Explosive documentary Leaving Neverland, which claims the pop icon was a paedophile, has not even been screened in the UK, yet a simple trailer featuring accusers Wade Robson and James Safechuck has been enough to make millions question the real truth about the icon. For the devout fans, Channel 4 and HBO’s imminent broadcast is set to be devastating. But for the Jackson family it’s something else entirely – it’s the beginning of a war to protect the King of Pop’s reputation.
This week they fired what they thought would be a fatal strike – a $100million lawsuit against US channel HBO, accusing Wade and James of having “financial motivations”.
But HBO is not about to surrender. Slamming the “desperate lengths taken to undermine the film”, it vowed: “HBO will move forward with the airing of Leaving Neverland, on March 3 and 4. This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves.”
Channel 4 is also standing its ground. They will still show it on March 6 and 7, saying: “Our plans remain unchanged. Viewers are entitled to hear from these two men who Michael Jackson first met when they were children.”
Few could now imagine what is going on inside the Jackson family as the clock ticks down.
But here Michael Jackson’s cousin Keith opens up about the real impact the allegations are having on Pop’s first family, including the late singer’s children Prince, 22, Paris, 20, and Prince “Blanket” Michael II, 17, his fears for Michael’s ailing mother Katherine and what he personally saw when at Neverland with Wade.
He even sensationally claims that the singer is the real victim as Michael “feared for his life” when similar allegations dogged his final years, once telling Keith: “People are out to get me”.
“I can tell you that Michael’s kids are very upset about it all,” says Keith, a 55-year-old musician. “I don’t blame them. The whole family is upset. The kids are handling it very well, because they’ve been brought up well. Katherine is very upset though, they’re talking about her son. I’m worried about her.
Grab from the first trailer for Leaving Neverland, which will premiere on HBO on March 3rd & 4th (Image: NC)
“Michael loved kids, he loved his own kids and he loved kids in general like he did his own. It’s a shame that he’s gone and the family has to defend him now.
“Michael gave away millions of dollars to try to help people, save lives and save kids’ lives, help cancer patients. But instead of Hollywood doing something positive, they instead, once again, had to come out with a completely derogatory and hurtful film. I really believe the truth will reveal itself.”
THAT TOO is the hope of Jacko’s accusers. It’s just for them the truth is very different. 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 Neverland Ranch, first with his family and then alone.
The Australian would 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 Safechuck, now 40, also allege that Jacko endulged in sex acts in front of them, gave them alcohol and showed them porn. James, who met Jackson as a child model in a Pepsi advert, says in the four-hour film: “It was all a big seduction. It still feels shameful.”
But just as when Michael was acquitted of child molestation offences against Gavin Arvizo, 13, in 2005, the Jackson family are not believing a word.
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. In the suit it suggests the accusers are after money, having fallen on “dire straits”.
It also points to the fact that Wade and James testified during the 2005 trial that they were never abused by Michael.
Michael Jackson with 10 year old Jimmy Safechuck on the tour plane on 11th of July 1988 (Image: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
Wade now claims it was because he was told he would go to prison if he spoke out.
But Keith, who still lives in Gary, Indiana, believes they are lying now for the money, a claim both have vigorously denied.
“The family and Blanket, Paris and Prince, are really upset about Wade coming back because their dad was already proven innocent,” says Keith. “For this guy to abuse their dad’s trust has really made them realise there are nasty people out there.
“Ten years after Michael’s death, it’s people trying to take advantage of the family to make money. It’s all about money. Michael treated Wade like family. Michael actually took care of him and welcomed him into his home. It’s sad. Michael had invited me to Neverland for two weeks one time when Wade was there. He was in his late teens or early 20s. He seemed to be fine. He’s just this guy who let greed take over, I believe.” Such words are bound to anger Wade and James. Not to mention child abuse campaigners.
Wade and James launched a $1.2billion civil suit against the estate in 2013, but the court ruled they had filed too late to get any of the estate. Wade then filed a suit against two other companies Michael had owned – MJJ Productions, Inc and MJJ Ventures, Inc – but in 2017 the court ruled that they were not liable. The judge did not rule on the credibility of Wade’s allegations.
Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California (Image: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
KEITH, whose father Luther was the brother of Michael’s dad Joe Jackson, is adamant that Wade and James wouldn’t have come forward at all, had Michael not died of a prescription drug overdose aged 50 in June 2009.
“Michael was a true fighter he believed in the truth. If he was still alive, I don’t think this would be an issue right now – that this guy [Wade] would have come out with the allegations,” he says.
Of course, he’s already seen Michael fight, during the infamous trial. Keith had been staying at Neverland just before it was raided by police in 2003 as part of the criminal investigation into claims relating to Arvizo.
He was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent for the purpose of committing a felony.
Keith remembers his cousin insisting he was the real victim. “Michael said to me, ‘People are out there to get me, they are after me’,” says Keith. “Another time he told me, ‘People lie about me and I’m sick of it’.” He also recalls a distraught Katherine asking his mum Bobby for comfort. “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,” says Keith. “He was scared there would be someone who was just full of hate because of what they heard [attacking him].
All the allegations and the frenzy, they tried to destroy Michael’s character and life.”
I can remember being at the Jackson house as a kid when they were rehearsing before anybody even knew who the Jacksons were
Others may remember the case differently. Last month Neverland security guard Ralph Chacon repeated claims that he’d told a 1994 Grand Jury investigation that he’d seen Jacko being intimate with a then 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.
No criminal charges were ever brought after the Chandler family were paid a reported $23million.
AMAZINGLY, Keith believes the new spotlight on Jacko could instead strengthen support for his cousin, not shatter it, as he’s convinced fans will rally round the singer.
“As far as impact on his legacy, I feel it will really make people love Michael even more because everyone knows the truth,” he insists. “You can’t destroy a legacy like Michael’s. I really think it’s going to go away.”
It may be a little optimistic of Keith in a post #MeToo world. And his feeling for his cousin are fired by happy memories of their childhood together.
“I can remember being at the Jackson house as a kid when they were rehearsing before anybody even knew who the Jacksons were,” says Keith. “One of my favourite memories is when I was 12. Michael’s mom came and picked me and my brothers up to take us to the concert in Chicago, where the Jackson Five were performing.
‘Leaving Neverland’ features Wade Robson (right) and Jimmy Safechuck (left) (Image: NC)
“We stayed at the Radisson Hotel, and I will never forget waking up to a pillow fight with Michael and his brothers. He would always have balloons with him and we filled them up with water and, me being a kid, dropped them on the fans outside. Michael was like, ‘No. No. Don’t do that!’ “At the same time Michael was drawing me. I never knew Michael was such an incredible artist. He drew a picture of me holding a water balloon. I wish I had kept that picture to this day.”
Keith also got a taste of the fame. “About 40 screaming girls came up to the hotel room where we were staying. All these girls tore me apart because I had an afro too and they thought I was Michael!” It’s perhaps these innocent memories of a little boy that is making it hard for Keith to believe what’s been alleged. For the rest of the world, there’s a sense this won’t be going away quietly.
Michael Jackson always strongly denied all allegations made against him. He was acquitted of all charges by a jury in the 2005 trial.
In the new suit against HBO, The Jackson estate strongly denies all the allegations, calling them “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 programme’s premise was consulted either.”