Michael Jackson estate suing HBO over Leaving Neverland documentary about child sex abuse allegations

Estate claims HBO violated a non-disparagement clause from 1992, and that the two men interviewed in the documentary are 'financially motivated'

Michael Jackson‘s estate is reportedly planning to sue HBO for $100m over the controversial Leaving Neverland documentary that airs allegations of child sex abuse made against the late pop star.

The four-hour film has not yet made its official debut on television but has already attracted an enormous backlash from Jackson’s estate, his family and fans.

According to Variety, the lawsuit claims that HBO entered an agreement in 1992 to air Michael Jackson in Concert in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour, which included a non-disparagement clause. A copy of the suit was published by Deadline and estimates that damages could exceed $100m.

It alleges that the accusations from both of the accusers in the documentary, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, are financially motivated, and notes that both initially defended Jackson and denied that they had been abused as children – a fact the documentary acknowledges, and the reasons for which are explained extensively by both men.

“I wish I was at a place where I could tell the truth... I just wasn’t ready,” Robson said. “I wasn’t able to when I was 11 and when I was 22.”

“They previously testified that Jackson never touched them inappropriately in any manner whatsoever,” the suit states. “By 2013 and 2014, they were in financial dire straits.. So, in 2013 and 2014, Robson and Safechuck changed their stories. No doubt reading reports from Forbes and others, and seeing programmes like 60 Minutes that reported on the unprecedented success of the Jackson Estate – stories that all ran in the year before these men changed their stories – Robson and Safechuck filed suits against the Jackson Estate.”

The suit adds: “As you must know, contrary to all norms of documentary filmmaking, the Estate was never contacted by the supposed ‘documentarian’, Dan Reed (or anyone else associated with the programme) to provide the Estate’s view on, and responses to, the absolutely false claims that are the subject matter of the programme.

“Likewise, no one else who might offer evidence to contradict the programme’s premise was consulted either, as Dan Reed has publicly admitted.”

HBO made a statement in response, commenting: “Despite the desperate lengths to undermine the film, our plans remain unchanged. HBO will move forward with the airing of Leaving Neverland, the two-part documentary, on 3 and 4 March. This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves.”