The first trailer for the upcoming Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland, has dropped and features the testimonies of two accusers who claim they were abused by the musician as children.
James Safechuck, 37, and Wade Robson, 41, claimed they were threatened into staying silent by Jackson who has been accused of being a serial child sex abuser, something his family vehemently deny.
The two minute clip shows a handful of people, including Safechuk and Robson, explaining how they believed Jackson was a “loving, caring, kind, soul” whose Neverland estate was “filled with magical childhood adventure experiences”.
“Everybody wanted to meet Michael or be with Michael, and then he likes you,” Safechuk says.
Robson adds: “He told me if they ever found out what we were doing he and I would go to jail for the rest of our lives.
“I want to be able to speak the truth as loud as I had to speak the lie for so long.”
The four hour long two-part collaboration between Channel 4 and HBO will air next month despite legal threats and criticism from Jackson’s family.
The Michael Jackson estate sent a letter to Channel 4 claiming the documentary violates the network’s programming guidelines as it makes no attempt at getting a response to the accusers’ claims.
Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson said he is sure the pop star was “1,000 per cent” innocent as he begged people to “leave him alone” during an emotional interview with Good Morning Britain.
The troubling documentary was aired at Sundance film Festival earlier this year, with many deeming it “devastating”.
Director Dan Reed told Variety: “This is not a movie about Michael Jackson. This is not a movie about Michael Jackson abusing little boys. It’s a movie about two families and how two families came to terms with what their sons revealed to them many years after Jackson died.”
Reed said he would make a follow up if he could speak to two more of Jackson’s accusers: Jordan Chandler and Gavin Arvizo. “If Jordan Chandler were to come forth and if I could sit down with him and speak to him the way I did to Wade and James, that would, I think, be the core of a very interesting film about that story, and the same goes for Gavin,” he told Variety.
Michael died on June 25, 2009.
Leaving Neverland will air on Channel 4 on March 6 and 7
