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‘Leaving Neverland’ director slams Michael Jackson film: ‘It will glorify a pedophile’
  • Movies & Series

‘Leaving Neverland’ director slams Michael Jackson film: ‘It will glorify a pedophile’

  • 5:16 PM

Ever since it was announced that Michael Jackson would be getting a biopic, many have wondered if he will face the sexual abuse allegations against him. Its production hasn’t started yet and already negative reviews are raining down on it.

‘Leaving Neverland’ director slams Michael Jackson biopic

In 2019, “Leaving Neverland” was released, a documentary that tells the testimony of two men who were allegedly victims of childhood sexual abuse by Michael Jackson.

In general, it was accepted by experts and by a large part of the public. Even Variety critic Owen Gleiberman made this strong statement about the documentary:

“A devastating and powerfully convincing testimony that Michael Jackson was guilty of child sexual abuse (…) This is not a ‘thriller’, more of a real-world horror film.”

However, “Leaving Neverland” also sparked controversy between Jackson’s relatives and his loyal longtime fans. They defended the singer and confirmed that this production was only tasked with perpetuating lies against him.

Now the documentary’s director, Dan Reed, has published an editorial in ‘The Guardian’ revealing his disagreement with the making of the new Michael Jackson biopic.

He stated that this new biopic “will glorify a man who molested children” and criticized the singer’s fans, the press and the elderly who continue to love Jackson: “They are willing to put aside their unhealthy relationship with children and just follow the music. “

In addition, he expressed that this biopic will be harmful to survivors of child sexual abuse and questioned the production behind the film:

“I say to the filmmakers: how do you portray the moment when Jackson, a grown man in his 30s, takes a child by the hand and leads him into this room? How do you describe what happens next? Avoiding the subject of Jackson H propensity to sleep with young children, sends a message to millions of survivors of child sexual abuse. That message is: if a pedophile is rich and popular enough, society will forgive him.”

What is known about the Michael Jackson biopic?

Antoine Fuqua will direct this film and Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s nephew, will play his uncle. It will join the list of musician biopics like ‘Elvis’ or ‘Rocketman’

  • If you like biopics, you can also watch “Forever Joan Sebastian” for free and in Spanish on ViX