Mark Lester defended Michael Jackson over sexual abuse allegations, saying he was left feeling “sick” at new documentary Leaving Neverland.
The two-part special, which airs on Channel 4 tonight, details the accounts of Wade Robson and James Safechuck who claim they were molested by Jackson as children at his Neverland ranch.
The Jackson Estate has denied the claims and denounced the film in a series of damning statements.
Lester branded the documentary “boring” and said the Jackson portrayed is not the one he and his children knew.
“I thought it was overlong,” he told Lorraine Kelly. “It seems to repeat itself quite a lot and is quite boring in many places. It made me feel quite sick. This is not the Michael Jackson that I knew for over 30 years. This is not the man that my children knew.”
He said he feels “sad” that “this has even come to light” and revealed he is struggling to “fathom what [the documentary] is trying to achieve”.
Lester was part of Jackson’s inner circle for years after the two met in London as teenagers.
Asked if he was ever suspicious of Jackson’s behaviour around the children he used to invite to his ranch, he said: “Absolutely not. I never saw or was party or even had the slightest notion that there was anything untoward with Michael.”
He said he does not know Robson and Safechuck, who previously testified on Jackson’s behalf before later filing suits against the musician, but referred to a third accuser, Gavin Arvizo, as “cancer boy”.
Lester branded Arvizo’s family “hooligans” and accused them of taking advantage of Jackson.
Leaving Neverland is on Channel 4, tonight at 9pm
