{"id":84468,"date":"2026-04-26T03:42:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/leaving-neverland-director-compares-michael-jackson-to-epstein\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T03:42:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:42:04","slug":"leaving-neverland-director-compares-michael-jackson-to-epstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/leaving-neverland-director-compares-michael-jackson-to-epstein\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Neverland Director Compares Michael Jackson to Epstein"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Leaving Neverland<\/em> director Dan Reed<\/strong> is leveling new claims against the late pop star Michael Jackson<\/strong> amid the new biopic, aptly named Michael<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think clearly some of the press is sucking up to the Jackson machine because: A, the estate and the fan base has always ensured that the price of criticizing Michael is years of invective and smears and what have you,\u201d Reed claimed to The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> in an extensive interview published on Wednesday, April 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd B, there\u2019s a ton of money to be made by any kind of association with the Jackson IP,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf you can get on board and be part of the success of this movie, then that\u2019s going to be good for you. So a lot of people, I think, will kind of swallow any misgivings they may have and just sort of say, \u2018Oh well, it\u2019s a great jukebox movie\u2019 and just completely ignore the fact that this guy was worse than Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Epstein, a convicted sex offender and known pedophile, died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex charges. He was 66.)<\/p>\n

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Related: <\/span>Michael Jackson Accusers Are Still Seeking Justice in ‘Leaving Neverland 2’<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tIt\u2019s been more than five years since Wade Robson and James Safechuck detailed their sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson in Leaving Neverland, but they\u2019re still dealing with the aftermath of going public. The two men opened up about their continued fight for justice in the new documentary Leaving Neverland II: Surviving Michael Jackson, which [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Leaving Neverland<\/em>, a four-hour documentary which premiered on HBO in 2019, detailed Wade Robson<\/strong> and James Safechuck<\/strong>\u2019s detailed allegations of child sexual abuse against Jackson, who died in 2009 of an accidental overdose. The film, which won an Emmy, was described by the Jackson Estate as \u201ca complete fiction\u201d that was \u201ccompletely one-sided.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Reed, Jackson\u2019s estate sued HBO, arguing that a 1992 contract with the network for a concert in Budapest included a non-disparagement clause that made it illegal for the platform to air or house \u201canything nasty about Michael\u201d in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

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\n Dan Reed, the late Michael Jackson<\/span> Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HBO settled out of court and quietly removed Leaving Neverland<\/em> from its platform.<\/p>\n

Us Weekly<\/em> has reached out to the Jackson estate for comment regarding the lawsuit and Reed\u2019s additional claims about the pop star.<\/p>\n

Jackson was accused of child sex abuse for years before his untimely death. He consistently maintained his innocence. After the Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation into Jackson in 1993, he settled a $30 million lawsuit out of court, agreeing to pay alleged victim Jordan Chandler<\/strong> $15 million via a trust to be accessible when he turned 18. The alleged victim\u2019s parents, June<\/strong> and Evan Chandler<\/strong>, each received $1.5 million. A grand jury ultimately declined to indict Jackson.<\/p>\n

In 2003, the Santa Barbara Sheriff\u2019s Department and District Attorney\u2019s office renewed their investigation into Jackson, and on December 18, 2003, he was formally charged with partaking in lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.<\/p>\n

On June 14, 2004, after deliberating for 32 hours over seven days, the jury found Jackson not guilty on all charges.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the Financial Times<\/em> reported that the Jackson estate quietly agreed to pay a $16.5 million settlement to a group of accusers who threatened to come forward with new allegations of child sex abuse against Jackson in 2019. The Jackson estate reportedly brought an arbitration claim against one of the accusers, claiming he was fabricating allegations to secure an additional $213 million settlement.<\/p>\n

Just this February, the Cascio family sued Jackson\u2019s estate, claiming Jackson was a \u201cserial child predator who, over the course of more than a decade, drugs, raped, and sexually assaulted each of the plaintiffs, beginning when some were as young as seven or eight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jackson estate disputed the claims, calling the lawsuit a \u201cdesperate money grab\u201d and \u201ca transparent forum-shopping tactic in their scheme to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars from Michaels\u2019 estate and companies.\u201d On March 4, a judge granted the Jackson estate\u2019s motion to force the dispute over the Cascio family settlement into arbitration.<\/p>\n

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Related: <\/span>Michael Jackson Biopic Must Reshoot Due to Legal Agreement With Accuser<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tThe upcoming biopic about Michael Jackson reportedly needs to be reshot after a past legal agreement from an accuser was recently discovered. According to a report from Puck on Thursday, January 23, the film initially included the lawsuit against the late musician \u2014 who died in 2009 at age 50 \u2014 filed by Evan Chandler. [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI learned that Michael Jackson f***ed little boys,\u201d Reed told The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> of what he learned while making Leaving Neverland<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s what I learned. I don\u2019t make documentaries about celebrities or pop music or any kind of music. I make documentaries about terror attacks and war and stuff. And so as a filmmaker, this was off my usual beat, but I saw it as a chance to make something about child sexual abuse, which I had actually touched on in a previous film.\u201d<\/p>\n

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