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When Robson was five, he met the American pop singer Michael Jackson, who was touring Australia. Two years later, when Robson visited the US with his family to perform with Johnny Young's Talent School in Disneyland, California, Jackson invited the family to stay with him at his home, Neverland Ranch, also in California. Robson appeared in Jackson's music videos.
In 2005, after Jackson was charged with child sexual abuse, Robson testified in his defense, saying he had slept in Jackson's bedroom several times but had never been molested. Jackson was acquitted. After Jackson's death in 2009, Robson said: "His music, his movement, his personal words of inspiration and encouragement and his unconditional love will live inside of me forever."
In 2013, Robson reversed his position and filed a lawsuit against Jackson's estate. He said that Jackson had sexually abused him on two visits to the US and after he moved with his family to the US, when Robson was aged between seven and. Robson said his earlier denial was due to Jackson's "complete manipulation and brainwashing", and that his change of story was provoked by becoming a father and experiencing nervous breakdowns.
The allegations by Robson and another man, James Safechuck, are the focus of the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland. In 2017, Robson's lawsuit was dismissed as the statute of limitations had expired. It was revived in 2019 after a new law gave those who allege childhood sexual abuse longer to file lawsuits. The case was dismissed again in April 2021, when a judge ruled that Jackson's companies had no legal duty to protect Robson.
This ruling was overturned in August 2023 in a decision in Safechuck v. MJJ Productions, clearing the way for a trial.
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