Family v Accusers.. €92m fight to save Jacko’s reputation
He also recalls a distraught Katherine being comforted by his mum Bobby.
“She was at my mom’s house and very upset. Michael had spoken to his mom many times how unfair he was being treated and how he feared for his life after police came and raided his home,” Keith recalls.
“He was scared there would be someone who was just full of hate because of what they heard.
“All the allegations and the frenzy, they tried to destroy Michael’s character and life,” he adds.
Others may remember the case differently. Last month Neverland security guard Ralph Chacon repeated claims that he had told a 1994 grand jury investigation that he had seen Jackson being intimate with a then 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.
No criminal charges were brought and Chandler family were paid a reported $23million (€20.4m), although Jackson denied any wrongdoing.
Keith’s words are bound to anger Wade and James, not to mention child abuse campaigners. Wade, now 36, alleges in the film that he was abused from the age of five after meeting Jackson at a lookalike competition and being invited on trips to the famous ranch, first with his family and then alone.
The Australian would often share a bed with the star until he was 14 and claims he was abused each night, forced into performing sex acts.
He and James, now 40, also allege that the singer pleasured himself in front of them, gave them alcohol and showed them porn.
James, who met Jackson as a child model on a Pepsi advert, says: “It was all a big seduction. It still feels shameful.” But, just as when Michael was acquitted in 2005, the Jackson family are not believing a word of it.
The estate was able to file a suit against HBO, which they believe is strong because the channel signed a “non-disparagement clause” when they aired Michael Jackson in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour in 1992. The lawsuit also claims the accusers are after money, having fallen on “dire straits” and highlights the fact that Wade and James testified during the Arvizo trial
SINGER’S COUSIN ON NEW LEGAL BATTLE
that they were never abused. Wade claims it was because he was told he would go to prison if he spoke out. Both deny being money-grabbers. Since his death Jackson’s estate has generated gross earnings said to exceed €1.1billion.
In the lawsuit against HBO, his family calls all of the allegations “absolutely false”. It also says they were not contacted by filmmaker Dan Reed for a comment. It adds: “No one else who might offer evidence to contradict the program’s premise was consulted either.”
But HBO not about surrender. Slamming the “desperate lengths taken to undermine the film”, in a statement it vowed: “HBO STAR TREATMENT is to James with star on jet in 1998 will move forward with the airing of Leaving Neverland. This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves.”
Channel 4 is also standing its ground. Bosses said they will still show it on March 6 and 7, telling the Mirror: “Our plans remain unchanged. Viewers are entitled to hear from these two men who Michael Jackson first met when they were children.”
The Mirror approached the lawyer for Wade and James over Keith’s comments but he was yet to respond last night.
Keith, a musician who lives in Gary, Indiana, says: “As far as impact on his legacy, I feel it will really make people love Michael even more because everyone knows the truth. You can’t destroy a legacy like Michael’s. I really think it’s going to go away.”
For the rest of the world, there’s a sense this won’t be going away quietly.
I feel it will really make people love Michael even more.. people know the truth KEITH JACKSON