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With his seemingly sweet and childlike personality, the mothers treated Jackson like another son. The relationships between both men and Jackson grow from there, with the singer phoning them everyday and visiting their houses. Jimmy, age ten at the time of meeting Jackson, acted in a Pepsi advert alongside him. Robson, who met Jackson when he was seven years old, was a young dancer who won a competition, among other children, to dance on stage with the artist. Leaving Neverland traces the history of Jackson’s history of alleged sexual abuse and its affect on Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck from 1986 to the present day. When the Channel 4 trailer was released on YouTube, the comments were loaded with claims that the victims being interviewed were merely acting.īut after watching all three and a half hours of graphic emotional testimonies, it’s patently clear they’re telling the truth. The late musician's estate called it a ‘character assassination’, while many devoted fans have rallied against it. The film has come under plenty of fire after its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The footage and interviews in Dan Reed’s controversial documentary Leaving Neverland feel strange to watch because the potential threat seems so obvious, and yet the story is still so shocking. How was he able to surround himself with kids with no questions asked? Or phone them every day? Or invite them to his massive Neverland mansion in California? In a more enlightened era, preceded by the downfalls of Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile, Michael Jackson now feels like a surreal entity.