Justin M. Howard | August 18, 2020
A letter sent from the Michael Jackson Estate to HBO outlines the disregard for film-making ethics in Leaving Neverland and its role in the two accusers litigation tactics. Michael Jackson Estate executives warned HBO not to air Leaving Neverland weeks before its premiere.
The letter provides a description of the film in its entirety and the Estate didn’t mince words, they wrote:
“Leaving Neverland, an admittedly one-sided, sensationalist program-referred to as a “documentary” by HBO and others-that HBO apparently funded and intends to air this Spring.”
“Sadly, it appears that HBO-a once great and respected network-has now been reduced to the pay television version of Hard Copy (with a little mix of The Jerry Springer Show).”
Estate Letter Reveals Film Director Lies
The Estate first learned about Leaving Neverland through the press when it aired at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 – stealing attention from a documentary called Untouchable about Harvey Weinstein. As admitted by the director, Dan Reed had no interest in speaking to person(s) from the other side of the case, which is unusual in documentary film-making.
Reed, as an attempt to promote and “bolster the accusers credibility” has given false statements to the public about the length of time Robson and Safechuck knew each other. “Sundance was the first time [as adults] that they’d met.” Reed commented. However the letter states that they have the same attorneys and spoke years before:
“In Robson’s 2016 deposition, he testified that he had spoken to Safechuck in 2014, the year Safechuck filed his lawsuit against the Estate. When asked what the two men had spoken about, Robson refused to answer the question-his attorney instructed him to remain silent because Robson’s and Safechuck’s common attorneys were involved in the conversations between the two men in 2014.”
HBO’s involvement with the film also gave Oprah Winfrey leverage to conduct interviews with Robson and Safechuck in After Neverland. The combination of HBO and the OWN network made Leaving Neverland appear to be more credible.
“The producer of this program, Dan Reed, is telling the media that one of the principal reasons the documentary is credible is because of HBO’s reputation. When asked whether an attorney had vetted the film, he responded, “that’s what happens on every single film I make or, to my knowledge, that anyone makes, certainly for HBO.”
Many found it suspicious that Dan Reed never spoke to anyone but the accusers and their families. Safechuck claimed to be molested while on tour with Jackson but Reed never conducted interviews with band members or hotel personnel who were part of that tour. One would expect any company to do a thorough investigation before they would air a film of this magnitude, especially HBO.
Michael Jackson Estate Executives Warned HBO about Leaving Neverland – continued
A list of people that Reed should have spoken to that would’ve contradicted the allegations of the two accusers, according to the Estate, are stated in the letter.
“Other young men and women who spent time with Jackson as children (including ones mentioned by name in the “documentary”), friends of Michael Jackson who knew him for his whole life, the many persons who know Safechuck and Robson well but do not believe them.”
The Michael Jackson Estate Ongoing Lawsuits
The Estate spent years in court with Robson and Safechuck prior to Leaving Neverland with four different lawsuits. It was widely reported by the media that the lawsuits were dismissed only because of the statute of limitations. In actuality, both men were caught committing perjury and lying in their claims and were found not to be credible.
“Today, Robson owes the Estate almost seventy thousand dollars in court costs, and Safechuck owes the Estate several thousand dollars as well.”
It was Safechuck’s lawyers’ who predicted that many others would come forward as a result of the multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by these two men in 2013. “No “flood” of further identifiable “victims” ever came forward beyond these two.”
Michael Jackson Estate Executives Warned HBO about Leaving Neverland – continued
Michael Jackson Estate vs HBO
The Estate goes on further to detail the multiple other reasons why HBO shouldn’t air the film and outlines many other inconsistencies in Robson and Safechuck statements. HBO completely ignored the warning and as a result is subject to a multi-million dollar lawsuit themselves – one they may lose. So far they’ve failed all attempts to get the lawsuit tossed out.
“Had HBO actually complied with the most basic of journalistic ethics-rather than just accept their salacious allegations at face value-it would have discovered so much more long before it ever got involved in this disgraceful project.” – The Michael Jackson Estate Letter 2019
Letter to HBO Re: Michael Jackson on Scribd