Members of Michael Jackson’s family have appeared on US television to defend the singer in the week that a documentary labelling him a sexual predator is set to air.
Brothers Tito, Marlon and Jackie and nephew Taj have yet to see Leaving Neverland but claim that the four-hour HBO/Channel 4 co-production is filled with untruths. The documentary, that premiered at this year’s Sundance film festival to great acclaim, features the testimonies of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege that the singer sexually abused them as children.
“I know my brother,” Jackie said in an interview on CBS This Morning. “He’s my little brother. I know my brother. He’s not like that.”
Director Dan Reed chose to focus the documentary on the two men and their families without featuring other voices, a decision that the estate has criticised.
“There has not been not one piece of evidence that corroborates their story,” Marlon said. “And they’re not interested in doing that.”
(August 18, 1993) LAPD investigation
After Jordan Chandler makes allegations during a police interview that Jackson has abused him, an investigation begins. Jackson had met the 12-year-old boy the previous year.
(August 25, 1993) Barnes and Robson press conference
Teenagers Brett Barnes and Wade Robson hold a press conference stating that they had shared a bed with Jackson on multiple occasions, but that nothing sexual had happened.
(September 14, 1993) Chandlers sue Jackson
A lawsuit from the Chandler family alleges sexual abuse by Jackson and seeks $30m.
(December 22, 1993) Jackson video statement
Jackson describes being strip-searched and photographed by the LAPD two days earlier as “the most humiliating ordeal of my life”. He states: "I am not guilty of these allegations, but if I am guilty of anything it is of giving all that I have to give to help children all over the world.”
(January 25, 1994) Jackson settles lawsuit
Jackson settles out of court with the Chandlers for $22m – $15m goes to Jordan Chandler to be held in a trust fund until he turns 18.
(September 15, 1994) LAPD investigation fails
After two grand juries fail to indict, and Jordan Chandler tells authorities he will not testify in court, the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara district attorneys end their investigation.
(May 31, 1995) Scream released
The lead single from Jackson’s album HIStory is released. A duet with his sister Janet, the song angrily addresses media coverage of the child sexual abuse allegations against him.
(February 6, 2003) Bashir documentary
Jackson discusses regularly having sleepovers with children, including a young cancer patient named Gavin Arvizo, in Living with Michael Jackson – a documentary fronted by the British journalist Martin Bashir. "It's not sexual," said Jackson on-screen. "We’re going to sleep. I tuck them in. It's very charming." The film rekindles police investigations.
(November 18, 2003) Police raid and arrest
Jackson's Neverland estate is again searched by police, and a week later Jackson is arrested.
(December 18, 2003) Jackson charged
Michael Jackson is formally charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.
(February 28, 2005) Trial begins
During Jackson's trial, Arvizo and his younger brother testify that the singer showed them pornography and made them drink "Jesus juice" – wine. Both say Jackson masturbated in front of them and molested Arvizo on multiple occasions. Blanca Francia, one of Jackson's former housekeepers, testifies she saw Jackson showering with Wade Robson. Witnesses for the defence, including Macaulay Culkin and Robson, say that Jackson never molested them.
(June 13, 2005) Not guilty verdict
The jury finds Jackson not guilty on all 14 charges brought against him.
(June 25, 2009) Jackson dies
In the run-up to This Is It, a planned residency at London's O2 Arena, Jackson dies age 50 of a cardiac arrest.
(May 15, 2013) Wade Robson sues
Wade Robson takes legal action against the Jackson estate, alleging that Michael Jackson molested him over a seven-year period between the ages of seven and 14.
(November 15, 2014) James Safechuck sues
Safechuck alleges Jackson abused him on more than 100 occasions after the pair met when Safechuck appeared in a Pepsi commercial alongside the singer.
(January 25, 2019) Leaving Neverland
Dan Reed's four-hour documentary Leaving Neverland opens at the Sundance film festival. In it Wade Robson and James Safechuck discuss at length the abuse they claim they suffered at Jackson's hands. It is described as "a public lynching" by Jackson's surviving family.
(March 3, 2019) Television screenings
Leaving Neverland is shown on the HBO network in the US, with a UK screening on Channel 4 on 6 and 7 March. The Jackson estate sue HBO for $100m, claiming the network is in breach of a non-disparagement clause in a 1992 contract.
(March 6, 2019) Radio ban
Radio stations around the world, including in New Zealand and Canada, begin to pull Jackson's music from the airwaves.
In the documentary, both Robson and Safechuck reveal what they claim happened at Neverland when Jackson would invite them for sleepovers, detailing graphic sexual assault, a claim that Taj denies.
“I grew up in it, so for me it wasn’t odd,” Taj said of his uncle’s frequent slumber parties with children. “You know, I think, to the outside world, yes, I think it can be odd. I mean, I’m not oblivious to what it sounds like … But I think, the fault on my uncle was he just, he didn’t have that bone in his body to look at it the other way. And I think that was the thing, is that his naiveté was his downfall in a way.”
They believe that the reason behind the two men coming forward is purely financial. “It’s all about money,” Marlon said. Taj referred to his uncle as “a blank cheque”.
Earlier this week, CBS also spoke to Reed, who defended the men’s stories and his decision to keep the focus tightly on those who were there. “What was important to me was to have eyewitnesses or people who could add something to the story,” he said. “I don’t know that the Jackson family has any direct knowledge of what happened to Wade and James.”
The singer’s estate has already filed a suit against HBO claiming the network is in breach of a non-disparagement clause that was part of a 1992 contract to show an earlier concert. They are seeking up to $100m in damages.
The BBC has also announced that it will be making a rival documentary that will feature “the individuals who shaped him and were close to him” and will not shy away from controversy.
