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Jermaine Jackson sat down with Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan and Susana Reid earlier today to address director Dan Reed’s controversial Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland.
Adamant about defending his late brother, Jermaine didn’t hold anything back when Reid and Morgan asked, “Have you seen the documentary, do you know the details of the allegations, and what is your response to them?”
As he pulls a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, Jermaine says, “Let me start by saying this, Wade [Robson] was in Michael’s defense in a case in 2005 where he was asked to take the stand. He was asked the question… ‘Did Mr. Jackson ever molest you?’ He said, ‘No, absolutely not.’ I will tell you, had he did it, I would not be here right now.”
Jermaine continued, “Michael was tried by a jury of his peers and he was acquitted…There was no real evidence, there was nothing there and I will say this – our family are tired. Let this man rest. He did a lot for the world, let him rest. I’ll just say this, there is no truth to this documentary…”
While the Jackson family is fighting the documentary’s premiere, director Dan Reed stands by his work, saying he believes MJ’s alleged victims: James Safechuck and Wade Robson.
“Neither Wade, James or any members of their families were paid for their participation in the film, directly or indirectly,” Reed told Rolling Stone.
“This is not a story about Michael Jackson. It’s a story about child sexual abuse that happened to two families whose lives intersected with Jackson. The fact that the abuser is Michael Jackson gives the film a reach and a relevance that I welcome.”
The Jackson family has called the four-hour film a “public lynching.”