Michael Jackson fans have got the hashtag "MJInnocent" trending by either misinterpreting or misrepresenting a California court ruling on Monday.
Judge Mark A. Young dismissed a lawsuit against Jackson’s companies and ruled that they were not legally obligated to protect boys from sexual abuse. The ruling does not address the late pop star's guilt or innocence.
Wade Robson, who shared his allegations of abuse by Jackson in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, claimed MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures facilitated the singer’s abuse of he and other boys.
Young decided the companies were both wholly owned by Jackson when he was alive and therefore had no control over him.
A lawyer for Robson said, in a statement, they will appeal the ruling because it sets “a dangerous precedent that would leave thousands of children working in the entertainment industry vulnerable to sexual abuse by persons in places of power.”
Jonathan Steinsapir, a lawyer representing Jackson’s companies, called Robson’s lawsuit “frivolous.” In a statement, he said: “A judge has once again ruled that Robson’s claims have no merit whatsoever.”
Last October, Young dismissed a similar lawsuit filed by James Safechuck, another alleged victim of Jackson’s sexual abuse who appeared in Leaving Neverland.
The estate of Jackson, who died in 2009, has publicly denied all allegations of sexual abuse.
Jackson was acquitted of molesting Gavin Arvizo after a 2005 trial, where prosecutors gave evidence that at least two other alleged victims had reached confidential settlements with the singer in the ‘90s.
On Monday, his nephew Taj Jackson tweeted: “We’ve been ridiculed, vilified and marginalized. Yet we still stood strong and never wavered. We withstood all peer and public pressure, because we knew the truth. Armed with passion and the facts, we never backed down. All for MJ. I’m so proud of us.”