Jackson apparently had certain sexual rituals he liked to engage in, and hearing Robson and Saefchuck describe them similarly, but separately, paints a damning portrait. What makes this extra horrifying, and all the more believable, is that the two men describe Jackson's sexual proclivities in almost identical ways. After a set-up that seems carefree, light-hearted, and even amusing – the boys meet Jackson, become awed by his stardom even as Jackson becomes something akin to a family friend – Robson and Safechuck both then begin describing, in graphic detail, the sexual activities Jackson forced on them. One of the most jarring elements of the film is the way it so casually dives into the molestation claims. Leaving Neverland lets Robson and Safechuck tell their stories in harrowing detail. Both say they were not only molested by Jackson, but that they entered into what they thought of as a full-blown romantic relationship with the man. Robson, who grew up in Australia, came to the attention of the King of Pop when he won a Michael Jackson dance contest. Safechuck appeared in a commercial with the superstar. Both are grown men now, but when they met Jackson, they were very young. Reed's doc – which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and airs on HBO in March – focuses on two of Jackson's alleged victims, Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck. Was Michael Jackson a pedophile? When the four-hours of Leaving Neverland ended, it became nearly impossible for me to think that he wasn't. But as Reed's brutal, unflinching, and often sickening doc unfolds, it's nearly impossible to draw any other conclusion. In the eyes of the legal system, he's still an innocent man, and to proclaim him to be 100% guilty of the charges in Leaving Neverland is above my pay grade. And what they're about to see is hideous.īefore we go any further, a disclaimer: as I mentioned above, Jackson was acquitted on a charge of child molestation. Dan Reed's gut-wrenching 4-hour documentary Leaving Neverland is that light the possible truth has crawled back into, for all the world to see. Sooner or later, though, it comes crawling back into the light. It merely pushes it back into the darkness. He was something akin to a musical saint. The King of Pop's demise seemed to obliterate all those rumors that had plagued him for so long. And then came his sudden, unexpected death at the age of 50. Jackson receded even further into the shadows, his physical appearance becoming more strange, his time in public seemingly at an end. The first public accusation ended with a settlement out of court. With the rumors came full-blown speculation – abuse, molestation, and worse. But anyone who knows the Pied Piper story knows it ends in tragedy, with the music man leading those enamored children into darkness. He was like the Pied Piper, a musical deity with a train of kids forever trailing him. Who was this man-child superstar? And why did he have such an obsession with children? Children followed Jackson everywhere – they accompanied him on tour, they stayed at his Neverland Ranch. His odd persona, his changing skin-tone, his aloofness. The tabloids dubbed him "Wacko Jacko", and speculation ran wild. For those of us who grew up in the era of Michael Jackson, the rumors were rampant.
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