Michael Jackson’s Biographer Hits Out At ‘Leaving Neverland’ Documentary Accuser
Michael Jackson’s biographer, Mike Smallbone, claims that there is no evidence that James Safechuck was abused by Jackson.
According to NME, Smallbone wrote the 2016 book Making Michael: Inside The Career Of Michael Jackson. He has claimed the comments made by one of the accusers, James Safechuck, featured in Leaving Neverland are not true.
The HBO doc focuses on allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who both said the singer sexually abused them when they were children. Jackson denied any wrongdoing until the day he died in June 2009.
Smallbone told The Mirror that his comments in Leaving Neverland don’t match up.
“Safechuck claims Jackson called him ‘near the end of the trial’ and asked him to testify on his behalf again, as he had done in 1993,” the author told them.
“Very early on in the trial, the judge ruled that he would allow the jury to hear about five boys whom the prosecution claimed were sexually abused by Jackson,” Mike continued.
“Robson owes the estate almost $70,000 dollars in court costs, and Safechuck owes the estate several thousand dollars as well.”
“Both Robson and Safechuck should have been questioned about their motives for trying to get hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the estate. These things should have been put to them in the documentary, or by journalists in their television interviews,” he continued.
Michael was referred to as the “King Of Pop” throughout his career. He was the eighth child of the Jackson family and made his professional debut in 1964 — along with his older brothers — as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his solo career in 1971 and released iconic albums — Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous. He embarked on four solo tours. He was supposed to do a residency tour titled “This Is It” at London’s O2 Arena, but due to his death, everything got canceled.
Paste Magazine reported that Thriller went on to become the best selling album of all time since its release in 1982, selling over 33 million copies in the U.S. alone.
Michael’s last studio album, Invincible, sold over 6 million copies worldwide. This album included the hit single “You Rock My World.”
He has three children — Paris, Blanket, and Michael Jr.
He passed away at the age of 50 in Los Angeles, California.
Since his passing, two posthumous records were released — Michael and Xscape.
