James Safechuck is one of two alleged victims featured in HBO’s Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland.
On Sunday March 3 and Monday March 4, HBO will air a two-part, four-hour documentary about two allegations of sexual abuse against Michael Jackson. Leaving Neverland tells the stories of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, how they were allegedly groomed and abused by Jackson and how they have survived and come to terms with the alleged trauma in the years since.
James Safechuck met Michael Jackson in 1987 around his ninth birthday when he was cast in a Pepsi commercial with the pop star. The two stayed in touch and Safechuck became Jackson’s “traveling companion.” Safechuck alleges the abuse began when he was 10 and continued for several years.
He denied he and Jackson had a sexual relationship for many years before therapy helped him identify the alleged abuse for what it was. In a 2014 complaint against the Jackson estate, Safechuck alleges he was first abused on the Bad Tour when Jackson showed him how to masturbate” and that the two participated in “hundreds” of sex acts between 1988 and 1992.
Like Robson, his lawsuit against Jackson’s companies was dismissed on the grounds companies can’t control (and were therefore not liable for) Jackson’s behavior.
Leaving Neverland also tells the story of Wade Robson. The two never met before — they were kept apart for legal reasons surrounding their 2013/2014 lawsuits. Yet, they offer disturbingly similar accounts of abuse. In the documentary, according to Slate, both recount how Jackson would have the boys to sleep over in his bedroom. How he would touch their thighs and crotches, reach inside their pajamas, fondle their genitals and encourage them to do the same to him. Both remember him making them “spread their buttocks so he could see their anuses as he masturbated to completion.”
Jackson died in 2009. His estate has refuted all claims, releasing a statement calling the documentary “yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson” and a “public lynching.”
Leaving Neverland is a two-part documentary series airing on HBO Sunday, March 3 and Monday, March 4 at 8 p.m. ET.