Michael Jackson’s estate has condemned a new documentary film, Leaving Neverland, which features allegations that the singer sexually abused children.
Speaking to TMZ, representatives from the estate said the film was “another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson … just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations. It’s baffling why any credible film-maker would involve himself with this project.”
Leaving Neverland explores what a synopsis calls the “manipulation and abuse” of two unnamed men, from the ages of seven and 10 onwards. The film, directed by Dan Reed, who has won Baftas for documentaries including The Paedophile Hunter and Terror in Mumbai, is described as “a portrait of sustained exploitation and deception, documenting the power of celebrity that allowed a revered figure to infiltrate the lives of starstruck children and their parents”.
The four-hour film will receive its world premiere at the Sundance film festival in Utah on 25 January, and will air on Channel 4 later this spring.
Numerous accusations of sexual abuse of children have previously been made against Jackson. In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler – he denied the claims, and later settled out of court for $23m. In 2005, a jury found Jackson not guilty of molesting Gavin Arvizo and related charges. Arvizo was aged 13 at the time of the alleged offence. In 2013 and 2014, after Jackson’s death in 2009, two further lawsuits were filed by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who each alleged that Jackson had abused them in the early 1990s when they were children. Both cases were dismissed for being filed too long after the alleged incidents.
