Michael Jackson fans will never believe he is responsible for his crimes-Adam Miller-Entertainment – Metro

For any victim of sexual assault, coming forward is an act of bravery few can ever understand (Picture: Times Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock)

In November 2026, Wade Robson and James Safechuck are finally due to get their day in court more than 10 years after first coming forward to accuse Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them as children.

It’s been an uphill battle to bring their joint suit against MJJ Productions and MJJ Venture (owned by the Jackson estate) to face a jury, accusing the company of failing to protect them from Jackson, even making sure the singer could get them on their own.

For any victim of sexual assault, coming forward is an act of bravery few can ever understand unless they’ve been through it themselves.

For Robson and Safechuck though, they knew full well they would be opening themselves up to levels of abuse typically reserved for serial killers when they spoke in graphic detail about their respective experiences with biggest-selling artist of all time in the two-part documentary, Leaving Neverland.

Because the sad truth is, Michael Jackson’s fans will never believe he is responsible for these crimes, even if they had all the ‘proof’ in the world. 

In 2019’s Leaving Neverland, Safechuck described their relationship as being like a ‘married couple’, recalling Jackson hosting a fake wedding ceremony and even producing an engagement ring. He was around 11 years old at the time.

Wade Robson (left), director Dan Reed and James Safechuck (right) (Picture: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP File)

‘He was one of the kindest, most loving, caring people I knew. And he also sexually abused me,’ said Robson.

Robson claims he gave oral sex to Jackson when he was just seven years old after first meeting two years before at a dance competition.

Robson’s family claim they were convinced by Jackson to leave Robson alone in his care, which is when he says the abuse began.

Despite Leaving Neverland’s critical acclaim, Jackson fans took to the streets in protest, with the singer’s family calling it a one-sided ‘tabloid character assassination’, despite turning down repeated attempts to give their side.

The dilemma with most sexual assault cases, particularly ones as historic as this dating back to 1988, is that the evidence is very much one person’s account’s versus another.

Six years after the release of Leaving Neverland, a sequel is about to air on Channel 4 and YouTube, revisiting Robson and Safechuck, who have continued to fight the Jackson estate for justice, capturing the ‘ongoing legal battle, the resulting personal toll and the backlash they faced from Jackson’s global fan base’.

It largely explores the tactics used by MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures to prevent their case from going to trial.

The Leaving Neverland sequel doesn’t necessarily move the story along; there are no new survivors coming forward with similar accusations and Robson and Safechuck pretty much said it all five years ago.

But Leaving Neverland 2 does explore the reluctance of Jackson fans to engage with the documentary at all.

The reception to Leaving Neverland was as polarising as it gets.

One side condemned Jackson as a monster, vowing never to listen to his music again.

Oprah Winfrey invited Robson and Safechuck to her show. Like Robson and Safechuck, Winfrey recalled her own ‘lightbulb moment’ when she was 42 that she had been abused. 

The other side, however, became even more fired up to fight his corner and Jackson’s music soared in sales.

The release of Leaving Neverland confirmed both Robson and Safechuck’s biggest fear.

‘Michael said your life would be over if people knew,’ says Safechuck.

He was right – the wrath of millions upon millions of Jackson fans clearly isn’t worth all the money in the world, yet both men continue to fight.

At one point in Leaving Neverland 2, Andy Signore, host of Popcorned Planet, is determined to disprove the men. He questions why they waited so long and why more children haven’t come forward when so many stayed at Jackson’s Neverland mansion, as if anyone’s suggested all children under Jackson’s watch were abused.

Neither of those reasons even remotely discredit Robson or Safechuck, but actually the timing of their coming forward falls pretty consistently with many adults who later realise they were abused as children years and years later.

The release of Leaving Neverland confirmed both Robson (right) and Safechuck’s biggest fear (Picture: Pro Co/Channel Four)

Watching Leaving Neverland, it’s hard not to be convinced by their case, which could be in part why so many of Jackson’s supporters refuse to watch it.

It’s not just inconceivable to Jackson fans, it’s impossible. Their idol isn’t just one of the most important musicians of all time, he is a god-like figure of an unhealthy degree bound to warp the judgment of anyone who feels changed by his music.

The world quite literally wouldn’t be the same without Jackson – that’s indisputable. His impact on music, pop culture, and Black history is unprecedented but it shouldn’t make him immune to being held accountable for some of the most disturbing accusations imaginable.

But whatever the outcome of the trial in November 2026, will Jackson’s legacy change? I don’t even see how it will even be remotely impacted.

Right now, if you walk through London’s Old Compton Street, you’ll find an enormous queue that goes around the block of fans heading inside to watch the carefully santisied MJ: The Musical, with complete disregard of allegations levelled at a man accused of paedophilia.

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in the upcoming biopic (Picture: Caz Conboy/Lionsgate/Universal Pictures)

His estate is still worth over $2billion and counting, his music still sells in bucket loads and a biopic starring his nephew as the King of Pop is expected to be one of the biggest box office success stories of 2025.

I personally struggle to separate the art from the artist. I find it deeply uncomfortable listening to R Kelly singing sexualised lyrics knowing he preyed on young and vulnerable women and I don’t want to listen to Kanye West rapping about Jesus knowing he calls himself a ‘proud antisemite’.

Likewise, after hearing grown men accusing Michael Jackson of giving them oral sex while they slept makes me less enthusiastic about dancing to Billie Jean.

Granted, with Jackson, under the court of law he’s yet to be found guilty. He was arrested on child molestation charges in 2003 but later acquitted in 2005 and his estate continues to deny all allegations of child abuse since his death in 2009. 

But before he died, he did pay millions to prevent a case from going to trial and his behaviour with children that played out in front of our very eyes is at the very least enough for me to find him a deeply unsettling figure.

Leaving Neverland 2 won’t do anything to sway opinion, and actually, unlike the first, it’s not even trying to (Picture: JM Enternational/REX/Shutterstock)

There is as much evidence to support Robson and Safechuck as there is to dismiss them.

I can respect that others may have their doubts, but to flat out refuse to engage with their statements or rule them out before actually watching Leaving Neverland speaks more about idolising Michael Jackson than it does the integrity of Robson and Safechuck’s allegations.

We know Jackson’s well-documented history of hosting sleepovers with children, refusing to allow their parents access to these said sleepovers, and that he settled a lawsuit with Jordan Chandler in 1994 for a reported $23million.

Leaving Neverland 2 won’t do anything to sway opinion, and actually, unlike the first, it’s not even trying to.

No doubt the case will be revisited for Leaving Neverland 3 once Robson and Safechuck’s trial against MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures has taken place.

‘Whatever’s the final outcome, I don’t see how I lose,’ Robson says. ‘If I get the opportunity to get back in there and get on the stand, and tell the truth like I wasn’t able to for decades, that’s a win.’

What will come out in that trial we’ll wait and see but while a judge may rule in Robson and Safechuck’s favour, I can’t see any way they’ll be able to convince the jury of public opinion when Jackson’s fan base isn’t even willing to even listen.

Leaving Neverland airs March 18 on Channel 4.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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