Michael Jackson Leaving Neverland director admits James Safechuck got some facts wrong
2 April 2019, 12:02 | Updated: 2 April 2019, 12:06
The Channel 4 documentary has divided opinion ever since it aired in March, and received criticism from sceptics who question both Safechuck and Robson's claims.
Leaving Neverland director, Dan Reed has appeared to admit what looks like factual uncertainty surrounding James Safechuck's abuse claims against Michael Jackson.
The former child entertainer shocked the world with bombshell allegations that he was sexually abused by Michael Jackson when he was just 14 years old, with court documents from the 2013 lawsuit stating the abuse took place between 1988 and 1992.
Safechuck, appeared in the documentary along with fellow victim Wade Robson, who brought forward similar claims against the pop star.
The Channel 4 documentary has divided opinion ever since it aired in March, and received criticism from sceptics who question both Safechuck and Robson's claims.
Biographer Mike Smallcombe has disputed allegations made by Safechuck that Michael abused him in the upstairs room of Neverland's train station.
After obtaining documents form Santa Barbara County, the journalist found the train station in question wasn't built until three years after Safechuck alleges the abuse stopped - leading him to the conclusion that Safechuck's timeline of abuse was incorrect.
When he posted his findings on Twitter, Reed himself acknowledged it - saying Safechuck got the end date of his abuse wrong.
“Yeah there seems to be no doubt about the station date,” he posted.
“The date they have wrong is the end of the abuse.”
Speaking to Mirror Online, Smallcombe said: “The train station opened in 1994, while Jackson was living on the other side of the country.“The latter point is, by the time Jackson was at Neverland and the train station was actually open, it was early 1995, three years after Safechuck said the abuse stopped."
He aded: "Firstly, I’m shocked that he's spoken on Safechuck’s behalf. And secondly, it’s embarrassing that he feels he has to now change the narrative of the film – which is that the alleged abuse stopped in 1992 – all because part of it has been disproved.
“That’s what happens when you take allegations like that at face value, and make no attempts to scrutinise and investigate whether they are true."
Despite Smallcombe's findings, this does not disprove Safechuck's allegations that he was abused by Michael Jackson.
