The first half of the highly anticipated and controversial HBO documentary Leaving Neverland debuted last night.
The film focuses on allegations by two men who say Michael Jackson abused them as children.
Wade Robson, 36, and James Safechuck, 40, are interviewed about their experiences with Jackson when they were 7 and 10 years old, respectively, and visiting his Neverland Ranch in California.
Safechuck and Robson both allege that Jackson’s sexual abuse spanned across several years until they were teenagers. Safechuck also said he felt Jackson separated him from his family.
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“At the same time the sexual relationship is growing, he’s working on pushing you away from your parents,” Safechuck said.
“Or pushing you away from everybody else, and… and it feels more like… like it’s just you and him.”
Part One of the documentary also alleges Jackson had inappropriate relations with Brett Barnes and possibly Macaulay Culkin — both of whom deny any wrongdoing by Jackson.
Barnes took to Twitter to defend himself after the documentary aired, tweeting that “Not only do we have to deal with these lies, but we’ve also got to deal with people perpetuating these lies. The fact that they fail to do the small amount of research it takes to prove these are lies, by choice or not, make it even worse.”
Neither Barnes or Culkin were interviewed for the documentary.
Leaving Neverland has brought about some intense reactions on social media from those who continue to support the late singer.
Here is a sampling of Michael Jackson’s fans reacting to the documentary:
Do y’all need ratings this bad @hbo? You have #GOT. The writing on this. Unconvincing. Shame on y’all for releasing this. Cheap shot on MJ and the viewers. Please do better. 🙄 #LeavingNeverland
— Donica (@iamdonica) March 4, 2019
Part Two of Leaving Neverland airs Monday, March 4 at 8 P.M. on HBO.
