Michael Jackson has enjoyed posthumous fandom the past decade. The child abuse allegations against him were coming into focus in his final years, but since his death on June 25, 2009, we've barely heard a peep about them. Instead, fans continue to jam to "Billie Jean" at wedding receptions without thinking twice.
That may be about to change.
The new HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, a two-part, four-hour-long series, details reports about Jackson's inappropriate and criminal behavior with children. Two of the alleged victims, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, and their families speak at length in the documentary about how the singer sexually abused them. Robson, a 36-year-old choreographer, claims that Jackson molested him over a seven-year period starting in 1990.
By 1990, when Robson was about 8 years old, the family came into contact with Jackson again during a vacation in Los Angeles. Robson alleged Jackson convinced Robson’s mother to let him stay over alone with the singer while the rest of his family went on a trip to the Grand Canyon.
It was then that Jackson allegedly performed oral sex on him and kissed him. Robson claimed Jackson told him, “You and I were brought together by God. We were meant to be together. This is how we show love.” (People)
In the wake of the bombshell documentary, radio stations have banned his music, and museums have removed his statues. His former supporters in the media have also begun to distance themselves from the pop star and his troubled legacy.
"The love affair is over," according to former Ebony editor-in-chief Kierna Mayo.
I’m very sorry for anyone who loves Michael. Very sorry. Myself included. Your cognitive dissonance is about to be violently disrupted. The love affair is over.
— Kierna Mayo (@kiernamayo) March 4, 2019
Mayo explained in detail why she's "letting go" of Michael in a piece for Afropunk.com. The Leaving Neverland documentary, which she describes as Jackson's "second death," is full of too much credible evidence to ignore.
In reality, the documentary reveals an impressive amount of research. There contains a significant amount of never-before-seen images and footage, and a credible timeline. Moreover, documentaries are not journalism per se; they follow a single narrative even when there are multiple points of view. I’ll let film critics determine the cinematic value of Leaving Neverland, but a good documentary is rarely a there are great people on both sides experience. You watch them not for so-called balance, but to learn, through story, something you didn’t know.
When you view all four hours of Leaving Neverland, what you learn is that these boys loved Michael Jackson fiercely, and that they knew him better than any of us could have ever dreamed of knowing him. And he abused them. If they are finally dealing with the truth, I ask myself, who are we not to? To date, four boys including Safechuck and Robson have said that Michael Jackson molested them. Will we believe them when more of Michael’s victims find the courage to come forward? We must ask ourselves, how many victims’ stories does it take to create credibility?
Documentaries have been the death knell for artists lately. R&B artist R. Kelly is facing his own reckoning after the premiere of Surviving R. Kelly, a documentary which highlighted how he allegedly preyed on underage girls throughout his career. It shocked fans, but not those close to R. Kelly's supposed victims.
Kelly denied the allegations in an explosive interview with CBS's Gayle King on Wednesday.
The Jackson family says the same of Michael. He is, they insist, "100 percent innocent." They're suing HBO for $100 million in damages.
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