Leaving Neverland director slams Michael star's claims on why film doesn’t address child abuse allegations
Warning: This article contains discussion of child sex abuse which some readers may find distressing.
The new Michael Jackson biopic has come under serious fire after the creatives behind the movie made the decision to not include the numerous child sex abuse allegations that were made against the ‘King of Pop’.
Amongst those that have come out to criticise the film is Dan Reed, the director of Leaving Neverland, the landmark 2019 documentary which saw James Safechuck and Wade Robson accuse the singer of sexually abusing them.
The new biopic Michael stars the popstars nephew Jafaar Jackson, playing his real life uncle, with Colman Domingo starring as his abusive father Joe Jackson in the film. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the movie currently sits at a shockingly low 37%, something that saw Jackson’s nephew Taj Jackson hit out at critics of the film.
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Whilst there has been a fair amount of criticism around the film itself, there has been just as much negative reaction around what isn’t in the movie, namely his numerous allegations of molesting children.
Creatives connected to Michael have stated that the film does not cover child abuse allegations because it ends in 1988
Discussing why Michael doesn’t include the allegations, the main reasoning that has been given has been that the film ends in 1988, 5 years before the first allegation surfaced in 1993.
Reed has been publicly critical of the film, and in an exclusive interview with LADbible was asked about this supposed reasoning for not including the allegations.
He said: “I think it's hilarious. It's like, ‘Let's make a film about Jeffrey Epstein, but let's stop before he starts committing serious criminal offences.’ Or, you know, ‘let's make a film about Harvey Weinstein, but let's stop before anyone found out that he was raping people’. I think it's jokes, really.
“You know, Michael [Jackson] started abusing James Safechuck, and he was ten [years old] at the time, during the Bad Tour.” Michael covers the Bad tour, but does not address any of the allegations.
“It's like the elephant in the room, it's the obvious thing that that if you were making an honest film about Michael Jackson you'd want to cover, right? I think if the estate had a really persuasive argument that could exonerate Michael Jackson, that could explain his fondness for spending the night with little boys I think they would have put it in the film.
“But the fact is that doesn't exist, there is no explanation other than the truth which is he liked to have sex with underage boys and so I'm glad people are kind of noticing that.”
Continuing the ‘elephant in the room’ around the film, Reed said that it is ‘Michael Jackson's icky relationship with children’, adding: “Even if you don't believe that he's had sex with them, what was he doing with a seven-year-old boy locked in his bedroom at night? What was that all about?”
Reed hit out at Colman Domingo's claims that there might be a sequel covering the later years of his life
Colman Domingo has also spoken about why the film does not cover the allegations, telling the US talk show Today: “The film takes place from the '60s to 1988, so it does not go into the first allegations in, what, 2005? [The first allegations began in 1993, whilst his trial occurred in 2005 where he was found not guilty.]
“Basically, we centre it on the makings of Michael. It's an intimate portrait of who Michael is. There's the possibility of there being a part two that may deal with other things that may happen afterwards. This is about the making of Michael, how he was raised, and how he was trying to find his voice as an artist."
When asked about Colman Domingo’s claims that there might be a sequel that addressed the allegations, Reed cut in to say: “There will never be a sequel.” He continued: “I mean the only sequel would be if they want to monetize some songs that haven't been included in the in the first.
“If there's more cash to be made, it's all about money remember. If there's more cash to be made they will do a second movie but I’m 100% sure that the second movie won't address any of the child sex abuse allegations because they can't, because he was guilty as sin.”
Reed, who is planning to make a third Leaving Neverland about Safechuck and Robson’s upcoming trial against Michael Jackson’s companies, said he has spoken to the pair about the film, adding that they are ‘glad’ he is being critical of the movie.
LADbible group have reached out to Lionsgate for comment.
Topics: Michael Jackson, TV and Film, TV, Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin