Five former security guards filed a lawsuit against Michael Jackson, charging that the superstar fired them because they knew too much about his alleged activities with young boys.
The lawsuit filed Monday added to Jackson's woes on the eve of a Superior Court hearing scheduled for Tuesday on allegations he molested a 13-year-old boy.Jackson's lawyers asked the judge to delay the boy's lawsuit for six years, when the statute of limitations expires.
The entertainer maintains the allegations stem from a failed $20 million extortion attempt by the boy's father, a dentist and aspiring screenwriter.
Jackson's lawyer, Bertram Fields, also denied the guards' allegations.
Jackson has not been charged with any crime. Police are investigating the 13-year-old's allegations.
Jackson canceled his "Dangerous" world tour this month, saying he had developed an addiction to painkillers because of the pressure "resulting from these false allegations coupled with the incredible energy necessary for me to perform."
The guards say they were fired in February as part of a cover-up for their knowledge of Jackson's alleged activities with boys.
The lawsuit said the guards knew in January that child molestation allegations involving Jackson and a number of young boys, age 10 through 14, were probable. It also said the "plaintiffs were among those who had firsthand personal knowledge of many of defendant Jackson's nighttime visits with young boys."
Fields responded: "Nobody was ever fired by Mr. Jackson for knowing too much about anything."