HBO's controversial new documentary about Michael Jackson [1], Leaving Neverland [2], aired its first half on Sunday, and as expected, it's a devastating account from two men about the sexual abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of the King of Pop as children.
The two men, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, are now adults, but both originally encountered Jackson as young boys through show business connections — Safechuck was filming a Pepsi commercial with Jackson, while Robson, who is Australian, won a dancing competition in Brisbane that came with a prize of concert tickets and a meet-and-greet. While Safechuck left Hollywood behind [3] (he's now a married computer programmer living in Southern California and has two children), Robson has had a successful career as a choreographer for everyone from Britney Spears [4] (whom he also dated [5]) to *NSYNC.
For more than a decade, Jackson shielded his reputation from allegations of child molestation by using testimony of boys like Robson, who — along with his mother and sister — went on TV in the '90s to defend the singer, saying that Jackson had only ever been friendly to him, and that nothing inappropriate had ever occurred. A then-22-year-old Robson testified at Jackson's trial in 2005 when the icon faced more charges, taking the stand again to say that their bond was completely innocent. But now, the dancer and choreographer refuses to stay silent.
"The idea of this truth coming out and [my wife] Amanda knowing about it and my family knowing about it and everyone in the entertainment business and my career knowing about it, I mean, was just a ridiculous idea that was never going to happen because, in my mind, my whole life would be over," Robson explains in the documentary.
It wasn't until Robson became a father to a little boy in 2010 that he began allowing himself to see his childhood in a new light, and he decided to come forward with allegations against the star.
How Did Wade Robson Meet Michael Jackson?
At just 5-years-old, Robson found himself completely obsessed with the pop star after watching a video about the making of Jackson's iconic music video, "Thriller." Robson covered his childhood bedroom in Brisbane in images of the star, and began copying his dance moves with astounding accuracy. Before long his mother's friends urged her to enter him in some kind of dance contest, and the first tone he participated in one, he won tickets to Jackson's concerts the following two nights, as well as a meet and greet. When Robson and his mother met him, Jackson invited the young dancer to perform on stage with him the next night, and told them to look him up if they were ever in America.
Robson joined a jazz dance troupe when he turned 7, and in January 1990 he and his family traveled to the US for the first time so Robson and his fellow dancers could perform at Disneyland. Wade's mother got in contact with Jackson's personal assistant, and they were invited to his recording studio in Sherman Oaks, and then to his sprawling home, Neverland Ranch, for the weekend. It was during that trip, when Robson was left alone with Jackson while the rest of the family visited the Grand Canyon, that Robson alleges Jackson first touched him, sexually. He claims the sexual contact continued off and on for another seven years, at which point Robson's mother had moved him and his sister to Los Angeles to be closer to Jackson.
Did Wade Robson Defend Michael Jackson in Court?
Robson first testified on behalf of Jackson in the early 1990s, after California dentist Evan Chandler accused the pop star of molesting his young son, Jordan. In the documentary, Robson notes how the cop's line of questioning triggered memories for him from when he was a kid:
"As soon as the cop started asking me these questions, the first thing that came to mind was everything Michael started telling me when I was seven. If anyone ever discovered that we were doing these sexual things that he and I would go to jail for the rest of our lives. It was terrifying."
Regardless, Robson and Safechuck gave testimony on Jackson's behalf in 1993. The pair said they were never abused by him, and Jackson went on to settle with Chandler's family for a reported $25 million [8].
Almost a full decade went by, with Robson barely speaking to Jackson as he grew up and got married, and built a successful career as a choreographer. Then in 2004, Jackson was accused of molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, and Robson was again called on to testify on the singer's behalf. He did end up speaking in support of Jackson at the trial, but in Leaving Neverland, he explains why he was hesitant to do so:
"I did not want to testify. At some point, I worked up the courage to tell Michael that I don't want to testify. I remember silence on the phone for awhile. He said, 'I understand it's really hard and it's tough to go through this with all of the media and everything, but we can't let them do this to us. We can't let them take us down.' Us, us, us."
The trial wrapped up on June 14, 2005, with the jury deciding to acquit Jackson of four charges of child molesting, one charge of attempted child molesting, one conspiracy charge, and eight possible counts of providing alcohol to minors. The singer died four years later, on June 25, 2009.
When Was the First Time Wade Robson Spoke Out About Michael Jackson?
For years, the dancer and choreographer defended his former mentor against the accusations of others, but sat down on thee Today show in 2013 to make a claim that the late star was a "sexual predator," saying that speaking out was "the right thing to do." But in 2015, a judge ruled that Robson had waited too long to file any legal action against Jackson. Filmmaker Dan Reed approached him in 2017, along with Safechuck, to discuss telling their stories about Jackson. As Robson says in the documentary: "I want to speak the truth as loud as I had to speak that lie."
Did Wade Robson Have a Dancing Career in Hollywood?
Robson built a highly successful career as a dancer and choreographer in Hollywood, from creating and hosting MTV's The Wade Robson Project (a talent search for hip-hop dancers), to starting a line of dance shoes, and appearing in the 2004 film You Got Served. In 2007 he shifted into choreographing for reality TV, working on the American Idols LIVE! Tour and the second and third seasons of So You Think You Can Dance (he won two Primetime Emmy Awards for outstanding choreography for the latter series).
On top of traditional dancing, he tried his hand at film and music. He co-wrote the hit singles "Pop", "Gone," and "See Right Through You," for *NSYNC's final album, Celebrity, with Justin Timberlake [9]. He also co-wrote Britney Spears [10]' "What It's Like to Be Me." In 2011 he even choreographed the animated family film Happy Feet Two.
2011 was also around the time when Robson began dropping out of projects, leading to a five-year hiatus from the industry as he worked through mental breakdowns that were a result of his alleged trauma. He also claims he was dealing with visions of his infant son, who was born in 2010, suffering the same abuse he allegedly did with Jackson, and entered into therapy.
Where Is Wade Robson Now?
In 2013, Robson and his wife, Amanda, moved with their young son Kai to her hometown of Maui, Hawaii so that Robson would recover out of the spotlight.
"Dance and film all got painted black for me, because it was all so connected with Michael," Robson said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times [11]. "So how could I keep doing any of that stuff ever again? So yeah, I quit all of it and I tried to bury it all alive and I swore I'd never dance or make music or make films ever again. I threw a smoke bomb and moved to Hawaii. 'Agents, managers, don't call me. I'm done.'"
Robson also took Jackson's estate, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, to court in 2013, alleging that the companies facilitated his continued abuse at Jackson's hand. Robson has since gone to therapy, and began running a support group for adult victims of child abuse. He and his wife worked with the Hawaii Community Foundation to start a fund to give grants to organizations that help victims of child abuse, called the Robson Family Fund [12].
In 2018 he began dancing professionally again and teaching classes all over the country, telling a class [13] in New York City that "Everything that happens to us is for the sake of our own evolution."
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit online.rainn.org [14].