'Leaving Neverland' sequel will follow Michael Jackson accusers' journey to trial

USA Today

21-02-2025

Six years after the documentary "Leaving Neverland" publicized intimate accounts from Michael Jackson's alleged child sexual assault victims, an upcoming sequel will detail the men's journeys as they take their claims to trial.
The 50-minute documentary "Leaving Neverland II: Surviving Michael Jackson," again directed by Dan Reed and featuring accusers James Safechuck and Wade Robson, will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the U.K., according to distributor Sphere Abacus.
Rolling Stone, Deadline and Variety report the special will air March 18.
USA TODAY has reached out to Channel 4 and representatives for Reed.
"The third and final film will cover the trial, scheduled for late 2026, thus completing the Leaving Neverland trilogy. If their cases are successful, the potential positive impact on the United States' entertainment industry will be huge," Sphere Abacus' description of the film states. "Music and movie companies will no longer be able to shrug off responsibility when one of their stars sexually abuses a minor in their care."
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Channel 4 co-produced the 2019 "Leaving Neverland," released by HBO in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the U.K.
Since the two-part doc's release, Robson and Safechuck, describing themselves as survivors of childhood abuse, have hosted a podcast called "From Trauma to Triumph.
The venture speaks with "survivors, trauma specialists and advocates" and aims "to inspire the brave steps to starting, or continuing, the healing journey." Robson, an Emmy-winning choreographer who worked with the likes of Britney Spears and NSYNC, is now a "life mentor," songwriter/producer and dance teacher, according to his social media.
In a previous statement to USA TODAY, shared as "Leaving Neverland" premiered in 2019, Jackson's estate denounced the project, saying it "isn't a documentary, it is the kind of tabloid character assassination Michael Jackson endured in life, and now in death. The film takes uncorroborated allegations that supposedly happened 20 years ago and treats them as fact."
An upcoming biopic of the King of Pop, starring nephew Jaafar Jackson and directed by Antoine Fuqua, is due for release later this year. The project is backed by Michael Jackson's estate.
Wade Robson, James Safechuck's lawsuits revived by appeals court, set to go to trial
In 2023, a California appeals court revived lawsuits against MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures from Robson, originally filed in May 2013, and Safechuck, which was filed in May 2014. Both leveled the following allegations: intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligence; negligent supervision; negligent retention/hiring; negligent failure to warn, train or educate; and breach of fiduciary duty.
Both suits had been tossed out of lower courts due to the state's statute of limitations, as well as a judge who cast doubt on the defendant's culpability, before the three-judge appeals court panel ruled in August 2023 that the men could go forward with their claims that Jackson's companies had a duty to protect them from their alleged abuse.
Safechuck's lawsuit alleges that after meeting the singer on the set of a Pepsi commercial when he was 10 years old, Jackson abused him hundreds of times between 1988 and 1992. The lawsuit claims that "the thinly-veiled, covert second purpose of (Jackson's) businesses was to operate as a child sexual abuse operation, specifically designed to locate, attract, lure and seduce child sexual abuse victims." Robson's lawsuit alleges his abuse began in 1990 and lasted around seven years.
In February 2024, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted the men's request to consolidate their suits into one case, which received no objection from the defendants, according to a court filing obtained by USA TODAY.
A trial start date of Nov. 23, 2026, has been proposed, per a Jan. 14 filing reviewed by USA TODAY.
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Michael Jackson faced child molestation charges, but was never convicted
Lawyers for the Jackson estate, the popstar's family members and administrators of his estate, which owns Jackson's companies, have for years denied the allegations against him by Robson and Safechuck, whom they have repeatedly labeled liars. The estate also sued HBO for $100 million over "Leaving Neverland," citing a decades-old anti-arbitration clause, and the case was reportedly sent to private arbitration in 2020.
Allegations against Jackson — who died in 2009 at age 50 — began surfacing publicly in the 1990s. In 2003, Jackson was arrested and charged on child molestation charges in Santa Barbara County, but he was acquitted in 2005. During the trial, Robson testified in favor of Jackson and denied being molested by him; in "Leaving Neverland," he alleged Jackson had leveraged his relationship with Robson and persuaded him to lie.
In 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported the police were interviewing several minors affiliated with Jackson about possible sexual abuse, based on a 13-year-old boy's claims. Jackson was never criminally charged in that case; The New York Times reported in 1994 that this was because the "primary alleged victim" declined to testify. The Times noted the boy and his family settled the civil suit they had filed against Jackson the prior year.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
Contributing: Maria Puente, USA TODAY