Members of the Michael Jackson family in the documentary 'Leaving Neverland' – Rolling Stone

The news landed like a grenade while the Jackson toured overseas. An upcoming documentary would contain new allegations that their late brother, pop icon Michael Jackson, allegedly sexually assaulted two young boys. The reaction of his older brother, Jackie, was simple: "It's gone again.

The family rejects these new allegations of the documentary in two parts of four hours, Leave Neverland, although none of his brothers have seen him yet. The film focuses exclusively on the lives of two young boys – Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who have grown up – who claim to have been assaulted overnight at the Neverland Ranch in Jackson, rural Santa's County. Barbara, California, in the 1980s and 1990s.

The documentary, aired Sunday and Monday on HBO, comes from two memories of two previous cases in which Jackson, who died in 2009, was accused of being sexually assaulted by two other boys who became close to the singer. A 1993 civil case was settled amicably and a criminal investigation was dropped. A criminal trial of 2005 ended with an acquittal.

The Jackson family refuses to accept the allegations and suggests that the two men at the center of Leave Neverland are motivated by a desire for money and fame. Both sued for damages in excess of $ 100,000 against the estate. They missed the deadline set by California to sue the estate of a deceased person, and cases were filed. Both are on appeal.

If the trial takes place, says board lawyer Jonathan P. Steinsapir, "we are very happy to win this case".

This week, in a private room of a hotel restaurant in Beverly Hills, four members of the Jackson family gathered for a day of interviews to defend Michael and attack the documentary. Among them were three original Jackson 5 members: Jackie, 67; Marlon, 61 years old; and Tito, 65, wearing his signature melon hat.

"You think if Michael was here, would they? Not at all, "insists Jackie. "My brother is not here. It is therefore an easy target. "

None of Jackson's brothers is the direct financial beneficiary of the Michael Jackson estate, which controls the singer's assets and has experienced a boom in recent years. The estate has made profits of $ 2.1 billion (adjusted for inflation) since his death, according to Forbes. The Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson: a is in his sixth year in Las Vegas, and the stage musical Do not stop until you have enough is expected to open on Broadway in 2020. The estate has also initiated a $ 100 million lawsuit against HBO.

But the documentary, premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival, could hurt that momentum and tarnish Jackson's legacy. The family noted that Robson, a successful choreographer, filed his first lawsuit in 2013, after being hired for the first time. A show in Vegas. Robson and Safechuck also testified that they were never assaulted by Jackson.

One of the most powerful defenders of the pop superstar is his nephew, Taj Jackson, 45, son of Tito and himself a survivor of sexual abuse committed in his childhood (by an uncle of his mother), who joined his uncles in this interview with Rolling stone.

As a child of the same generation of accusers, Taj has slept a lot at Neverland and says that he knew Robson well. Like his Jackson uncles, he says he can not believe the allegations. And with Michael gone, it's up to the family to protect his name and reputation. "We are a unit, you know?" He said. "And when lies happen like that, we all defend because we know the truth."

Why are you talking about this documentary?
Marlon: If your brother had died and someone wanted to defame his name, you would support him. It is not him. It's not his character. We certainly know our brother and this documentary is very one-sided and there is no fact that corroborates the meaning of this documentary.

Did one of you actually see the documentary?
Marlon: I am not interested in seeing the documentary. It's something that has no validity.

Mahal: I have read the transcripts. I want to see him. I wanted to see him before – they will not let me see him. I know what it is, so I feel very free to talk about it. This is my generation. Wade Robson is a person I know very well.

Did you know that this documentary was in production?
Marlon: No.

Jackie: I heard about it in Australia a couple of weeks ago. The brothers and I were on tour and my superiors came to us and said, "This story is coming out of your brother. I do not think it will be good. "And I told him," Here we go again. "It was at that moment that we worried about the whole documentary, which is why we are here to help our brother.

Were you often to Neverland?
Mahal: I was very much. Probably over 200 times.

Did you also spend a lot of time there?
Marlon: We are adult men. We have children. We have our own thing to do. We do not follow Michael.

Jackie: We went there several times.

Marlon: I mean, we went to Neverland but we did not stay at Neverland.

This is not the first time this type of accusation has been raised. People will watch this documentary in their minds, which will affect their interpretation.
Marlon: I disagree, because if they check the facts, they will not do it. The facts tell a story totally different from that of this documentary.

Mahal: Our family in the past has been so quiet about it because we have been taught to stretch the other cheek. So, there are many lies that have lasted for 20 years and are now part of the public consciousness, which is not true. Many people are unaware that the allegations of 1993 were not about sexual abuse, but about neglect. And nothing prevented this kid from testifying in a criminal case. He wanted his money – his father wanted the money. Once they received the money, they were no longer worried about the case any more. And a criminal case could have always occurred if the California attorney had evidence. And a 10-year investigation conducted by the FBI gave no results.

[[[[Editor's note: The 1993 civil suit charged Jackson with sexual abuse, seduction, willful misconduct, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud and negligence. The case has been settled amicably and only concerns negligence complaints.]

I was at Neverland many times when my uncle feared that Neverland would be bothered. So with 10 years of investigation and surveillance – as much as Michael Jackson throughout his life – and there is no evidence.

What did he do about it?
Jackie: He was pretty angry. Neverland was searched and you would see all the police cars on his ranch. He was on tour when they were going to do that.

Mahal: They took his computers, they took everything and they found no evidence. Now we all know that when there is a pedophile, you take their computer … you will find something. Seventy sheriffs [deputies] attacked this place. It looked like a drug seizure. We watched on TV. They have not found any evidence that he was a pedophile.

Marlon: So here you have a documentary that [Dan Reed] sold to HBO. He trusted Wade and Safechuck that they were telling the truth – which is nothing wrong with trusting them. But you have to check. HBO, huge business – do not you think they would do the due diligence and make sure that what they broadcast to the public is a fact? There is no fact corroborating what they say. And he only interviewed Wade Robertson and some members of his family, as well as Safechuck and his family. He does not call the Jackson family. He did not call some of the other kids –

Jackie: Or Michael's friends or people who knew Michael, who loved Michael. They did not talk to any of these friends.

Marlon: There was no point in talking to them. He did not want to compromise the product he was making because he wanted to be one-sided, one-way. And I do not invent anything. It's a question of money.

Money for whom?
Marlon: Wait, what do you mean by money for whom?

For the network? For both guys -?
Mahal: This is definitely all that precedes. We live in a world where motto is popularity – thanks to subscribers, social media – the more popular they are, the more money you will earn. It's just a fact. And it's not a coincidence that Wade and James have launched appeals against the estate for hundreds of millions of dollars. They have an interest in saying that Michael Jackson is an aggressor. Dan Reed has an interest because many journalists have made a career out of Michael Jackson. The director even stated that he was looking for a large-scale case to hang on to. You can not be clearer than that.

There are other things at stake for the family, right?
Marlon: I do not think so, because there are no facts. They did not produce any evidence that would corroborate this documentary. So, there are no facts on their side. And what we tell you, you can go get it: it's recorded; it's in magazines, articles. Mr. Wade, constantly on the video, saying, "Michael was my mentor. He started me in this business. If it was not Michael, I would not do it. It's an amazing guy. "

Even when he lived, there were jokes about Michael enjoying hanging out with young children and getting them to sleep. Sure 60 minutes, he was questioned about it. Ed Bradley said, "Do you still think it's okay to share your bed with children?"
Jackie: He was sitting there with his own children. My children were there his nieces and nephews were present and people were sleeping in their pajamas to watch movies.

Mahal: You can not live your life for what others think. I grew up in this atmosphere. I grew up with pie fights, water balloon fights and stink bombs, and people would say the same thing. What does an adult man do by throwing water balloons or pie fights? But my uncle was a child of heart and that was the thing people did not understand – and people did not understand it. Everyone who knew him understood that – from Elizabeth Taylor to Diana Ross, everyone who knew him understood it and kept saying it. But I think you had to live this to understand because society always wants to think about the worst.

The documentary indicates that there have been occasions when it was not Michael and a group of children, but sometimes he and a child alone. Is it true?
Mahal: Yeah. But there are other things in the documentary that state some things that are easily proven wrong and are not addressed. As they never mentioned in the documentary, Wade Robson dated more than seven years ago from my uncle Jackie's daughter because it does not fit their schedule. They want you to believe that at the same time that he's supposed to be in love with Michael Jackson, he's dating my cousin Brandi … seven to fourteen. But that does not correspond to the story. So, they hide it well.

After the troubles he had with the civil case in 1993, and then with the most serious criminal case, should he have done more to protect himself?
Marlon: If you do not do anything wrong, why should you do more to protect yourself?

Because he's almost gone to jail?
Marlon: Well, here's the problem: we, people, are too fast to judge. We are supposed to love each other. The judgment should be made by the Lord. We should come together. Yes, he went to court. They found no evidence. Not only that, Mr. Robson and Safechuck testified – and Wade Robson twice, once in adulthood. And they said that Michael had never done anything wrong to them. The story changes all the time. They are still on trial with the Michael Jackson estate right now – he's thrown out, they're appealing. Everything is about money.

Mahal: When you have been a target for over 20 years, you are numb. It's not like suddenly my uncle was attacked for something. He was a target all his life, as soon as he reached a certain status. There were rumors about him or rumors about him. He trusted people, he believed in people, he thought people would see the truth.

Jackie: Or about his nose job, people had just taken it all the time, no matter what happened. He was the biggest star in the world. So it's a tabloid, make money.

At one point, one of his lawyers had to say "Michael, you should not do that," because that would cause that kind of problem.
Marlon: He told me this: "I love children and one of the things I love about them, is that they do not want anything from me and I do not want that I am here to help you. But when I talk to adults, I feel like they are trying to get something from me.

Mahal: When I'm a child, I see life differently. When you do not do anything wrong, you do not want to change anything, especially if you feel that you have been put on this earth to help people. You feel good, why am I here then? And it's like a parent telling a child that it's impossible. And I think that's what the company was trying to do. They took the only thing that inspired her, it was her creativity, they transformed her and they made her negative and they knew they were doing it.

Marlon: We have worked in this area all our lives and it was difficult. I remember Michael and I going to college; the kids were out of class just watching us. This is back in & # 39; 71, & # 39; 72. It lasted two weeks because it was a school madness for us. We can not do anything. And that's how we often lived wherever we went, and what it does to you. You really do not have this connection with the outside world of what people really are. And when I got married and became an adult, I trusted everyone. I discovered that you can not trust everyone.

Both types had – at least from time to time – contact with Neverland and Michael for a long time. How do you explain that they say that now?
Mahal: Wade congratulated my uncle up to MJ One, where he did not land the position of choreographer / chief director. Just then, he started shopping for a book offer. It's not something we say, it's a fact. He started buying a book on sexual abuse. No publisher would take it. Then, a year later, he decides to continue the succession. That's the timeline that all this is going on. James Safechuck sees Wade on Matt Lauer and says, "Oh, my God, it happened to me too." So it's as if all these memories were happening because there was an opportunity. Remember, they hear about the estate that earns billions of dollars from Forbes and all those other things. And Wade has honestly lived all his life using the name of Michael Jackson and using this legacy.

Is not it possible that something happens that you did not know about?
Mahal: Michael Jackson was probably the most scrutinized and sub-microscopic man the world has known for a long time.

Jackie: I know my brother. He is not like that.

Tito: This has also been tried; I think it was 12 counts of indictment. Michael was basically – I always use the word "unusual" – because his heart was pure. I felt badly because at 20, 21 or 22 years old, I could go to the local bar to have a beer, sit down with a friend and hang up and maybe pull a few games of billiards and talk to a girl. He has never had anything like it. Not even as a child. He has never played baseball. We would have a family day at the Hayvenhurst home where the family lived. We would like to take Michael and have a working meeting to discuss what we are going to do for our future. He was busy playing with my sons, Jackie's kids, running. We want to go to the studio and talk about business. But it was fun for him. He did not have that.

Can you imagine not being a child when you are a child? You have to go to work for Motown or do a Rolling stone interview or Ed Sullivan Show or Carol Burnett? We did it every day. His life was, we went to school; just after class, a driver picked us up and drove us straight to Motown's studio. And it lasted three or four years. We would record one song a day every day.

Marlon: And it has moved to another level that many artists do not reach. He could not go down the street. To try to feel what others feel in the street, he disguises himself. He was at Warehouse Records in Encino. I just went to Warehouse with my two little kids and I'm looking for stuff and I see this man with a pile of records. He had an afro, protruding teeth and was walking around. He went up to pay and I went up behind him and said, "Michael, what are you doing here?" He said, "Marl, how did you know it was me? " "You are my brother! Do not you think I know how you walk?

This documentary will come out and there is a chance that it inspires others to launch such accusations.
Mahal: They had 20 years to do it. In 1993, the prosecutor was looking for someone to do it. They are actively putting all their resources into it. So, this is not something new for us. How many people can withstand a 20-year investigation, a 10-year FBI investigation, 300 pages of FBI notes – and nothing.

Marlon: Do not forget that director Wade Robson and Mr. Safechuck have no evidence that corroborates the meaning of this documentary. Zero. They spent zero hours and they could have spoken to me. They could have talked to the family or to people who knew Michael.

In some cases, you were not there when that other person was.
Mahal: But I was. I saw the interaction between Wade and my uncle. I was there the day he testified. I saw Wade introduce his fiance to my uncle. But not only that, since I have been sexually abused in the past, you are aware of it. It was by my uncle on my mother's side, Uncle Chuck. I was less than 10 years old. And it was not only me, it was also my brother. So you are very aware of everything, as a beaten woman would be very aware of other battered women. Even if they deny it, you are aware of it. You feel it. I watched my uncle and Wade interact. I've plugged the VCR for Wade to play his short film at the time. He was so proud to show it to my uncle. Just how proud he was to introduce his wife, Amanda, to my uncle. It's the thing that does not just make sense, it's not scrutinized. When my uncle was alive, there was Wade taking advantage of magic, then Wade, who now has a child, who has financial problems and has to earn money.

According to you, what will be the impact of this documentary? Many people will see it.
Marlon: People who love Michael Jackson, who know Michael Jackson, as we do as a family, will not believe this story. It's a quick shot. That's all.