{"id":481376,"date":"2019-01-26T07:05:24","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T14:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=784968"},"modified":"2019-01-26T07:05:24","modified_gmt":"2019-01-26T14:05:24","slug":"michael-jackson-estate-slams-leaving-neverland-tabloid-character-assassination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/michael-jackson-estate-slams-leaving-neverland-tabloid-character-assassination\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson Estate Slams \u2018Leaving Neverland\u2019: \u2018Tabloid Character Assassination\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hours after Leaving Neverland<\/em>, the documentary<\/a> about Michael Jackson<\/a>\u2018s alleged sexual abuse of underage boys, left the audience shell-shocked at its Sundance premiere<\/a>, the Jackson estate released a statement slamming the HBO-bound film.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaving Neverland<\/em> isn\u2019t a documentary, it is the kind of tabloid character assassination Michael Jackson endured in life, and now in death. The film takes uncorroborated allegations that supposedly happened 20 years ago and treats them as fact,\u201d the estate wrote in a statement sent to Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The estate also called Wade Robson and James Safechuck, whose accounts of sexual abuse by Jackson is the focus of the two-part, 233-minute documentary, \u201cadmitted liars\u201d who \u201cprovided no independent evidence\u00a0and absolutely no proof in support of their accusations, which means the entire film hinges solely on the word of two\u00a0perjurers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The estate added that Robson was \u201cgrateful\u201d for Jackson\u2019s role in his life for 20 years until, following Jackson\u2019s death, the choreographer was denied in a Michael Jackson themed Cirque du Soleil production, at which point \u201chis assault allegations suddenly emerged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Safechuck\u2019s motive for participating in Leaving Neverland<\/em>, the estate claimed, \u201chas always been about money \u2013 millions of dollars \u2013 dating back to 2013 when both Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who share the same law firm, launched their unsuccessful claims against Michael\u2019s Estate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely sympathetic to any legitimate victim of child abuse. This film, however, does those victims a disservice,\u201d the estate said. \u201cNow that Michael is no longer here to defend himself, Robson, Safechuck and their lawyers continue their efforts to achieve notoriety and a payday by smearing him with the same allegations a jury found him innocent of when he was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the Michael Jackson estate\u2019s full statement below:<\/p>\n

Leaving Neverland isn\u2019t a documentary, it is the kind of tabloid character assassination Michael Jackson endured in life, and now in death. The film takes uncorroborated allegations that supposedly happened 20 years ago and treats them as fact.\u00a0These claims were the basis of lawsuits filed by these two admitted liars which were ultimately dismissed by a judge. The\u00a0two accusers testified under oath that these events never occurred. They have provided no independent evidence\u00a0and absolutely no proof in support of their accusations, which means the entire film hinges solely on the word of two\u00a0perjurers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tellingly, the director admitted at the Sundance Film Festival that he limited his interviews only to these accusers and their families. In doing so, he intentionally avoided interviewing numerous people over the years who spent significant time with Michael Jackson and have unambiguously stated that he treated children with respect and did nothing hurtful to them. By choosing not to include any of these independent voices who might challenge the narrative that he was determined to sell, the director neglected fact checking so he could craft a narrative so blatantly one-sided that viewers never get anything close to a balanced portrait.<\/em><\/p>\n

For 20 years Wade Robson denied\u00a0in court and in numerous interviews, including after Michael passed, that he was a victim and stated he was grateful for everything Michael had done for him. His family benefitted from Michael\u2019s kindness, generosity and career support up until Michael\u2019s death. Conveniently left out of Leaving Neverland was the fact that when Robson was denied a role in a Michael Jackson themed Cirque du Soleil production, his assault allegations suddenly emerged.<\/em><\/p>\n

We are extremely sympathetic to any legitimate victim of child abuse. This film, however, does those victims a disservice.\u00a0 Because despite all the disingenuous denials made that this is not about money, it has always been about money \u2013 millions of dollars \u2013 dating back to 2013 when both Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who share the same law firm, launched their unsuccessful claims against Michael\u2019s Estate. Now that Michael is no longer here to defend himself, Robson, Safechuck and their lawyers continue their efforts to achieve notoriety and a payday by smearing him with the same allegations a jury found him innocent of when he was alive.<\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hours after Leaving Neverland, the documentary about Michael Jackson\u2018s alleged sexual abuse of underage boys, left the audience shell-shocked at its Sundance premiere, the Jackson estate released a statement slamming the HBO-bound film. \u201cLeaving Neverland isn\u2019t a documentary, it is the kind of tabloid character assassination Michael Jackson endured in life, and now in death. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-481376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-13 03:26:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KQZR - The Reel","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}