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James Safechuck, one of the accusers from “Leaving Neverland,” released a statement on the occasion of the release of the Michael Jackson biopic, which is aimed at survivors of child sexual abuse.
Safechuck was one of the two men who made child sexual abuse allegations against the singer in the 2019 documentary. (Jackson denied the allegations throughout his life.) In a video shared with Rolling Stone, Safechuck said he wanted to reach out to other survivors during what could be a difficult time for those affected.
“The movie ‘Michael’ comes out, it’s heavily promoted, there are posters and commercials, and people are celebrating Michael. This can be triggering for survivors who have their own Michael in their life – whether that’s the priest who is close to God, the sports coach who just wants to help the kids, or the stepparent who supports the family,” Safechuck said. “Our perpetrators are sometimes celebrated even after we tell the truth.”
Safechuck’s allegations and the litigation
In “Leaving Neverland,” Safechuck described that Jackson sexually abused him as a child between 1988 and 1992. While Safechuck has been embroiled in a legal battle with the Jackson estate for a decade, he previously told ROLLING STONE his participation in “Leaving Neverland” was not intended to destroy Jackson’s legacy but to give hope to other survivors of child sexual abuse.
“I didn’t want it to be a movie about Michael or a sensationalist story that exploited his fame. I didn’t want to be part of a movie like that. I wanted to be part of a story that told what it was like to survive abuse,” Safechuck told Rolling Stone in 2019. “The audience I wanted to reach was other survivors. That was my goal.”
In his video statement to ROLLING STONE, Safechuck reiterated this: “I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and that there are other survivors who understand what you are going through and who are there for you. And that if you are feeling all the emotions at once, you should lean on people who are close to you, people who support you and love you – and know that you are not alone.”
Process and criticism of the biopic
A $400 million lawsuit filed by Safechuck and Wade Robson – who also made allegations against Jackson in “Leaving Neverland” – is finally set to go to trial in November.
“Leaving Neverland” director Dan Reed also spoke to Rolling Stone about the theatrical release of “Michael” and the efforts to clear the singer’s image. “With this film, a lot more young people are clearly going to discover Michael Jackson, and they’re probably going to leave the theater with the image that he was a very talented performer who was pretty nice to kids – and that’s a gross distortion of the truth,” Reed told Rolling Stone.
“Would these people participate in a film that glorifies Harvey Weinstein’s films without ever mentioning that he raped women? Would they be part of a major commercial about Jeffrey Epstein’s charity work?”
Safechuck’s full statement can be read below:
“Hello. I wanted to connect with other survivors of child sexual abuse. The movie ‘Michael’ is coming out, it’s being heavily promoted, there are posters and commercials, and people are celebrating Michael. This can be triggering for survivors who have their own Michael in their life – whether that’s the priest who is close to God, the sports coach who just wants to help the children, or the stepparent who supports the family. Our abusers are sometimes celebrated even after we tell the truth. And I just wanted to know you “Let me know that you are not alone and that there are other survivors who understand what you are going through and who are there for you. And that when you are feeling all the emotions at once, you should lean on people who are close to you, people who support you and love you – and know that you are not alone and that telling the truth and telling what happened is a good thing and part of your healing.
