'Leaving Neverland' Director Slams ‘Startlingly Disingenuous’ Michael Jackson Biopic Portraying Pop Star as 'Victim'
Jackson's legal team is bringing in an ex-prosecutor – who is known for fighting the mafia.
March 14 2024, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
The director of the 2019 Leaving Neverland docuseries recently slammed the upcoming new Michael Jackson biopic Michael for portraying the late pop star as a victim to the sexual abuse allegations against him, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In the latest development to come as Michael continues filming, Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed reportedly obtained and read a draft of the screenplay for the new Michael Jackson biopic.
"Leaving Neverland" director Dan Reed obtained and read a draft of the screenplay for the new Michael Jackson biopic.
According to Reed, the upcoming film is “startlingly disingenuous” – particularly because the writers apparently made a point to “discredit” the sex abuse allegations made by two of Jackson’s suspected victims.
“Jackson is only ever seen caring for children with childhood cancer, or dancing with a little girl in a wheelchair, or tucking up multiple little boys, mostly his nephews, at sleepovers,” Reed told Variety after reading a draft of the new biopic’s screenplay.
“It feels like the creators of the movie have been stuck in a room with John Branca and just told what to write,” he added.
John Branca was Jackson’s attorney and currently serves as the co-executor of the late pop star's estate. He is set to be played by Miles Teller in the upcoming biopic.
John Branca (left) was Jackson’s attorney and currently serves as the co-executor of the late pop star's estate.
Reed, in his 2019 docuseries, focused on the allegations made by two of Jackson’s most outspoken accusers – Wade Robson and James Safechuck.
Robson and Safechuck alleged that the King of Pop maintained years-long sexual relationships with them starting when they were seven and ten years old, respectively.
But according to the Michael screenplay draft that Reed recently read, the film’s writers “made a point” to discredit Robson and Safechuck’s allegations that Jackson was a pedophile.
“There’s too much of a stink – too much evidence, too many allegations – for anyone backing this narrative in the movie to have a clear conscience,” Reed told Variety.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, we first learned that Michael was set to downplay the sexual abuse allegations against Jackson last week when – like Reed – reporters obtained a draft of the screenplay for the upcoming film.
According to Reed, the upcoming film is “startlingly disingenuous."
Puck reporter Matthew Belloni revealed that Michael was set to portray Jackson as innocent and wronged in connection to the allegations against him – even going as far as to directly address the sex abuse allegations and subsequent controversies.
The upcoming film is also reportedly set to feature a dramatic portrayal of the police raid on Jackson’s home following the allegations made by accuser Jordan Chandler in 1993.
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As for Robson and Safechuck, the release of Michael is scheduled to overlap with their civil trial against Jackson’s estate in April 2025.
The pair sued Jackson’s estate individually in 2013 and 2014 for neglecting to protect them from Jackson’s alleged abuse, and a California appeals court ruled in 2023 that the lawsuits must go to trial.
Jackson's lawyer want to depose a security guard who allegedly witnessed the abuse.
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Robson and Safechuck’s cases were combined last month, and the pair’s attorney – John Carpenter – predicted that the Jackson estate’s legal team would most likely try to push the start of the civil trial past Michael’s current April 2025 release date.
“It might make it more difficult to select a jury,” Carpenter noted regarding the trial and film’s overlap. “But ultimately, I think the evidence is so strong that I’m not worried about it.”
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