Michael Jackson‘s accusers are speaking out in a new interview.
In the documentaryLeaving Neverland, one of the most buzzed-about films to debut at theSundance Film Festivallast month and set to premiere on HBO in March,Wade Robsonand James Safechuckallege Jackson molested themas boys.
Robson, now 36, and Safechuck, now 40, spoke with co-hostGayle Kingin aCBS This Morninginterview that aired Thursday morning — one day after members ofJackson’s family denouncedthe two men in a Wednesday interview with King.
“One of the ways I remember it starting is Michael just sort of starting to touch my legs and touch my crotch over my pants,” Robson claimed. “It progressed to him performing oral sex on me, him showing me how to perform oral sex on him.”
“As Michael started doing these sexual acts,” Robson continued later, “he started talking to me about, ‘God brought us together, we love each other and this is how we show each other our love.’ ”
Chevaz Clarke/CBS
When King asked if they ever found Jackson’s alleged actions “weird,” Safechuck claimed that he didn’t.
“It’s in the context of a loving, close relationship so … there’s no alarm bells going off in your head or any thoughts like that,” he said. “Really, it’s just, ‘I love this person and we’re trying to make each other happy.’ And he said I was his first. But even as a kid, you don’t even know what that means. You don’t — you don’t even question it further than that.”
“It was, again, the feeling was, ‘Out of all the kids in the world, here I am and Michael chose me’ and he also told me that, you know, ‘I’ve never done this with anybody else.’ Yeah. So that was more, too. Wow,” Robson added. “He chooses me and he loves me.”
“Michael’s training of me to testify began the first night that he started abusing me,” Robson alleged. “He started telling me that, ‘If anybody else ever finds out, we’ll both go to jail, both of our lives will be over.’ ”
“I wish that I was ready,” Robson continued. “I wish … that I could’ve played a role in, at that point, stopping Michael from abusing however many other kids he did after that.”
RELATED VIDEO:Michael Jackson’s Family Speaks Out Against Sexual Abuse Allegations in New Documentary
In a separate interview with King, whichaired on Wednesday, Jackson’s family — including Jackson’s brothers, Tito, Marlon, and Jackie Jackson, as well as Jackson’s nephew, Taj Jackson — denounced Robson and Safechuck.
“I know Michael,” Jackie, 67, said. “I’m the oldest brother. I know my brother. I know what he stood for. What he was all about. Bringing the world together. Making kids happy. That’s the kind of person he was.”
Taj, 45, claimed that he believes Robson and Safechuck are only coming forward for “money”: “It’s always been about money,” he claimed. “I hate to say it. When it’s my uncle, it’s almost like they see a blank check.”
Jackson’s estate has filed a lawsuit against HBO over the planned broadcast ofLeaving Neverland.
In the suit, the estate claims the film violates a clause in a 1992 contract, written up ahead of a televised concert that year — in which HBO agreed to not speak ill of Jackson.
Michael Jackson.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
In the lawsuit, the estate calls the HBO documentary a “posthumous character assassination,” violating the non-disparagement terms of the 1992 contract.
“This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson,” the statement read.“Wade Robson and James Safechuck have both testified under oath that Michael never did anything inappropriate toward them. Safechuck and Robson, the latter a self-proclaimed ‘master of deception’, filed lawsuits against Michael’s Estate, asking for millions of dollars.Both lawsuits were dismissed.”
The documentary’s director, however, rebuked these claims in a statement to PEOPLE. “Anyone who sees the film will know it is solely about hearing the stories of two specific individuals and their families in their own words, and that is a focus we are very proud of,” Reed said. “We feel no need to include the opinions of people with no direct knowledge of what happened to those individuals.”
Leaving Neverlandpremieres March 3 and 4 on HBO.
source: people.com
