Michael Jackson sex abuse documentary may change how we listen to his music forever
- In the new HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, two men detail the abuse they say they suffered as children at Jackson’s hand
- The allegations call into question the pop idol’s iconic status and the merits of his musical legacy
“You can’t touch me ’cause I’m untouchable,” Michael Jackson sang on his last real studio album, and for years that appeared to be true.
By the time Jackson released “Invincible” in 2001, he’d spent nearly a decade dodging suspicions of child sexual abuse. Evidence of his questionable behaviour seemed to abound; a boy accused him of molestation in 1993 before settling the civil case out of court for a reported US$23 million.
Yet in many ways nothing seemed to stick to Jackson, perhaps the biggest pop star the world has ever known. Though “Invincible” did not achieve the omnipresence of his earlier work – global smashes like “Thriller” and “Bad”, whose influence can still be heard today – the album topped the Billboard 200 and was certified for double-platinum sales.
A second charge of abuse, of which Jackson was acquitted in 2005, failed to dampen enthusiasm for a series of 50 sold-out concerts he planned to perform in London starting in 2009. And his shocking death that year at age 50 only bolstered his appeal, as showed by the success of several posthumous records and shows, including a Cirque du Soleil production on view as we speak at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Now that invincibility may finally be weakening. On Monday, HBO concluded its two-part broadcast of Leaving Neverland, director Dan Reed’s searing documentary in which two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, detail the abuse they say they suffered as children at Jackson’s hand.