'Leaving Neverland' leaves Twitter in shock over explosive allegations

The first segment of HBO’s documentary Leaving Neverland aired Sunday, setting Twitter ablaze with both support and condemnation of the documentary about one of the world’s most famous pop stars. In Part 1 of the two-part series, Wade Robson and James Safechuck detailed the alleged sexual abuse Michael Jackson inflicted upon them as children. “He was one of the kindest, most gentle, loving, caring people I knew. He helped me … tremendously. He helped me with my career. He helped me with my creativity, with all of those sorts of things. And he also sexually abused me. For seven years,” Robson stated.

Both Robson and Safechuck met Jackson while they were child dancers. Robson — who has choreographed shows for many stars, including Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake — met Jackson when he was 5 years old. Both men allege that over time, Jackson groomed them into engaging in sexual acts with him, taking careful measures to make sure no one would find out.

“He would run drills with me where, you’d be in the hotel room, and he would pretend like somebody was coming in, and you had to get dressed as fast as possible without making noise,” Safechuck said. “So not getting caught was a big, like, just kind of fundamental. It was very much a secret, and he would tell me that if anybody found out, his life would be over and my life would be over.”

Read more: ‘Neverland’ director on explosive film: ‘It’s a reckoning, isn’t it?’

Safechuck and Robson both allege that Jackson’s sexual abuse spanned several years, up until they were teenagers. Safechuck also said he felt Jackson separated him from his family. “At the same time the sexual relationship is growing, he’s working on pushing you away from your parents,” Safechuck said. “Or pushing you away from everybody else, and … and it feels more like … like it’s just you and him.”

Part 1 of the documentary also alleges Jackson had inappropriate relations with Brett Barnes and possibly Macaulay Culkin — both of whom deny any wrongdoing by Jackson. Barnes took to Twitter to defend himself after the documentary aired, tweeting that “not only do we have to deal with these lies, but we’ve also got to deal with people perpetuating these lies. The fact that they fail to do the small amount of research it takes to prove these are lies, by choice or not, make it even worse.” Neither Barnes nor Culkin was interviewed for the documentary.

Like Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland contains extremely graphic details and has left fans reeling as more allegations emerge about the former King of Pop and one of the world’s most infamous stars.

Twitter has erupted with fan reactions ranging from shock and disgust and a call to believe survivors to skepticism and denial. While fans remain divided, Leaving Neverland sheds light on allegations that have long followed the pop star both in life and in death.

Part 2 of Leaving Neverland airs Monday, March 4 at 8 P.M. on HBO .

Check out the shocking documentary, Surviving R. Kelly:

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