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Leaving Neverland, Dan Reed’s 2019 film, which laid out accusations that the singer Michael Jackson sexually abused children, is among the most impactful and important documentaries of the past 10 years; the view of one of the 20th century’s biggest stars irreversibly changed, as rumour and innuendo were replaced by a detailed narrative that was hard for all but Jackson’s most committed fans to doubt. As well as altering Jackson’s reputation for ever, Leaving Neverland offered a wider look at how abusers groom their victims, why those victims can choose to protect their abuser, and how and why the parents of victims might fail to protect their child.
It was also about the extremes of fame. His celebrity allowed Jackson to bewitch young fans, and disarm families who would otherwise have balked at an adult stranger befriending their child. It gave him the drivers, bodyguards, hotel suites and mansions he needed to spend time with young boys. (Nobody denies that a series of children were alone with him for long periods, and shared his bed, although his estate strongly denies all allegations of sexual abuse.) And his fame gave him the power to settle lawsuits. It helped Jackson deflect public suspicion too, since it was just about plausible for his eccentrically childlike persona to include being seen with a string of pre-pubescent companions. The mega-famous can hide in plain sight.
Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson is another film about life in the public eye, but this time the world’s gaze is on Jackson’s two accusers from the original film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. The story starts in 2013 when Robson appears on US television to make his claims, and extends for the next decade and beyond as Robson and Safechuck seek redress in court, a process made more complicated by the lag between the alleged abuse and the accusation – about 20 years – and by the fact that Jackson died in 2009.
The two men have to overcome legal arguments, which are initially successful, that their claims are beyond the statute of limitations and that they cannot be directed at Jackson’s estate or at the company that still handles his affairs, MJJ Productions. When Leaving Neverland is released in 2019, they also face a wave of vitriol and misinformation from Jackson supporters and media agitators who know nothing about the facts of the case, but earn a kick or a buck from posing as experts. The reaction to Leaving Neverland forms the most memorable section of Leaving Neverland 2: there is an extraordinary clip of Robson and Safechuck appearing on a show hosted by Oprah Winfrey, herself an abuse survivor, who praises them for their courage while warning them of the negative reaction they are about to endure.
The new film, however, struggles to deal with how comprehensive the old one was. Although Safechuck talks movingly here about reconnecting with the younger version of himself, fighting for that boy’s interests and wondering what he would say to him, the obvious topics for a film about the aftermath – the difficulty survivors of abuse have with forming adult relationships, the pain of maintaining a relationship with the parents who didn’t step in, the lifelong anguish of those parents – were all covered in Leaving Neverland.
So we are left with the somewhat dry legal battle. Robson and Safechuck have their case thrown out, so they appeal, helped by the release of Leaving Neverland contributing to a change in the law regarding abuse victims belatedly speaking out. The tale culminates in a recording of a Zoom hearing – luckily a split-screen video call is as visually engaging as courtroom footage would have been – in which the MJJ Productions lawyer is dressed down and tripped up by visibly annoyed judges. But we’ve gone through a lot of arcane legalities to get to this point. The film’s closing caption tells us that the big trial, as opposed to these pernickety preliminaries establishing whether there is a case to answer, will take place in 2026. Leaving Neverland 2, which has arrived six years after the original film, might as well have waited seven.
We also feel the absence of the other side of the debate. While Leaving Neverland could be forgiven for setting out the accusers’ testimony without peppering it with denials from their more powerful opponent, it would be useful now to hear from MJJ Productions. Reed shows us a letter where he begs them to participate in this new film – he highlights a paragraph where he literally writes: “I’m begging you.” Their refusal means the question of who knew what within Jackson’s staff can’t properly be explored. Reed has done fine work in telling us a highly significant story, but at this stage there is not enough more of it to tell.
Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson is on Channel 4 now.
