Dan Reed, director of Leaving Neverland, called the Michael Jackson biopic Michael 'icky' for ignoring child abuse allegations, despite its $218 million global opening weekend. Nia Long, playing Katherine Jackson, offered a contrasting positive take after meeting the Jackson matriarch.
Following James Safechuck's recent warning that promotion of the biopic Michael could retraumatize survivors—as covered earlier in this series—Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed viewed the film over opening weekend and slammed it to Variety as pushing 'a false narrative around a man who’s a pedophile.' The movie, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson as the singer, portrays Jackson as an eccentric, overgrown child with benign child relationships. It ends in 1988, before 1993 allegations from Jordan Chandler (to whom Jackson paid millions), and heroizes security guard Bill Bray despite claims in Leaving Neverland of guards' complicity in alleged abuse of Wade Robson (starting age 7) and James Safechuck (age 10). Reed highlighted Robson and Safechuck's credibility, noting no financial gain from their accounts unlike prior settlements, backed by 1993/2005 investigative files. He compared Jackson to Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, rejecting childhood trauma defenses.
The jukebox-style film, lacking deeper insight and featuring 'wooden' lead Jaafar Jackson, grossed around $218 million globally ($97 million domestic) in its opening weekend. It frames Jackson as victimized by his father, focusing on early life.
Contrasting views came from Nia Long (Katherine Jackson), who met 95-year-old Katherine backstage at the Dolby Theatre, kneeling in thanks for her sacrifices amid the Civil Rights era. Long, who met Michael in the 1990s at a Stevie Wonder concert and found him humble, differentiated her subtle portrayal from Angela Bassett's prior role, hoping for a sequel on family dynamics.
