Leaving Neverland‘s director Dan Reed has hit out at Micheal Jackson‘s estate for calling his accusers liars, stating that “this argument falls apart”.

Reed’s two-part film focuses on testimony by Wade Robson, 36, and James Safechuck, 41, who both claim that Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were children. The documentary premiered in the UK on Channel 4 last week.

After fans and high-profile figures have weighed in with their thoughts following its release, filmmaker Reed has attempted to debunk the belief that the two men are lying for personal financial gain.


In a recent piece for The Guardian, Reed wrote about the criticism against Robson as he previously defended Jackson under oath during his 2004 trial.

“Wade states in my film that he had perjured himself because he could not bear to see Jackson, the man he loved, go to jail,” he wrote.

Explaining that “telling the truth was out of the question” for Robson at the time, he added: “He had never told a soul, not even his mother. So the Jackson camp now call him an admitted liar. This argument falls apart when you apply even the merest dusting of common sense.

“Was he lying then? Or is he lying now? You can’t have it both ways.”

Reed also commented on those close to Jackson being aware of his highly-controversial sleeping arrangements.


“The most extraordinary thing in all this is that no-one denies that Jackson took little boys to his bed, night after night, for many, many years,” he said. “What did his family and business associates think he was doing with these little boys behind a locked door?

“Did they believe he was actually a child in the body of a man and therefore somehow needed to sleep with little boys? That makes no sense if you think about it for more than a second.”

Meanwhile, pop star Aaron Carter has spoken in defence of his friend Michael Jackson. “Why not [come out with the accusations] when he was alive?” Carter said of Robson and Safechuck.

“Why not do it when he was being accused of all of these molestation charges. Why not do it then and actually indict a perpetrator?”

Elsewhere, Jackson’s niece Brandi has claimed that the accusers are “liars” and “motivated by money”. Juice WRLD also stood up for the ‘Thriller’ star, while Louis Theroux said that anyone still defending Jackson was being “willfully blind“.

Michael Jackson denied any wrongdoing before he died in 2009.