Getty Oprah attends the premiere of OWN's "Love Is_" at NeueHouse Hollywood.
In an explosive two-part documentary special called “Leaving Neverland,” set to air on March 3 and March 4 on HBO, two men named Wade Robson and James Safechuck, will detail their allegations of sexual abuse by the late Michael Jackson, and offer their side of a dark picture that paints a disturbing side of the pop singer, whom many had referred to as the “King of Pop.”
Jackson’s family has referred to the accusers as “admitted liars,” stating that both Safechuck and Robson said that Jackson did not molest them when Jackson was live. The defiant Jackson estate has filed a suit against HBO over the “Leaving Neverland” documentary.
Nonetheless, Oprah Winfrey has studied the Jackson brouhaha for decades.
Winfrey famously sat down with Jackson, while he was still alive. Her interviews were often followed by reports of Jackson’s behavior, eccentricity, and abuse claims that had found Jackson in court. Vulture writer Kyle McGovern, offers a lengthy timeline of Jackson’s run-ins with the law and with sexual abuse claims.
McGovern’s timeline on Vulture details the allegations as follows:
- May 1992: Jackson meets 12-year-old Jordan Chandler
- February 10, 1993: Oprah interviews Jackson*
- Early 1993: Jackson invites Chandler to sleep at Neverland
- March 28, 1993: Jackson and Chandler reportedly share a bed
- May 25, 1993: The National Enquirer publishes a disturbing story about the Jackson-Chandler relationship
- August 17, 1993: The Los Angeles Police Department launch an investigation against Jackson
- August 23, 1993: The LAPD investigation becomes public
- August 24, 1993: Jackson refutes abuse claims and says they’re about extortion
- August 27, 1993: Reports are posted about a lack of physical evidence against Jackson
- August 31, 1993: Jackson’s shows proof of Chandler’s extortion
- September 14, 1993: Chandler’s parents take Jackson to civil court
- December 15, 1993: Jackson’s ex-maid reports that she too observed the singer in unlawful behaviors against minors, though her reports are challenged as inconsistent
- December 20, 1993: Police strip-search Jackson with a search warrant
- December 22, 1993: Jackson goes on live TV to deny accusations
- January 24, 1994: Los Angeles County DA refuses extortion charges against Chandler
- January 25, 1994: Jackson offers a settlement for the Chandlers’ civil lawsuit
- September 22, 1994: Prosecutors state that no criminal charges would be filed against Jackson
- August 2000: Jackson meets a 10-year-old boy with cancer, Gavin Arvizo
- February 2003: Martin Bashir’s documentary on Michael Jackson airs in Britain and the U.S.; he reports that Jackson is still having children sleep in his bedroom at Neverland Ranch
- February 5, 2003: Jackson slams Bashir
- November 18, 2003: Police swarm Neverland Ranch and search for evidence, announcing that they’ve issued an arrest warrant for Jackson, on multiple counts of child molestation
- November 20, 2003: Jackson is released on bond
- December 18, 2003: Jackson is charged with child molestation
- March-April, 2004: Grand jury indicts Jackson on additional charges, including child abduction, false imprisonment, and extortion
- February 28, 2005: Jackson makes headlines and faces yet another criminal trial
- June 14, 2005: The jury deliberates for 32 hours and acquits Jackson of all charges
- May 2013: Wade Robson sues the Jackson estate, recanting his support for Jackson under oath and stating that Jackson did in fact molest him
- May 2014: James Safechuck files a sexual-assault complaint against Jackson
- May 26, 2015: The courts dismiss Robson’s lawsuit
- September 2016: Robson reports that Jackson’s organizations were a “child sexual abuse” operation
- July-December 2017: Both Robson and Safechuck’s lawsuits are dismissed
- January 9, 2019: Sundance announces Robson and Safechuck’s Leaving Neverland premiere
- January 25, 2019: Leaving Neverland is shown at Sundance
- January 28, 2019: The Jacksons cry foul, stating that “Leaving Neverland“ is “a public lynching”
- February 21, 2019: The Jackson estate sues HBO over “Leaving Neverland.” HBO responds, “Despite the desperate lengths taken to undermine the film, our plans remain unchanged. HBO will move forward with the airing of Leaving Neverland, the two-part documentary, on March 3 and 4. This will allow everyone the opportunity to assess the film and the claims in it for themselves.”
- March 3 & 4, 2019: “Leaving Neverland“ airs on HBO
- March 4, 2019: Winfrey interviews Robson and Safechuck in “After Neverland”** – added with this article
Winfrey said of the February 10, 1993 interview with the notoriously private singer, Michael Jackson (the most-watched interview in television history): “It was the most exciting interview I had ever done,” Winfrey said in an Oprah.com interview. “It certainly was going to be the most watched interview I had ever done.” The interview had drawn a worldwide audience of 90 million people. Winfrey had interviewed Jackson right on the grounds of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.
In 2010, Winfrey also carved a strong path when she, Tyler Perry, and 200 men discussed being survivors of childhood sexual abuse on her daytime talk show.
Now, the “Leaving Neverland” documentary, directed by Dan Reed, will examine Safechuck and Robson’s claims that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children.
Winfrey’s “After Neverland” will speak to both accusers, which will air on HBO at 10 p.m. on March 4th. Survivors of sexual abuse will reportedly be in the audience.