A Los Angeles County judge set February 14, 2028, as the new trial date for consolidated civil lawsuits brought by Wade Robson and James Safechuck against two companies associated with Michael Jackson.
Robson and Safechuck say that, during childhood, they experienced years of sexual abuse by Jackson and that employees of MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures enabled or concealed the conduct. Before his 2009 death, Jackson repeatedly rejected every accusation that he sexually abused children. His companies and estate contest the claims.
Judge Michael E. Whitaker moved the trial from October 2027 following a joint waiver by the parties' lawyers of deadlines that ordinarily required an earlier proceeding. The parties said Safechuck's deposition was delayed by his attorney's separate trial commitments and that the referee supervising several depositions had limited availability.
Whitaker ordered another hearing in September to monitor progress. He also raised the possibility that a second discovery referee could serve as a mediator, an option an attorney for Jackson's estate said would require consultation with the client. Discussion of mediation did not indicate that a settlement had been reached or was imminent.
Robson, a choreographer and director, filed his lawsuit in 2013. Safechuck, a writer, actor and director, filed separately in 2014. Their accounts became widely known through the 2019 documentary *Leaving Neverland*. The men had previously sought a trial before release of the biographical film *Michael*, but repeated scheduling delays made that timing unattainable.
Both cases were earlier dismissed and later revived on appeal. In 2024, the plaintiffs secured permission to combine them. The appellate court concluded that companies can carry a duty to protect people from abuse even when the entities are wholly owned by the person accused of committing it. That ruling allowed the negligence and related claims to proceed; it was not a factual finding that abuse occurred.
Robson says he met Jackson through a dance competition at age five and was abused during later visits to Neverland Ranch. Safechuck says he met Jackson while making a Pepsi commercial and that abuse began in 1988, when he was 10. These remain allegations to be evaluated against the defence and evidence at trial.
Historical criminal proceedings involved different claims. Prosecutors declined to bring charges after a 1994 investigation when an alleged victim would not testify following a civil settlement. Jackson was charged in another case in 2003 and acquitted on every count in 2005. Those outcomes do not decide the companies' civil liability in the current lawsuits.
The new date gives both sides additional time for depositions and discovery. The September status hearing will test whether that preparation remains on schedule for a trial now set more than a decade after the original complaints.
