{"id":63272,"date":"2026-04-25T15:14:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/25\/leaving-neverland-accuser-speaks-out-amid-michael-release\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T15:14:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:14:32","slug":"leaving-neverland-accuser-speaks-out-amid-michael-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/25\/leaving-neverland-accuser-speaks-out-amid-michael-release\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Leaving Neverland&#8217; Accuser Speaks Out Amid &#8216;Michael&#8217; Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/leaving-neverland\/\" id=\"auto-tag_leaving-neverland\" data-tag=\"leaving-neverland\">Leaving Neverland<\/a><\/em> accuser James Safechuck has offered a statement in support of survivors of childhood sexual abuse amid the release of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/michael-jackson\/\" id=\"auto-tag_michael-jackson\" data-tag=\"michael-jackson\">Michael Jackson<\/a> biopic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSafechuck was one of the two men who came forward with allegations of childhood sexual abuse against the singer in the 2019 documentary. (Jackson denied the allegations throughout his life.) In a video statement sent to <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>, Safechuck said he wanted to connect with other survivors during what could be a difficult time for victims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThe <em>Michael<\/em> movie is coming out and it\u2019s getting a lot of promotion and there\u2019s billboards and commercials and people praising Michael. It can be triggering for survivors who have their own Michael in their lives, whether it\u2019s the priest who\u2019s close to God or the sports coach who\u2019s just helping the kids or the step-parent who\u2019s supporting the family,\u201d Safechuck said. \u201cOur abusers are praised sometimes, even after we come out and tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn Leaving Neverland, Safechuck claimed that Jackson sexually abused him when he was a boy from 1988 to 1992. While Safechuck has been involved in a decade-long legal battle with the Jackson estate, he previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson-accusers-wade-robson-james-safechuck-801830\/\">told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> that his participation in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson-accusers-wade-robson-james-safechuck-801830\/\"><em>Leaving Neverland<\/em><\/a><\/em> was to give hope to other child sex abuse survivors, and not tear down Jackson\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t want it to be a film about Michael or just a sensationalist kind of story using his fame. I didn\u2019t want to be part of a film like that. I wanted to be part of telling an abuse survivor story and what\u2019s that like,\u201d Safechuck told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em> in 2019. \u201cSo for the movie, my audience, who I was trying to reach out to, was other survivors. So that was my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSafechuck reiterated that in his video statement to <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>, \u201cI just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and that there are other survivors out there that understand what you\u2019re going through and that are there with you. And that if you\u2019re feeling all the feels, then lean into people that are close to you, lean into people that support you and that give you love, and know that you\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA $400 million lawsuit filed by Safechuck and Wade Robson, who also levied accusations against Jackson\u00a0in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson-accusers-wade-robson-james-safechuck-801830\/\">\u00a0<\/a><em>Leaving Neverland<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson-accusers-wade-robson-james-safechuck-801830\/\">,<\/a>\u00a0will finally head to trial in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>Leaving Neverland<\/em> director Dan Reed also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/tv-movies\/tv-movie-features\/michael-jackson-movie-leaving-neverland-dan-reed-director-1235553233\/\">spoke to <em>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a> about the release of Michael and the efforts to cleanse the singer\u2019s legacy. \u201cClearly with this movie, a lot more young people are going to discover Michael Jackson and they will come away from this picture probably with the image that he was a very talented performer who was rather nice to children and that is a travesty of the truth,\u201d Reed told Rolling Stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cWould these people be part of a movie that glorified the films of Harvey Weinstein without ever mentioning that he raped women? Would these people be part of a great promotional film about the charitable works of Jeffrey Epstein?\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tRead Safechuck\u2019s entire statement below:<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<em>\u201cHi there. I wanted to connect with other survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The Michael movie is coming out and it\u2019s getting a lot of promotion and there\u2019s billboards and commercials and people praising Michael. It can be triggering for survivors who have their own Michael in their lives, whether it\u2019s the priest who\u2019s close to God or the sports coach who\u2019s just helping the kids or the step-parent who\u2019s supporting the family. Our abusers are praised sometimes, even after we come out and tell the truth. And I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and that there are other survivors out there that understand what you\u2019re going through and that are there with you. And that if you\u2019re feeling all the feels, then lean into people that are close to you, lean into people that support you and that give you love, and know that you\u2019re not alone. And that telling the truth and telling what happened is a good thing, and that it\u2019s a part of your healing. Alright, I love you, bye.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/leaving-neverland-accuser-child-sex-abuse-michael-1235553713\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leaving Neverland accuser James Safechuck has offered a statement in support of survivors of childhood sexual abuse amid the release of the Michael Jackson&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":63273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}