seek |publication-date=March 13, 2010 |orig-date=November 28, 1993 |magazine=Newsweek |url=https://www.newsweek.com/transatlantic-hide-and-seek-191488 |url-status=live |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228210926/https://www.newsweek.com/transatlantic-hide-and-seek-191488 |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> A ''Daily Express'' headline read "Drug treatment star faces life on the run", while a ''News of the World'' headline said Jackson was a fugitive. These tabloids also falsely alleged that Jackson had traveled to Europe to have cosmetic surgery that would make him unrecognizable.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=93}}</ref> Geraldo Rivera set up a mock trial, with a jury made up of audience members, even though Jackson had not been charged with a crime.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=104–105}}</ref> A poll at the time, conducted by ''A Current Affair'', found that nearly 75 percent of Americans believed Jackson was telling the truth.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=143}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Alter |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Alter |publication-date=October 25, 2018 |title=Treating Michael Jackson with a kid glove |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/08/31/treating-michael-jackson-with-a-kid-glove/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228211624/https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/08/31/treating-michael-jackson-with-a-kid-glove/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
== Lawsuit == On September 14, 1993, Jordan Chandler and his parents filed a lawsuit{{NoteTag|The lawsuit is distinguished from the criminal investigation, which happened simultaneously. The ending of a lawsuit does not preclude the continuation of an investigation.}} against Jackson.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Nazario |first=Sonia |publication-date=September 15, 1993 |title=Jackson Sued by Boy Who Alleged Sexual Molestation : Courts: Complaint says pop superstar 'repeatedly committed sexual battery.' The singer's investigator says the suit is part of a continuing extortion attempt. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-15-me-35320-story.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228211909/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-15-me-35320-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> The lawsuit claimed that Jackson had committed sexual battery, seduction, willful misconduct, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud and negligence.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=January 11, 1994 |title=Jackson's Accuser Details Sexual Allegations |work=The New York Times |page=15 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/11/us/jackson-s-accuser-details-sexual-allegations.html |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729201004/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/11/us/jackson-s-accuser-details-sexual-allegations.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman" name="Cros"/> In November, Jackson's lawyers asked the case be put on hold for as long as six years or until the criminal case was concluded.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Cros">{{cite news |last=Cros |first=Jessica |publication-date=November 8, 1993 |title=While Jackson Tours, The Lawyers War |newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/11/08/while-jackson-tours-the-lawyers-war/6fed8ee1-73d6-4326-b5db-1198d372088d/ |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818112915/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/11/08/while-jackson-tours-the-lawyers-war/6fed8ee1-73d6-4326-b5db-1198d372088d/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Philips |first1=Chuck |author-link1=Chuck Philips |last2=Newton |first2=Jim |publication-date=November 13, 1993 |title=Jackson Reportedly Cancels Rest of World Tour : Entertainment: No explanation is given for the move, which seems to surprise some in pop star's entourage. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-13-me-56202-story.html |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620052146/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-13-me-56202-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Concerns about a civil trial during an ongoing criminal investigation, and prosecutors' access to plaintiffs' civil trial information, stemmed from Jackson's Fifth Amendment rights. Since two grand juries deemed there was insufficient evidence for criminal charges by the end of the investigation, the prosecution could have been able to form the elements of a case around the defense strategy in the trial, creating a situation akin to double jeopardy.<ref group="upper-roman" name="auto2">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=540–541}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Green |first=Evelyn |publication-date=August 27, 2005 |title=Montel on a mission |work=Calhoun Times and Gordon County News |volume=136 |issue=9 |page=14 |location=Marietta, Georgia |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2vIuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3916%2C3824208 |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226162704/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2vIuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cjkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3916%2C3824208 |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
Superior Court Judge David M. Rothman ordered Jackson's deposition scheduled before the end of January 1994 but said he might reconsider if Jackson was indicted on criminal charges. Jackson agreed to be deposed on January 18. His attorneys said he was eager to testify, but also said they might oppose the deposition if criminal charges were filed or were still under consideration on his deposition date. They said if charges were filed, they would want the criminal trial to go first.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=December 4, 1993 |title=Jackson to Give Deposition About Allegations : Lawsuit: The singer has agreed to tell his side Jan. 18. Postponement is possible if the status of criminal investigation changes, his lawyer says. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-04-me-63891-story.html |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620135652/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-04-me-63891-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> However, when authorities notified Jackson's lawyers that they expected their investigation to continue at least through February, Jackson's team failed to win a delay of the civil case. Rothman denied the motion to delay the civil proceedings until the criminal investigation had been completed, and set March 21, 1994, as the trial start date.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Sandler"/>
Pellicano said Chandler's negotiations had been an attempt to extort Jackson. To try to demonstrate this, he produced illicit recordings of his negotiations with Rothman. Illicit recordings are generally not admissible as evidence, but may be used in California where extortion is threatened. Jackson's lawyer Howard Weitzman turned over the tapes to the district attorney's office.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=Amy |last2=Newton |first2=Jim |publication-date=September 2, 1993 |title=Jackson Aides Go Back on the Offensive |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-02-me-30818-story.html |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202243/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-02-me-30818-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
On December 17, 1993, Rothman allowed the prosecutors to receive information from Jackson's lawyers and approved discovery information for media disclosure. Both Feldman's and Jackson's camps expressed concerns about Jackson's right to a fair trial being compromised by publicly discussing discovery results. Johnnie Cochran and Weitzman, attorneys representing Jackson, argued that investigators were trying to use the suit to advance their criminal investigation, a technique that should not be allowed.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=December 18, 1993 |title=Judge Gives Prosecutors Access to Information in Jackson Civil Suit : Courts: Jurist also refuses to restrict attorneys' remarks to the media. Lawyers agree on subjects they won't discuss. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-18-me-3080-story.html |archive-date=February 1, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201020957/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-18-me-3080-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
On January 24, 1994, prosecutors announced that they would not bring charges against Chandler for attempted extortion, as Jackson's camp had been slow to report an extortion claim to the police and had tried to negotiate a settlement for several weeks.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, January 1994">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=January 25, 1994 |title=Boy's Father in Jackson Case Won't Be Charged : Investigation: Singer claimed parent of alleged molestation victim tried to extort money from him. D.A. says decision not to prosecute is unrelated to reports that settlement is near. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-25-me-15027-story.html |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302022603/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-25-me-15027-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Chandler had made his settlement demand in early August 1993, and the Jackson camp had filed extortion charges against the Chandler camp in late August.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Philips & Ferrell"/> In the extortion investigation, a search warrant was never sought to search the homes and offices of Chandler and Barry Rothman. No grand jury convened when both men refused police interviews.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Fischer|2012|p=268}}</ref> In contrast, the police had searched Jackson's residences solely based on Jordan's allegations,<ref group="upper-roman" name="Campbell 44–45"/><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Fischer|2012|pp=266–267}}</ref> and taken lengths to interview or intimidate witnesses.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, November 1993"/> Weitzman said they had not gone to the police earlier because "It was our hope that this would all go away. We tried to keep it as much in-house as we could."<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Family and Fans Support Michael Jackson in Child Abuse Investigation |publication-date=September 13, 1993 |magazine=Jet |volume=84 |issue=20 |page=59 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |location=Los Angeles, California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59 |url-status=live |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226170918/https://books.google.com/books?id=OcEDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&pg=PA59#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
=== Settlement === Jackson's legal team met three times a week at Taylor's home to discuss the case.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|p=516}}</ref> Eventually, they agreed that Jackson was too sick to endure a lengthy trial and that he should settle out of court.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=524–528}}</ref> The lawsuit was settled on January 25, 1994, with $15,331,250 to be held in a trust fund for Jordan, $1.5 million for each of his parents, and $5 million for the family's lawyer, for a total of approximately $23 million.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Steinhaus |first=Rochelle |publication-date=June 16, 2004 |title=Jackson settlement from 1993 allegations topped $20 million |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/16/michael.jackson/ |archive-date=July 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240705102330/http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/16/michael.jackson/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> According to a motion passed to Judge Melville in 2004, "the settlement was for global claims of negligence and the lawsuit was defended by Mr. Jackson's insurance carrier. The [carrier] negotiated and paid the settlement, over the protests of Mr. Jackson and his personal legal counsel."<ref group="lower-alpha" name="2005 Memorandum">{{cite web |title=The People of the State of California, Plaintiff vs. Michael Joseph Jackson, Defendant: Mr. Jackson's Memorandum in Support of Objection to Subpoena to Larry Feldman for Settlement Documents |website=Santa Barbara Superior Court |publication-date=March 22, 2005 |pages=2–4 |publisher=Superior Court of the State of California |url=http://www.sbscpublicaccess.org/docs/ctdocs/032205mjmemospprtobj.pdf |archive-date=April 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405023735/http://www.sbscpublicaccess.org/docs/ctdocs/032205mjmemospprtobj.pdf |url-status=dead |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
On January 29, 1994, the Associated Press reported that Jackson had requested his insurance company, Transamerica Insurance Group (TIG), contribute to the settlement. A lawyer for TIG, Jordan Harriman, had made a "one-time-only" offer to Jackson on January 13 to resolve his claim. Jackson refused that offer but further negotiations followed. Russ Wardrip, a TIG claims analyst, had sent a January 13 registered letter to Jackson's lawyer, Howard Weitzman:<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=January 30, 1994 |title=Jackson 'sought insurance help to pay boy.' |work=New Straits Times |page=10 |location=London, England |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TDtOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zxMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6627%2C4168543 |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226191522/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TDtOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zxMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6627%2C4168543 |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=January 29, 1994 |title=Report says Jackson wanted insurance to pay teen accuser |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel |volume=137 |issue=28 |page=6 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19940129.1.6&srpos=30&e=------199-en--20--21-byDA-txt-txIN-%22michael+jackson%22----1994---1 |archive-date=August 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821234955/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19940129.1.6&srpos=30&e=------199-en--20--21-byDA-txt-txIN-%22michael+jackson%22----1994---1 |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|...acts of sexual activity do not constitute [accidental] bodily injury. Further, acts of sexual activity, especially those against a minor, are inherently intentional, wrongful and harmful. Coverage for such acts is precluded by [the] California Insurance Code.}}
According to Jackson's attorney Thomas Mesereau, Jackson's insurance company was "the source of the settlement amounts", as noted in a 2005 memorandum in ''People v. Jackson''. The memorandum also noted that "an insurance carrier has the right to settle claims covered by insurance where it decides settlement is expedient and the insured may not interfere with nor prevent such settlements", as established by a number of precedents in California.<ref group="lower-alpha" name="2005 Memorandum"/> Defeating the right would involve convincing a court with the power to overrule the precedent that the earlier decision was either wrongly decided or more often, "clearly" wrong (depending on the criteria of the court) or the court must be convinced to distinguish the case. That is, to make the ruling narrower than that in the precedent due to some difference in facts between the current and precedent case while supporting the result reached in the earlier case.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite encyclopedia |author=<!--not stated--> |title=Precedent and Analogy in Legal Reasoning |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publication-date=June 20, 2006 |publisher=Stanford University |issn=1095-5054 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/legal-reas-prec/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250226193824/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/legal-reas-prec/index.html}}</ref>
In 2004, Mesereau said: "People who intended to earn millions of dollars from [Jackson's] record and music promotions did not want negative publicity from these lawsuits interfering with their profits. Michael Jackson now regrets making these payments. These settlements were entered into with one primary condition—that condition was that Mr. Jackson never admitted any wrongdoing. [He] always denied doing anything wrong ... Mr. Jackson now realizes the advice he received was wrong."<ref group="lower-roman" name="auto1">{{cite news |last=Marquez |first=Miguel |author-link=Miguel Marquez (journalist) |publication-date=September 17, 2004 |title=Jackson 'regrets' out-of-court settlements |work=CNN |location=Santa Maria, California |url=https://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/09/17/jackson.hearing/index.html |archive-date=May 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516192252/https://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/09/17/jackson.hearing/index.html |url-status=dead |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Jackson explained why he had settled: "I wanted to go on with my life. Too many people had already been hurt. I want to make records. I want to sing. I want to perform again ... It's my talent. My hard work. My life. My decision."<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Taraborrelli|1991|pp=544–545}}</ref> He also wanted to avoid a "media circus".<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 2005">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=March 29, 2005 |title=Jackson's 'past' allowed in court |work=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4387247.stm |archive-date=August 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240821122432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4387247.stm |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Mesereau later said Jackson regretted settling.<ref group="lower-roman" name="auto1"/>
The settlement cannot be used as evidence of guilt in future civil and criminal cases.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Jones|2007|p=157}}</ref> In 1994, Larry Feldman said "nobody bought anybody's silence".<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=February 5, 1994 |title=Grand Jury to Convene in Jackson Case : Law: Sources close to the investigation say a panel in Santa Barbara will hear testimony next week about alleged molestation of boy. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-05-me-19273-story.html |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516142750/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-05-me-19273-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref>
==Closure of investigation== District Attorney Gil Garcetti said the settlement did not affect criminal prosecution and that the investigation was ongoing.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Weinraub"/> Jordan Chandler was interviewed after the settlement by detectives seeking evidence of child molestation, but no criminal charges were filed.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=266}}</ref> On May 2, 1994, the Santa Barbara County grand jury disbanded without indicting Jackson, while a Los Angeles County grand jury continued to investigate the sexual abuse allegations.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Deseret 1994">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=May 1, 1994 |title=Panel Disbands With No Charges Against Jackson |work=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |url=https://www.deseret.com/1994/5/1/19106387/panel-disbands-with-no-charges-against-jackson/ |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227004736/https://www.deseret.com/1994/5/1/19106387/panel-disbands-with-no-charges-against-jackson/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Reuters |publication-date=May 1, 1994 |title=Jackson case |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/jackson-case-1433170.html |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227011426/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/jackson-case-1433170.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>
On April 11, 1994, the grand jury session in Santa Barbara was extended by 90 days, allowing DA Sneddon to gather more evidence. Prosecution sources said they were frustrated in their grand jury probe, failing to find direct evidence of the molestation charges.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |last=Sandler |first=Adam |title=D.A. Garcetti denies Jackson probe ended |publication-date=April 12, 1994 |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1994/biz/news/d-a-garcetti-denies-jackson-probe-ended-120071/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227122407/https://variety.com/1994/biz/news/d-a-garcetti-denies-jackson-probe-ended-120071/ |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> The final grand jury disbanded in July without returning an indictment against Jackson.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Meyer"/>
The Chandlers stopped co-operating with the criminal investigation around July 6, 1994.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |title=Michael Jackson, ABC News, and the California Courts |publication-date=June 14, 1995 |url=http://atgbook.net/abcfinal.html |archive-date=February 8, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208011557/http://atgbook.net/abcfinal.html |url-status=usurped |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> Until that time, Jordan Chandler had indicated his possible willingness to testify according to prosecutors.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=September 22, 1994 |title=Jackson Thankful Probe is Over |work=Deseret News |url=https://www.deseret.com/1994/9/22/19132202/jackson-thankful-probe-is-over/ |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227201523/https://www.deseret.com/1994/9/22/19132202/jackson-thankful-probe-is-over/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> The police never pressed criminal charges.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 2005"/> Citing a lack of evidence without Jordan's testimony, the state closed its investigation on September 22, 1994.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Mydans |first=Seth |publication-date=September 22, 1994 |title=No Charges for Now Against Michael Jackson |work=The New York Times |page=22 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/22/us/no-charges-for-now-against-michael-jackson.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm |archive-date=September 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925002734/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/22/us/no-charges-for-now-against-michael-jackson.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> District attorney Sneddon and Lauren Weis, head of the county DA's Sex Crimes Unit, said that ending the investigation did not reflect any lack of faith in the alleged victim's credibility. The entire investigation involved two grand juries and more than 400 people interviewed over a period of 13 months.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, September 1994">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=September 22, 1994 |title=Jackson Not Charged but Not Absolved |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/la-me-michael-jackson-lawsuit-22-sept-94-story.html |archive-date=October 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002170105/https://www.latimes.com/la-me-michael-jackson-lawsuit-22-sept-94-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman" name="Cros"/>
Sneddon said several leads were explored which were later discovered to be false.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Spolar |first1=Christine |last2=Wexler |first2=Kathryn |publication-date=September 22, 1994 |title=Jackson Case Dropped |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/09/22/jackson-case-dropped/274acda8-2da6-48e8-9c98-01cc259095bf/ |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209165428/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/09/22/jackson-case-dropped/274acda8-2da6-48e8-9c98-01cc259095bf/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> According to the grand juries, the evidence presented by the Santa Barbara police and the LAPD was not convincing enough to indict Jackson or subpoena him,<ref group="lower-roman" name="Deseret 1994"/> even though grand juries can indict the accused purely on hearsay evidence.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{cite web |title=Chapter 4: Grand Jury Manual |publisher=United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/206826.htm |archive-date=May 13, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060513024745/https://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/206826.htm#IVD2 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> According to a 1994 report by ''Variety'', a source in contact with the grand juries said that none of the witnesses had produced anything to directly implicate Jackson.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Sandler">{{cite magazine |last=Sandler |first=Adam |title=Jackson told to cooperate in civil trial |publication-date=November 23, 1993 |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/jackson-told-to-cooperate-in-civil-trial-116092/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214153539/https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/jackson-told-to-cooperate-in-civil-trial-116092/ |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> According to a 1994 report by ''Showbiz Today'', the grand jurors said that "no damaging evidence was heard" and they heard no "damaging testimony" during the hearings.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{cite web |title=Transcript # 532-1, CNN Showbiz Today — Jackson Grand Jury Disbanded |website=MJEOL |publication-date=May 2, 1994 |publisher=CNN |url=https://community.mjeol.com/index.php?threads/jackson-grand-jury-disbanded-may-2-94-showbiz-today-transcript.598/ |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227010804/https://community.mjeol.com/index.php?threads/jackson-grand-jury-disbanded-may-2-94-showbiz-today-transcript.598/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>
In February 1994, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury convened to assess whether criminal charges should be filed. The Los Angeles County Grand Jury began in March 1994.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, September 1994"/> By 1994 prosecution departments in California had spent $2 million and convened two grand juries, but Jordan Chandler's allegations could not be corroborated.<ref group="upper-roman" name="auto2"/> In September, Sneddon and Garcetti said the 18-month investigation had produced no evidence against Jackson.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |last=McDonell-Parry |first=Amelia |title=Michael Jackson Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Timeline |publication-date=January 29, 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/michael-jackson-child-sexual-abuse-allegations-timeline-785746/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227203314/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/michael-jackson-child-sexual-abuse-allegations-timeline-785746/ |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> The FBI files on Michael Jackson, released after Jackson's death, noted that the prosecution had no outstanding leads.<ref group="lower-alpha" name="The Vault, Part 03"/>
==Aftermath== A week after the settlement in January 1994, L.A. District Attorney Garcetti announced that he supported amending a law that prohibited sexual assault victims from being compelled to testify in criminal proceedings.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=163}}</ref> The amendment, introduced into the state assembly in February, would have immediately allowed Garcetti to compel Jordan Chandler's testimony.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=February 7, 1994 |title=Officials desperate to nail Michael Jackson |work=USA Today |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/55227649.html?did=55227649&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Feb+7%2C+1994&author=&desc=Officials+desperate+to+nail+Michael+Jackson |archive-date=May 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507000529/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/55227649.html?did=55227649&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Feb+7%2C+1994&author=&desc=Officials+desperate+to+nail+Michael+Jackson |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>
On February 15, 1994, ''PBS Frontline'' aired the documentary ''Tabloid Truth: The Michael Jackson Story'' about the tabloid sensationalism, more preoccupied with selling papers than reporting an accurate narrative of the scandal. The documentary reported Jackson's housekeepers Mark and Faye Quindoy selling stories about Jackson for money, and bargaining for more money regarding child abuse allegations. They were depicted as untrustworthy. Phillip and Stella LeMarque, another pair of former employees to Jackson, sold a child abuse story to tabloids through pornographic film actor Paul Barresi, who once successfully sold a story to the ''National Enquirer''. At the opportunity of the scandal, Barresi made a taped recording of alleged evidence and told the ''Globe'' that he intended to turn it over to the district attorney. The ''Globe'' and Barresi agreed on {{gaps|$15|000}} for his story. ''Splash News'' journalist Kevin Smith said, "A lot of people who claimed to have witnessed Jackson doing this, that or the other—they weren't going to the police first. Their main interest was money, and they would come to journalists who could give them money. So in those circumstances, journalists know more about what happened than the police do."<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |title=Tabloid Truth: The Michael Jackson Story |website=FRONTLINE |publication-date=February 15, 1994 |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/tabloid-truth-the-michael-jackson-story/? |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227231228/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/tabloid-truth-the-michael-jackson-story/? |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>
Three years later, {{Ill|Víctor Gutiérrez (journalist)|lt=Víctor Gutiérrez|es|Víctor Gutiérrez (periodista)}} self-published a book on the relationship between Jordan Chandler and Jackson. Gutiérrez claimed that the book is based on a diary Jordan had kept at the time and included details of alleged sexual encounters with Jackson.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 1993"/><ref group="lower-roman" name="Kober">{{cite news |last=Kober |first=Henning |publication-date=April 5, 2005 |title="Es war Liebe!" |trans-title="It was love!" |work=Die Tageszeitung |language=de |location=Berlin, Germany |url=https://taz.de/%21629753/ |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227232448/https://taz.de/!629753/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> According to German newspaper ''Die Tageszeitung'', Gutiérrez attended meetings of North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a group advocating the decriminalization of pedophilia and pederasty, as a reporter in the 1980s. He said the group thought of Jackson as "one of us" and they insisted that the relationship between Jordan and Jackson was romantic.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Kober"/>
In 1997, Jackson filed a civil suit against Gutiérrez for slander after the writer claimed that he had a tape of Jackson molesting his nephew Jeremy, son of Jermaine Jackson. The jury ruled in Jackson's favor, awarding him $2.7 million. Gutiérrez fled to Chile after the suit.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Kober"/> Jackson's attorney Zia Modabber said: "Jurors told us that they not only wanted to compensate Mr. Jackson and punish Víctor Gutiérrez, but to send a message that they are tired of tabloids lying about celebrities for money."<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=April 10, 1998 |title=Michael Jackson wins $2.7 million in lawsuit |work=Deseret News |url=https://www.deseret.com/1998/4/10/19373725/michael-jackson-wins-2-7-million-in-lawsuit/ |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227233130/https://www.deseret.com/1998/4/10/19373725/michael-jackson-wins-2-7-million-in-lawsuit/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref> Jackson also filed a $100 million lawsuit against Diane Dimond after she appeared on KABC morning show ''Ken and Barkley'' to discuss Gutiérrez's alleged tape. After the report was broadcast, Jackson announced he would sue members of the media who "spread vicious lies and rumors about me in their attempts to make money, benefit their careers, sell papers or get viewers to watch their programs." It was dismissed in 1997.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |last=Sandler |first=Adam |title=Jackson's 'Hard Copy' suit dismissed |publication-date=May 5, 1997 |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/jackson-s-hard-copy-suit-dismissed-1117341899/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227233728/https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/jackson-s-hard-copy-suit-dismissed-1117341899/ |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Hubler |first=Shawn |publication-date=January 13, 1995 |title=Michael Jackson Sues 'Hard Copy' Reporter and Radio Talk Show |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-13-me-19724-story.html |archive-date=December 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204225357/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-01-13-me-19724-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>
Jordan Chandler legally emancipated himself from his parents in 1994, at age 14.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Thomson"/> In 1996, Evan Chandler sued Jackson for around $60 million, claiming Jackson had breached an agreement never to discuss the case "in his interview with Diane Sawyer and in the lyrics of a song from the ''HIStory'' album".<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=519}}</ref> In 1998, at age 18, Jordan filed a complaint against Jackson for the same reason.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{cite web |title=Case Information: #SC052717 — Jordan Chandler vs. Michael Joseph Jackson et. al. |website=Los Angeles County Superior Court |url=https://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/casesummary.aspx? |archive-date=September 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160908221307/http://www.lacourt.org/casesummary/ui/casesummary.aspx? |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> The arbitrations were consolidated. In 1999, a court ruled in Jackson's favor and threw out the lawsuit.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 1993"/> In 2006, Jordan accused his father of attacking him with a barbell, choking him and spraying his face with mace. The charges were dropped.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Hutchinson |first=Bill |publication-date=November 18, 2009 |title=Evan Chandler, dad of boy who accused Michael Jackson of molestation, commits suicide in New Jersey |work=New York Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_dad_of_jacko_molest_accuser_kills_self_in_swanky_jersey_pad.html |archive-date=November 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120215747/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_dad_of_jacko_molest_accuser_kills_self_in_swanky_jersey_pad.html |url-status=dead |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> On November 5, 2009, 14 weeks after Jackson's death, Evan Chandler was found dead from suicide.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Allen |first=Nick |publication-date=November 17, 2009 |title=Michael Jackson: Father of Jordan Chandler shoots himself dead |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/6593458/Michael-Jackson-father-of-Jordan-Chandler-shoots-himself-dead.html |archive-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224113036/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/6593458/Michael-Jackson-father-of-Jordan-Chandler-shoots-himself-dead.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>At the time of his death, Evan was "extremely ill" with cancer and was estranged from his family and Jordan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/18/jackson.accuser.suicide/index.html|title=Police say father of Jackson accuser has killed himself - CNN.com|website=www.cnn.com}}</ref>
During production of the 2026 biographical film ''Michael,'' lawyers for Jackson's estate discovered a clause in the 1994 settlement that forbids the mention or depiction of Chandler in any film. Portions of the film were reshot to remove all mentions of the allegations, adding $10 million to the budget and delaying its release by a year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rubin |first=Brent Lang,Rebecca |date=2026-04-07 |title=Inside the ‘Michael’ Overhaul: $15 Million Reshoots, Removing Child Abuse Allegations and What’s in Store for Sequels |url=https://variety.com/2026/music/news/michael-movie-reshoots-removing-child-abuse-allegations-1236710221/ |access-date=2026-04-22 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Effect on Jackson's career=== Jackson's commercial standing and public image declined in the wake of the allegations. The government of Dubai forbade him from performing in response to an anonymous pamphlet campaign that attacked him as immoral.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Robinson">{{cite news |last=Robinson |first=Eugene |author-link=Eugene Robinson (journalist) |publication-date=November 14, 1993 |title=Pepsi Drops Elusive Michael Jackson |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/11/15/pepsi-drops-elusive-michael-jackson/f0c015b8-1a3b-4017-9307-76b74b4fd818/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228171249/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/11/15/pepsi-drops-elusive-michael-jackson/f0c015b8-1a3b-4017-9307-76b74b4fd818/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Jackson backed out of a deal to create a song and video for the film ''Addams Family Values'', returning an estimated $5 million,<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Weinraub |publication-date=November 16, 1993 |title=Jackson Being Treated Abroad For Addiction, Lawyer Says |work=The New York Times |page=17 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/16/arts/jackson-being-treated-abroad-for-addiction-lawyer-says.html |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129054134/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/16/arts/jackson-being-treated-abroad-for-addiction-lawyer-says.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref> and a brand of fragrances was canceled because of Jackson's drug problems.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=148–149}}</ref> Jackson completed the video once planned for ''Addams Family Values'' and released it as ''Ghosts'' in 1996, with a framing story about an eccentric maestro who entertains children and is pursued by a bigoted local official.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Lewis|2005|p=126}}</ref> On November 14, 1993, PepsiCo dropped their nine-year partnership with Jackson, causing some fans to boycott the company.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|p=97}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman" name="Robinson"/> Jackson composed music for the 1994 video game ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'', but left the project and went uncredited, possibly due to the allegations.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |last=Nightingale |first=Ed |title=Yuji Naka confirms Michael Jackson wrote music for Sonic 3 |website=Eurogamer |publication-date=June 23, 2022 |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/yuji-naka-confirms-michael-jackson-wrote-music-for-sonic-3 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228172124/https://www.eurogamer.net/yuji-naka-confirms-michael-jackson-wrote-music-for-sonic-3 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
Jackson produced a special show for the cable network HBO, ''One Night Only'', to be recorded in front of a special invited audience at New York City's Beacon Theatre for broadcast in December 1995. The shows were canceled after Jackson collapsed at the theater on December 6 during rehearsals. He was admitted overnight to Beth Israel Medical Center North. The shows were never rescheduled. The following year, Jackson began the HIStory World Tour. The only concerts in the US were two shows at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Lewis|2005|p=95}}</ref>
Jackson's album ''HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'', released shortly after the allegations, "creates an atmosphere of paranoia", according to critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Its content focuses on the public struggles Jackson went through prior to its production. In the songs "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", Jackson expresses his anger and hurt at the media. In the ballad "Stranger in Moscow", he laments his "swift and sudden fall from grace".<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I Review |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/history-past-present-and-future-book-i-mw0000123992 |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228232948/https://www.allmusic.com/album/history-past-present-and-future-book-i-mw0000123992 |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |last=Hunter |first=James |title=Michael Jackson: HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone |publication-date=August 10, 1995 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/michaeljackson/albums/album/312830/review/5943497/history_past_present_and_future_book_1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 30, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630035253/https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/michaeljackson/albums/album/312830/review/5943497/history_past_present_and_future_book_1 |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> In "D.S.", he attacks a character identified as Tom Sneddon, the District Attorney who requested his strip search. Jackson describes the person as a white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive". Sneddon said: "I have not, shall we say, done him the honor of listening to it, but I've been told that it ends with the sound of a gunshot."<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite web |title=Prosecutor Profile – Thomas W. (Tom) Sneddon, Jr. |website=National District Attorneys Association |url=http://www.ndaa.org/ndaa/profile/tom_sneddon_jan_feb_2003.html |archive-date=August 25, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050825011110/http://www.ndaa.org/ndaa/profile/tom_sneddon_jan_feb_2003.html |url-status=dead |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
According to ''The Washington Post'', the O.J. Simpson trial overshadowed Jackson's scandal. A source from the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said the scandal took "a back seat" once the Simpson case emerged.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Brockell"/> In 2021, a judge noted that Jackson had earned no money from his image and likeness between 2006 and 2008, and said this demonstrated the effect of the allegations on his career until his death.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |publication-date=May 5, 2021 |title=After years, court hands tax win to Michael Jackson heirs |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/after-years-court-hands-tax-win-to-michael-jackson-heirs-michael-jackson-irs-los-angeles-wade-robson-james-safechuck-b1842200.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228234416/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/after-years-court-hands-tax-win-to-michael-jackson-heirs-michael-jackson-irs-los-angeles-wade-robson-james-safechuck-b1842200.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
=== Further allegations === {{Main|Trial of Michael Jackson}} On December 18, 2003, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent to commit a child sexual abuse felony against Gavin Arvizo.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=December 18, 2003 |title=Michael Jackson formally charged in molestation case |work=CNN |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2003-12-18/justice/jackson.case_1_district-attorney-tom-sneddon-child-molestation-jackson-attorney-mark-geragos?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=October 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004071426/http://articles.cnn.com/2003-12-18/justice/jackson.case_1_district-attorney-tom-sneddon-child-molestation-jackson-attorney-mark-geragos?_s=PM:LAW |url-status=dead |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> Jackson denied the allegations. Sneddon again led the prosecution.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Morales |first=Tatiana |publication-date=December 17, 2003 |title=Who Is Tom Sneddon? |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-is-tom-sneddon/ |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228234937/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-is-tom-sneddon/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> The ''People v. Jackson'' trial began in Santa Maria, California, on January 31, 2005.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Broder |first1=John M. |last2=Leduff |first2=Charlie |author-link2=Charlie LeDuff |publication-date=February 1, 2005 |title=Jackson Trial Starts, With Fanfare and Jury Selection |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/national/01jackson.html |archive-date=February 28, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228235206/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/us/jackson-trial-starts-with-fanfare-and-jury-selection.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref> The judge allowed testimony about past allegations, including the 1993 case, to establish whether the defendant had a propensity to commit certain crimes.<ref group="lower-roman" name="BBC 2005"/><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=March 29, 2005 |title=Jackson defense loses bid to ban past allegations |work=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/28/jackson/index.html |archive-date=March 30, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050330043412/http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/28/jackson/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 28, 2025}}</ref>
A meeting was held in New York by the FBI in an attempt to persuade Jordan Chandler to testify for the 2005 trial. Chandler informed the two agents in the meeting that he would not testify and would "legally fight any attempts to do so".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/arts/music/23arts-FBIRELEASESI_BRF.html|title=F.B.I. Releases Its Files on Michael Jackson|first=Compiled by Dave|last=Itzkoff|date=December 22, 2009|website=The New York Times|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222070526/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/arts/music/23arts-FBIRELEASESI_BRF.html|archive-date=February 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/fbi-releases-documents-michael-jackson-child-molestation-probes/story?id=9402010|title=FBI Releases Documents in Jackson Probes|date=December 22, 2009|first=Eileen |last=Murphy|via=ABC News|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222070537/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/fbi-releases-documents-michael-jackson-child-molestation-probes/story?id=9402010|archive-date=February 22, 2023}}</ref> Chandler left the country to avoid testifying. Thomas Mesereau, Jackson's defense attorney, later said: "The prosecutors tried to get [Chandler] to show up and he wouldn't. If he had, I had witnesses who were going to come in and say he told them it never happened and that he would never talk to his parents again for what they made him say."<ref group="lower-roman" name="Thomson">{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Thomson (journalist) |publication-date=May 25, 2011 |orig-date=June 13, 2010 |title=One of the Most Shameful Episodes In Journalistic History |work=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/one-of-the-most-shameful_b_610258 |archive-date=February 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227234449/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/one-of-the-most-shameful_b_610258 |url-status=live |access-date=February 27, 2025}}</ref>
June Chandler testified that she had not spoken to her son in 11 years. During her testimony, she claimed that she could not remember being counter-sued by Jackson and that she had never heard of her own attorney. She also said she never witnessed any molestation. Jackson was found not guilty of all 14 charges on June 13, 2005.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Thomson"/>
== Timeline of allegations ==
* July 8, 1993 – David Schwartz tapes a couple of long telephone conversations he had with Evan Chandler in which Chandler threatens to "destroy" Jackson's career with the help of a carefully planned plot and people who are only waiting for his phone call to set everything in motion if the star refuses to communicate with him and refuses to give him what he wants.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Philips & Ferrell">{{cite news |last1=Philips |first1=Chuck |author-link1=Chuck Philips |last2=Ferrell |first2=David |publication-date=August 31, 1993 |title=Tapes Used to Allege Plot to Extort Jackson Released : Inquiry: Singer's aides provide purported comments by boy's father, who has told friends allegations are untrue. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-31-mn-39718-story.html |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225001642/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-31-mn-39718-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref><ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|pp=256–257}}</ref> * July 9, 1993 – Anthony Pellicano meets Jordan in Jackson's Century City condo without the singer being present. He asks the boy very specific questions about whether he has ever been molested or inappropriately touched by Jackson. Chandler denies all accusations.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|pp=254–255}}</ref> * July 14–15, 1993 – Chandler's lawyer calls Beverly Hills psychiatrist Dr. Mathis Abrams and presents him with a hypothetical situation. In reply and without having met either Jordan Chandler or his parents, Abrams sends Rothman a two-page letter in which he states that "reasonable suspicion would exist that sexual abuse may have occurred".<ref group="upper-roman" name="Sullivan 258"/> * July 16, 1993 – After receiving the letter from psychiatrist Dr. Abrams, Evan Chandler allegedly receives a confession from his son detailing abuse from Jackson.<ref group="upper-roman" name="Sullivan 258"/> * August 4, 1993 – Evan Chandler seeks a $20 million settlement in return for not suing without informing law enforcement agencies of the abuse that he later claimed to have taken place. Jackson however refuses to pay and in late August sues Evan for extortion.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Philips & Ferrell"/> * August 4, 1993 – At a meeting at the Westwood Marquis Hotel, Evan Chandler and his son Jordan met Michael Jackson and Anthony Pellicano without Evan's lawyer, Barry Rothman, present. According to Pellicano, Evan greeted Jackson with a hug and then pulled out a letter from Dr. Mathis Abrams and read its allegations of child molestation aloud. The encounter concluded with Evan pointing at Jackson and declaring, "I'm going to ruin you,".<ref group="upper-roman" name="Sullivan 258"/> * August 9–13, 1993 – Evan Chandler and his legal team make various counter offers hoping to secure a payment from Jackson, prior to public accusations of sexual abuse.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=259}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman">{{cite magazine |agency=Associated Press |title=Jackson reps claim tape supports singer |publication-date=September 2, 1993 |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/jackson-reps-claim-tape-supports-singer-110221/ |url-status=live |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225010541/https://variety.com/1993/biz/news/jackson-reps-claim-tape-supports-singer-110221/ |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> * August 24, 1993 – After being rejected of various offers from Jackson and his legal team, the Chandler's accusations towards Jackson are made public.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Campbell|1994|pp=47–49}}</ref> * August 27, 1993 – Prosecutors raid Neverland Ranch and other places of residency while Jackson was on tour, but no leads were found as the investigators ruled that there was no medical evidence or physical evidence. Additionally other children were interviewed but all of them stated no abuse or improper behavior had taken place.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton & Nazario">{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Jim |last2=Nazario |first2=Sonia |author-link2=Sonia Nazario |publication-date=August 27, 1993 |title=Police Say Seized Tapes Do Not Incriminate Jackson : Investigation: Officials continue to interview children in connection with molestation allegations. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-27-mn-28516-story.html |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225031941/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-27-mn-28516-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> * September 1993 – Evan Chandler files a civil suit demanding $30 million from Jackson due to alleged damages and harm caused towards himself and his family.<ref group="upper-roman">{{harvnb|Sullivan|2012|p=261}}</ref> * November 1993 – Jackson requests that the civil trial be postponed until after the Criminal hearing is completed due to a violation of his civil rights, under the circumstances of having to defend himself under double jeopardy. This motion was denied.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last=Newton |first=Jim |publication-date=November 19, 1993 |title=2 Descriptions of Jackson's Health Differ Sharply : Litigation: An attorney who took a deposition from him last week in a civil case says he was lucid. The singer's own lawyer says he was glassy-eyed and unfocused on eve of testimony but later improved. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-19-me-58560-story.html |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225032650/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-19-me-58560-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> * December 1993 – Prosecutor Tom Sneddon files a strip search on Jackson based on the drawing obtained by Jordan Chandler. Prosecutors sought out Jackson's doctors and family inquiring about the possibility the singer had altered his physical appearance so as not to match Jordan's description.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=January 28, 1994 |title=Photos may be Jackson's salvation |work=Reading Eagle |publisher=Digital First Media |location=Reading, Pennsylvania |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=boIuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TKEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1066%2C5697381 |page=A5 |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225134935/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=boIuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TKEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1066%2C5697381 |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman" name="Newton, March 1994"/> * January 25, 1994 – The civil lawsuit is settled out of court between Jackson and the Chandler family. The total amount paid to the Chandlers is $15,331,250, The document shows that the Chandlers dropped the child molestation allegations from their complaint with Jackson's settlement being filed over claims of negligence. It was later revealed that this settlement did not prevent the Chandlers from testifying in the criminal case.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |publication-date=June 15, 2004 |title=Michael Jackson Paid $15.3 M to Boy in '90s |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90037 |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225152937/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90037 |url-status=live |access-date=February 25, 2025}}</ref><ref group="lower-roman" name="Weinraub">{{cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Weinraub |publication-date=January 26, 1994 |title=Michael Jackson Settles Suit For Sum Said to Be in Millions |work=The New York Times |page=1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/26/us/michael-jackson-settles-suit-for-sum-said-to-be-in-millions.html |archive-date=February 9, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209133457/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/26/us/michael-jackson-settles-suit-for-sum-said-to-be-in-millions.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> * January–June 1994 – The prosecution continues to investigate Jackson, Jordan continues to cooperate with the criminal investigation.<ref group="lower-roman" name="Weinraub"/> By the end of this period multiple grand juries had been called however jurors remarked that no damaging evidence was heard against Jackson. "The [Santa Barbara] grand jury in Michael Jackson's case was dismissed and one juror said he heard no evidence against [Jackson]... Another juror told CNN that he heard no evidence against him [Jackson] during the hearing."<ref group="lower-roman" name="Meyer">{{cite news |last=Meyer |first=Josh |author-link=Josh Meyer |publication-date=July 7, 1994 |title=Jackson and Arson Cases in Limbo : Investigations: Grand jury disbanded without bringing indictments against either the pop superstar or two firefighters suspected of setting Calabasas/Malibu blaze. Lawyers urge resolution of both issues. |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-07-me-12852-story.html |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225155847/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-07-me-12852-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> * August 1994 – The prosecution questions whether or not to continue with the criminal investigation into Jackson as FBI documents detail that at the time they still had not produced any clues regarding potential abuse or criminal activity on his behalf.<ref group="lower-alpha" name="The Vault, Part 03">{{cite web |title=FBI Records: The Vault — Michael Jackson, Part 03 |work=FBI |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |date=1993–1994 |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/Michael%20Jackson/Michael%20Jackson%20Part%2003/view |pages=51, 56 |archive-date=February 2, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250202083847/https://vault.fbi.gov/Michael%20Jackson/Michael%20Jackson%20Part%2003/view |access-date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> * September 1994 – After a year, with over 400 witnesses called during the initial investigation and 30 more later in front of grand juries, the investigation was closed. A few potential leads were found, but all turned out to be false.<ref group="lower-roman">{{cite news |last1=Spolar |first1=Christine |last2=Wexler |first2=Kathryn |publication-date=September 21, 1994 |title=Jackson Case Dropped |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/09/22/jackson-case-dropped/274acda8-2da6-48e8-9c98-01cc259095bf/ |archive-date=February 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250225213934/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/09/22/jackson-case-dropped/274acda8-2da6-48e8-9c98-01cc259095bf/ |url-status=live |url-access =subscription |access-date=February 26, 2025 |quote=430 witnesses had been interviewed in both counties and several leads were explored "which later turned out to be false."}}</ref>
==Notes== {{NoteFoot}}
==References== ===Articles=== {{reflist|group=lower-roman|25em}}
===Books===
{{reflist|group=upper-roman|25em}}
===Documents===
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha|25em}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin|indent=yes|25em}} * {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lisa D. |title=Michael Jackson: The King of Pop's Darkest Hour |publication-date=1994 |publisher=Branden Publishing Company, Inc. |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-8283-2003-0}} * {{cite book |last=Demosthenes |first=Lorandos |editor-last1=Morewitz |editor-first1=Stephen J. |editor-last2=Goldstein |editor-first2=Mark L. |title=Handbook of Forensic Sociology and Psychology |chapter=Parental Alienation |publication-date=2014 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-1-4614-7177-6 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-7178-3}} * {{cite book |last=Dimond |first=Diane |author-link=Diane Dimond |title=Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case |publication-date=2009 |publisher=Atria Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-7432-7091-5}} * {{cite book |last=Ebert |first=John David |title=Dead Celebrities, Living Icons: Tragedy and Fame in the Age of the Multimedia Superstar |publication-date=2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-313-37764-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/deadcelebritiesl0000eber}} * {{cite book |last=Fischer |first=Mary A. |title=Was Michael Jackson Framed?: The Untold Story That Brought Down a Superstar |publication-date=2012 |orig-date=1994 |publisher=Argo-Navis |isbn=978-0-7867-5413-7}} * {{cite book |last=Halperin |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Halperin |title=Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson |publication-date=2009 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-66820-415-3}} * {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Aphrodite |author-link=Aphrodite Jones |title=Michael Jackson Conspiracy |publication-date=2007 |publisher=Aphrodite Jones Books |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |isbn=978-0-9795498-0-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/michaeljacksonco00jone}} * {{cite book |last=Knopper |first=Steve |title=MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson |publication-date=2015 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-1-4767-3037-0}} * {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Jel D. |title=Michael Jackson, the King of Pop: The Big Picture: The Music! the Man! the Legend! the Interviews: An Anthology |publication-date=2005 |publisher=Amber Books |location=Phoenix, Arizona |isbn=978-0-9749779-0-4}} * {{cite book |last=Pinder |first=Sherrow O. |title=Michael Jackson and the Quandary of a Black Identity |publication-date=2021 |publisher=SUNY Press |location=Albany, New York |isbn=978-1-4384-8479-2}} * {{cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Randall |author-link=Randall Sullivan |title=Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson |publication-date=2012 |publisher=Grove Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-8021-9565-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/untouchable00}} * {{cite book |last=Taraborrelli |first=J. Randy |author-link=J. Randy Taraborrelli |title=Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness |title-link=Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness |publication-date=1991 |publisher=Citadel Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-1-55972-064-9}} {{refend}}
{{Michael Jackson}} {{Portal bar|1990s|Law}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:First sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson}} Jackson, Michael Category:Michael Jackson Category:Criticism of journalism Category:1993 controversies in the United States Category:1993 in California Category:1990s crimes in California Jackson, Michael Category:African-American history of California Category:Post–civil rights era in African-American history Category:Michael Jackson sexual abuse allegations