One of the most talked-about documentaries of the year hasn’t even released yet.
HBO’s forthcoming “Leaving Neverland” examines disturbing claims by James Safechuck and Wade Robson that Michael Jackson sexually abused them over a period of several years when they were children.
The documentary, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival last week, has revived conversation about whether Jackson was a predatory pedophile.
Jackson’s family released a statement Monday condemning the film.
“Michael always turned the other cheek, and we have always turned the other cheek when people have gone after members of our family - that is the Jackson way,” the statement said. “But we can’t just stand by while this public lynching goes on, and the vulture tweeters and others who never met Michael go after him.”
Robson, now 41, first met Jackson when he was about five years old in his native Australia. He said he stayed with Jackson at his Neverland Ranch in California on several occasions.