The follow-up to the Emmy-winning original shows Wade Robson and James Safechuck fighting for a decade for their right to go to court and tell the world what Michael Jackson did to them as kids in the 1980s and 90s

Leaving Neverland 2 contained some huge curveballs as Wade Robson and James Safechuck followed up on the claims they made against Michael Jackson in the original documentary, which aired in 2019. Back then the pair, now both fathers and in their 40s, detailed the sexual abuse they claim to have been subjected to by the singer over many years, across the 1980s and 90s.

Wade alleges that Jackson began molesting him when he was seven years old in 1990 and continued for seven years. James says the abuse he sustained began in Paris in 1988, when he was 10, and continued until 1992.

The new film showed the pair being legally thwarted several times before they finally won the right to bring a lawsuit against Michael Jackson’s two companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, for corporate negligence over the abuse which happened at Neverland – and which no one did anything to prevent.

As viewers tuned into the Channel 4 documentary, it’s obvious that there are two different opinions as one side are defending Wade and James, while the other are defending Michael. After tuning into the special, one viewer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “The thing is we can never know the full truth. But even if these men are lying, it doesn’t change the fact that Michael Jackson was clearly grooming children. In plain sight. The fact people want to defend him because of his race, music, talent etc, is wrong.”

Someone else mocked: “When Robson’s therapist suggested he go to the beach and burn all of the stuff MJ gave him, did he or she also suggest taking a professional photographer to document it for the documentary he was going to make?.”

Meanwhile, another viewer argued: “You’re defending a man who had a lot of power in a time where people allowed powerful people to get away with anything. He let adolescent boys sleep in his bed and admitted on TV showing them porn msgs. There’s something wrong with you worshipping that.”

Another Channel 4 viewer added: “The fact that people refuse to believe these men is crazy. I think you should always believe the people who say they’ve been abused until it’s proven otherwise, but also, what makes them think Michael Jackson looked and behaved like a sane man? It’s so obvious.”

However, another viewer argued: “Wade has changed his story a dozen times and James alleged he was abused in places he was never at. With Wade, it depends on what story you believe. And his motivations stink of greed. With James, well. What lie first.” But another viewer hit back: “An adult sharing a bed with young children that aren’t related to them will NEVER be appropriate. Michael Jackson’s supporters need to separate his music from his personal life. You are blinded by his celebrity.”

“Astounded to read so many “it’s for the money comments” I see real pain & torture in his victims eyes. I absolutely believe them,” someone else insisted. While another agreed: “Stardom is a spell that makes too many fans put aside all logic and common sense. Jackson was just a man, a stranger, and yet the parents threw their brains in the garbage disposal and their sons at the feet of a predator.”

It comes after one major shocker in the Channel 4 film came when Jackson’s lawyers argued that it was not the duty of those employed by Michael Jackson to ensure the safety of children at Neverland.

Lawyer John Steinsapir compared Jackson staff ignoring sexual abuse with a person walking past a child drowning in a swimming pool and doing nothing to save the child. He pointed out to the three appeal judges that this was something you are legally entitled to do “even if you are an Olympic-trained swimmer” adding: “It’s a very harsh rule, but it is the rule.”

Appeal judge Justice Elizabeth Grimes and her two colleagues also look shocked when the Jackson estate’s lawyer argues that nothing could be done to safeguard kids in their care at Neverland, because the companies in question had just one shareholder – Michael Jackson.

Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson is available to stream now on Channel 4 and 4OD.

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