Leaving Neverland new documentary on Michael Jackson

[Anonymous]

Why are all these randos defending him? I am sure there are better causes for justice to dedicate oneself to.

[Anonymous]

Was Oprah pro-Michael ever in her career?

[Anonymous]

Watching now. If what they are saying is true, you have another case of parents putting up the blinders for their own selfish benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was Oprah pro-Michael ever in her career?

I believe she was until the first allegations came out. She and MJ had a playful banter in her interview from the early 90s. Honestly, I thought her after show was much better than the documentary itself. As a film, I thought the pacing was extremely slow and there was no reason for it to be 4 hours long. Compare it to the OJ documentary - that film was twice as long but captivating from beginning to end. I think this particular story deserved better and I wasn’t impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, it is up to those who claim he did to prove it. You know, the burden of proof is on those who make an allegation. Fact is, there are many accounts of these sleepovers which put them in a different light than how the media portrays them.

From Frank Cascio's book:

"In Bashir’s interview, Michael was shown holding Gavin’s hand and telling the world that kids slept in his bed. Anyone who knew Michael would recognize the honesty and innocent candor of what he was trying to communicate. But Bashir was determined to cast it in a different light.

What Michael didn’t bother to explain, and what Bashir didn’t care to ask about, was that Michael’s suite at Neverland, as I’ve said before, was a gathering place, with a family room downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. Michael didn’t explain that people hung out there, and sometimes they wanted to stay over. He didn’t explain that he always offered guests his bed, and for the most part slept on the floor in the family room below. But, perhaps more important, he didn’t explain that the guest were always close friends like us Cascios and his extended family.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Michael, a story that plagued him for years following the Bashir documentary, was that he had an assortment of children sleeping in his room at any given time. The truth was that random children never came to Neverland and stayed in Michael’s room. Just as my brother Eddie and I had done when we were younger, the family and friends who did stay with Michael, did so of their own volition. Michael just allowed it to happen because his friends and family liked to be around him.

What Michael said on Bashir’s video is true. “You can have my bed if you want. Sleep in it. I’ll sleep on the floor. It’s your’s. Always give the best to the company, you know.” Michael had no hesitation about telling the truth because he had nothing to hide. He knew in his heart and mind that his actions were sincere, his motives pure, and his conscience, clear. Michael innocently and honestly said, “Yes, I share my bed, there is nothing wrong with it.” The fact of the matter is, when he was “sharing” his bed, it meant he was offering his bed to whoever wanted to sleep in it. There may have been times when we slept up there as well, but he was usually on the floor next to his bed, or downstairs sleeping on the floor. Although Bashir, for obvious reasons, kept harping on the bed, if you watch the full, uncut interview, it’s impossible not to understand what Michael was trying to make clear: when he said he shared his bed, he meant he shared his life with the people he saw as family.

Now, I know that most grown men don’t share their private quarters with children, and those who do so are almost always up to no good. But that wasn’t my experience with Michael. As one of those kids who, along with his brother, had any number of such sleepovers with Michael, I know better than anyone else what did happen and what didn’t happen. Was it normal to have children sleep over? No. But it’s also not considered especially normal for a grown man to play with Silly String or have water balloon fights, at least not with the enthusiasm Michael brought to the activities. It’s also not normal for a grown man to have an amusement park installed in his backyard. Do these things make such a man a pedophile?

I’m quite sure that the answer is no.

The bottom line: Michael’s interest in young boys had absolutely nothing to do with sex. I say this with the unassailable confidence of firsthand experience, the confidence of a young boy who slept in the same room as Michael hundreds of times, and with the absolute conviction of a man who saw Michael interact with thousands of kids. In all the years that I was close to him, I saw nothing that raised any red flags, not as a child and not as an adult. Michael may have been eccentric, but that didn’t make him a criminal.

The problem, though, was that this point of view wasn’t represented in the documentary. Listening to Michael talk, people who didn’t know him were disturbed by what he was saying, not only because his words were taken out of context but also because Bashir, the narrator, was telling them they SHOULD BE disturbed. The journalist repeatedly suggested that Michael’s statements made him very uncomfortable. Michael was quirky enough without the machinations of a mercenary newshound, to be sure, but there’s no doubt that Bashir manipulated viewers for his own ends. His questions were leading, the editing misguided. As I watched the broadcast, it seemed to me that Bashir’s plan all along had been to expose Michael in whatever way he could in order to win the highest ratings he could for his show.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhgJVmW4OIU

Thank you for this, PP. This explains how I feel about MJ—he was completely misunderstood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, it is up to those who claim he did to prove it. You know, the burden of proof is on those who make an allegation. Fact is, there are many accounts of these sleepovers which put them in a different light than how the media portrays them.

From Frank Cascio's book:

"In Bashir’s interview, Michael was shown holding Gavin’s hand and telling the world that kids slept in his bed. Anyone who knew Michael would recognize the honesty and innocent candor of what he was trying to communicate. But Bashir was determined to cast it in a different light.

What Michael didn’t bother to explain, and what Bashir didn’t care to ask about, was that Michael’s suite at Neverland, as I’ve said before, was a gathering place, with a family room downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. Michael didn’t explain that people hung out there, and sometimes they wanted to stay over. He didn’t explain that he always offered guests his bed, and for the most part slept on the floor in the family room below. But, perhaps more important, he didn’t explain that the guest were always close friends like us Cascios and his extended family.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Michael, a story that plagued him for years following the Bashir documentary, was that he had an assortment of children sleeping in his room at any given time. The truth was that random children never came to Neverland and stayed in Michael’s room. Just as my brother Eddie and I had done when we were younger, the family and friends who did stay with Michael, did so of their own volition. Michael just allowed it to happen because his friends and family liked to be around him.

What Michael said on Bashir’s video is true. “You can have my bed if you want. Sleep in it. I’ll sleep on the floor. It’s your’s. Always give the best to the company, you know.” Michael had no hesitation about telling the truth because he had nothing to hide. He knew in his heart and mind that his actions were sincere, his motives pure, and his conscience, clear. Michael innocently and honestly said, “Yes, I share my bed, there is nothing wrong with it.” The fact of the matter is, when he was “sharing” his bed, it meant he was offering his bed to whoever wanted to sleep in it. There may have been times when we slept up there as well, but he was usually on the floor next to his bed, or downstairs sleeping on the floor. Although Bashir, for obvious reasons, kept harping on the bed, if you watch the full, uncut interview, it’s impossible not to understand what Michael was trying to make clear: when he said he shared his bed, he meant he shared his life with the people he saw as family.

Now, I know that most grown men don’t share their private quarters with children, and those who do so are almost always up to no good. But that wasn’t my experience with Michael. As one of those kids who, along with his brother, had any number of such sleepovers with Michael, I know better than anyone else what did happen and what didn’t happen. Was it normal to have children sleep over? No. But it’s also not considered especially normal for a grown man to play with Silly String or have water balloon fights, at least not with the enthusiasm Michael brought to the activities. It’s also not normal for a grown man to have an amusement park installed in his backyard. Do these things make such a man a pedophile?

I’m quite sure that the answer is no.

The bottom line: Michael’s interest in young boys had absolutely nothing to do with sex. I say this with the unassailable confidence of firsthand experience, the confidence of a young boy who slept in the same room as Michael hundreds of times, and with the absolute conviction of a man who saw Michael interact with thousands of kids. In all the years that I was close to him, I saw nothing that raised any red flags, not as a child and not as an adult. Michael may have been eccentric, but that didn’t make him a criminal.

The problem, though, was that this point of view wasn’t represented in the documentary. Listening to Michael talk, people who didn’t know him were disturbed by what he was saying, not only because his words were taken out of context but also because Bashir, the narrator, was telling them they SHOULD BE disturbed. The journalist repeatedly suggested that Michael’s statements made him very uncomfortable. Michael was quirky enough without the machinations of a mercenary newshound, to be sure, but there’s no doubt that Bashir manipulated viewers for his own ends. His questions were leading, the editing misguided. As I watched the broadcast, it seemed to me that Bashir’s plan all along had been to expose Michael in whatever way he could in order to win the highest ratings he could for his show.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhgJVmW4OIU

Thank you for this, PP. This explains how I feel about MJ—he was completely misunderstood.

What the F are you even talking about?
The only most understanding is we thought he was plain weird when, in fact, he was a child rapist.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know how anyone could watch the documentary and not believe the victims.
I guess I feel so strongly because I am a survivor of sexual abuse, and the patterns of behavior and complicated feelings they described mirrored my experience exactly.

[Anonymous]

People saying he’s innocent because he surrounded himself with kids he never touched do not understand how predators work.

I was abused by a teacher. He surrounded himself with students— constantly had them over to his house, set up fun activities on the weekends, etc. 99% of them would be shocked to know he was a predator. He told me once, “I fall in love with my students all the time but usually don’t act on it.”

I felt like he had picked me above everyone else to be the most special and loved. I lost my virginity to him. We had sex in his locked classroom a lot. Then I noticed at one point that he was starting to turn a lot of attention to a friend of mine and I felt awful feelings of jealousy. I don’t know if he ever touched her but I’m guessing yes.

He was so good at making you feel like this was a special, romantic relationship, that you would naturally want to keep the secret and defend the relationship forever. At one point my friends became suspicious and told the principal something might be up. I denied everything, because I loved him, and nothing happened to the teacher.

Sounds very much like what happened here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are all these randos defending him? I am sure there are better causes for justice to dedicate oneself to.

I think these are paid troll or bots generating responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are all these randos defending him? I am sure there are better causes for justice to dedicate oneself to.

I think these are paid troll or bots generating responses.

Because they don’t agree with you?

I’m in the camp that he was a pedophile. When the second allegation came out that was it for me but I get that some ppl don’t think he was. Some ppl will never think he was a pedophile. Both those men lied and said MJ never touched them when it really mattered so now it’s hard for some to believe them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are all these randos defending him? I am sure there are better causes for justice to dedicate oneself to.

I think these are paid troll or bots generating responses.

Because they don’t agree with you?

I’m in the camp that he was a pedophile. When the second allegation came out that was it for me but I get that some ppl don’t think he was. Some ppl will never think he was a pedophile. Both those men lied and said MJ never touched them when it really mattered so now it’s hard for some to believe them.

To be fair... both those "children lied" and now as adults they are telling their story.

Often children don't know what child abuse is... so what they say is not really a lie.

If you ask a kid, did your teacher abuse you... they may say no.
If you ask a kid, did your teacher sit you on his lap and move you around, they may say yes.

[Anonymous]

The man has been dead for 10 years and now they cash in?

[Anonymous]

This generation seems so easily led. Everyone is believeable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This generation seems so easily led. Everyone is believeable

+1

It’s a profit making machine. Saying MJ was a pedo is sensational and it sells. HBO is cashing in. So are the other networks by supporting it.

It’s a great money making idea since the dead man cannot defend himself. This whole thing is gross.

Also disappointed that people are so easily following the very biased and illogical account of two men with dubious intentions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are all these randos defending him? I am sure there are better causes for justice to dedicate oneself to.

I think these are paid troll or bots generating responses.

Because they don’t agree with you?

I’m in the camp that he was a pedophile. When the second allegation came out that was it for me but I get that some ppl don’t think he was. Some ppl will never think he was a pedophile. Both those men lied and said MJ never touched them when it really mattered so now it’s hard for some to believe them.

How much are you getting paid?