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Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson documentary claims star molested minors

News
 Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson staged a 'mock wedding' with one of his alleged abuse victims, according to a damning new documentary about the singer.

Dan Reed's four-hour film Leaving Neverland centres on allegations of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who claimed they were sexually abused by him during their childhood.

The documentary received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Friday night, with journalists in attendance tweeting their disgust at the claims on-screen.

Prior to the screening, Sundance director John Cooper told the audience there were counsellors on hand for anyone left distressed by the "explicit descriptions of sexual abuse".

In the doc, which will air on Channel 4 later this year, Robson, 36, detailed his alleged abuse at the hands of Jackson from the age of seven onwards.

Meanwhile, Safechuck, 40, claims he started being molested by the singer at the age of eight after meeting on set of a Pepsi commercial, until he was 14.

Prior to his 2009 death, Jackson repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and was acquitted of child molestation in June 2005.

In one scene of the documentary, Safechuck revealed he loved jewellery as a pre-teen so the pop star would take him shopping and lavish him with gifts as rewards for "sexual acts".

Safechuck claimed the singer would tell salespeople he was looking for jewellery for a women, but would use Safechuck's small wrists for sizing.

 Jackson's alleged victims Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck.

Jackson once purchased a gold ring with diamonds and presented it to Safechuck in a "mock wedding" and wrote their vows together, the latter alleged.

He also claimed Jackson introduced him to masturbation for the first time in a Paris hotel room.

Safechuck said: "He told me I was his first sexual experience," claiming the singer performed oral sex on his while he was sleeping.

Meanwhile, Australian choreographer Robson said the pop star introduced him to pornography and alcohol and would often masturbate in front of him.

He also recalled the singer buying him a fax machine in the late 1980s so the boy could receive "love notes" from the star.

The doc claims one fax wrote "I love you little one. Make me happy and be the best."

Robson's mother Joy claimed the family home's living room would "be covered in faxes" from Jackson.

 It is alleged Jackson carried out sexual abuse at his Neverland Ranch in California.

He said his sexual relationship with Jackson ended when the star "moved on" to other boys.

However, Robson claims they reconnected in 1997, after a few years Jackson's 1993 child sex abuse case and when Robson was 14.

After meeting the singer at a Los Angeles hotel room, the singer allegedly attempted to have anal sex with Robson, but it was too painful so Jackson stopped.

The following day, Robson was summoned to a LA dance studio, where Jackson asked him what the teenager had done with his underwear from the previous evening and if there was any blood on it.

Robson claims he later discovered his underwear was stained so put them in the rubbish.

 Jackson and Safechuck in 1988.

Meanwhile, Safechuck spoke of him and Jackson having "drills" of getting their clothes on quickly if they got caught in the act.

He claimed the singer would line a series of doors with bells so they would be alerted to any potential witnesses.

Safechuck said he and Jackson would have sex inside hidden places with the star's Neverland mansion, including the castle, pool, attic and train station.

He said: "It happened every day. It sounds sick, but when you're first dating somebody, you do a lot of it."

In the doc, both Robson and Safechuck claim Jackson would try to turn them against their parents and hate women.

Leading up to his brief marriage to Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, the singer told Safechuck he "had to have public relationships with women" but "it wouldn't mean anything".

However, Robson went on to testify on Jackson's behalf when he was charged with molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo in 2005.

Safechuck claimed he was put under pressure to testify as well, but he declined.

Robson initially spoke positively of Jackson following his death, however, he went on to sue the singer's estate in 2013.

Safechuck joined Robson's lawsuit the following year, however a judge later threw out their cases, claiming it was too late to make a claim so long after Jackson's death.

The Jackson family have slammed the documentary and the singer's nephew Taj Jackson has since launched a campaign to fund the family's own documentary to counteract the claims.

 Wade Robson with Michael Jackson in the 1980s.

 

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