Director Dan Reed who released a documentary featuring damning accusations against the King of Pop has slammed the plans to 'glorify' the late star in a new movie.
- Feb 6, 2023
AceShowbiz - "Leaving Neverland" director Dan Reed is worried a new biopic about Michael Jackson will "glorify" the late star. Four years after releasing documentary that featured candid accounts of child abuse from two of Jackson's alleged victims - Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the moviemaker has now condemned plans to memorialise the "Thriller" star in a film called "Michael" which will feature Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role.
"No one is talking about 'cancelling' this movie, which will glorify a man who raped children," Reed wrote while outlining his distaste for the project in a column for the Guardian newspaper.
Reed added, "What the total absence of outrage accompanying the announcement of this movie tells us is that Jackson's seduction is still a living force, operating from beyond the grave. It seems that the press, his fans and the vast older demographic who grew up loving Jackson are willing to set aside his unhealthy relationship with children and just go along with the music."
He went on to give a stern message to the movie bosses who are bringing "Michael" to the big screen, adding, "How will you represent the moment when Jackson, a grown man in his 30s, takes a child by the hand and leads him into that bedroom?"
"How will you depict what happens next? By sidestepping the question of Jackson’s predilection for sleeping with young boys, you are broadcasting a message to millions of survivors of child sexual abuse. That message is, if a paedophile is rich and popular enough, society will forgive him."
"Michael" will be directed by "Training Day" moviemaker Antoine Fuqua and it's being made with the co-operation of John Branca and John McClain, who are the co-executors of Jackson's estate.
Jackson always denied sex abuse allegations against him and, in June 2005, was acquitted of child molestation after a trial in California. His family also defended him against the claims made in "Leaving Neverland" and slammed the film as being "all about the money."
Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50.
