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Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michael Jackson's Accusers Are Back In Court Over A 'Proposed Protective Order'
It has been nearly sixteen years since Michael Jackson's death; however, his legacy remains marred by unrelenting child abuse allegations. Wade Robson and James Safechuck remain adamant about the alleged trauma they experienced at the hands of the King of Pop when they were children. Their recently combined lawsuits against the "Thriller" hitmaker's companies have them fighting against a protective order. The legal drama began in 2013 when Wade Robson filed his scathing allegations against Michael Jackson's companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures. James Safechuck dropped his bombshell lawsuit the following year before the late singer's accusers teamed up to push their cases. Robson claimed Jackson sexually abused him when he was seven, and it continued for years. Meanwhile, Safechuck alleged he met the entertainer in 1986 when he was cast in a Pepsi commercial. He noted Jackson asked him to hang out months later, leading to many other hangouts. Safechuck claimed Jackson's sexual abuse started in 1988 during his Bad Tour when he was 10 and the singer was 29. The alleged victims sued MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty, among other claims. The companies have vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing and submitted a proposed protective order, which Safechuck and Robson opposed in court documents obtained by In Touch. The defendants argued the pair waited years after Jackson's death before making their claims despite once defending the singer. In their response to Safechuck's lawsuit, Jackson's companies noted it took "almost four years after Michael Jackson had died before he made his scurrilous and frivolous allegations." The attorney for the defendants added: "The nature of these false allegations necessarily makes it impossible for the Corporations to fully defend themselves without the assistance of Michael Jackson himself." "The impossibility of fully and completely defending against [James'] false allegations is further magnified by the fact that [James] himself steadfastly denied these allegations during the entirety of Michael Jackson's life," the legal rep argued. Additionally, the defendants demanded the lawsuit be tossed because they could not possibly have been on notice, before Jackson's death, that Safechuck would "bring frivolous claims like those here and that they should have been prepared to defend against such frivolous claims." Safechuck and Robson haven't had a victorious streak in their lawsuits, with a judge shutting their plea for sensitive information. The pair attempted to obtain sensitive photos of Jackson and other evidence via subpoenas sent to the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office. However, Jackson's companies fought against the subpoenas, and a judge granted their refusal request. Outside court, Robson and Safechuck have pushed their abuse narrative through interviews and the 2019 documentary "Leaving Neverland" and its March 2025 sequel "Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson." The Blast covered the story, reporting that Safechuck and Robson addressed the aftermath of their allegations ahead of the sequel's release. Robson described the fear of public reaction as "fricking terrifying," while Safechuck recalled feeling anxious about the first documentary's debut. Like the first documentary, "Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson," revisited Robson and Safechuck's alleged abuse at Jackson's hands. Safechuck recalled some of his painful memories, claiming the late singer performed sexual acts on him when he was asleep. Additionally, the sequel followed their harrowing journey and aimed to shed light on the impacts of their allegations on an influential figure like Jackson. Robson also reflected on having Oprah Winfrey's support following the first documentary's release. In his words: "Winfrey got what I and James had been through, you know, getting to the point in life where it was no longer an option to keep it a secret." Robson and Safechuck accused Jackson of grooming them into silence and ensuring they supported him during his infamous child molestation trial. The pair claimed the late singer coerced them into giving false narratives, alleging he threatened to ruin their lives if they spoke against him. Robson alleged he initially denied Jackson's request to testify on his behalf. However, he kept receiving subpoenas, which made him believe he had no choice but to comply. Safechuck testified in the performer's favor during the 1993 molestation trial but chose not to support him in his 2005 legal battle. Jackson's accusers also addressed their lawsuit against the entertainer's companies, noting this was their way of fighting back and healing from their alleged traumas. Safechuck said: "Pursuing this was the act of fighting back. I wanted to fight for little James. I wanted to fight for him and fight for myself." Will Michael Jackson'saccusers emerge triumphant, or will the late singer's name be redeemed?
The Guardian
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson review – the shocking exposé of the megastar is a hard act to follow
Leaving Neverland, Dan Reed's 2019 film, which laid out accusations that the singer Michael Jackson sexually abused children, is among the most impactful and important documentaries of the past 10 years; the view of one of the 20th century's biggest stars irreversibly changed, as rumour and innuendo were replaced by a detailed narrative that was hard for all but Jackson's most committed fans to doubt. As well as altering Jackson's reputation for ever, Leaving Neverland offered a wider look at how abusers groom their victims, why those victims can choose to protect their abuser, and how and why the parents of victims might fail to protect their child. It was also about the extremes of fame. His celebrity allowed Jackson to bewitch young fans, and disarm families who would otherwise have balked at an adult stranger befriending their child. It gave him the drivers, bodyguards, hotel suites and mansions he needed to spend time with young boys. (Nobody denies that a series of children were alone with him for long periods, and shared his bed, although his estate strongly denies all allegations of sexual abuse.) And his fame gave him the power to settle lawsuits. It helped Jackson deflect public suspicion too, since it was just about plausible for his eccentrically childlike persona to include being seen with a string of pre-pubescent companions. The mega-famous can hide in plain sight. Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson is another film about life in the public eye, but this time the world's gaze is on Jackson's two accusers from the original film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. The story starts in 2013 when Robson appears on US television to make his claims, and extends for the next decade and beyond as Robson and Safechuck seek redress in court, a process made more complicated by the lag between the alleged abuse and the accusation – about 20 years – and by the fact that Jackson died in 2009. The two men have to overcome legal arguments, which are initially successful, that their claims are beyond the statute of limitations and that they cannot be directed at Jackson's estate or at the company that still handles his affairs, MJJ Productions. When Leaving Neverland is released in 2019, they also face a wave of vitriol and misinformation from Jackson supporters and media agitators who know nothing about the facts of the case, but earn a kick or a buck from posing as experts. The reaction to Leaving Neverland forms the most memorable section of Leaving Neverland 2: there is an extraordinary clip of Robson and Safechuck appearing on a show hosted by Oprah Winfrey, herself an abuse survivor, who praises them for their courage while warning them of the negative reaction they are about to endure. The new film, however, struggles to deal with how comprehensive the old one was. Although Safechuck talks movingly here about reconnecting with the younger version of himself, fighting for that boy's interests and wondering what he would say to him, the obvious topics for a film about the aftermath – the difficulty survivors of abuse have with forming adult relationships, the pain of maintaining a relationship with the parents who didn't step in, the lifelong anguish of those parents – were all covered in Leaving Neverland. So we are left with the somewhat dry legal battle. Robson and Safechuck have their case thrown out, so they appeal, helped by the release of Leaving Neverland contributing to a change in the law regarding abuse victims belatedly speaking out. The tale culminates in a recording of a Zoom hearing – luckily a split-screen video call is as visually engaging as courtroom footage would have been – in which the MJJ Productions lawyer is dressed down and tripped up by visibly annoyed judges. But we've gone through a lot of arcane legalities to get to this point. The film's closing caption tells us that the big trial, as opposed to these pernickety preliminaries establishing whether there is a case to answer, will take place in 2026. Leaving Neverland 2, which has arrived six years after the original film, might as well have waited seven. We also feel the absence of the other side of the debate. While Leaving Neverland could be forgiven for setting out the accusers' testimony without peppering it with denials from their more powerful opponent, it would be useful now to hear from MJJ Productions. Reed shows us a letter where he begs them to participate in this new film – he highlights a paragraph where he literally writes: 'I'm begging you.' Their refusal means the question of who knew what within Jackson's staff can't properly be explored. Reed has done fine work in telling us a highly significant story, but at this stage there is not enough more of it to tell. Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson is on Channel 4 now.
