Source: Peter Still / Getty
In early March of this year, HBO released a documentary called Leaving Neverland about the sexual abuse allegations about late pop star Michael Jackson. The documentary focuses in on Wade Robson and James Safechuck during their childhood and reveals some troubling, explicit and traumatic experiences that both men allegedly went through during their adolescence.
While the documentary was damaging to Jackson’s legacy, there are some who felt that the documentary was full of lies and are working on disproving the claims made by Robson and Safechuck. Of those not buying what was revealed in Leaving Neverland is Jackson’s nephew, Taj Jackson, who is working on a documentary on his own.
In an interview with Billboard, Taj said, “I knew I had to be someone out in front fighting for my uncle.” Taj explained that his documentary wouldn’t be a direct takedown of Leaving Neverland, but focusing on the media’s relationship with Michael.
“I’m not combating Leaving Neverland,” he said. “I’m doing a documentary about the media’s relationship with my uncle and how they’ve reported certain things as factual that were lies. I’m going to go back all the way to 1993 with the first allegation and uncover that along with the 2005 allegations. I’m obviously going to make it entertaining because I don’t want people to fall asleep, but it’s going to be about facts, court documents, depositions, and interviews. It’s going to be about debunking what you heard and sharing what really happened. I want to get the truth out there.”
Before the documentary aired on HBO, Taj spoke out about it on Twitter, saying that he doubts that “the media wants to learn the truth, or is even invested in it.”
To produce the documentary, Taj has set up a FoFundMe account, looking for $770,000 to make it happen. Taj did say that if he discovers that there is any truth to the claims made by Robson or Safechuck, he’ll include them in his documentary.
“I’m all about justice. Integrity is everything for me,” said Taj. “But here’s the thing: What I can tell you is that—in 10 years of [multiple] investigations, hundreds of documents, a trial and a tip line that prosecutor Tom Sneddon kept open for [people claiming to be] victims of Michael Jackson for years— there’s still nothing.”
Right now, the GoFundMe has raised just under $118,000 in two months.
