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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Why the new Bonnie Blue documentary may be the worst thing I've ever seen on Channel 4
Channel 4's documentary on Bonnie Blue may be the worst I have ever seen on the channel, but that has nothing to do with all the sex on screen. Channel 4 has a rich history of making great documentaries. Dispatches is a strand of docs they have produced since 1987 and it has won a number of Baftas over the years. It was the channel which aired the Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland. In 2022 it produced a detailed expose of the practices of The Jeremy Kyle Show. Jamie Oliver's school dinners campaign was made on Channel 4 via a documentary series in 2005. And over the past 20 years I have written about dozens of the documentaries and their findings. It's an area of the job I love. Many have led to changes in business practice or even debates in parliament and nationwide talking points. But the new Bonnie Blue documentary is not groundbreaking, and worse than that, it is not even a detailed film on the subject matter. I have to say it is one of the worst documentaries I have ever seen on Channel 4, and now I'll explain why I think it is so weak. Observational documentaries are quite common at the moment and successful. You follow a celeb around, get them in their normal life, chat about their past exploits, successes and traumas and then add in archive footage. If they have home videos even better, especially if it is emotive. David Beckham did one, Robbie Williams has filmed another, and in this genre the best doc I have seen relatively recently was with Sven Goran Eriksson filmed in the year before he died. Former England manager Sven trusted the director and I felt gave a lot of himself over to the project. It left me in tears by the end as Sven said goodbye to the world via the film. By contrast, Bonnie Blue gives away very little. There are gaps of weeks between filming. Then the final scene shows her going off to see self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate. It's controversial and the interview between the pair could produce some explosive footage, but the director chooses to end filming before the meeting and does not travel with her. On another day Bonnie is filming her most famous film to date, sleeping with over 1000 men, but the director admits she didn't stay too long so none of the details are verified. She then fails to meet up with her again for more than a week, so there is no real time reaction to the event. It feels like Bonnie called the shots when it came to filming, and there are only a couple of occasions throughout the whole doc when I feel she isn't putting on a front or facade. Bonnie says at one point she earns over a million pounds a month, but we don't see any examples on screen of her earning or what she pays her team who work with her. We have to take her word for it. It's another small detail which is not really proven or probed. What does she spend her money on? Does she have investments or a property portfolio which would show another side to her in terms of business acumen. The director on the project admitted when speaking to the media the documentary wasn't her idea and she was asked to come on board. This is another red flag for me as a lot of the best docs are passion projects for the makers which means they go that extra mile and also in some cases have a long standing relationship with the subject or the insiders. I appreciate that the rise of OnlyFans is an interesting topic and understand that some people including young girls and lads in this documentary see it as a way of avoiding boring 9-5 jobs. And there have been interesting documentaries made on this type of subject. Olivia Attwood looked at the phenomenon of OnlyFans in her series Getting Filthy Rich on ITV in 2022. She spoke to a variety of content providers and they spoke of the ranges of money they earned and how they earned it in detail. They also said speaking to men on the site had made them distrust men more. But this new Channel 4 doc doesn't feel like an in-depth exploration into that world. Bonnie is allowed to say the same things over and over and many questions are left unanswered. As a viewer I still had lots of questions and that is why I feel it is such a weak documentary. A far cry from the best documentaries Channel 4 have made over the years. For their part, Channel 4 obviously disagree. Asked for their reasoning to commission, make and screen the documentary in its current form, they said: "Tia Billinger, via her stage name Bonnie Blue, has gained worldwide attention and millions of pounds in the last year. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story is an observational documentary in which director Victoria Silver follows Tia over the course of six months. "The film questions Tia's methods and the divisive style of her social media and hears from colleagues and collaborators in order to understand her polarising business model. Part of Channel 4's remit is to reflect modern Britain and stimulate debate amongst viewers, and a film such as this, exploring changing attitudes to sex, success, porn, and feminism in an ever-evolving online world is an important addition to those conversations." * 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story is on Channel 4 on Tuesday night at 10pm and available to stream online.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
One Day in Southport forgets the tragedy at the heart of the film
One Day in Southport (Channel 4) purported to be a documentary about the devastating tragedy that unfolded at a Taylor Swift -themed dance class on Merseyside a year ago. Rather like the appalling crime itself, however, the film was soon hijacked by other issues entirely. The result was grimly gripping but ultimately unsatisfying. Bafta-winning documentarian Dan Reed – director of Leaving Neverland and The Truth vs Alex Jones – investigated the mass stabbing, its febrile aftermath and the nationwide riots which followed. It proved too much to adequately examine in 51 minutes Reed began his story in simmeringly powerful style. A survivor relived the unfathomable knife attack and read aloud from her quietly furious letter to the perpetrator in prison. As she courageously did so, the camera lingered on her haunted eyes and shaking hands. This was intercut with dashcam and CCTV footage of a masked, hooded 17-year-old taking a taxi to Hart Space dance studio, silently getting out without paying and calmly entering the building. It was deeply chilling to watch, the stuff of a low-budget horror movie, before all hell broke loose. We heard screams, sirens and the testimony of parents who arrived on the scene to sights and smells they will never be able to forget. As misinformation about the knife man's identity spread online, the Southport community took to the streets. Angry mobs clashed with police. A local mosque was surrounded and set alight, while the terrified imam and worshippers hid inside. Ground-level visuals – a pacy mix of news footage, phone camera clips and social media reportage – were immersive, stressful and scary. It was instructive to witness how, in the absence of accurate intel about the murderer's identity, irresponsible speculation filled the vacuum. The assumption took hold that he was an illegal immigrant and a Muslim extremist. The authorities were too slow to disclose that Axel Rudakubana was actually Cardiff-born with Rwandan Christian parents. We saw how anti-immigration protests and riots spread to 27 towns and cities across the UK. Fuelled by far-Right rhetoric, Muslim neighbourhoods and asylum seekers were targeted by rampaging mobs. In post-apocalyptic scenes, a migrant hotel was stormed and a car full of Romanian workers vandalised. The Government and law enforcement were completely unprepared, scrambling to catch up with the escalating crisis. When they finally did act, they over-compensated with 1,800 rioters arrested, fast-tracked through courts and sentenced to a total of more than 100 years in prison. There were wider questions raised here. YouTuber Daniel Edwards described the protests as the 'consequences of not listening to the public'. Videographer Wendell Daniel argued that post-Covid disaffection isn't about race but about social class. Topics tantalisingly touched upon included two-tier policing and mistrust of mainstream media. Yet framed within a film about a tragedy which felt quickly forgotten, both the personal and the political were done a disservice. As the stricken Southport families mourned or recovered in hospital, narrative focus was elsewhere. We heard about flashbacks, trauma and survivors' guilt, but all too fleetingly. Rudakubana's victims condemned the rioting and rejected the politicisation of the girls' murders. 'It didn't represent me at all,' said one survivor. You wonder what they will make of this strangely scattergun film.
Times
5 days ago
- Times
One Day in Southport review — a horrifying portrait of Britain in 2024
I am often dubious about giving more airtime to murderous, attention-seeking lowlifes such as Axel Rudakubana, the Southport child killer. But one early image from Dan Reed's weighty documentary, One Day in Southport (Channel 4), summed up the utter coward. A taxi driver's dashcam footage showed him in a green hoodie and face mask trying to get through a door bearing the words 'pregnancy', 'yoga' and 'baby classes'. Wow, what a brave man, eh? What a warrior's legacy: walking into a community hub marked 'baby classes' and knifing little girls who are making friendship bracelets. An abundance of CCTV, mobile phone and dashcam footage helped to make this film, about this atrocity and the UK riots it sparked, sharply immersive. From the killer in the back of a taxi, sullenly asking 'Is this 34A Hart Street?' before commencing his mass-stabbing, to wobbly, close-up footage of rioters attacking police vehicles as someone shouts 'Set the van on fire!' and others smashing the windows of small terraced houses, there was a visceral, menacing feel to it, as if you too were there amid the baying mob. Reed, an award-winning director behind, among others, Leaving Neverland and One Day in October, chose to focus on YouTubers and others filming from within rather than the mainstream media filming from without. This gave it a more urgent, intimidating quality. 'You get what you deserve when you're protecting a f***ing mosque,' screamed one person, misinformed by social media, like so many others, that the killer was Muslim and had come here on a boat. 'I know he was born in Wales and all that, but he was of Rwandan heritage,' one interviewee said. Wendell Daniel, who is black and a videographer for Tommy Robinson, insisted this wasn't about race but about class. But Wesley Winter, a YouTuber born to British and Korean parents, seemed to take a different view. When filming riots in Middlesbrough, he was told by a masked man: 'If you're not white you can't go through.' His wife, who is Chinese, meanwhile, was sitting in their car being terrorised by rioters who she thought were going to drag her out and beat her. • Read more TV reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews I'm sure we can all remember the attack on a hotel housing immigrants, with rioters shouting 'Come out and fight like men'. But the film, skilfully woven and without a narrator, portrayed a sense of a country that was already a tinderbox, simmering with rage over immigration, the massacre of those little girls, the spark that detonated it: 'This is the consequence of not listening to the people.' It ended, without comment, with a clip of Keir Starmer's reference to 'an island of strangers'. In years to come this and other films may be studied as a bellwether of British unrest in summer 2024 and afterwards. But it is still the contributions of a quietly spoken young victim who survived the stabbings and her parents that were the most unforgettable. Whose stomach did not lurch when the girl's father (all of their identities protected) said a paramedic cut off her bloodied hoodie and 'it just looked like her muscles were inside out'? Dear god. The blade had fractured her spine and punctured her lung. Imagine the ferocity of that attack, one so vicious it left poor little Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, dead. The girl in the film said she had to have a special chair at school now because the normal ones dig into her scars. What spirit and courage she has shown; what an important documentary.★★★★☆ Love TV? Discover the best shows on Netflix, the best Prime Video TV shows, the best Disney+ shows, the best Apple TV+ shows, the best shows on BBC iPlayer, the best shows on Sky and Now, the best shows on ITVX, the best shows on Channel 4 streaming, the best shows on Paramount+ and our favourite hidden gem TV shows. Don't forget to check our critics' choices to what to watch this week, and browse our comprehensive TV guide
The Sun
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I was ringside for Michael Jackson's abuse trial…from secret injury to 110mph chase, I KNOW what put him in early grave
IT'S the child abuse trial which rocked the showbiz world and saw a pop legend hauled up in court on a slew of heinous charges. Now, 20 years on, we can reveal the drama behind the headlines which saw Michael Jackson rushed to hospital with horrific injuries and convinced he would be MURDERED in prison. 17 17 17 17 The frail star, who faced charges of abuse against teenager Gavin Arvizo, famously turned up to his trial in pyjamas - before being acquitted of all 14 charges on June 13, 2005. Over four months Michael, then 46, watched 15-year-old Gavin accuse him of sexual abuse, supported by claims from brother Star and mum Janet that his family was held captive at Michael's Neverland Ranch - famed for its funfair and zoo. In the decades since the trial, further claims have been made regarding Jackson's alleged horrific abuse at the estate, notably by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland. The singer's lawyer, Brian Oxman, believes the torment of the 2005 trial led to MJ's death four years later from a drug overdose - and reveals the late night calls from the terrified Thriller star. 'Michael rang at all hours of the night, dozens of times,' Brian tells The Sun. 'He kept asking 'Why? I treated them so well - and they make up these lies'. 'He could never fathom it until the day he died.' He adds: 'We would talk about it for long hours about 'the evil' that went on to destroy him. He did not understand. 'No matter what I did, he could not understand and my firm belief is that this prosecution destroyed him.' He also reveals Michael felt 'betrayed' by shamed BBC star Martin Bashir for painting him as a paedophile in a controversial documentary which 'started a stampede' towards abuse allegations. And he believes the King of Pop knew he would have died in prison if he had been convicted. 'If Michael went to jail, he would probably have died. He knew that,' he says. 'Child molestation is the worst of all crimes in our jail system. Those people are looked down on and abused by their fellow inmates. 'They are beaten, hurt and treated horribly.' Horror hospital dash 17 17 17 At the height of the trial, in March 2005, the iconic photo of the star sporting baggy pyjama bottoms, a white T-shirt and a giant suit jacket made headlines around the world and became Time Magazine's Photo of The Year. It also cemented the reputation for eccentric behaviour which saw him dubbed 'Wacko Jacko". But the truth behind the bizarre look was a frantic dash from the hospital where he'd been admitted hours before with suspected broken ribs after a shower fall at his Neverland home. The singer's court absence prompted Judge Ronald L Whyte to fear the defendant had absconded - forfeiting a $3m bail. Despite lawyers' assurances, the judge ordered the star to be back in court within an hour or be sent to jail until the trial's end for a bail breach. The order sent Brian and long term pal Joe - Michael's dad and manager of the Jackson 5 - into a panic. 'The prosecution was elated because they knew that if he forfeited his bail, he was going to jail, and he would never, never be able to live in jail," says Brian. 'The prosecutors knew he'd plead to anything to get out of jail. 'He'd plead guilty to assassinating Abraham Lincoln. 'They knew he'd do anything to limit or stop his incarceration.' Defence attorneys frantically called Michael's security, warning of the jail threat, which led to a desperate dash up the 101 freeway towards Santa Maria - pursued by dozens of fans. 'They were doing 110 miles an hour and the fans followed,' says Brian. 'That freeway had a dirt centre divider, which had potholes and was horribly dangerous. All someone had to do was to hit one of those potholes and it would have flipped and somebody would have been killed.' Arriving an hour and 10 minutes later, the star had his bail forfeited but escaped jail. Father-son bond 17 Father Joe - who Michael famously accused of child abuse and bullying - was vital in convincing the sickly star to leave the hospital. 'Joe said, 'Michael, I'm your father. You listen to me - you have got to get to court, no excuses.'' Brian insists Michael 'loved' and 'respected' Joe dearly despite the claims of a feud. 'In the car MJ said, 'I can't walk in just with my pyjamas' so a huge bodyguard named Keith handed over his black jacket. 'It is Time Magazine's picture of the year - if not picture of the decade. 'And who's right next to him in that picture? His dad, Joe, who saved his life.' Brian insists Michael was not faking his injury or looking for sympathy as the lawyer saw a 'huge welt' on the right side of his body. 'He showed me on his chest this huge welt and says 'Brian did I break a bone?' 'And I felt his chest and I said 'I can't tell for sure'. 'I felt a terrible lump but there was a huge injury there.' Abuse accusations 17 17 Michael was first accused of child abuse by Jordan Chandler in 1993, but the case was settled out of court, with the star paying his accuser $15m. But in December 2003, Michael was charged with 14 offences in relation to Gavin Arvizo, including four counts of molesting a child, four counts of getting a child drunk so that he could molest him, one count of trying to molest a child, and one count of secretly planning (conspiring) to hold the boy and his family captive. Brian, an early member of the trial defence team, helped pull together over one and a half million pages of documents and 120 subpoenas. He sent a 15-page dossier with 700 exhibits of evidence to devastated MJ showing the strength of their case in late 2004. 'He called me from the ranch and there was no voice. (I said) 'Michael is that you?' 'He couldn't catch his breath,' says Brian. 'He said, 'Why, Brian? Why are they doing this to me?'" Despite numerous allegations that have surfaced since the star's death, Brian insists there was no evidence for the criminal charges, citing that Michael was not at Neverland on days when Gavin claimed he was abused at the estate. Dashed documentary hopes 17 17 Michael's mental health was also rocked by 'the betrayal' of TV interviewer Martin Bashir, with whom he'd plotted a comeback through a documentary about his life, in 2003. But the Living With Michael Jackson series prompted worldwide controversy after he openly boasted about sleeping with children in his bed at Neverland. Cameras caught cancer survivor Gavin leaning his head on MJ's shoulder, discussing their close bond. Brian claims the BBC journalist - who was later found to have falsified documents to persuade Princess Diana to agree to an interview - manipulated Michael and set up the disturbing scenes. Brian raged: 'Bashir used the fact Princess Diana trusted him for the Panorama interview to get in with Michael - who at that time had no idea that he had deceived Diana. 'Gavin wasn't in Michael's life when he filmed, but Bashir and his team asked to meet one of the kids he had helped. 'Bashir talked to Arvizo before the interview and then during the recording he rested his head on Michael's shoulder and held his hand. 'Michael said afterwards: 'That never happened before and I didn't know what to do. I don't know him. And I haven't seen him for a year and almost a half. Why was he acting like my bosom buddy?' 'Michael believed that Bashir may have told Arvizo to do that but no-one knew what really happened. 'Bashir told Michael he wanted to show the real man in a fair way, but when asked about sleeping with children he was so rattled. 'It was a shambles. Why his managers didn't stop it I will never know. 'That show set a stampede in motion which led to the trial. It was the beginning of the end for him.' Bashir later took the stand as the first prosecution witness and Brian says after the verdict, the reporter strolled over and apologised, saying: 'Nothing personal Michael.' 'Michael could not believe it, because inside he was fuming,' he says. 'Michael simply stared back, said nothing and turned away.' Destroyed reputation 17 17 Despite the acquittal, many people believe the star behaved inappropriately with young boys. In the summer of 2005 a Gallup Poll reported that 80 per cent of the US public believed Michael was guilty of abuse. 'It damaged Michael beyond repair,' says Brian. 'He was utterly numb. He was mentally, emotionally exhausted. 'Michael said: 'I'm an entertainer. I depend upon the people, 80 per cent of them think I'm guilty?'' MJ fled to Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the king's son, with the promise of a comeback concert and album. That plan fell apart within a year, leading him into a semi-nomadic life with his three kids, Prince, now 31, Paris, 29 and Bigi, 24. Drowning in debt, he committed to a London O2 residency This Is It. But, in constant pain after a serious back injury he sustained when a stage collapsed at a Munich gig in 1999, he was already hooked on painkillers and anaesthetic Propofol. He died in LA on June 25 2009 - days before the sellout comeback - after suffering a cardiac arrest from a Propofol and benzodiazepines overdose. Fresh allegations have since emerged. In 2019 documentary, Leaving Neverland, Wade Robson and James Safechuck accused the star of sexually abusing them for years, from when they were respectively seven and 10 years old. But Brian says it was the 2005 trial that pushed him over the edge. 'That was the start of the end,' says Brian. 'He was in pain, depression and constantly harassed with accusations. 'Think about it. 'Wacko Jacko, crazy, child molester.' How much can one human being take? 'It was too much for him. I told him he would come through and his mettle would be stronger because of the fire. And in certain ways, that was true, but in other ways, it started this spiral down. It meant the end for Michael.' 17
The Irish Sun
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I was ringside for Michael Jackson's abuse trial…from secret injury to 110mph chase, I KNOW what put him in early grave
IT'S the child abuse trial which rocked the showbiz world and saw a pop legend hauled up in court on a slew of heinous charges. Now, 20 years on, we can reveal the drama behind the headlines which saw 17 It is 20 years since Michael Jackson faced child abuse charges brought against him in a bombshell trial Credit: 2005 Getty Images 17 His lawyer Brian Oxman thinks the trial contributed to his early death Credit: JDMC 17 Many of the abuse claims leveled at Michael were based at his Neverland Ranch Credit: Rex Features 17 Michael died in 2009 at just 50 years old Credit: Getty - Pool The frail star, who faced charges of abuse against teenager Over four months Michael, then 46, watched 15-year-old Gavin accuse him of sexual abuse, supported by claims from brother Star and mum Janet that his family was held captive at Michael's Neverland Ranch - famed for its funfair and zoo. In the decades since the trial, further claims have been made regarding Jackson's alleged horrific abuse at the estate, notably by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland. The singer's lawyer, Brian Oxman, believes the torment of the 2005 trial led to MJ's death four years later from a drug overdose - and reveals the late night calls from the terrified Thriller star. 'Michael rang at all hours of the night, dozens of times,' Brian tells The Sun. 'He kept asking 'Why? I treated them so well - and they make up these lies'. 'He could never fathom it until the day he died.' He adds: 'We would talk about it for long hours about 'the evil' that went on to destroy him. He did not understand. 'No matter what I did, he could not understand and my firm belief is that this prosecution destroyed him.' He also reveals Michael felt 'betrayed' by shamed BBC star Leaving Neverland documentary clip from Channel 4 And he believes the King of Pop knew he would have died in prison if he had been convicted. 'If Michael went to jail, he would probably have died. He knew that,' he says. 'Child molestation is the worst of all crimes in our jail system. Those people are looked down on and abused by their fellow inmates. 'They are beaten, hurt and treated horribly.' Horror hospital dash 17 The pop star was pictured attending court in his pyjamas Credit: Alamy 17 Gavin Arvizo was one of the people who made allegations of child abuse against Michael Jackson Credit: Granada Television 17 It was alleged that the abuse took place at the star's California mansion Credit: Alamy At the height of the trial, in March 2005, the iconic photo of the star sporting baggy pyjama bottoms, a white T-shirt and a giant suit jacket made headlines around the world and became Time Magazine's Photo of The Year. It also cemented the reputation for eccentric behaviour which saw him dubbed 'Wacko Jacko". But the truth behind the bizarre look was a frantic dash from the hospital where he'd been admitted hours before with suspected broken ribs after a shower fall at his Neverland home. The singer's court absence prompted Judge Ronald L Whyte to fear the defendant had absconded - forfeiting a $3m bail. Despite lawyers' assurances, the judge ordered the star to be back in court within an hour or be sent to jail until the trial's end for a bail breach. He'd plead guilty to assassinating Abraham Lincoln Brian Oxman, Lawyer The order sent Brian and long term pal Joe - Michael's dad and manager of the Jackson 5 - into a panic. 'The prosecution was elated because they knew that if he forfeited his bail, he was going to jail, and he would never, never be able to live in jail," says Brian. 'The prosecutors knew he'd plead to anything to get out of jail. 'He'd plead guilty to assassinating Abraham Lincoln. 'They knew he'd do anything to limit or stop his incarceration.' Defence attorneys frantically called Michael's security, warning of the jail threat, which led to a desperate dash up the 101 freeway towards Santa Maria - pursued by dozens of fans. 'They were doing 110 miles an hour and the fans followed,' says Brian. 'That freeway had a dirt centre divider, which had potholes and was horribly dangerous. All someone had to do was to hit one of those potholes and it would have flipped and somebody would have been killed.' Arriving an hour and 10 minutes later, the star had his bail forfeited but escaped jail. Father-son bond 17 Throughout the trial, Michael was supported by his dad Joe Credit: Getty - Pool 17 Katherine Jackson was also at the trial to support her son against the allegations of abuse Credit: Getty Father Joe - who Michael famously accused of child abuse and bullying - was vital in convincing the sickly star to leave the hospital. 'Joe said, 'Michael, I'm your father. You listen to me - you have got to get to court, no excuses.'' Brian insists Michael 'loved' and 'respected' Joe dearly despite the claims of a feud. 'In the car MJ said, 'I can't walk in just with my pyjamas' so a huge bodyguard named Keith handed over his black jacket. 'It is Time Magazine's picture of the year - if not picture of the decade. 'And who's right next to him in that picture? His dad, Joe, who saved his life.' Brian insists Michael was not faking his injury or looking for sympathy as the lawyer saw a 'huge welt' on the right side of his body. 'He showed me on his chest this huge welt and says 'Brian did I break a bone?' 'And I felt his chest and I said 'I can't tell for sure'. 'I felt a terrible lump but there was a huge injury there.' Abuse accusations 17 Jordan Chandler accused Michael of child abuse in 1993 and received a pay off Credit: News UK Ltd 17 Michael was said to be deeply uncomfortable when Gavin leaned on him in the Bashir interview Credit: Granada Television 17 Wade Robson also claimed he was abused by Michael as a child Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Michael was first accused of child abuse by But in December 2003, Michael was charged with 14 offences in relation to Brian, an early member of the trial defence team, helped pull together over one and a half million pages of documents and 120 subpoenas. He sent a 15-page dossier with 700 exhibits of evidence to devastated MJ showing the strength of their case in late 2004. 'He called me from the ranch and there was no voice. (I said) 'Michael is that you?' 'He couldn't catch his breath,' says Brian. 'He said, 'Why, Brian? Why are they doing this to me?'" Despite numerous allegations that have surfaced since the star's death, Brian insists there was no evidence for the criminal charges, citing that Michael was not at Neverland on days when Gavin claimed he was abused at the estate. Dashed documentary hopes 17 Michael thought a documentary about his life would aid his comeback Credit: AFP 17 He hoped to one day perform with his children but that never happened Credit: Rex Features Michael's mental health was also rocked by 'the betrayal' of TV interviewer Martin Bashir, with whom he'd plotted a comeback through a documentary about his life, in 2003. But the Living With Michael Jackson series prompted worldwide controversy after he openly boasted about sleeping with children in his bed at Neverland. Cameras caught cancer survivor Gavin leaning his head on MJ's shoulder, discussing their close bond. Brian claims the BBC journalist - who was later found to have falsified documents to persuade Princess Diana to agree to an interview - manipulated Michael and set up the disturbing scenes. Brian raged: 'Bashir used the fact Princess Diana trusted him for the Panorama interview to get in with Michael - who at that time had no idea that he had deceived Diana. 'Gavin wasn't in Michael's life when he filmed, but Bashir and his team asked to meet one of the kids he had helped. 'Bashir talked to Arvizo before the interview and then during the recording he rested his head on Michael's shoulder and held his hand. They knew he'd do anything to limit or stop his incarceration Brian Oxman, Lawyer 'Michael said afterwards: 'That never happened before and I didn't know what to do. I don't know him. And I haven't seen him for a year and almost a half. Why was he acting like my bosom buddy?' 'Michael believed that Bashir may have told Arvizo to do that but no-one knew what really happened. 'Bashir told Michael he wanted to show the real man in a fair way, but when asked about sleeping with children he was so rattled. 'It was a shambles. Why his managers didn't stop it I will never know. 'That show set a stampede in motion which led to the trial. It was the beginning of the end for him.' Bashir later took the stand as the first prosecution witness and Brian says after the verdict, the reporter strolled over and apologised, saying: 'Nothing personal Michael.' 'Michael could not believe it, because inside he was fuming,' he says. 'Michael simply stared back, said nothing and turned away.' Destroyed reputation 17 Lawyer Brian claims the stigma of the allegations against Michael devastated the star Credit: EPA 17 Brian was by Michael's side throughout the abuse trial in 2005 Credit: JDMC Despite the acquittal, many people believe the star behaved inappropriately with young boys. In the summer of 2005 a Gallup Poll reported that 80 per cent of the US public believed Michael was guilty of abuse. 'It damaged Michael beyond repair,' says Brian. 'He was utterly numb. He was mentally, emotionally exhausted. 'Michael said: 'I'm an entertainer. I depend upon the people, 80 per cent of them think I'm guilty?'' MJ fled to Bahrain as a guest of Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the king's son, with the promise of a comeback concert and album. That plan fell apart within a year, leading him into a semi-nomadic life with his three kids, Prince, now 31, Paris, 29 and Bigi, 24. Drowning in debt, he committed to a London O2 residency This Is It. But, in constant pain after a serious back injury he sustained when a stage collapsed at a Munich gig in 1999, he was already hooked on painkillers and anaesthetic Propofol. He died in LA on June 25 2009 - days before the sellout comeback - after suffering a cardiac arrest from a Propofol and benzodiazepines overdose. Fresh allegations have since emerged. In 2019 documentary, Leaving Neverland, But Brian says it was the 2005 trial that pushed him over the edge. 'That was the start of the end,' says Brian. 'He was in pain, depression and constantly harassed with accusations. 'Think about it. 'Wacko Jacko, crazy, child molester.' How much can one human being take? 'It was too much for him. I told him he would come through and his mettle would be stronger because of the fire. And in certain ways, that was true, but in other ways, it started this spiral down. It meant the end for Michael.' 17 Michael never recovered from the trauma of the trial and his lawyer thinks it led to his early death Credit: Getty
