The Michael Jackson biopic has been accused of glorifying a pedophile (Picture: Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
The director of Leaving Neverland has hit out at the Michael Jackson biopic.
It was recently announced that the late singer’s nephew, Jaafar, would play the Thriller hitmaker in the movie about his life.
The iconic musician, dubbed the King of Pop, died in 2009, at the age of 50.
Last month, it was revealed that a film would be delving into his personal life and career, and promised to explore ‘all aspects’ – from his early fame to his worldwide successes.
However, one person who isn’t happy is Dan Reed, who believes the upcoming film will celebrate a man who ‘raped children’.
Writing for The Guardian, Reed questioned why the movie was going ahead, given the abuse allegations against Jackson over the years.
Simply titled Michael, the film will explore the late singer’s rise to fame (Picture: Steve Granitz/WireImage)
His comments come after he created Leaving Neverland in 2019, which shared the stories of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who say Jackson abused them when they were kids.
Robson said he was just seven when the entertainer first raped him, and Safechuck said he was 10-years-old when the alleged abuse started.
The four-hour doc was not supported by the Jackson family, as the star was acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005.
However, Reed has now recalled how Robson became ‘a key defence witness at the 2005 trial’, saying his testimony was ‘instrumental’ in the musician being acquitted.
He said that, because the jury believed Robson, they found the singer not guilty, but Robson now admits he ‘lied in court to protect his mentor and abuser.’
Addressing the future biopic, he went on: ‘In an era when full-throated outrage accompanies anything that smells of delegitimisation or insensitivity against a vulnerable group, it amounts to a deafening silence.
His nephew, Jafaar, will play the ‘King of Pop’ (Picture: Instagram)
‘No one is talking about “cancelling” this movie, which will glorify a man who raped children.
‘How will you represent the moment when Jackson, a grown man in his 30s, takes a child by the hand and leads him into that bedroom?
‘How will you depict what happens next? By sidestepping the question of Jackson’s predilection for sleeping with young boys, you are broadcasting 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.’
Reed also stated statistics about abuse, adding that an estimated 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in the US have been sexually assaulted as children.
He said there is ‘no reason why the statistics would be any different for the rest of the world.’
Wade Robson and James Safechuck appeared in Dan Reed’s Leaving Neverland documentary in 2019 (Picture: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP, File)
Robson says Jackson raped him when he was just seven-years-old, which the singer denied (Picture: Pro Co)
‘So the survivors of child sexual abuse are a very large and very vulnerable group, but for the most part, they stay silent. Why?’, he asks.
It remains to be seen how the Jackson biopic – simply titled Michael – will explore the darker aspects of the performer’s life, such as the allegations, which he denied while he was alive.
But, director Antoine Fuqua Director said in a statement: ‘The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am.
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‘For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced to make music videos by watching his work – the first Black artist to play in heavy rotation on MTV.
‘His music and those images are part of my worldview, and the chance to tell his story on the screen alongside his music was irresistible.’
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‘If a pedophile is rich and popular enough, society will forgive him.’
