Six bombshells from Channel 4's new Michael Jackson film Leaving Neverland 2 (2025)

The follow-up to the Emmy-winning original shows Wade Robson and James Safechuck fighting for a decade for their right to go to court and tell the world what Michael Jackson did to them as kids in the 1980s and 90s

Leaving Neverland 2 contained some huge curveballs as Wade Robson and James Safechuck followed up on the claims they made against Michael Jackson in the original documentary, which aired in 2019. Back then the pair, now both fathers and in their 40s, detailed the sexual abuse they claim to have been subjected to by the singer over many years, across the 1980s and 90s.

Wade alleges that Jackson began molesting him when he was seven years old in 1990 and continued for seven years. James says the abuse he sustained began in Paris in 1988, when he was 10, and continued until 1992. The new film showed the pair being legally thwarted several times before they finally won the right to bring a lawsuit against Michael Jackson’s two companies, MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, for corporate negligence over the abuse which happened at Neverland - and which no one did anything to prevent.

One major shocker in the Channel 4 film came when Jackson’s lawyers argued that it was not the duty of those employed by Michael Jackson to ensure the safety of children at Neverland. Lawyer John Steinsapir compared Jackson staff ignoring sexual abuse with a person walking past a child drowning in a swimming pool and doing nothing to save the child. He pointed out to the three appeal judges that this was something you are legally entitled to do “even if you are an Olympic-trained swimmer” adding: “It’s a very harsh rule, but it is the rule.”

Appeal judge Justice Elizabeth Grimes and her two colleagues also look shocked when the Jackson estate’s lawyer argues that nothing could be done to safeguard kids in their care at Neverland, because the companies in question had just one shareholder - Michael Jackson.

When it was suggested that chaperones could “easily” have been used to ensure that children did not go through the types of injuries sustained by Wade and James, Steinsapir insisted the staff were “not in a position to do that” because they could not tell Jackson what to do in his own home.

But the judges were left perplexed by this argument, saying “surely anyone can lay down employee protection measures?”. Grimes then finds in favour of Wade and James, meaning the case will go to trial, and she concludes: “It would be perverse to find no duty (of care) based upon the corporate defendant having only one shareholder.”

Vince Finaldi, the long-term lawyer for James and Wade, was jubilant, saying: “It’s strong wording and it’s appropriate. Who cares if one person own it or 100 people own it - if the corporation facilitates abuse of children - especially children employed by the corporation to help it make money - then the corporation should be held liable.”

James Safechuck was moved to tears along the way after yet another of their bids to get permission to sue the companies for negligence was thrown out. He admitted that he had separated himself from the abused child he once was. “Pursuing this was the act of fighting back,” he said. I wanted to fight go myself and for Little James.”

Despite being 100% committed to the trial - which Wade describes as “fricking terrifying” - James says he looks forward to the day when he can put the whole thing behind him. “It’s gruelling,” he admitted. “I’m looking forward to just letting it go.”

Finaldi’s colleague John Manly says that the Jackson estate’s “biggest fear” is for a California jury to hear the case, because they know their side can prove Jackson was a paedophile who couldn’t have carried out his abuse without help from many staff members who either turned a blind eye or facilitated his actions.

He says the argument that Wade and James are only taking their claims forward “for the money” does not hold water, because if that were true they’d have settled for a huge sum long ago, like several other victims have done. “They can tell each other that and they might even believe it - but no one else does,” Manly said. “Everyone knows what he was.” The date for the trial has been set for November 2026

Wade told the Leaving Neverland cameras there were many employees of Michael Jackson who knew exactly what was going on - but did nothing about it - including bodyguards who were outside the bedroom door when the abuse was happening. Viewers could not fail to be moved when he said: “Michael Jackson was one of the kindest and most loving people I knew. And he also sexually abused me for seven years.”

When they are finally granted permission to have their day in court, he describes the ruling as “powerful” he said it felt like the three judges in the appeal court were “standing up for all children.” Having previously lied under oath to defend Jackson by saying he’d never molested him during the many nights they slept together in the same bed, he now wants to set the record straight. “If I get the opportunity to get on the stand and tell the truth, like I wasn’t able to do for decades, then that’s a win for me,” he said.

Lawyer Manley said the Jackson legal team had a bigger reason for doing everything they could to stop James and Wade from being able to have their complaints heard by a jury - and it involves potential other victims. Speaking in 2020, after a judge threw out their claim to bring a lawsuit yet again he said: “They’re not sending a message to Wade and James. They’re sending a message to all the others they know are out there to ‘shut the f*** up’,” he said. “That’s the message - or you’re going to get this.”

The final bombshell comes when Vince Finaldi announces that he’s retiring as a specialist in sexual abuse litigation, because of the emotional toll the “dark” cases have taken on him over two decades. He has worked with many vulnerable clients, some of whom haven’t survived. “Generally speaking I lose one client a year, sometimes two, to suicide or to the ill effects of abuse - alcoholism and drug use,” he explained. “Over a 20-year career I get to deal with the ghosts of 20 to 30 people who I think about all the time.” But the film ends on a positive note with new trial lawyer, John Carpenter, saying he is certain he knows what Michael Jackson did - and can prove it. “I only take cases I can win,” he declared. “I’m fully invested and looking forward to this trial.”

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