Michael Jackson Estate denounces the HBO documentary as "public Lynching"



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A documentary aired on HBO this spring explores the allegations of two men who say that Michael Jackson badually badaulted them while they were boys. In a very firm statement, the singer's estate refuted the film's claims, calling the documentary "tabloid badbadination".

Leaving Neverland aroused strong reactions after its first Friday at the Sundance Film Festival. Wade Robson and James Safechuck, men accusing Jackson of badual abuse, were applauded at the screening in Park City, Utah. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film also attracted a small group of protesters who carried signs stating "seek the truth" and "innocent" outside the theater.

The four-hour film, directed by Dan Reed, details Robson's statements. , a choreographer who says Jackson started mistreating him at the age of 7 and Safechuck, a former childish actor who says Jackson started molesting him at 10.

Both men allege years of badual violence, allegedly at the singer's famous Neverland ranch. They also claimed to have been pressured by Jackson to keep the violence secret. Outlets said the Sundance screening featured health professionals to help audience members concerned with the graphic descriptions of the film. Journalists who attended the screening shared some of the documentary's allegations on Twitter.

In the statement he made after the Sundance premiere, Jackson's film stated that "the film takes into account unsubstantiated allegations that would have occurred 20 years ago and treat them as facts. " [19659003] "These requests were the basis of the legal actions brought by these two liars admitted that were finally rejected by a judge," the statement said. "The two accusers testified under oath that these events never occurred, they provided no independent evidence and absolutely no evidence to support their charges, which means that the entire film is solely based on the word of two perjuries. "

Robson, 36, of the Daily Beast, alleged in a lawsuit filed in May 2013 – nearly four years after the singer's death in 2009 – that Jackson had badually badaulted him for seven years. A native of Australia, who appeared in several Jackson videoclips while he was a child, he had been a key defense witness during the singer's 2005 criminal trial, during which Robson testified under oath that the singer had never badaulted him. (Jackson was subsequently acquitted of all charges, which included four counts of child molestation.)

Robson's trial in 2013 was dropped two years later by a judge, who stated that Robson had waited too long to badert his right.

Safechuck, 40, made his name known in 2014 with a similar lawsuit that was also dismissed. As the Los Angeles Times notes, the documents filed in the Safechuck case acknowledged that he too had denied that the singer had mistreated him – in a witness statement that he had given in 1993, while Jackson had been charged for the first time with badual abuse of a child.

Separate statement Monday morning, calling the documentary "public lynching".

"The creators of this film were not interested in the truth," the statement said. "They have never interviewed a single lonely soul knowing Michael, with the exception of the two perjurers and their families.This is not journalism, it is not fair, but the media perpetuate these stories. "

The family declaration echoes the singer's comments. The nephew Taj Jackson, who tweeted Saturday that the film was a "hit hit 4 hours". "It is a question of money and the desperate need to become relevant again," he wrote.

Reed, the director of the film, dismissed Jackson's comments in an interview with USA Today.

"How can you call a group of four? -Hour documentary? Tabloid?" He told the paper. "The statement does not contain anything disturbing and no serious criticism of the film – they have visibly not seen it, and I do not engage in the substance of what they say." "

After the screening of Sundance, Safechuck and Robson told an audience that they had never been offered compensation for their participation in the film. "We are just trying to tell the story, to shed light on the subject," said Safechuck, quoted by Vanity Fair. the documentary will be released in two parts this spring. The film will also be broadcast on the British channel Channel 4.

(c) 2019, The Washington Post

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