HBO has released the trailer for the controversial new Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland.
The film, which premiered at Sundance back in January, explores the experiences of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, two men who claim to have faced abuse at the hands of Jackson as children, and their long road to confronting the horrifying experience.
The documentary features interviews with Robson, Safechuck, their parents, siblings, and wives. It also features footage of the men as children meeting Jackson and hanging out at the singer’s famed Neverland ranch.
In a press release about the documentary, it claims that Robson and Safechuck’s visits to Jackson’s ranch “began to include overnight stays, where Jackson would sleep in the same bedroom as his young guests, away from their parents. Both Robson and Safechuck describe how what began as innocent sleepovers led to intimate contact. Robson was seven years old when the abuse started; Safechuck was 10. Soon, as Safechuck recalls painfully, nearly every ‘special’ place at Neverland was marked by a sexual encounter.”
The upcoming documentary made waves at Sundance, where demonstrators showed up to protest the film.
A representative for Jackson’s estate told The Wrap in January, “This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.”
HBO will air the documentary in two parts, with part one premiering March 3.
