(people chattering)
- [Cameraman] Oh, that's tough, girl.
- I remember thinking okay,
this is gonna be this small little film,
but you know, an opportunity
to tell my story.
- He was one of the kindest,
most loving, caring people I knew.
And he also sexually abused me.
(light music)
For seven years.
- I met him on the set
of the Pepsi commercial.
The movie coming out, the
scope of what happened
was like, ya know, the
thing I was most afraid of.
Michael always said, ya know,
your life would be over if people knew.
- He would want me to suck on his n*pples
and then, he would finish himself.
I was sleeping and I
woke up and Michael said
that he had performed oral
sex on me while I was sleeping
and I was like, "Oh, okay."
- [Narrator] Leaving Neverland,
the new, potentially damaging documentary
about music legend, Michael Jackson.
- Police prepped for demonstrators
and possible threats.
- [Reporter] Wade Robson
and James Safechuck claim
Jackson abused them for years
when they were young children.
- Here I am, sitting at a movie theatre,
with all of these strangers watching
some of the most intimate
details of my life.
- I guess it sort of became a routine,
masturbating, the oral sex.
I was seven, man.
- It's two little boys and I
believe many other children
who were savaged by a
paedophile, but worse,
there was a massive
group of people and money
behind Mr. Jackson who
allowed this to occur.
(intense music)
- Pursuing this was the
act of fighting back.
I wanted to fight for little James.
I wanted to fight for
him and fight for myself.
- Why do you think they're
coming forward now?
- Money.
- You think it's all about money.
- What did, it's all about money.
- It's always been about money.
- They can tell each other that
and they might even believe it,
but nobody else does.
Everybody knows what he was.
(sombre music)
Their biggest fear is to put
a California jury in a box
and hear this case.
That's their fear.
- All of my interactions with him,
they were organised by
people who worked for him
and worked with him.
- What they're alleging
is that Michael Jackson
was a paedophile.
That's not negligence.
They could've supervised any
time that Michael Jackson
was with these kids.
They could've warned the parents.
They could've called the police.
They didn't do what a
reasonable person would've done
in order to protect these kids,
and as a result, the kids were damaged,
and therefore, they're liable.
(light music)
- How do they sleep at night?
Hiding everything that
Michael was really up to.
(light music)
I want my day in court.
(light music)
(intense sombre music)
When I first started
speaking about the abuse
to my therapist,
one of the early things that
started coming up for me
was okay, this is what happened to me.
This is what Michael did to me.
What do I do with this now?
(sombre music)
I went to the beach and
did the burning of ya know,
items, Michael items, personal
items, memorabilia items.
(fire crackles)
(light music)
As those items were burning
and I was looking at them melt
and disintegrate in the fire,
I started talking to Michael.
Ya know, to Michael's spirit.
Michael, somehow I'm gonna turn your wrong
into a right.
(light music)
- You know that the
things you're gonna say
here this morning and
perhaps in a court of law
are gonna get a lot of attention,
make a lot of headlines.
(intense music)
Why didn't you go to the
lawyers and do this quietly?
And try to settle,
make some kind of a deal?
- Right, right.
- Because I've lived in silence and denial
for 22 years and I can't
spend another moment in that.
In order to truly heal,
I have to speak my truth and I have to
speak the whole truth.
That's one thing that
you'll never see from me.
I'm never gonna go away with this
for the sake of money.
I'm never going to be silenced for money.
That's not gonna happen.
(light music)
- That was a big decision
deciding whether or not
to join the lawsuit.
(light dramatic music)
I was totally disconnected
from myself in the past
as little James.
'Cause you blame yourself for the abuse.
And ya know, it's a terrible feeling.
(light music)
I wanted to fight for little James.
I wanted to fight for
him and fight for myself.
I'm recently just trying to
connect with little James and,
ya know, imagining telling him that
it's okay and,
and that I love him.
(light music)
So I'm kinda going,
trying to reconnect with
myself as a child,
so I don't even know
what he would say to me.
I don't know.
(light music)
- We're brought in because we specialise
in child sexual abuse litigation.
The only thing we rely on is
whether we believe the victim,
whether we believe em.
And if we do believe them,
then we find out a way to help them.
- So, I think a lot of people assume
that if we prove Mr. Jackson
molested Wade and James,
that we win.
That's not the case.
- The perpetrator, Michael
Jackson, is deceased.
Just because someone has passed away
does not mean you cannot bring a lawsuit.
So, there's two defendants.
It's MJJ Productions, Inc,
and MJJ Ventures, Inc,
which are just loan out corporations
created for the sole purpose of shielding
the entertainer from personal liability.
- While Mr. Jackson certainly
bares a lot of responsibility
for this, like every other paedophile case
I've ever encountered,
paedophiles don't operate in a vacuum,
especially successful ones.
What we have to show is
that MJJ Productions,
his company that he owned,
was aware of it and knew it.
People there were aware of it and knew it.
(gentle music)
- From how I met Michael
in the first place
to how we met again and then,
once we became friends,
all of my interactions with him
were organised by people
who worked for him
and worked with him.
(light music)
There were so many times bodyguards
that worked for Michael,
right outside of the door
when abuse was going on,
whether that was at
Neverland or in trailers,
at a recording studio,
always people around that worked for him.
(light music)
There was knowledge that there
was something weird going on
and nobody in the organisation, seemingly,
did anything about it.
(fans shouting)
- People must have known.
It's hard to imagine being okay with the
constant cycle of kids
coming in and out.
(fans scream)
Can't imagine how they didn't know.
- I believe that any normal person,
seeing the things that were going on
with Michael Jackson and
between him and the kids,
would have suspicions very early on
as to what he was doing.
(ominous music)
The fact that he was
always surrounding himself
with young boys, many
of whom look the same.
He usually had one who
was his special friend.
And he'd call em a special
friend, my little friend,
and he would interact
with these kids in a way
that someone would interact
with a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
- [Cameraman] Is that really appropriate?
- So I would find it very hard to believe
that someone who is an adult
employee of Michael Jackson
would not, at the very
least, have a suspicion
as to what's going on.
(light music)
(fans cheer)
Michael Jackson got away
with this for a long time.
The very first one we know of
involves a young girl
who was actually a tomboy
and it's my understanding
she was sexually abused
by Mr. Jackson in the mid 1980s
and he ended up paying her a settlement
in the range of about $900,000.
And it was paid by his companies.
(light music)
There's another one involving
Michael Jackson's housekeeper's son.
- Jason Francia did
disclose that he was f*ndled
by Michael Jackson and
that a lot of times,
during the fondling acts,
Michael would slip money in his pocket,
presumably in a way to keep him quiet
and not disclose the
information to his mother.
- He brought a claim and
that claim was settled
and he was paid out.
(light music)
There was an allegation
made by a boy named
Jordan Chandler that
he was sexually abused
by Michael Jackson in the early 90s.
And that was litigated for quite some time
very extensively.
- Mr. Chandler asked Michael,
"Are you f*cking my son in the a*s?"
And Michael said, "Oh, I
would never use that word."
- We knew we were having problems
going into the investigation
because Michael Jackson
was aware that the father complained
to other people about the sexual abuse
and in fact, was asking for money
and there was concern
that he might have been
charged for extortion.
Michael Jackson's camp decided not to
go forward in that case.
- So there was a fondling
and masturbation.
There were incidents of oral copulation
where Michael orally copulated Jordan
and Jordan used the
term, when he ejaculated
that it was called duck butter.
Jordan also described
the fact that Michael
ate the semen, his semen,
or the drippings, as he called it.
Jordan drew a picture of Michael's p*nis
with specific spots or
discolouration on the body
and on the p*nis.
Jordan came across as being very honest,
very credible.
Everything that he described
is certainly a crime.
It was credible enough where we were able
to obtain search warrants.
- These statements about
me are totally false.
They served a search warrant on me
which allowed them to view
and photograph my body,
including my p*nis, my buttocks,
my lower torso, thighs, and
other area that they wanted.
- After the warrant was
served for Michael's body,
it was, I didn't see it personally but,
it was my understanding
that it was confirmed,
that those markings were present
as Jordy had described
them on the drawing.
(gentle music)
- Thank you very much
for all of your support.
Together, we will see this
through to the very end.
- The case ended.
How did it end all of a sudden?
There was a civil suit that was
going along at the same time
and they had a settlement
in the civil suit
that ended up being an
exorbitant amount of money.
I mean, he was paid
some $20 million or more
and that was apparently the
quid pro quo of the payout
that this criminal case would go away
and he would go away, and
that's exactly what happened.
- It was a big blow to the case.
We had another victim in Santa Maria
who was wiling to testify but only
if there were other children
that were testifying.
When Jordy Chandler backed out,
he didn't wanna go it alone.
Ya know, the guy walked
and now there's gonna be other victims,
probably a multitude of victims.
He's not gonna stop.
Paedophiles don't stop.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Pilot] Check one, two.
What's goin' on tonight?
- An arrest warrant for
Mr. Jackson has been issued
on multiple counts of child molestation.
- [Reporter] The young boy
met Jackson when he was given
only weeks to live after
being diagnosed with cancer.
The boy reportedly told a therapist
Jackson f*ndled him in his private parts.
- And then, you fast forward
to the allegations later,
when Wade was an adult
and Michael asked him to testify for him
in the criminal trial.
- He said, "Ya know, we
can't let them do this to us.
We can't let them take us down."
Us, us, us.
I definitely had a real
fear of what he said
about if anyone ever found out,
that he and I would go to jail.
- And Michael called him and
called him and called him
and called him and kept
begging him and begging him
and begging him.
- So, at some point, I
worked up the courage
to tell Michael that
I don't wanna testify.
(crowd cheers)
After that, I received
a subpoena to testify.
And so, there it is.
Ya know, I got no choice.
That's what I'm doing.
(intense music)
- He was their first witness
and I cross-examined him.
Spoke well, presented well.
That's why he was the first
witness for the defence.
- Did Michael ever touch
you, anything sexual?
No, absolutely not.
Just ya know, look him in the eyes
and be clear.
- Choreographer, Wade Robson,
acknowledged sharing a bed
with the singer many
times when he was a child.
- [News Anchor] "Did Mr.
Jackson ever molest you
at any time," the defence lawyer asked.
"No, never," Wade Robson replied.
- Tom Mesereau said that Wade Robson
was singularly the best
witness he had ever seen,
which must be disconcerting to him today
to discover that Wade Robson now says
he was molested for
years by Micheal Jackson.
- I wasn't able to tell the truth.
Absolutely not.
(light music)
- I was asked questions about whether
Wade Robson should be
prosecuted for perjury.
I said no.
I said that this is one
of those things where
very few people have any
control over what happens,
least of whom, believe it or not,
but the person who's experiencing it.
This is just not something
within his emotional control.
(fans cheer)
- [Jury Member] We, the jury,
in the above titled case,
find the defendant not
guilty of a lewd act
upon a minor child.
- [News Anchor] Michael
Jackson will be walking
out of this courtroom a free man.
- I loved Micheal.
Michael loved me.
This was something that
happened between us, that's it.
Didn't bother me.
I'm okay, I'm fine.
It'd be a big deal to everyone else,
but it's not a big deal to me.
So it's not worth the trouble.
- A child sexual abuse victim
is not gonna come forward
and say what happened until they're ready.
So, you fast forward after the
Santa Barbara investigation.
Wade gets married, he has a child,
and it's a boy and as
we've seen many times
with child sexual abuse litigation,
oftentimes, someone will
have a triggering event
that will cause the light to go off
and for them to start
understanding that what happened
to them as a child was not right.
And it wasn't loving and it wasn't normal.
It was abuse and it was wrong.
(sombre music)
- Mr. Jackson couldn't have
done what he did without help.
The help of employees,
the help of colleagues
and help of others.
If somebody reported it, that's different.
Nobody reported this.
Nobody did anything except let him do it.
This is about getting at the truth
and making sure this never happens
to another little boy because somebody
happens to be famous.
(intense music)
- [Reporter] A judge has
dismissed the lawsuit
brought by a choreographer who alleged
Michael Jackson molested him as a child.
- [News Anchor] Safechuck
and Robson both sued
the Jackson estate but their
lawsuits were dismissed
because of the statute of limitations.
- The first round of the
court case was thrown out.
Ya know, it was too late.
That was the defence, that it was too late
for myself and James
to, whatever happened,
to come forward with this truth now.
Time's up.
- Having our court case thrown away,
that was really difficult
to go through and that
was hard to come back from.
Was just depressed and
I started drinking more.
It really hurt.
Ya know, these are personal
experiences that I went through.
This is my childhood and so, ya know,
it means a lot to me to be able
to go to court and to
be able to fight back
for myself and for little James and so,
it was really heartbreaking
to have it thrown out.
- I have no experience
with how things work
in the legal system, so it
never occurred to me that
seven years later,
we'd still be prior to
the beginning of anything.
- It's never ending.
It's never ending
until it ends.
(wife laughs)
(dramatic music)
- We've gotta fight it.
We've gotta continue fighting
until they say you can't fight anymore
'cause that's what we're hired to do.
That's the way you really help victims.
(dramatic music)
- [Reporter] Premiering today
at the Sundance Film Festival,
Leaving Neverland.
- It's sparking conversation
and strong opinions nationwide.
- Police prep for demonstrators
and possible threats.
- Jackson family
statement going on to say,
"The facts don't lie, people do."
- The movie coming out was like
the thing I was most afraid of.
Michael always said ya know,
your life would be over if people knew.
(light music)
So, we were like this married couple
and I say married because we had this
mock wedding ceremony.
It's like we're bonded forever.
It felt good.
And the ring is nice.
Going through that and
having everybody know
in such a public way was difficult for me.
- It was just a really crazy
feeling to be seeing the film.
Here I am sitting in a movie theatre
with all of these strangers watching
some of the most intimate
details of my life.
I felt special.
I was this boy from the
other side of the world
and Michael chose me.
Yeah, there's no question
I was like head over heels
in love with Michael
and he said he loved me.
And then they call us
up, James and I, on stage
where I'm readying myself to be attacked.
- I had a guy stick his hand down my pants
when I was at scout and I went through
people not believing me and
I think the three of you
and everybody behind
this film are gonna do
a lot more good in the world
than Michael f*cking Jackson ever did.
(crowd claps)
- And here I was having
just this immense experience
of incredible support.
- This movie and your story
will soon help change
the law in this country.
Let my stand support that very much.
(crowd claps)
- Watching this documentary was an intense
and very emotional experience
for many people here.
It's an audience of over
100 men and women here
who say that they were
sexually abused as children.
- I felt like she really
personally understood
and has had ya know,
some version of that experience herself.
- I taped 217 episodes on sexual abuse.
You were able to illustrate
in these four hours
what I tried to explain in 217.
I tried and tried and tried
to get the message across
to people that sexual
abuse was not just abuse,
it was also sexual seduction.
I had a light bulb moment
and finally realised at 42
that it was not my fault.
- She got what I and
James had been through.
Ya know, getting to the point in life
where it was no long an
option to keep it a secret.
- The keeping of the secret
did what to your life?
- I don't know if I could continue
with the pain that I was in.
It's no way to live.
- Up until whatever it
was, six years ago or so,
ya know, I was going to
take what truly happened
to my grave, no question.
That was the way it was.
She said, "We're all gonna get it."
I respected her
knowingness of what kind of
backlash she was gonna come up against.
- So, when all the fans and the estate
and all the anger, you
guys are gonna get it.
You know that, right?
- We do.
- Y'all gon' get it.
- I'm gon' get it, we're all gon' get it.
(audience laughs)
- It's frickin' terrifying.
Reactions of the whole world,
angry Michael fans and media,
a certain amount of them
can be extremely vicious.
- I don't believe these mother f*ck.
(audience laughs)
I do not believe them.
(audience cheers)
- So, the backlash is very, very real
on social media by many of the most loyal
Michael Jackson fans.
Many just refuse to watch and again,
question the credibility and the motives
of Robson and Safechuck.
- I don't believe a word of
anything in this documentary.
- Okay, okay, okay Wendy.
- Come on.
(clapping)
- I do believe sleepovers in the same bed.
I do believe that if mother
nature takes its course
and they, ya know, you get a hard p*nis.
I don't believe touching
and I don't believe sex
and I do believe that this is
a money grab for the families.
- [News Anchor] The Jackson
estate is pushing back
saying both men testified
on behalf of Jackson
during earlier trials that
unsuccessfully sued his estate.
- Why do you think they're
coming forward now?
- Money.
- You think it's all about money?
- Well, it's all about money.
- It's always been about money.
- This is all about greed and money.
- It was always about the money.
It was always about the money!
(crowd chants "It's all about the money")
- Go down the rabbit hole
and do some actual homework
on this case.
- As MJ fans, we were, we have
become lawyers and attorneys.
We, when Michael passed
and Connor and Murray
was on trial, we were all doctors.
Like, we do our research.
- I believe Michael
Jackson is innocent, I do.
I've followed the evidence.
There is no evidence.
Then you got Oprah who
comes in and is like,
"Hells yes, I'm yep,
I'm a snake who will turn anybody."
Suddenly you're all like ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.
- Are you prepared for that?
(audience laughs)
You're not.
- There's a lot.
I have notes just 'cause
I don't wanna mess up
some of the stuff.
I have it all here.
We can go through it together.
(laughs)
We got the email here.
I mean, my history of covering things
and just my belief that we're all innocent
until proven guilty
really pushed me to wanna,
to challenge what they were saying because
yeah, it's easy to watch
Wade and James and think,
well, my God, this is horrific!
We have to listen to what they're saying.
But they've changed this
case so many damn times
to talk about the,
what is it, the handle of the,
hold on, I'm gonna get this right.
These two have changed
this case so many times
to really focus on the duty of care
because they're so,
it's so imperative that
they get this case right
against the estate.
Michael is gone!
Like, he can't even defend himself.
You waited this long and now
you're going after the estate
saying they're the biggest
paedophile ring in the world?
Michael Jackson had 22,000
kids at Neverland every year.
That's a lot of damn kids.
You're telling me these are the only two
that after all this
time, have had the nerve
to come forward?
I don't, I don't buy it.
I think these two are
financially motivated
and I think you are.
(intense music)
- So you had a documentary
done in complete secrecy
'cause they didn't want
any other narrative.
You had accusations from two men
who had a financial
interest in the outcome.
And from two men who
had previously testified
under perjury exactly the opposite
of what they said in the documentary.
Now, on top of that, the
fans and press overseas
in England and even in Moscow
have begun to point out
numerous inconsistencies
and flat out lies it
contained in the documentary.
And yet, because the laws of
defamation are what they are,
there's nothing you can do or say.
The man can be damaged.
His legacy can be damaged.
His kids can be hurt and theoretically,
nothing can be done.
- I watched the special and
then I called my friends
and we talked about it.
And then, we came to
the agreement, you know,
we don't believe that we heard.
James' story, I think he was
just piggybacking off and Wade,
I think Wade was the storyteller.
Ya know, the way his mannerisms
and the way he was talking
and things like that.
I think he was just following suit.
But then, I don't know if there
was stuff that was cut out
that wasn't aired but there were no like
real specific details.
Ya know, it was more
generalisation, ya know?
- [Cameraman] You mean the sexual acts?
- Correct.
Ya know, the touching of
the p*nis and you know,
all that stuff but...
- [Cameraman] That wasn't
detailed enough for you.
- No, not to me, no.
Well, I know that they spent time
and they may have been
naked with Michael in a bed
or things like that but,
the touching part, I don't,
I just can't picture it in my head, like,
and I've tried ya know, to see
Michael being inappropriate.
I can't see Michael Jackson having
sexual relations with anyone.
Male, female, boy, girl.
- It's unfortunate that there
are a number of accusations
and that's always just
unfortunate for anybody.
And it is possible that he
was telling the truth but,
the optics weren't great,
especially after 1993 and
I think it was his ex-wife,
Lisa Marie Presley, that
said in an interview or two,
that he was a little rebel.
The more people would tell
him not to do something,
the more he'd be like,
"I'm gonna do it anyway."
It's possible that it
could've been innocent
and it just could've been you know,
he could've thought of them
like either one of his children
or like a brother.
Quite frankly and I'm revealing
my bias here, admittedly,
I really didn't want it to be true.
And I know that doesn't make it such but,
just like please, let this not be true.
(laughs)
- I was a huge fan!
Completely huge fan of Michael Jackson!
You couldn't be a fan.
There was like, something
was wrong with you
if you didn't dig Michael Jackson.
Leaving Neverland really made me go back
and review everything and I dug around
and I didn't like what I saw.
I had an aha moment and it drove me nuts.
I couldn't let it go.
I seriously couldn't let it go.
After you dig around and
really look at certain items,
you start saying like Wade and James were
completely credible.
What Oprah did was heroic in my eyes
'cause she gave them
a opportunity to speak
and she supported them.
She's somebody who takes abuse seriously.
We know that happens.
We know it happens.
What's the difference here?
Because he can do the moonwalk?
Because he can make good music?
'Cause he can make anything into a hit?
Two things can be true.
So yeah, I completely
believe both of them.
(crowd chants "Facts
don't lie, people do")
- You're fightin' the world.
The entire world.
Everyone's against you.
Ya know, everyone loved this person.
They know his music, they know who he was
and he didn't have a childhood
and ya know, that whole story.
And he's beloved and he
was such a great person
because he's got these photo opps
where he's helping cancer
patients or something
and that's what he did every day.
They don't understand
the way abusers work.
Sexual abusers, especially
the most prolific ones,
they're not stupid people.
They're incredibly intelligent.
They're incredibly manipulative.
And that's why they're able
to do this for so long,
for decades sometimes.
Right in front of the public's eye.
- New tonight, Governor Gavin
Newsome signed a new law
giving child sexual
as*ault victims more time
to file lawsuits.
The goal is to make it easier for victims
to hand justice.
- Kind of as Leaving
Neverland was being released
and everything that happened
with the me too movement,
there was this kinda major societal shift
around sexual abuse, sexual as*ault,
accountability for that.
That's yeah, statute of
limitations ended up changing.
(intense ominous music)
You know, divine timing as
we were sort of on appeal.
So, that played a big
role in us being able to
head back towards court.
(intense music)
- The court of appeal reversed
the trial court decision we won.
And we're back in court
with yet another judge
litigating the case.
(intense music)
- [Howard] Good morning, Howard Weitzman,
on behalf of the fans, Judge.
- [Judge] Good morning, Mr. Weitzman.
- I think the other side
will say anything they can
to prevent them from
getting their day in court.
Let's be clear.
They're not sending a
message to Wade and James.
They're sending a message
to all the other people
they know are out there
that he did this to
to shut the f*ck up.
That's the message.
Shut the f*ck up or you're gonna get this.
- [Judge] So, let's
move onto Mr. Safechuck
and here, we need to reset, Mr. Weitzman,
your demur, is that correct?
- [Weitzman] This message, I do, yes.
- [Judge] Just one
moment and I'll get you.
(intense music)
- [Child] Tail up!
- [Mother] Mommy help you dig?
- [Child] No, I'm digging!
- [Mother] Well, I'm
gonna hold it over there.
- No, no, no!
- Tomorrow, we're going to the courthouse
and they're gonna rule on
a few points in my case
and just been getting mentally ready
to go down there and
preparing for the worst, I think,
so that I can be prepared.
Been a little depressed today.
I have been here before, yeah,
seems like many times.
So, it's draining to go through this
over and over again.
So here's another, another step.
(dramatic music)
I didn't sleep last night.
I slept like one hour.
And there's kind of a shock.
- [Judge] So, this is the defendant's,
MJJ Ventures and MJJ Productions demur.
(light music)
- A demur is, I describe
it as a legal so what.
Essentially the argument
is, even if you assume
everything in the allegations
or the complaint are true,
that he molested him, that
they knew, all that stuff,
so what?
We still can't proceed because of the law.
- [Judge] This is the defendant's,
MJJ Ventures and MJJ Productions, demur.
So, I would like them to
have an opportunity to
address the courts,
tentative law in first.
- [Steinsapir] Certainly your honour.
This is Mr. Steinsapir.
What they're alleging
is that Michael Jackson
was a paedophile, that he was an evil,
he was a criminally deviant person.
Those are the allegations
in the complaint.
That's not negligence.
I don't see how you can say
a company that is created
by Michael Jackson for the purpose of
managing Michael
Jackson's business affairs
had any sort of negligence based duty
to not hire Michael Jackson.
- So, I've read the tentative ruling,
the court's analysis and
I think there's just a
fundamental disagreement
between the parties
and plaintiff and the court's analysis.
- [Judge] So, why am I
wrong as to those two
fundamental principles?
- The court has questioned
whether there can
potentially be more facts.
The facts, the relevant
facts, the important facts
have been pled.
They're in the complaint.
We've been arguing these issues for years
and we just have a difference of opinion.
We're probably never going to agree on it.
Ya know, this corporation was taking
custody and control of kids.
It had a duty to protect them.
That's the law in the state of California.
It's always been the law
in the state of California
and it doesn't matter if it's owned by
a famous musician.
- [Judge] I'm not gonna
rule on this today.
I mean, I need to take the time to go
back through everything again
and I obviously will
let you know as soon as
I have a ruling on it.
- [Finaldi] Thank you, your honour.
- [Judge] All right, thank you.
- All right.
(light ominous music)
The court will have to make a decision
whether if someone's the sole
shareholder of a corporation,
he can use the corporation
to sexually abuse kids
and there's nothing you can do about it.
(dramatic music)
- I don't know when it will end.
Having been in it for so
many years, it's gruelling.
I'm looking forward to just letting it go.
Like I just, I just wanna forget.
(dramatic music)
- This is not only about
this one case, as we see.
There's all kinds of abuse that's happened
in the entertainment industry.
And the laws that are being
created by the legislature,
by the appellate courts
and the supreme courts,
is gonna shape the ways that these kids
were being victimised.
Now, they can hold their
abusers accountable.
So, although James' case
may have been a loss
in the lower court,
there's a very good chance
we can turn it around
to a very big win, not only for him,
but for kids all across this state
and that's our goal.
(intense music)
Morning, your honour.
Vince Finaldi for the
plaintiff, Wade Robson.
- [Judge] Morning Mr. Finaldi.
- Good morning, your honour.
Jonathan Steinsapir and Kinsella
Weitzman for the defendant.
- Good morning to both of you.
The court has concluded
that despite the evidence
that's been submitted of the, if true,
horrible acts that were
committed against your client
and Mr. Safechuck, court
has concluded that,
as a matter of law,
the corporate entities,
based upon their structure and control
or lack of control over Michael Jackson,
made it impossible for
the court to even find
a issue of fact as to where this case
should proceed to trial.
- We have read the tentative ruling
and if allowed to stand,
this decision would set
a dangerous precedent that would leave
thousands of children
vulnerable to sexual abuse
by persons in places of
power within corporations
conducting business within
the state of California.
- [Judge] And the only
thing I'll say in response
to Mr. Finaldi is this
court's decision doesn't
open the door to endangering
thousands of children.
This is a very unique factual situation
where the alleged perpetrator
of the sexual abuse
passed away.
- I understand the issue
as well, your honour.
I've practised in this area
for 18 years, my entire career,
and I completely disagree.
- [Judge] Okay.
So, the court's tentative will be its
final ruling in this case.
Judgement is entered for the defendants.
(dramatic music)
- [Steinsapir] Thank you.
- [Judge] Thank you.
Court will be in recess.
(light music)
- It's just a misreading
of the applicable law
and completely contorting
it in order to come
to this decision, which
was just flat wrong.
This fight's long from over.
We go back to the court of appeal
and we'll see what the court of appeal
has to say about it.
This is not right.
Ya know, just because
you're the sole owner
of a corporation doesn't
mean that you can set up
the corporation in a
manner that allows you
to sexually abuse kids
throughout this state
and throughout the
country without liability.
That's not the way it works
and if it is the way it works,
then we're gonna do
something to change it.
(dramatic music)
(waves crash)
(gentle music)
- The last time that it got thrown out,
the defence was whether he did it or not,
we couldn't control it.
He did whatever he wanted
'cause he's the only one
who owned the company
and the only shareholder.
So, companies can not
hold any responsibility.
The trial court judge agreed with that
and threw it outta court based upon that.
Right now, we're at a point
where we've received a tentative
ruling that, from the appeals court,
that it's going to get another chance.
(dramatic music)
- [Judge] My colleagues today
are Justice Elizabeth Grimes,
Justice John Shepard Wiley, Jr.
and Justice Victor Viramontes.
- Today's the oral argument.
We have a chance to go and argue
any additional points you want to address
from the tentative ruling.
- A tentative opinion is kind of the,
the idea of where the court is going.
So it's not final, but
it's a draught opinion.
The three justices are on top
and then there's myself and the attorney
representing MJJ Corporations.
(intense music)
- Miss Boyer, do you wish to
reserve any time for rebuttal?
- Good morning, your honours.
Yes, we agree with the
court's tentative ruling,
so we would like to therefore reserve
all our time for rebuttal.
- Very good, I was hoping you'd say that.
So, Mr. Steinsapir?
- Correct.
Shall I begin?
- [Grimes] Yes, please.
- The Jackson team don't
agree that they had
any duty whatsoever to protect these kids
and they liken the abuse to
a child drowning in a pool
and someone walking by and
having no duty to do anything.
You just stand there
and watched a child die?
(dramatic music)
- Corporations say that these are quote,
"idiosyncratic circumstances," end quote.
And perhaps they are.
It would be perverse to find no duty
based upon the corporate defendant having
only one shareholder.
And so, we reverse the judgments
entered for the corporations.
(intense music)
I agree it's perverse!
I think it's strong wording
and it's appropriate.
Who cares if one person
owns it or 100 people
own the corporation?
If the corporation
facilitates abuse of children,
especially children who are
employed by the corporation,
to help it make money,
then the corporation
should be held liable.
Period.
(dramatic music)
- The ruling that was written
by the three appellate judges
was so powerful.
(dramatic music)
Judges are standing up for me
and standing up for what happened to us.
Ya know, I never expected
a legal document like that
to be emotional.
Standing up for all children
was how this ruling felt to me.
(dramatic music)
- The 10 years of battling
for it has made me
more appreciative and
grateful for the fact that
we're able to even go forward.
I don't know if excited is the right word,
but I'm like, embracing it,
because it's been so difficult to just
be able to go forward.
- One of the unfortunate
circumstances of these cases
is that they're incredibly dark.
They're incredibly difficult
especially when you
really care about your
clients and what you're doing.
Generally speaking, I
lose one client a year,
sometimes two, to suicide
or to the ill effects
that come from abuse.
Alcoholism, drug use.
So, you extrapolate that
out through a 20 year career
and I get to deal with, ya know,
the ghosts of at least 20 to 30 clients
that I think about all the time.
Dealing with these dark issues,
they take a toll on you.
They take a toll on your family.
Till you get to some point
where ya need to do something
to change that.
I am going to be retiring
out of this line of work.
(gentle music)
They're gonna be in great hands
with some very good trial
lawyers in Los Angeles
who are gonna be taking this case
from this point forward.
(dramatic music)
- I only take cases
that I think I can win.
(dramatic music)
And I'm fully invested
and I'm looking forward
to this trial.
(light music)
My position is we just sit down,
get it done, and we'll
take these depositions
and we'll go to trial
and that's what we want.
(intense music)
- They want the trial never to come.
It's typical in these types of cases where
if the plaintiff wants
closure, that's our goal
is to get this case done.
Their goal is to delay the case.
They seek delay, we seek justice.
(gentle music)
They wanna make money on their movies.
They wanna make money
on their Broadway shows.
They wanna make money in their music.
That's Michael Jackson's corporations job.
Now that Michael Jackson is dead,
but what remains is Michael
Jackson's corporation,
their sole duty and
obligation and reason to live
and exist is the making of money
on Michael Jackson's music
and the truth of what Michael Jackson did
is very inconvenient.
The more delay they have,
the more money they make.
But as soon as they have to own up
and reconcile the truth
of what Michael did,
it's gonna decrease
their revenues, for sure.
I know so much more than I can tell you.
I know what Michael Jackson did.
(dramatic music)
- Part of me is like
kind of building up this
strength and this shield to go through it,
imagining myself in trial, in the seat,
finding the strength and
fighting for little Jimmy.
When it comes, I'll be ready.
- Whatever's the final outcome,
I don't really see how I lose.
If I get the opportunity
to get back in there
and get on the stand and tell the truth
like I wasn't able to for decades,
that's a win for me.
(dramatic music)
(ball bounces)
(upbeat dramatic music)
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Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson (2025)
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