The second part of the Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland aired on HBO last night, and right after that came Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland, a special in which Oprah interviewed the film’s subjects, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, as well as director Dan Reed. In Leaving Neverland, Safechuck revealed that Jackson staged a fake wedding for the two of them, complete with a ring. In the Oprah interview, Robson expanded on the point that Jackson convinced them both that his alleged abuse came from a place of love.
“From night one of the abuse, of the sexual stuff that Michael did to me, he told me it was love,” Robson said. “He told me that he loved me and God brought us together. […] Anything Michael would say to me was gospel.”
Robson went on to say that for a long time, he didn’t believe he was being abused: “I didn’t think about it, as far as that concept. […] I couldn’t even go there, I couldn’t even question Michael. If I was to question Michael and my story with Michael, my life with Michael, it would mean I would have to question everything in my life. It wasn’t even an option to think about it.”
Safechuck also said that Jackson told him that if he was caught, they would both face consequences, saying, “Michael drilled in you, ‘If you’re caught, we’re caught, your life is over, my life is over.’ It’s repeated over and over again, it’s drilled into your nervous system. It takes a lot of work to sort through that.”
Read our interview with Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed here.
