‘Sex became safe zone’ say Michael Jackson’s accusers, amid fury from fans over ‘Leaving Neverland’ documentary

Wade Robson and James Safechuck were prepared for backlash when they went up against one of the world’s most beloved entertainers.

But they couldn’t have anticipated the level of vitriol levelled at them since last month’s Sundance Film Festival premiere of Leaving Neverland, which revisits their allegations of childhood sexual abuse by “King of Pop” Michael Jackson, who settled out of court on similar charges in 1994.

In the days leading up to the four-hour documentary’s first screening, the festival’s social media pages were flooded with messages from Jackson’s fans, fiercely defending his innocence. Some even made death threats against Robson, Safechuck and director Dan Reed, while others have recently accused HBO – which will air the two-part documentary March 3 and 4 – of paying journalists to slander Jackson, who died in 2009 at age 50.

On Thursday, Jackson’s estate sued HBO over the documentary after repeatedly urging the network not to air the film, denouncing it as “tabloid character assassination” by “two admitted liars”.

Robson and Safechuck filed lawsuits alleging molestation in 2013 and 2014, respectively. A probate judge dismissed their lawsuits in December 2017, but did not rule on the validity of their allegations.

Still, the hostility “hurts less and less as time goes on,” Robson said in a joint interview with Safechuck last month. “It’s not a great feeling, I’ll be honest. But I just keep trying to remember that each and every one of us [as] humans are at our own state of evolution. We can accept whatever we’re able to accept based on where we’re at in our lives. … So the people who are choosing to take that nasty, volatile approach to me and James, that’s just where they’re at right now, and I wish them some peace and less anger in their lives.”