Despite the controversy surrounding the upcoming release of the Leaving Neverland documentary, HBO has revealed a new trailer.
The trailer features Wade Robson and James Safechuck, both of whom spent extensive time at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch as children.
The four-hour film debuted in January at the Sundance Film Festival and has been condemned by the Jackson estate. Jackson’s family argues that the pop superstar was subjected to several investigations and was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005.
In the trailer, Robson says Neverland felt like a place where you could forget all of your problems. The two men recount their adventures at Neverland, including watching movies and playing with Jackson himself. Robson, who was seven at the time, described Jackson as “like hanging out with a friend that’s more your age.”
The trailer features a chilling account by Robson.
Robson stated that Jackson one told him that if anyone found out about what they were doing, they would both “go to jail for the rest of our lives.”
Both Robson and Safechuck testified in 2005 that they had slept with Jackson many times, but that he had never touched them inappropriately. Those testimonies have now been seriously revised, however.
Jackson passed away in 2009 at age 50 of acute propofol intoxication. Despite his death, both men filed lawsuits in 2013 against Jackson, saying that the stress and trauma of the situation forced them to admit they were sexually abused. Those cases have been thrown out on technical grounds, but they are in the process of being appealed.
Jackson’s estate calls the two men perjurers because of their reversal following their 2005 testimony. The director of the documentary Dan Reed says he has no reason to doubt the two men’s allegations. The two-part documentary will air on HBO starting March 3rd and 4th.
Check out the trailer below.