A nonetheless from Leaving Neverland.
Photograph: HBO
Leaving Neverland, the 2019 documentary about Michael Jackson’s alleged baby abuse, is returning with a sequel, however to not HBO. Dan Reed’s film was a success on the platform and received the Primetime Emmy for Finest Documentary or Nonfiction Particular. Nonetheless, Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson is out on YouTube in america. Beneath, every little thing we all know concerning the follow-up and the lawsuits concerned.
The unique Leaving Neverland chronicled the allegations of childhood sexual abuse in opposition to Michael Jackson by Wade Robson and James Safechuck. Its sequel follows Robson and Safechuck as they try to get a trial after suing Jackson’s corporations, that are managed by his estates. At the moment, the case is about to go to trial in California in 2026.
The complete 53-minute-long documentary is at the moment obtainable on YouTube. Within the U.Okay., the documentary premiered on March 18 on Channel 4.
Following the discharge of Leaving Neverland in 2020, the Michael Jackson property sued HBO for $100 million, claiming the corporate violated a 1992 non-disparagement settlement. The go well with was settled by each side in 2024, however, in response to Puck’s Matt Belloni, HBO took down the unique Leaving Neverland from Max as a part of the settlement.
Dan Reed, the British director who made each movies, says releasing the documentary on YouTube was not essentially his selection. “I might have cherished to launch this with HBO,” Reed advised Selection on March 13. “That wasn’t doable. Clearly, it’s associated to the lawsuit or the arbitration dispute. However HBO don’t name me up and say, ‘Hey, that is what’s occurring with that case.’ All of it occurs underneath wraps, so I don’t know.” Nonetheless, he does appear excited concerning the prospect of a YouTube launch compared to a streaming venture. “It feels as if perhaps the world of streaming is extra cautious [about] tough topics, political topics, topics that put folks’s enamel on edge and make them upset,” he stated to Deadline in a March 13 story. “So as to not strike the improper notice with such an unlimited subscribership, you possibly can’t actually afford to do something that isn’t completely secure.”
That is meant to be a three-part sequence with the third installment masking the trial. Reed advised Selection that he considers this movie, the second installment, to be “a bridge movie in between what was a reasonably high-profile begin and what I hope will likely be a really dramatic ending.”