Michael Jackson’s estate has condemned a new documentary film, Leaving Neverland, which features allegations that the singer sexually abused children.
Speaking to TMZ, representatives from the estate said the film was “another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson … just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations. It’s baffling why any credible film-maker would involve himself with this project.”
Leaving Neverland explores what a synopsis calls the “manipulation and abuse” of two unnamed men, from the ages of seven and 10 onwards. The film, directed by Dan Reed, who has won Baftas for documentaries including The Paedophile Hunter and Terror in Mumbai, is described as “a portrait of sustained exploitation and deception, documenting the power of celebrity that allowed a revered figure to infiltrate the lives of starstruck children and their parents”.
The four-hour film will receive its world premiere at the Sundance film festival in Utah on 25 January, and will air on Channel 4 later this spring.
(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.
Numerous accusations of sexual abuse of children have previously been made against Jackson. In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler – he denied the claims, and later settled out of court for $23m. In 2005, a jury found Jackson not guilty of molesting Gavin Arvizo and related charges. Arvizo was aged 13 at the time of the alleged offence. In 2013 and 2014, after Jackson’s death in 2009, two further lawsuits were filed by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who each alleged that Jackson had abused them in the early 1990s when they were children. Both cases were dismissed for being filed too long after the alleged incidents.
