Not a Birthday Special: Michael Jackson and the many sexual abuse allegations

The King of Pop would have turned 64 today if he was alive. While his legacy in music and dance is indisputable, Michael Jackson was always quite an ominous personality. 

Trigger Warning: Mentions of child sexual abuse. 

A child prodigy starting out with his brothers, young Michael attained early mainstream success but it came at the cost of intense psychological bullying and physical beating from his bully of a father, Joe Jackson. MJ’s fans agree that his shyness as an adult might have been a product of his troubled childhood. The ‘Moonwalker’ brimmed with intense energy on stage but when he wasn’t performing, Jackson was indeed quite meek and mild-mannered.

Sleepovers with kids or child sexual abuse? 

Like any major celebrity, avoiding paparazzi was a recurring problem for Jackson. Throw in his eccentric antics into the mix and the paps would have a field day stalking him. From having a questionable choice of underage ‘friends’ to changing his skin colour, Michael Jackson was (and is still) clearly the perfect controversy-bait for the media to discuss. While his plastic surgery experiments still didn’t affect his artistic legacy, Jackson’s child sexual abuse allegations continue being a subject of mystery.

From musicians to Hollywood actors to even global politicians, Michael Jackson had some of the most high-profile friends. These friends also included (then) child actors such as Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin and Corey Feldman, and teen singer Aaron Carter. The world’s greatest popstar befriending kids might be fine but naturally, his staunchest of fans might have drawn the line at ‘sleepovers’.

Both Jackson and later his brothers have never denied that the popstar indeed used to share his bed with his underage friends. Marlon Jackson went on to defend his late brother in a CBS interview with the following argument, “Well, see—when you phrased that, you know, 'sharing' his bed, young kids have sleepovers, camp out and just everybody in the bed and fall asleep. His kids were there. And they all fall asleep in bed and watch movies. And so you can twist it, saying, 'Sharing his bed,' but, yes, but it makes you think of something else.”

Jackson’s legal encounters 

Media speculation and claims from multiple children lead to legal troubles for Jackson, who faced his first child sexual abuse allegation in 1993. A family friend and dentist, Evan Chandler, claimed that Jackson indulged in inappropriate behaviour with his son, a matter that was eventually closed as the Chandler family declined to cooperate. 

This was only the first of many allegations, which eventually led to the 2005 trial known as People vs Jackson. One of the pieces of incriminating evidence was in fact, the 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson, in which the popstar could be seen holding hands with children and explaining how he liked sharing his bed with them in his Neverland Ranch estate. 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, one of the kids featured in the documentary, later accused Jackson of abusing him and even intoxicating him with alcohol. 

Investigations were triggered. Jackson’s mugshot was taken. And a full-fledged trial was set in motion. A media circus was inevitable. 

The trial saw the participation of several celebrity witnesses speaking in Jackson’s defence. Even the aforementioned child stars like Culkin and Feldman defended him, adding that his sleepovers were harmless and Jackson’s intentions were never abusive. 

Finally, after four long months, the jury chose to acquit Jackson on all counts. If Jackson was found guilty, he would have served 20 years in prison. But what is worth noting is that MJ never returned to Neverland again. 

Post-death allegations and legacy

Even after his death, the Neverland Ranch became a subject of controversy after two more men alleged Jackson to have abused them; claims that were discussed in greater detail in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. Jackson’s family estate claims that the documentary is based on fabricated claims and even filed a lawsuit against the two. 

The “not guilty” charge from the 2005 trial and the dubious claims of abuse in the future have not affected Jackson’s impact. Even if Jackson was actually a paedophile, it is unsurprising to see how his album sales continue to soar. After all, when abusive directors like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski continue to indulge in their artistic pursuits, how can Jackson’s legacy be tarnished?

After all, he was the first black artist to debut on MTV, the inventor of the Moonwalk, and the man behind timeless hits like Thriller and Beat It. And it is this monumental status as an artist that makes his behaviour all the more creepier. 

A naive manchild or paedophile? 

Fans who still believe in his innocence might argue that he was unjustly targeted for his eccentric personality. In this sense, Jackson can be seen as some sort of modern Lewis Carroll. The author of Alice in Wonderland was concerningly obsessed with children and in fact, the character of Alice also was inspired by a four-year-old daughter of Carroll’s family friend. Biographer Jenny Wolf, in her book The Mystery of Lewis Carroll, adds that the author wrote several letters to underage girls and most likely romantically pursued them. 

And despite all the creepy undertones in Carroll’s books, Wolf and others also claim that Carroll’s obsession was mostly non-sexual. This claim around the 19th century author mirrors a similar argument that is often offered in Jackson’s defence. 

“His naivete was his downfall in a way.” This is what his nephew Tej Jackson had to tell CBS in 2019. He feels that Jackson’s Neverland sleepovers might seem odd to the outside world but watching movies and sleeping together were signs of Jackson’s innocence; an innocence that wouldn’t fit in the perverse world outside Neverland. 

The name Neverland itself is a reference to the fictional world from JM Barrie’s novel Peter Pan. The titular protagonist is a boy who never grows up, a dark metaphor for Jackson’s manchild tendencies. For the ones who believe in his innocence, Jackson would obviously be a Peter Pan figure who loves hanging out with his gang of ‘Lost Boys’.

Even if Jackson never sexually abused his underage friends and just indulged in 'friendly behaviour', till what extent are his sleepovers justifiable? And given how children can be groomed without them even knowing at that age, to what extent can Jackson’s fans defend his behaviour? Such questions continue to haunt (if not tarnish) the legacy of the King of Pop even 13 years after his death.