Robson wanted the job "badly", but the estate had already chosen someone else for the production. In May 2011, Wade Robson, a choreographer and former friend of Jackson, approached John Branca, co-executor of the Jackson estate, following up on an offer to discuss directing the Jackson- Cirque du Soleil joint production Michael Jackson: One. In that film, he was seen holding hands with 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo and talked about sharing a bed with him. In 2005, Jackson was criminally tried for several counts of child molestation charges following concerns raised in the 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson. In 1996, Jackson made an out-of-court settlement with the mother of another boy, Jason Francia, for more than US$2 million, who, in 1993, previously told police that Jackson never molested him. No charges were filed after a criminal investigation due to a lack of evidence and testimony from the alleged victim. Jackson denied the claims and settled the case out of court for a US$23 million payment. In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. Robson says he was given Jackson memorabilia as a child he is photographed burning those items at the end of the film. Safechuck claims Jackson eventually replaced him with Brett Barnes, and Robson claims he was replaced by actor Macaulay Culkin because Jackson preferred prepubescent boys (Culkin is two years older than Robson). Jackson allegedly sent the two men "love letters" and set up security systems at Neverland to prevent other people from witnessing their sexual acts. Both men claimed that Jackson tried pushing them away from their families and " brainwashing" them. Robson says Jackson told him to distrust women. His mother, Stephanie Safechuck, describes feeling elated and dancing when Jackson died in 2009. He began therapy in 2013 and recalled his trauma for the first time. Safechuck says Jackson once took him shopping for an engagement ring (which he kept as memorabilia) and later held a mock wedding. Robson and Safechuck claim that these acts were regarded as "romantic", and that they did not realize they were inappropriate until adulthood. They give graphic descriptions of Jackson's alleged sex acts, including masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex, which they claim took place at his home, Neverland Ranch, and other locations. groomed for twenty years by a pedophile masquerading as a trusted friend." In the film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck allege that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children–Safechuck beginning in 1988, Robson beginning in 1990. Jackson with James Safechuck (right) in Hawaii, January 1988Äirector Dan Reed described Leaving Neverland as a "study of the psychology of child sexual abuse, told through two ordinary families. On December 14, 2020, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld the lower court ruling favoring the Jackson estate. Judge George Wu denied HBO's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the Jackson estate to compel arbitration, but granted HBO's motion to stay the arbitration proceedings with the Jackson estate pending HBO's appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. HBO denied claims of a breach of contract and filed an anti- SLAPP motion against the estate. The suit sought to compel HBO to participate in a non-confidential arbitration that could result in US$100 million or more in damages being awarded to the estate. In February 2019, the Jackson estate sued HBO for breaching a non-disparagement clause from a 1992 contract. Reed is developing a follow-up documentary, with Robson and Safechuck returning. Another rebuttal documentary, Neverland Firsthand: Investigating the Michael Jackson Documentary, presented interviews with individuals described as having been omitted from the HBO film. Michael Jackson: Chase the Truth, a documentary challenging the allegations of Leaving Neverland and asserting omissions and inconsistencies in that account, was released in August on Amazon Prime Video. Some dismissed the film as one-sided and questioned its veracity the Jackson estate condemned it as a "tabloid character assassination", while Jackson's fans organized protests. Leaving Neverland triggered a media backlash against Jackson and a reassessment of his legacy. It received acclaim from critics, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, but mixed reviews from viewers. Following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019, it was broadcast in two parts on HBO and as a shortened version on Channel 4 in March 2019. The film is a co-production between the UK broadcaster Channel 4 and the US broadcaster HBO. It focuses on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused as children by the American singer Michael Jackson. Leaving Neverland is a 2019 documentary film directed and produced by British filmmaker Dan Reed.