"Leaving Neverland" director salutes "courage" of young men who spoke – Deadline

HBO's acclaimed documentary Leave Neverland He won gold for best documentary or documentary special at Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, and director and producer Dan Reed was quick to thank the brave young men who came forward and spoke with so many freedom from the sexual abuse they had suffered.

"It was a helluva trip for this doc," said Reed, while he accepted the award on stage. "It started with an obscure reference in a webpage to two young men I had never heard of before."

Leave Neverland explores the testimony of two young men: Australian dancer and choreographer Wade Robson and California's James Safechuck. Both were drawn into the tight circle of Michael Jackson and abused by him at the age of seven and ten respectively.

"None of this would have been possible without the incredible courage and determination of Wade and James and their families, and I wanted to applaud that," said Reed. "This is one of the first times we are able to highlight the sexual abuse of children …. The evolution of this phenomenon is not easy to tell … it is often secret for decades, so I thank them. from the bottom of my heart."

He also thanked Channel 4 and HBO for their "unwavering support for this very difficult production".

Behind the scenes, Reed said that he had come to believe Robson and Safechuck since the beginning, especially given the depth and tone of their memories. "Listening to Wade's story, I realized that when he was eight, he started a relationship that looks like a twisted seven-year-old relationship … it's something that I did not expect to hear. Like most people, I imagined that a sexual predator was a child when a raincoat caught a person outside a school … if he tried to kiss, he would not have needed to say, "I am fell in love with Michael Jackson.

The testimonials were saved with a lot of verification, said Reed. "Of course we did a considerable amount of basic research to find out if it was possible for them to experience what they said they did."

Leave Neverland is nominated for a total of five Emmys.