Michael Jackson was among the dozens of names that appeared in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein “list”; however, it’s important to note that he was not accused of any wrongdoing.
According to Billboard, the late music icon was mentioned in the bombshell documents that pertained to Virginia Giuffre’s defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was found guilty of trafficking women and girls for Epstein’s sex abuse scheme.
The files were made public on Wednesday, Jan. 3, after Judge Loretta Preska ruled that the mostly unredacted documents be unsealed. The first batch included more than 150 names, some of which belonged to Epstein accusers and others to Epstein associates. Everyone from former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump to Vice President Al Gore and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak were mentioned in the files, along with numerous celebrities, like Kevin Spacey, David Copperfield, Naomi Campbell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Cate Blanchett.
Jackson’s name was reportedly mentioned when Giuffre’s attorney, Sigrid McCawley, asked another witness about Epstein’s connections to well-known figures.
“Did you ever meet anybody famous when you were with Jeffrey?” McCawley asked.
“I met Michael Jackson,” the witness said. “At his house in Palm Beach. At Jeffrey’s house in Palm Beach.”
Maxwell’s lawyer, Laura Menninger, later questioned the witness about her Jackson claims. The witness reiterated she had met the late singer, but did not accuse him of any crime or misconduct.
The Epstein “list” was made public about 30 years after Jackson was first hit with child molestation claims. The King of Pop, who died in 2009, was accused of sexually abusing multiple minors at his Neverland Ranch. The allegations were explored in the 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck accused Jackson of molesting them when they were kids.
Jackson was never convicted of any crime, as he settled with another accuser’s family in 1993, and was acquitted of all charges in another 2005 sexual abuse case.
The singer’s estate has yet to publicly address the newly unsealed documents. Additional files related to the case will be released in the upcoming days.
