Nobody is pointing at this as some kind of smoking gun, because the existence of a piece of evidence that could be considered a smoking gun is a rare occurrence when it comes to child abuse cases.
This video is just one more piece of evidence corroborating part of the story, that Safechuck told.
The thing is that, because MJ had so much money and fame he could carry out basically any fantasy he envisioned. He could be the perfect pedophile and have every tool at his disposal to manipulate everyone with ease.
That fact makes this a case of reality is weirder than fiction. The story that the victims are telling seems so unreal and outlandish that it becomes very hard believe. but when you see all the pieces together in the context that is presented by the documentary, it becomes harder and harder to support MJ's innocence.
Do an exercise:
1 - Try to put yourself in the victim's shoes (you can't, but try for a moment).
2 - Think about how hard it would be for you to prove that anything happened.
3 - Remind yourself that there is no smoking gun because, for that to happen there would have to be physical evidence (video/pictures/dna of the sex act)
4 - Remind yourself that these victims were very young when this happened, and took several decades to process what happened to them.
5 - Forget for a minute that the man was MJ and remind yourself that in his adult life, this man expressed on several occasions his desire to sleep with children, unrelated to him.
6 - Remind yourself of the fact that this man had an alarm system installed on his bedroom, to alert him of the presence of anybody in the vicinity.
7 - Try to remind yourself of how a relationship this close to the most famous person in the world, in which abuse occurred, would change the way you understand things as love, friendship, sex, family life, work.
Now answer me this, do you believe Michael Jackson molested any of these children?
I don't know.
As I said I NEVER like the fact MJ was around all those kids. It just felt horribly wrong. Those testimonies are disturbing and I don't wish what they allegedly went through to anyboy. Glad to see both kids went to getting married and have good careers in their own rights.
But I've seen so many stories where people seemed very convincing and then it was just all lies. So I don't want to jump to conclusions as many people here. I need proofs, not allegations.
Besides, after watching the Documentary ( part 1 and part 2 ) and the Gayle King interview. I have to say I see some red flags :
1. The Parents
I don't care what anybody says. It's just unreal for ANY parent to let their kid with a stranger. Even worse, to let them sleep in the same bed. And EVEN after the first allegations in 1993 !!! There are just no excuses. And there is something horribly wrong as if the parents were complaisant in some ways.
2. The Money
Micheal Jackson gave money in various forms : envelop of cash, the trips, hotels, flghts in 1st class, even a house. So is it farfetched to think that the MJ's defense point of view, that all this is about money only ? I don't think so. And James and Wade claims to Gayle King that they would not make any money from Leaving Neverland is laughable ( they entitled to make money if they want to, but why lie about it ).
3. The U turns
Wade and James denied the allegations for years. Wade even supported MJ in two different court cases ( 1993 and 2003 ). And then he sues MJ for money after his death ?
4. Other kids deny the allegations
Other kids at the time like Brett Barnes and Macaulay Culkin denied the allegations. Should we just ignore it ?
5. The Documentary style
I was expecting a documentary that was more into investigation and not allegation. That was disappointing. Those allegations have been around for more than decades, there is nothing new in Leaving Neverland ( except the graphic details of abuses ). If anything, we just hear the story from the victims point of view ( which is a good thing ). But the lack of proper investigation is a total letdown for me.
So in my case, I still don't know. But I feel something wrong happened. Even if it was just "platonic" as Brett Barnes claims, that doesn't make it ok. So it clearly affects MJ's legacy in my book, because hanging out and sleeping with kids - even without sex - is not acceptable for me.
