I not only understand the skepticism around this documentary, I shared it. The lawsuits were both dismissed because too much time had passed since the alleged abuse happened there was no decision on the credibility of the accusations. Then, several years later, both men publicly alleged Jackson had abused them for years, and sued the late entertainer’s estate and existing companies. He and his family attended Michael’s funeral at the Jackson family’s invitation. Robson, best known as the creative director for *NSYNC and Britney Spears at their massive peaks, took his wife to meet Jackson soon before his death and even discussed collaborating. The men also hadn’t cut Michael out of their lives. Safechuck’s mother also told him he should show up for Jackson again, but he refused. Robson initially declined the request to testify again in 2005, but said his mother convinced him support Michael. In fact, both testified in his defense against Chandler, adamantly denying Jackson had ever been inappropriate with them. In the cases of Robeson and Safechuck, neither ever brought accusations against Jackson while he was alive. I thought I knew real facts and not misinformation or spin, but I felt I needed to take another look. But I’d watched every interview and statement – Michael hadn’t done as much public speaking as he did following the first set of accusations since the beginning of his solo career. Also, since I wasn’t actively engaged during the trials, I hadn’t closely examined all the details. Questions about the Arvizo family’s intentions and credibility arose with revelations that the mother was under investigation for welfare fraud and the father had pushed the young sons to shoplift in the past. Witness testimony from the alleged victim’s brother came apart during cross-examination.
#Leaving neverland michael jackson trial#
The 2005 Arvizo trial was messy: Bashir doubled back on previous public comments to defend Michael’s relationship with the children. There were walk backs Jackson’s housekeeper’s son said during the Chandler investigation that Michael had fondled him, only to then refuse to go on record with the statement or testify. Over the years, however, I’ve grown doubtful. Michael was acquitted both times, but also settled with both families. I followed the spectacle and had seen the surreal Martin Bashir documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, which prompted Jackson’s 2003 arrest on nine counts relating to child molestation, but I was even less invested. By the second trial a decade later, I believed the accusations. He was a deeply flawed character who still put up some bangers. I wasn’t that invested, though, because by 1993 Michael wasn’t the mythological, faint-inducing King of Pop he was when I was a kid. Even if he was a socially and emotionally regressed Peter Pan-figure. I at least believed – as I still do – that Michael’s relationships with the boys in his life were completely inappropriate as a grown ass man. I don’t remember if I believed it, but I know I didn’t not believe it. When 13-year old Jordan Chandler accused Michael of sexual assault in 1993, I was a senior in high school. There wasn’t a conversation, then, about the limits of separating art from the artist. Michael was weird, but he was still a musical genius. Even as we were jamming to Dangerous, we still clowning him – I remember the extensive analysis of his awkward kiss with Iman in the “Remember the Time” video. Black comedy was peppered with MJ jokes, including jokes about his alleged pedophilia. For much of the ‘90s, Michael was prime tabloid fodder, and his relationship with black culture was complicated. Severe alterations to his appearance questions about his sexuality – or lack thereof his unusual obsessions like The Elephant Man’s remains his propensity to take a chimpanzee with him everywhere, and then take young boys with him everywhere his incredibly strange marriages first to the princess of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Lisa Marie Presley, and then to Debbie Rowe, the mother of his children (who seemed like the most random white woman on the planet for Michael Jackson to procreate with) and finally his behavior as a father, covering his kids with masks in public (which I think many of us understand, now), and dangling his infant baby over a hotel balcony. Michael Jackson was synonymous with scandal for over a decade.
#Leaving neverland michael jackson tv#
I’m old enough to remember Thriller’s release (I was in elementary school), to remember the “Black or White” video premiere on TV (middle school), and to remember the Wacko Jacko tabloid era. I believe one’s approach to Leaving Neverland depends on what Michael Jackson era they experienced. Some fans have complained about black writers, especially, who’ve reviewed the documentary without dismissing it as a farce. Jackson superfans have been rabidly swarming anyone who mentions Leaving Neverland on Twitter, sending court transcripts and links they argue debunk allegations made over the years and discredit Robson and Safechuck.
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