Mark Geragos is being widely criticized for his involvement in a lawsuit against The Michael Jackson Company, LLC, and is being labeled an “alleged liar for hire” by Michael Jackson fans, according to a report in “The Blast.”
Geragos was one of Jackson’s most ardent supporters but is now retained by Frank Cascio, a long-time associate of Jackson, in a lawsuit that challenges a 2020 confidential settlement with Michael Jackson Company.
In a recent posting by Michael Jackson’s official Instagram page, fans labeled Geragos an “alleged liar for hire” based upon his representation of Cascio.
“Which side is Geragos on? Defends Michael, now helping to extort him?” said one user.
“Geragos is a #liarforhire,” another
Only three weeks before his own Instagram post, Geragos was featured in a TMZ bit discussing his Michael Jackson Company that proved to be a PR disaster.
Supporters quickly responded in the comment section of the post, calling out the attorney.
“It appears that Mark is trying to say that Harvey is unwilling to talk about it, but he is failing to disclose that he was involved in Michael Jackson’s defense in 2005 and that he has denied allegations of misconduct multiple times. He is making a joke out of this and is an ambulance chaser. He is trying to get around his clients’ agreement by threatening Michael Jackson’s estate and children and mother,” a fan commented.
Another so-called “expert”: “The Cascios are ridiculous, and Geragos will damage his reputation by being allied with them. In fact, the Cascios attempted to sell plagiarized songs in order to make a profit and traveled to the estate in order to ask for millions. This is a clear-cut extortion case.”
The Michael Jackson Company alleges that Cascio and others received payments over a five-year period in return for their silence and cooperation in regards to Michael Jackson’s legacy.
In court documents obtained by The Blast, Michael Jackson Company refers to “this latest escapade by Cascios” as a “shakedown.”
In documents filed in the superior court in Los Angeles that have been obtained by People, attorneys for Michael Jackson’s company claim that Cascio himself, through an attorney of his choosing, threatened a public claim against Jackson of $213 million.
This was later lowered to 44 million, though the Michael Jackson Company claims that it was all based on the same tactic pressure backed by false threats of reputation damage.
“They threatened to sue us if we didn’t pay,” said attorney Martin D. Singer in a sworn statement that was filed in court.
In his lawsuit, he also said that threats included making claims of defamation against estate co-executor John Branca as well as bringing suits against Jackson’s attorneys, although arbitration agreement terms required that claims be resolved out of court.
Michael Jackson’s company asserts that after being paid in terms of the 2020 settlement agreement, Cascio and his group asked for more funds while threatening to go public if their demands were not met.
In court documents, a meeting was described that was organized at a pool within the Sunset Marquis Hotel, where a representative of Cascio insisted that guests wear “bathing suits” to discourage recording.
“Only a person engaging in extortion or other illegal activities would care about a recording of their talk. A truthful individual making legitimate claims in a lawsuit would have no objection to being recorded,” a July petition said.
Apparently, according to court papers, Michael Jackson Company entered an agreement in 2020 in order to safeguard Jackson’s children against having to cope with false claims and in order to safeguard Michael’s valuable legacy.
