Do we like Michael Jackson?
Our score: 5 out of 10. A 2005 acquittal and no harmful words found sit against unresolved civil allegations, and I couldn't source his charity record properly.
Michael Jackson is back in the conversation because of the biopic Michael, which opened in April 2026 to about US$97 million in North America over its first weekend, despite lukewarm reviews. His nephew Jaafar Jackson plays him. Plenty of people are asking the same question the page asks: can we still love the music?
The big legal moment came in 2005. A jury in Santa Maria, California, found him not guilty of all ten charges, including conspiracy, attempted molestation and plying a minor with alcohol, after about 30 hours of deliberations. His lawyer Thomas Mesereau Jr. said: “Justice is done. The man's innocent. He always was.” That is a court acquittal, and it counts.
The civil side is not finished. Two men who say Jackson abused them as children are suing his companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, alleging the companies helped enable and conceal the abuse. A judge has set trial for 14 February 2028. The estate has repeatedly denied the claims and points to the pair's earlier statements that nothing happened.
There is also a newer fight. In 2026 four Cascio siblings sued the estate in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging Jackson abused them as children. The estate's lawyer Marty Singer called the suit a “desperate money grab”. No court has ruled on the merits, so these remain unproven allegations that the estate denies.
On the harm test, nothing turned up in his own words or acts: no campaigning against LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet. I'll be straight that my search on that was thin, not exhaustive. His lifelong fans point out that the criminal jury cleared him; his critics point to the civil claims that are still undecided.
I couldn't pin down a properly dated source for his charity record this time, so I'm not scoring on it. Where you land depends on whether you weigh the 2005 acquittal more heavily or the allegations still before the courts. It's a mixed picture, not a villain's file and not a clean bill of health.