Leaving Neverlanddirector Dan Reed is criticizing the newMichael Jacksonbiopic while claiming that the late pop icon was “worse thanJeffrey Epstein.”
Antoine Fuqua’sMichaelhits theatres Friday and gives “an in-depth portrayal of the complicated man who became the King of Pop,” according to Lionsgate, which handles the worldwide distribution of the film.
Reed is questioning how the new biopic failed to acknowledge the abuse allegations explored in his 2019 documentaryLeaving Neverland, which raised child molestation allegations fromWade RobsonandJames Safechuck, who shared in harrowing detail how they say Jackson sexually abused them as boys.
“It says that people don’t care that he was a child molester. Literally, people just don’t care,” Reedtold the Hollywood Reporter. “I think a lot of people just love his music and turn a deaf ear. And short of having actual video evidence of Michael Jackson engaged in sexual intercourse with a 7-year-old child, I don’t know what would be sufficient to change these people’s minds.
“How can you tell an authentic story about Michael Jackson without ever mentioning the fact that he was seriously accused of being a child molester?”
Fuqua, the director ofMichael, recently responded to accusations against Jackson duringan interview with The New Yorker.
“Sometimes people do some nasty things for some money,” Fuqua said.
Reed addressed Fuqua’s remarks, saying, “For Antoine Fuqua to accuse people of gold digging is kind of ironic. It seems to me all the people involved in this movie are just making bank.”
“If anyone’s making money, it’s Michael Jackson’s estate and the people who worked on this biographical picture,” Reed added.
Reed said that Robson and Safechuck “have never made a cent from their accusations” against Jackson.
“People don’t seem to understand: If you bring a lawsuit, you don’t get any money until you win in court. And when you win in court, that means you’ve proved your case, right?” he said.
He went on to claim that the “press” is “sucking up to the Jackson machine.”
“The estate and the fan base has always ensured that the price of criticizing Michael is years of invective and smears and what have you,” Reed said, adding that there’s “a ton of money to be made by any kind of association with the Jackson IP.”
“If you can get on board and be part of the success of this movie, then that’s going to be good for you,” Reed added.
“So a lot of people, I think, will kind of swallow any misgivings they may have and just sort of say, ‘Oh well, it’s a great jukebox movie’ and just completely ignore the fact that this guy was worse than Jeffrey Epstein,” Reed said.
