Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Coming Storm of Leaving Neverland

Weeks after it rocked the Sundance Film Festival, Leaving Neverland will premiere on HBO—bringing a new series of explosive allegations against Michael Jackson, who was twice accused of sexually abusing children before he died in 2009, to public attention. (Jackson settled the first case, paying an amount generally believed to be above $20 million to his victim; he was tried and acquitted on all charges in a separate case in 2005.) Members of the Jackson family have already gone on the offensive, most recently when four of them appeared on CBS This Morning to condemn the documentary and claim that the alleged victims it interviews, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, are attacking the late Jackson purely for financial gain. “We know our brother,” said Marlon Jackson to Gayle King.“Michael wouldn’t do anything like that. And then he waits until after the passing of Michael, 10 years later, to come out and state this? And they’re still in court with the estate, suing them for hundreds of millions of dollars.” It is true that both Robson and Safechuck have attempted to posthumously sue Jackson; both suits were dismissed, albeit on technical grounds rather than the validity or invalidity of their abuse claims, and are currently under appeal.

Elsewhere in HWD, an Oscar-scorned Paul Schraderreturns to social media with a vengeance; critics K. Austin Collins and Sonia Saraiya recommend the best new content coming to Netflix in March; Emma Thompson writes a scorching letter to Skydance Animation about John Lasseter; and if you’re still feeling hungry for Oscar content, please peruse our gallery of intimate shots from V.F.’s Oscar party photo booth.