The family of Michael Jackson released a statement Monday condemning a new documentary, Leaving Neverland, that claims to further unveil the late singer’s alleged history of child predation.
“Michael always turned the other cheek, and we have always turned the other cheek when people have gone after members of our family — that is the Jackson way,” reads the statement obtained by Rolling Stone. “But we can’t just stand by while this public lynching goes on, and the vulture tweeters and others who never met Michael go after him. Michael is not here to defend himself, otherwise these allegations would not have been made.”
The two-part film, set to air on HBO, premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival and, as the music magazine put it, “left the audience shell-shocked with its accusations against Jackson.”
The Jackson family also noted that the two accusers featured in the documentary, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, both told investigators that Jackson hadn’t molested them during the pop star’s 2005 trial.
The family further lashed out at unnamed media outlets that “without a shred of proof or single piece of physical evidence, chose to believe the word of two admitted liars over the word of hundreds of families and friends around the world who spent time with Michael.” The Jackson clan accused Safechuck and Robson of being “perjurers” and “opportunists.”
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