Leaving Neverland's director gives disturbing Michael Jackson update

Wade Robson and James Safechuck are set to detail their experiences at Michael Jackson's Neverland yet again as Leaving Neverland II hits screens this week

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When film-maker Dan Reed set about making a follow-up to his Emmy-winning documentary Leaving Neverland, he thought it would show Wade Robson and James Safechuck telling their truth about Michael Jackson in front of a jury.

But six years on from that first film, the pair have yet to make it to the stand to describe the sexual abuse they claim the singer inflicted on them. Leaving Neverland II instead follows the pair on their mind-blowing journey to get permission for their day in court, having filed lawsuits more than a decade ago against Jackson’s companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, for failing to keep them safe during the time they spent at Neverland as children.

With the date now set for November 2026, Dan says he believes the pair are absolutely determined to take to the stand and tell their stories. Claiming “because the Jackson estate, at all costs, wants to avoid a trial, they have found ways to delay and delay. And as (trial lawyer) John Carpenter says in the film, justice delayed, is justice denied.

Wade Robson alleges Jackson began abusing him when he was seven (

Image:

Dan Reed/Amos Pictures. Channel 4 images must not be altered or manipulated in any way. This picture may be used solely for Channel 4 programme publicity purposes in connection with the current broadcast of the programme(s) featured in the national and local press and listings. Not to be reproduced or redistributed for any use or in any medium not set out above.) Robson claims the alleged abuse lasted seven years

“This is not just establishing the facts of Jackson's sexual abuse of children, this is establishing that a lot of the people around him have enabled, and had knowledge of it, and covered it up. I think that's what's scary. And this ridiculous long wait to get into court, to get in front of a jury, is what the film's about.

“How can a corporation that hires someone, a child, have no responsibility for that child? It just seems bizarre. If the child is in the care of a corporation, surely that corporation has a duty of care, not to make you available to a sexual predator?” Much of the film, which airs on Channel 4 next week, is a merry-go-round of perplexing legal knock backs. But finally, in 2023, three appeal judges rule that they can go to trial, branding the previous rulings against them being able to testify as “perverse”.

Robson claims the abuse started in 1990 (

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Channel 4)

Dan knows that this documentary, as before, will prove controversial to the thousands of fans who refuse to believe that Jackson, who routinely shared beds with young boys and claimed there was “nothing wrong” in that, was a paedophile. “I think a lot of people know, but his fans don't care that he was a monster, they just like the music, so they want to believe he was a saint,” Dan says. “Do you think he couldn't be a paedophile just because he could do the moonwalk? Because he could make great music? Those two things can both be true.”

So far, five boys Jackson shared beds with have accused him of sexual abuse with most settled out of court. Wade alleges that Jackson began abusing him when he was seven years old in 1990 and continued to do so for seven years. Safechuck's alleged sexual abuse began in Paris in 1988, when he was 10, and continued until 1992.

The pair are routinely accused of bringing their claims against Jackson for financial gain but Reed argues that, if this were true, they’d have settled for a huge sum many years ago. Jordan Chandler’s lawsuit was settled for $25million and Jason Francia, the son of his housekeeper, received $2.4million.

Robson and his family were invited to stay at Neverland for the first time after this meeting

“People say ‘they're just gold-diggers, trying to get a quick buck’. Well, what you see in my film, that's not any kind of buck. And it's certainly not quick,” Dan sighs. “If they'd wanted to make money, they could have just said, ‘Give us $10 million each, we'll go quietly.’ But they didn't, because they have backbone, and they have a mission. It’s important for the truth of what happened to them to be established. They're stubborn, and they won't give up.”

The counter-argument is that the Jackson estate is more concerned about money, as it still rakes in millions annually from the King of Pop, 16 years after his death, but revenues are likely to be hit hard by any trial. Dan says James and Wade reached a point in their lives, as adults, where they simply needed to get the truth into the open. “When you are sexually abused as a child, it's horrifically damaging,” he explains. “I think it's important for Wade and James to have a jury in California acknowledge that, A, this did happen to them and B, all the people around Jackson who allowed it to happen, and then covered it up, are responsible.”

Safechuck's alleged sexual abuse began in Paris in 1988 (

Image:

James Safechuck archive / AMOS Pictures. Channel 4 images must not be altered or manipulated in any way. This picture may be use) Safechuck claims the abuse started when he was 10 (

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Channel 4)

One complicating factor is that twenty years ago Wade testified in court that Jackson had not sexually abused him, when the singer was on trial accused of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo. Dan says he fully understands why Wade lied in 2005. “Someone seduces you as a little child, you are 10 years old, you have no idea what's what. You think this is some sort of love. And then you suddenly realise that you're not supposed to do that, and it's shameful. What's the upside of telling? You piss off the most famous man in the world, he's going to come at you with his lawyers, with his mafia enforcers. All your friends are going to laugh at you. Where’s the upside?”

Wade says simply: “I wasn’t able to tell the truth. Absolutely not.” After being told the trial is going ahead, Wade is filled with hope that he can at last put things straight. Calling the ruling from the appeal court “powerful” he added: “I never expected a legal document like that to be emotional. Standing up for all children is how the ruling felt to me.” Admitting the thought of speaking about his years of abuse feels “fricking terrifying” he reasons: “If I get the opportunity to get on the stand and tell the truth - like I wasn’t able to do for decades - that’s a win for me.”

Safechuck will appear in the new documentary (

Image:

C4)

In the film, he argues that it is reasonable to go after the employees who he claims allowed Jackson to carry out the abuse for many years. “All Michael Jackson’s interactions were organised by staff. There were bodyguards right outside the door when the abuse was going on - there were always people around who worked for him. But no one did anything. People must have known - there was a constant cycle of kids.”

James says sadly: “You blame yourself for the abuse, and that’s a terrible feeling. Pursuing this was the act of fighting back. I wanted to fight for myself and for little James.” He adds: “The 10 years we’ve spent battling for it makes me more appreciative and grateful for the fact we’re able to even go forward. I don’t know if excited is the right word but I’m just embracing it.”

Robson is hoping the trial will allow him to speak his truth

The film touches on the ongoing toll that the drawn out battle has had on the men, now both in their 40s and fathers themselves. But Dan says the pair have fought too long and too hard to think of giving it up. “That's why these guys are extraordinary, and that's why so many historic sexual abuse cases against very powerful rich people, or very powerful corporations, never see the light of day,” he says.

“It’s a lesson in how the other side's lawyers can just make your life a misery, and put you through hell for a decade or more. Just in order to exercise your democratic right, which is - you have a complaint, you have evidence, and you want to go to a court of law and have that tried in front of a jury of 12 of your peers.”

Director Dan Reed says the documentary will be controversial (

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Getty Images for International Documentary Association) The men have faced criticism from some Michael Jackson fans (

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AFP via Getty Images)

Their lawyer Vince Finaldi, a specialist in child sexual abuse litigation, was delighted when the appeal judges dismissed as “perverse” the argument that it was impossible to impose safety measures at Neverland - such as chaperones - because Michael Jackson was the sole shareholder. “Who cares if one person owns it or 100 people - if the corporation facilitates the abuse of children, especially children employed to help it make more money, then the corporation should be held liable.”

His colleague John Manly says the delaying tactics from Jackson’s side are not just to shut down Wade and James. “This is a message to all the other people they know are out there that he did this to, to shut the f*** up.” The trial is 20 months away and trial lawyer John Carpenter is confident in the film as he declares: “I only take cases I can win. I’m looking forward to this trial.”

Wade and James say they will be ready. “Above all, they want their day in court,” Dan says. “Maybe the Jackson lawyers will find some extraordinary way of making sure it doesn't happen. But I feel certain that, if there is a trial, Wade and James make pretty persuasive witnesses."

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

Leaving Neverland II, Tuesday 18 March, 9pm, Channel 4

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