Michael Jackson sexual abuse claims reignited in documentary film as former fans say they are child sex victims the world forgot
NEARLY ten years after Michael Jackson’s death, horrifying new claims about the singer’s sexual abuse of young boys are about to hit the spotlight.
And the two alleged victims are hoping that, at long last, their years of torment will be acknowledged — and that the King of Pop will finally lose his crown.
Sensational new film documentary Leaving Neverland premieres in the US this week, featuring fresh abuse claims by Jackson’s one-time fans Wade Robson and James Safechuck.
It has provoked fury within the Jackson family, but the duo’s lawyer Vince Finaldi — one of just a handful of people to have already seen the movie — say it could be a moment of final reckoning.
In an exclusive interview, the Californian attorney told The Sun: “The full story of the abuse that Michael Jackson engaged in has never really been told.
“It has been kept under wraps by an army of people.
“This is James and Wade’s way of continuing to get the word out there about how they were abused by such a powerful man.”
Leaving Neverland will debut at the famous Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Friday before screening here on Channel 4 in the spring.
The two-part, four-hour documentary promises “gut-wrenching” interviews with James, now 40, and Wade, now 36, as well as their mothers, wives and siblings.
Channel 4 says the film is “a portrait of sustained abuse”, with the boys and their families “entranced by the star’s fairytale existence”.
British director Dan Reed, 54, whose credits also include TV Bafta-winning documentary The Paedophile Hunter, added: “If there’s anything we’ve learned during this time in our history, it’s that sexual abuse is complicated and survivors’ voices need to be listened to.
“It took great courage for these two men to tell their stories and I have no question about their validity.”
The Sun can today lift the lid on the chilling claims by Wade and James, detailed in lawsuits launched against Jackson’s estate after he died of a drug overdose in June 2009.
Aussie Wade became obsessed by the singer from the age of two and won a dance contest to perform with him aged five.
At seven, in 1990, he was invited to perform at Disneyland and met with Jackson again.
He says the abuse began that same year and lasted until he was 14.
Court documents state that he first slept in Jackson’s bed at the singer’s Neverland Valley Ranch, in Los Olivos, California.
Jackson is said to have told him: “We can never tell anyone what we are doing.
“People are ignorant and they would never understand that we love each other and this is how we show it. If anyone were to find out, our lives and careers would be over.”
Jackson sorted out visas for Wade, his mum and sister to move to America in 1991.
In a 2013 interview Wade branded Jackson a “paedophile”, claiming: “Every time we were together it happened. There was no night that went by that he didn’t sexually abuse me. It started with him fondling then it moved to him kissing me, like a French kiss, and then it moved to oral sex.”
Court documents describe Jackson showing explicit porn to Wade, who he had nicknamed “little one”, and pleasuring himself as the boy lay naked.
Meanwhile Jackson was arranging for the youngster to dance in his videos — and was also allegedly sexually assaulting another boy too.
A few years earlier, in 1987, Jacko had worked with nine-year-old child actor James Safechuck in a Pepsi ad.
Afterwards, star-struck James, from Simi Valley, California, went to the pop legend’s house where Jackson gave him $700 (£540) and the jacket he had worn in his Thriller video.
James and his family were also given a trip to stay at Trump Tower in New York and were treated to Phantom Of The Opera tickets.
Jackson also took the youngster with him on his worldwide Bad tour in 1988 — and James claims that the sexual abuse began when the tour reached Paris. He was just ten.
The singer is alleged to have taught him creepy code words for sex and bodily fluids.
He also claimed that Jackson also used secret signals, such as scratching his hand with a finger to show when he wanted sex.
James says the singer even performed a secret wedding ceremony between them, with a fake ring and certificate.
They held “sleepovers” at Jackson’s home where he would abuse James in a secret “sex cupboard” in his bedroom, court papers claim.
Jackson put chimes in the hallway to alert him to people approaching.
Court papers also say that he held “drills” with James to practise putting clothes on quickly, drank “pink wine” and watched porn together.
Like Wade, James says the abuse stopped when he hit puberty. Allegations against Jackson first became public in 1993, when Jordan Chandler, 13, sued Jackson for sexual abuse, leading to a criminal investigation.
Wade, then 11, gave a media interview to insist that on his own sleepovers with the singer, nothing sexual had happened. He later gave official evidence in private. Wade now says Jackson “brainwashed” him into being a “good soldier”.
Jackson is said to have told him: “They are saying we did all this disgusting sexual stuff. We would go to jail for the rest of our lives.”
Jordan’s suit was settled in 1994 and the criminal case was dropped.
Then in 2005, Wade was called to testify at the criminal trial when Jackson was charged with — and cleared of — abusing another 13-year-old, Gavin Arvizo. Wade denied ever having been abused by Jackson.
This was despite Wade’s bipolar father killing himself three years earlier, after deciding his son might have been abused by the superstar.
It was not until 2012 that, after seeing a psychotherapist, Wade finally decided to speak out.
By then he was a well-known dance director and choreographer. He explained: “I have never forgotten one moment of what Michael did to me, but I was psychologically and emotionally completely unable and unwilling to understand that it was sexual abuse.”
Fellow alleged victim James — now a computer programmer and dad of two — adds in court papers that he “struggles on a daily basis with his panic, depression and anxiety”.
Both men launched civil suits against Jackson’s estate, which were dismissed on technical grounds because the accusations were too old, without the credibility of the allegations being addressed.
But in response to the new film, the Jackson estate said: “This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.”
Lawyer Brian Oxman, part of Jackson’s defence team in 2005, also told The Sun: “I talked to (Wade) Robson many times. Under oath he said Michael never touched him.
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“Now it appears he is earning money for a movie.”
Channel 4 and the two men insist they are not making a penny out of the film — and we can reveal they are resurrecting their lawsuits.
Their lawyer Mr Finaldi said: “They are going back to court this summer. We fully expect them to win.”
Timeline of a scandal
1993: Jackson is accused in civil court of molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. Police launch a criminal probe and find photographs of boys wearing little to no clothing at the star’s Neverland ranch.
1994: Jackson settles molestation case out of court. The Chandler family is paid more than £17million and the criminal case is dropped.
2003: Jackson is charged with seven counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit a child sex abuse felony against Gavin Arvizo, who was under 14 at the time.
2005: Jackson is acquitted on all counts in the Arvizo case in the People v Jackson trial in California.
2009: Jackson dies at his rented home in Los Angeles aged 50 following a drug overdose.
2013: Wade Robson says he was abused by Jackson.
2014: James Safechuck also claims for the first time that Jackson sexually abused him.
2016: An unnamed woman – known as “Jane Doe” in court documents – launches a lawsuit claiming that she was sexually abused by Jackson from the age of 12 until she was 15. She alleged he had later paid her $900,000 (£700,000) to keep quiet. She later withdrew the case.
Wade Robson
AUSSIE child dance star won contest to perform with Jackson aged five.
- Singer arranged visas for lad and his family to move to the US when he was seven.
- Claims he was abused by the star from the age of seven to 14.
- Says Jackson called him “little one” and made him watch porn.
- Claims singer told him: “We would go to jail for rest of our lives.”
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