Jackson accusers detail the road to ‘Leaving Neverland’
PARK CITY, Utah — Wade Robson and James Safechuck didn’t know what to think when the lights went up after the first public screening of “Leaving Neverland” late last month at the Sundance Film Festival. In the 236-minute documentary that will air in two parts on HBO and Britain’s Channel 4 in March, both describe, in harrowing detail, how they say Michael Jackson sexually abused them as boys. It was the second time they’d seen it and the first with an audience.
At intermission, director Dan Reed even wondered whether or not they were going to be able to make it through the Q&A they’d promised to do. Safechuck said it was like being “punched in the face.” But they stayed and watched, and as the credits rolled the couple hundred people in the audience stood and applauded solemnly.
Robson, 36, and Safechuck, 40, made their way to the stage, a little shell-shocked still from reliving it all again but overcome with emotion. It took them a minute to realize why: It was the first time they’d ever experienced public support for telling their stories.
It’s been a tumultuous few years for both men, ever since they came forward as adults to allege abuse after Jackson died in 2009 and after having previously said at different points that there was none. Robson testified in Jackson’s defense at the 2005 molestation trial that ended with the superstar’s acquittal. Lawsuits against Jackson’s estate detailing the abuse have been dismissed for procedural reasons, although an appeal is pending.
Jackson’s estate continues to attack their credibility, and they’ve encountered disbelief and even threats from fans. On Thursday the estate filed a lawsuit against HBO alleging the film violates a contract to show a 1992 Jackson concert that requires that the network not disparage the singer in the future.
When Reed, a U.K. filmmaker who is more accustomed to covering war and terrorism, approached the men separately in 2017 about telling their story through a documentary, they were understandably reticent, but decided to meet with him out of curiosity.
“I was concerned about somebody just sensationalizing the story,” Safechuck told The Associated Press the day after that first screening, with Reed and Robson at his side. “Is this person out to just put together a piece for people to watch because it’s Michael? Or is it somebody who is going to tell the story of survivors and abuse and what that’s like?”
Robson, a noted choreographer who has worked with the likes of Britney Spears and ‘N Sync, had more experience with the media and was especially cautious, but agreed to a lunch.
“I felt pretty comfortable pretty quickly that he was a man of integrity,” Robson said.
Reed didn’t have an agenda or a plan. He was just there to listen and document. So they agreed. Robson was interviewed across three days, and Safechuck for two.
“I wanted to keep a completely open mind,” Reed said. “In the end, there is no video of Michael Jackson abusing Wade and James. There is no cache of photographs. So what you’re doing is listening to the person and making a judgment about whether there is any truth or not.”