Michael Jackson - Leaving Neverland documentary

I think Adrian Grant has already defended Michael Jackson which isn’t a surprise as I imagine he doesn’t want his cash cow to be over

Not in any way defending it but this is where the effect of touring on mental health has been overlooked somewhat. 
From experience, as an adult touring countries endlessly can really damage people mentally. The amount of suicides of people involved in the music industry is testament to this, Keith Flint of the Prodigy and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park being recent examples. Who knows what untold damage it does to children who are still in evolution.
Back in the 60's on a busy tour bus, MJ probably shared beds with adults, this probably would be been the norm for him.
Growing up he wasn't given the opportunity to grow up. He's a product of his environment and as a result quite probably severely mentally damaged but this aspect hasn't been explored and can't be now.

I am deeply concerned that TFL have allowed MJ supporters to take out advertising space on London Transport defending MJ and - more importantly - effectively victim blaming

Given how strict they like to appear to be about childhood obesity, body shaming and other issues - allowing adverts calling victims of CSA liars is surely just as wrong.

Whether or not you believe these two men, anything that discourages victims of abuse from coming forward is utterly reprehensible.

Bad call by whoever took that decision. TFL should have stayed out of this one and refused to accept the adverts.

When I started watching it I thought it was going to be his childhood causing him to be an innocent and it would just be two 'kids' exploring eachother bodies. But no, it was calculated and manipulated by him. as were the families. I'm saddened to see so many on here blaming the parents. Fame and charisma can be intoxicating. He seduced the families and put himself in their lives. Kid's sleep over with uncle's etc, or are sent to boarding schools etc. Parents givin their kids to people they trust isnt unheard of. Plus this was the 80s, no internet, abuse wasn't so commonly known and if it was it was the creepy old man at the school gates. Not the enigmatic worldwide superstar who has picked your family to bless.

On a much smaller scale but most people on here have stage doored or met some of the stage heroes right? Imagine that but times a thousand and constantly having attention lavished on you. You'd never think there could be darker side to your heroes. In fact, I can vouch from personal experience of meeting and in time getting to know someone I was a massive fan of on stage and who is often talked about with affection. Turns out, not so nice and that was a lesson i learnt. Nothing on the Jackson level but it does mean i have some understanding how you can be blind to what's happening in front of you.

Both guys were completely believable and looking back it seems so obvious.

Kinda like Trump now.

No you cannot turn the perpertrators into victims by saying they have mental health problems and therefore applying they are vulnerable, in Michael Jackson’s case he was no more than a predatory peodophile.

Watching this now. I thought I was prepared for it but listening to Wade and Jimmy telling this with so much detail is giving me goosebumps.

What a sick man (not that I didn't know before).

I never doubted MJ was messed up by his own parents, apparently more his father. MJ was overtly preoccupied with things that happened that he interpreted as his lost innocence. No question he was worked and worked hard from a very young age (5, 6?).

Equally, the parents of these two witnesses left their children alone - overnight - with a man with demonstrable issue. Why would the parents do that - I think we all know.

I find it difficult to get past the idea that 3 sets of parents used their children - for financial gain, and it destroyed their children.

An interesting article on the documentary and what the impact has been, including stats based on tweets of how the public feel about the documentary and his verdict.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-47496176

Their response is really classy and measured. As they say it's their work to make the call on and they've decided having MJ in there is no longer for them which is 100% their call, based on evidence they now have. Obviously if things change they could put it back out there again. But they also haven't called for everyone else to do an outright ban, which I think is the way it has to be handled. His work is so culturally engrained it's going to be hard to totally remove it- and I don't even know if that is the 'right' thing to do, we can't pretend he or his music never happened. But i guess what can happen is secondary 'companies' like The Simpons can say 'we won't profit off his work anymore or have it as part of our brand' 

Yep, can you imagine being in that cast!? Especially if you've been similarly affected by any of the issues in the documentary? Eurgh.

It's refreshing to read some of the reactions here, grounded, realistic and looking at things from both sides. That's very different than on some of the other fora, especially in the USA, where they have lost track of all reason and reality.

It is indeed a difficult case, and I would assume this is first and foremost a private matter, especially 10 years after the man died and there is no chance on a trial anymore. 14 years ago, in 2005 there has been an extensive trial and these men indeed lied on the stand (at least that's what they claim now) and there is footage of them grinning and laughing when they walked out of court, as some kind of victory. I agree that this situation has no winners, only losers, and we have all known for a very long time that Michael had issues too, to me he was basically a child himself. Like I said, a complicated case. But I do wonder why these men are making a movie now and seek all this media attention at this point in time and how this will help their private, personal process? If anything, it puts their families and themselves in a very negative and vulnerable place, which only adds to the trauma. It's not like there will ever be any other trial or possibility to punish someone. So this whole "noble" story doesn't sit really well with me. This standpoint and documentary would have made more sense, and could actually achieve something 14 years ago. The men also show very little emotion and seem to laugh about it at strange moments. I am not denying anything did or did not happen, I am just saying there is a very big grey area in every aspect of situations like this. Everyone in this case probably made mistakes and like someone in this thread earlier said, this docu raises more questions than answers. Like "will money from the Jackson camp solve anything"? That's really something to think about. Also, other men who were involved with Michael at that same time, when they were boys, such as Macaulay Culkin (and others) who dismiss everything, calling it "ridiculous". Is this because it never happened or that they choose to defend Michael? Macaulay says it was a sincere friendship and it felt like a friendship between 2 boys of the same age. We all know what boys do at times, could it be that Macaulay just isn't traumatized by it at all? Or maybe he doesn't want any kind of that attention now because it doesn't solve anything because Michael has been dead for so long? Different people, different reactions. Questions......

Anyway, in the end I think we heard nothing really new and audiences have indeed a short attention span and most people won't even see this docu. I hope the men feel a bit beter now.