Six years later, director Dan Reed has made a well-intentioned but unnecessary sequel, Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson. It has little new to say about Jackson and the crimes of which he has been accused (and which he consistently denied up to his death in 2009). Instead, the film is an often tedious critique of the glacial pace of the American civil justice system.
Wade Robson accused Jackson of sexual abuse in 2013 (Photo: Channel 4)
The trauma Robson and Safechuck say they suffered at Jackson’s hands is still raw; these are wounds that will never fully heal. “Generally speaking, I lose one client a year, sometimes two, to suicide or the ill effects that come from abuse – alcoholism, drug abuse,” says their lawyer, Vince Finaldi. “I get to deal with the ghosts of at least 20 or 30 clients that I think about all the time.”
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In one of many drawn-out scenes, we see lawyers for Jackson’s companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, arguing over Zoom with a judge about the limits of corporate responsibility. We’re sent down the wrong rabbit hole, and the bigger issue around Jackson’s continued popularity is obscured.
“Now that Michael Jackson is dead, the [Jackson estate’s] sole duty is the making of money on Michael Jackson’s music,” says a member of their legal team as the camera cuts to crowds in London queuing for MJ: The Musical. “The truth is very inconvenient. The more delay they have, the more money they make.”
James Safechuck and Robson have faced backlash from Jackson fans (Photo: Channel 4)Their smoking gun in defence of Jackson is that Robson testified under oath in 2005 that abuse “never occurred”. He today attributes that testimony to unresolved trauma, but Jackson’s defenders are unconvinced. “My belief is we’re all innocent until proven guilty,” says Andy Signore, a YouTuber who believes Jackson is innocent. “I think these two are financially motivated.”
I appreciate the exasperation felt by Robson and Safechuck as they become ever more deeply mired in legal limbo – but Leaving Neverland 2 would surely have benefitted from a broader perspective. By fixating on the legal aspects of the story, the music industry which continues to make millions off Jackson’s tainted legacy is left entirely off the hook.
‘Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson’ is streaming on Channel 4
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