r/movies • u/Bullingdon1973 • 15d ago

Article LEAVING NEVERLAND, the 2019 Michael Jackson documentary that shook the world, has effectively vanished after HBO-MAX removed it due to a non-disparagement clause

https://slate.com/culture/2025/03/michael-jackson-leaving-neverland-2-documentary-max-youtube.html
9.1k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

149

u/alexlp 15d ago

Jordan Chandler’s dad Evan committed suicide, and people believe it’s because of his role in either the abuse or framing the abuse. MJ actually stayed in their home, in the boys room which is at the very least inappropriate and the parents allowed it and saw them sharing beds and didn’t object. The father claims he got his son to admit to abuse under the influence of Amytal.

Jordan won $20m in a settlement from MJ though (MJ cited his health as a cause and his insurance paid it) and then the family stopped working with prosecutors on the criminal case, which had no evidence beyond the witness statements and further attempts to sue were dismissed. It’s all a big mess really.

Jordan emancipated himself over a decade before the suicide, not long after the civil case. He also had a restraining order out against his father for attacking him with a dumbbell. The guy was fucked.

22

u/sidhfrngr 15d ago

The idea that insurance paid out all or most of the settlement is pretty bogus. Thomas Mesereau claimed it at one point during the trial but has since walked it back, and I'm pretty sure nobody involved with the settlement actually made that claim.

It also just straight up doesn't make sense. There's no such thing as an insurance policy that pays out that much for allegations of child sex abuse. That's more than it cost MJ to buy Neverland, not an amount that insurance pays out to make bogus allegations disappear.

It's a narrative designed to remove agency from Michael Jackson to explain why he settled for an astronomical sum even though he supposedly didn't do anything.

6

u/alexlp 15d ago

Fair, I only know what I’ve read but will look into it more. Thank you for the information!

6

u/sidhfrngr 15d ago

No problem, it's a very confusing rabbit hole to navigate.