Corey Feldman defends Michael Jackson after watching ‘Leaving Neverland’
Former child star Corey Feldman came to Michael Jackson’s defense on Monday after the polarizing HBO docuseries “Leaving Neverland” accused the late King of Pop of sexual abuse.
“The Goonies” and “Gremlins” actor, an outspoken survivor of childhood sexual abuse in Hollywood, said he watched the whole documentary and then took to Twitter to take up for Jackson, saying that the singer never touched him inappropriately or suggested they should be lovers in any way.
“I feel like if [people] could hear our convos they would hear the innocence in them. No hint of perversion,” he tweeted, adding that he has a tape of Jackson that he’s thinking about releasing.
Twitter reacts to HBO’s Michael Jackson documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’ »
His series of tweets come in response to Monday’s conclusion of Dan Reed’s two-part documentary, which revived the bombshell claims of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who said they suffered years of sexual abuse by Jackson when they were boys.
The production has called Jackson’s legacy and music into question, but has also drawn much criticism for the way it presented the men’s allegations without a response from the Jackson family.
Feldman said that he mostly has “fond” memories of Jackson, though, he conceded, he was around the singer only around the same time as Safechuck, not Robson.
“I saw many kids around (girls included) who I am still friends with 2 this day, & none of us were ever approached by him in any sexual way at all! So as much as those 2 men deserve 2 hav[e] their voices heard, so do the thousands of kids who hung around him, that don’t agree!”
How should we hear Michael Jackson’s music after ‘Leaving Neverland’? »
The 47-year-old asserted that most pedophiles are serial offenders who don’t have self control. As such, given the opportunities Jackson might have had with him and others, he wondered how the singer could have resisted his urges if he was truly a predator.
Feldman argued that the profile doesn’t fit and said he believes Robson and Safechuck are motivated by money and abandonment issues — arguments also made by the Jackson family. The estate has already sued HBO over the documentary.
The actor also agreed with criticism that the documentary is one-sided and doesn’t give the late pop star a chance to defend himself. Robson and Safechuck’s credibility has also been undercut by their previous court testimonies defending Jackson in other child sex-abuse cases.
Other reactions to the docuseries have been a mixture of mortification, denial and rage.
Review: HBO’s ‘Leaving Neverland’ is a disturbing portrait of Michael Jackson and childhood trauma »
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