WADE ROBSON

A U.S. tax court has handed a major victory to the estate of Michael Jackson in a years-long battle.

A judge has dismissed the lawsuit of a man who alleged that Michael Jackson sexually abused him as a boy.

(AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)PASADENA, Calif. – A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a lawsuit filed by the Michael Jackson estate over an HBO documentary about two of the late pop star's sex abuse accusers can go forward in private arbitration. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with two lower courts and ruled in favor of the Jackson estate in its decision on “Leaving Neverland." Unless there are further appeals, the case will go to a private arbitrator, which the Jackson estate argued was required by the 1992 contract at the center of the lawsuit. HBO has also more generally defended “Leaving Neverland” as a valid and important piece of documentary journalism. “Leaving Neverland” director Dan Reed has been filming the hearings in those cases for a follow-up documentary.

LOS ANGELES – A judge has dismissed the lawsuit of one of two men who alleged that Michael Jackson abused them as boys in the HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland." Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark A. “We are pleased that the court dismissed Mr. Safechuck’s case by ruling that he had no grounds to pursue such a lawsuit,” Jackson estate attorneys Howard Weitzman and Jonathan Steinsapir said in a statement. A judge dismissed it in 2017, but an appeals court revived it early this year after California Gov. The similar lawsuit of Safechuck's fellow accuser and “Leaving Neverland” subject Wade Robson, which was also revived by the appeals court, remains alive.

In this combination photo, Wade Robson, left, and James Safechuck pose for a portrait to promote the film "Leaving Neverland" during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 24, 2019. A California appeals court is strongly inclined to give new life to lawsuits filed by Robson and James Safechuck who accuse Michael Jackson of molesting them when they were boys. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)LOS ANGELES, CA A California appeals court will likely give new life to lawsuits filed by two men who accuse Michael Jackson of molesting them when they were boys. In a tentative ruling Monday, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said lawsuits from James Safechuck and Wade Robson should be reconsidered by the trial court that dismissed them in 2017. Lawyers for the Jackson estate say they accept the decision, but emphasize it is unrelated to the truthfulness of the allegations, which they have denounced as false.