The Netflix doc never mentioned this AT ALL. But this well known. And not just him. But they attempted on Jay Leno and even Chris Tucker.
Pertinent information omitted.
Don’t fuck with me. I know this case back to front.
JAMES SAFECHUCK: “Michael Jackson called me at the beginning of his 2005 trial and asked me to testify for him. I told him I wasn’t going to testify and he got angry. Towards the end of the trial, he called me again asking me to testify and I told him no again. He got angry and threatened me”
REALITY: Michael Jackson never called James Safechuck begging him to testify. Before the trial started, Judge Melville had ruled that Safechuck would be excluded as a testifying witness because no prosecution witness had claimed that they saw him being molested. Michael Jackson was well aware of this and his defense team did not have any plans at all to call Safechuck as a witness which is why his name is NOT on the defense’s list of potential witnesses. So in conclusion, the story James Safechuck told in #LeavingNeverland and his sworn documents about MJ calling him to testify and then threatening him because he refused is a flat out lie..
@WSJ@WSJ We challenge you to back up your claims on MJ. Terms: no opinions—facts only. You present evidence for your position, we’ll present ours. Let’s examine the allegations fairly, once and for all. If you’re confident that what you say is true, accept. *Awaits response….*
'MICHAEL 2' has been officially confirmed
Meetings for the sequel film will begin soon. Depending on Antoine Fuqua's schedule, filming will begin this year or in 2027.
Via The Town with Matthew Belloni
Audiences agree that #Michael is pure entertainment for the King of Pop's fans.
The biopic is Verified Hot at 97% on the Popcornmeter! https://t.co/RZZhsGubqp
BOX OFFICE: With a massive $97M, #Michael is King of the Box Office. That is:
- Biggest opening ever for a biopic of any kind, including music
- Biggest opening of the year for a live-action film (domestic and worldwide)
- The first biopic in history to surpass $100M worldwide in a single day
- Biggest opening for Lionsgate since 2015
- Biggest opening ever for director Antoine Fuqua, producer Graham King and writer John Logan
- Highest Audience Score for a music biopic ever at 97% 🍅
‘Michael’ has opened with $217.4M worldwide, marking the biggest biopic opening of all time.
The Michael Jackson biopic had a massive debut, earning about $97 million in the U.S. and over $217 million globally, making it the biggest opening ever for a musical biopic and one of the top openings of the year. The film also drew millions of viewers in North America alone, with strong ticket sales and high audience turnout across theaters.
Fellow journalists, just as a thought experiment:
Consider, for a brief moment, that Michael Jackson is innocent. We can return to regular programming (the default assumption of guilt) soon. But just for a moment….consider it.
From someone who has spent a lot of time researching the artist, interviewing those close to him, trying to approach the subject fairly, there are some legitimate things to consider, among them:
- I’ve personally spoken to some of Jackson’s accusers as adults and they vehemently defended him. This shouldn’t be too surprising as they have also defended him publicly and in some cases on the stand under oath, before later changing their positions.
- MJ, of course, faced an exhaustive criminal trial and was acquitted of all charges in 2005. That case, when removed from salacious headlines, was actually quite weak. The posthumous cases are objectively weaker.
- I’ve always felt the most compelling allegation would be one not attached to millions of dollars. Every posthumous allegation has been tied to changed stories and enormous sums of money, which would seem to at least invite some level of scrutiny.
- The vast majority of people who spent time at Neverland as children continue to assert that nothing sexual took place. That matters when trying to establish patterns of behavior and grooming.
- Multiple unannounced raids on Jackson’s properties revealed nothing incriminating. Not the case obviously for other recent high profile cases (Diddy, Epstein, etc.), where the evidence is clear.
- Nobody was clamoring for “complexity” and the “whole story” when Leaving Neverland came out. The media left its premier at Sundance in complete lockstep even though it intentionally left out hundreds of conflicting accounts.
- MJ was and is a target because of his differences/eccentricities and because of his wealth.
- Race continues to play a role. We can deny it or rationalize it but it’s always been there. James Baldwin saw it as early as 1985. White journalists have always been quicker to judge, malign, and assume his guilt. Even the “Wacko Jacko” tabloid nickname has racist roots.
Is none of this context relevant? If MJ was in fact not guilty as he asserted, as his family and friends believe, as a jury determined, the treatment he received in his lifetime (and still, decades later) would be reprehensible.
It’s at least worth considering…
Turn it up: MICHAEL is now Verified Hot on @RottenTomatoes. NOW PLAYING in theaters & IMAX everywhere – get tickets to #MichaelMovie TODAY: https://t.co/nuCPTVuJdn