Michael Jackson sexual assault accuser Wade Robson recently revealed why he defended Michael Jackson back in the 2000s.
via: Daily Mail
Robson claims that Jackson groomed him from the age of seven until 14 after meeting the star when he won a Michael Jackson dance impersonation context.
He and another accuser, James Safechuck, have teamed up as they sue the late singer's estate in a bid for justice - a campaign that has been documented in Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson, which airs on Channel 4 tonight.
Despite his accusation, in 2005, Wade took to the stand and defended Jackson when he was accused of repeatedly molesting a 13-year-old boy, which led to a jury in Santa Barbara finding the star not guilty.
Reflecting on his decision to testify in Jackson's defence in the documentary, Wade recalled how the singer had repeatedly asked him to speak up in his defence.
'[Jackson] said "We can't let them do this to us, we can't let them take us down" Us, us, us. I definitely had a real fear of what he said about if anyone ever found out, that he and I would go to jail,' Wade said.
Wade and James' former lawyer Vince Finaldi claimed that the Thriller singer would repeatedly ring him and kept 'begging' him for help.
'Somehow I worked up the courage to tell Michael that I didn't want to testify,' Wade said, but he was then served a subpoena by the court, meaning he had to provide evidence in the trial.
He told the documentary he lied during the court case in order to protect Jackson.
'I loved Michael, Michael loved me,' he said. 'This was something that happened between us, that's it. It didn't bother me, I'm okay, I'm fine, it would be a big deal to everyone else but it's not a big deal to me, so it's not worth the trouble.'
During the trial Wade was asked if Jackson had ever touched him sexually. He replied: 'No, absolutely not,' adding 'I just [looked] him in the eye and [was] clear.
'I wasn't able to tell the truth. Absolutely not.'
Wade was the first witness for the defence and prosecutor Ron Zonen was tasked with cross examining him at the time.
'He spoke well, presented well, that's why he was the first witness for the defence,' he told the programme. He added he did not believe Wade should be prosecuted for perjury because the situation wasn't within his 'emotional control'.
Lawyer Vince said: 'A child sexual abuse victim is not going to come forward and say what happened until they're ready.'
Wade also opened up about burning personal items linked to Jackson after speaking to his therapist.
He said: 'As those items were burning and I was looking at the them melt and disintegrate into the fire, I was speaking to Michael, Michael's spirit. [I said] "Michael I'm going to turn your wrong into a right".'
It wasn't until after Wade got married and had a son of his own that he brought lawsuits against MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures, the production companies that were owned by the singer at the time of his death in 2009.
They brought on these lawsuits and alleged that their interactions with Michael Jackson were organised by his staff, who they claim were aware of the abuse they claimed they suffered.
James said it was a big decision on whether to join the lawsuit or not, eventually filing one in 2014, a year after Wade. He said: 'I wanted to fight for little James, fight for him and fight for myself.
'I'm recently trying to connect with little James and imagining telling him that it's okay, that I love him so I'm trying to reconnect with myself as a child.'
However, in 2017, Wade and James' cases were thrown out by the courts because the statute of limitations - the time period under which a former child abuse victim could take legal action – had expired.
However, the law changed and extended the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual assault from the time a victim is aged 26 to age 40.
But the alleged victims had their cases thrown out by the court again, leading to them taking it to the Californian Court of Appeals.
Three justices conducted a hearing remotely in 2023 and ruled in favour of Wade and James to bring their civil claims to court.
Vince, who listened into the appeal case, said: 'The Jackson team don't believe they had any duty whatsoever to protect these kids and they likened the abuse to a child drowning in a pool and someone walking by and having no duty to do anything. You just stand there and watch the child die.'
Jackson's companies argued that they need at least three years to prepare for a trial and a date was set for May 2026.
Vince has since retired from the case and passed it onto John Carpenter, who believes the organisations are hoping to continue delaying the case so that they can continue profiting off the Michael Jackson name.
'The truth of what Michael Jackson did is very inconvenient. The more delay they have, the more money they make,' he claimed.
Reacting to their upcoming case, Wade said: 'Whatever the final outcome is, I don't see how I lose.
'If get the opportunity to get back in there and get on the stand and tell the truth like I wasn't able to for decades, that's a win for me.'
Similarly, James said he wanted to 'find the strength' and 'fight' for his childhood self to be heard.
It has also been reported elsewhere that the Safechucks testified for the defence in Jackson's child molestation trial brought by Jordan Chandler in 1993 (James would have been in his early teens. It was alleged that afterwards that Jackson bought them a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house).
However, James claimed that by the time a second trial by Gavin Arvizo came around in the 2000s - he had distanced himself from Jackson, who he claims 'threatened to expose him for perjury in the 1993 case'.
Channel 4 said they made repeated requests over six years for interview and comment from the legal team representing Michael Jackson's businesses, however, they have declined to comment.
FEMAIL has reached out to the legal team for Michael Jackson's estates for comment.
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