The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, located two hours away from the Jackson family’s hometown of Gary, Indiana, has removed a pair of Michael Jackson items from display following allegations of child sex abuse in the documentary Leaving Neverland.
One of Jackson’s iconic gloves and fedoras, purchased at auction in 2017, as well as an autographed Jackson poster were on display at the children’s museum until this month, when curators decided to remove the items following the premiere of Leaving Neverland, the Indianapolis Star reports.
“When we put together exhibitions, we look at the objects and their association with high-profile people. Obviously, we want to put stories in front of our visitors (showing) people of high character,” the museum’s director of collections Chris Carron told the newspaper.
“When you learn new stories or you look at something historical in a different way, then sometimes we re-evaluate whether that’s appropriate to be (on display).”
Jackson visited the museum in 1990, around the same time he befriended an Indianapolis teenager named Ryan White who was diagnosed with HIV following a blood transfusion. When White died that year, Jackson attended the funeral.
While Jackson hasn’t faced as severe a backlash as R. Kelly in the aftermath of Leaving Neverland, there has been some fallout from the two-part HBO film: The Simpsons pulled the episode featuring a Jackson-voiced character from syndication in light of Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s allegations against the singer.
“It feels clearly the only choice to make,” the animated show’s longtime producer James L. Brooks said. “The documentary gave evidence of monstrous behavior.”