“Leaving Neverland”: Oprah Winfrey Hosts Discussion with Michael Jackson’s Accusers

“Leaving Neverland”, the documentary detailing the accounts of two men – Wade Robson and James Safechuck – who claimed that late pop legend, Michael Jackson molested them when they were children had its second installment aired on HBO and raised a whirlwind of dust.

In a bid to expose the truths behind the stories shared by the subjects of said documentary, Oprah Winfrey went back to her roots as one of history’s most iconic show hosts to have an emotional discussion with the two men who claimed to have been sexually abused by Michael Jackson.

The one-hour long conversation caused Winfrey to receive backlash but she said in response:” The story is bigger than, as I said in the beginning, it’s bigger than any one person. And don’t let any person in your world make it just about what Michael Jackson did or did not do. It’s about this thing, this insidious pattern that’s happening in our culture that we refuse to look at.”

During the interview, Winfrey didn’t shy away from the uncertainties surrounding the documentary and went ahead to question the motives of both accusers. In 1993 and 2005, Wade Robson had denied being sexually abused by Michael Jackson yet during the interview, he said that he didn’t think about because he didn’t want to question Michael since doing that – questioning Michael and their history – would mean questioning his life. He wasn’t ready to broach that.

Jackson’s estate has filed a lawsuit against HBO citing that the documentary was based on false accusations. They accused the cable network of breaking a no disparagement agreement with Jackson after HBO aired his “Michael Jackson in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour” concert film in 1992.