Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed has criticised the new Michael Jackson biopic and claimed that the musician was “worse than Jeffrey Epstein”.
Reed directed the HBO-produced, two-part documentary back in 2019, which focused on interviews with Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who alleged that they were sexually abused as children by Jackson.
In 2024, Reed slammed the then-upcoming biopic Michael as “startlingly disingenuous”, claiming it discredits Robson and Safechuck’s experiences with the singer.
Now that the film has hit theatres, he’s questioned why the new biopic failed to acknowledge the abuse allegations against Jackson. “It says that people don’t care that he was a child molester. Literally, people just don’t care,” Reed said in a new interview with Hollywood Reporter.
“I think a lot of people just love his music and turn a deaf ear. And short of having actual video evidence of Michael Jackson engaged in sexual intercourse with a seven-year-old child, I don’t know what would be sufficient to change these people’s minds.
“How can you tell an authentic story about Michael Jackson without ever mentioning the fact that he was seriously accused of being a child molester?” he added.
According to a recent Variety report, the film’s third act was initially supposed to explore how Jackson was impacted by multiple allegations of child molestation. However, Jackson’s estate reportedly had to pay around $15million for reshoots after it emerged that the singer’s out-of-court settlement with Jordan Chandler, the first of his accusers, included a clause barring Chandler from being depicted on screen.
Antoine Fuqua, the director of the film, recently addressed the allegations made against Jackson, saying: “When I hear things about us — Black people in particular, especially in a certain position — there’s always pause.”
A New Yorker article noted that the director “was sceptical of some of the accusers’ parents, particularly Chandler’s father, who was recorded threatening to ensure that Jackson was ‘humiliated beyond belief.’”
Fuqua then emphasised that he didn’t know the truth behind any allegations made against Jackson, but speculated that “sometimes people do some nasty things for some money.”
Reed also addressed Fuqua’s remarks, saying, “For Antoine Fuqua to accuse people of gold digging is kind of ironic. It seems to me all the people involved in this movie are just making bank.”
“If anyone’s making money, it’s Michael Jackson’s estate and the people who worked on this biographical picture,” Reed said, adding that Safechuck and Robson “have never made a cent from their accusations” against Jackson.
“People don’t seem to understand: If you bring a lawsuit, you don’t get any money until you win in court. And when you win in court, that means you’ve proved your case, right?” he said.
He went on to claim that the “press” is “sucking up to the Jackson machine”.
“The estate and the fan base has always ensured that the price of criticising Michael is years of invective and smears and what have you,” Reed said, adding that there’s “a ton of money to be made by any kind of association with the Jackson IP.”
“If you can get on board and be part of the success of this movie, then that’s going to be good for you,” Reed added.
“So a lot of people, I think, will kind of swallow any misgivings they may have and just sort of say, ‘Oh well, it’s a great jukebox movie’ and just completely ignore the fact that this guy was worse than Jeffrey Epstein,” Reed said.
The Jackson estate has adamantly and repeatedly denied that he abused either of the boys, and has emphasised that Robson testified at Jackson’s 2005 criminal trial that he had not been abused, and Safechuck said the same to authorities.
NME gave Michael three stars in a review that read: “Michael feels like a job well done: it’s a slick, accessible advert for Jackson’s incredible imperial phase. But if the singer’s estate wanna be startin’ somethin’ bigger like a film franchise, they’ll have their work cut out.”
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
