Netflix has dropped the first trailer for a new docuseries exploring Michael Jackson’s infamous 2005 criminal trial, just weeks after the late singer’s biopic broke records at the box office – and sparked fierce backlash for omitting his child abuse allegations.
In 2003, the King of Pop was charged with multiple counts of child molestation involving 13-year-old cancer patient Gavin Arvizo, resulting in the high-profile trial two years later, where he ended up being acquitted.
The upcoming docuseries, Michael Jackson: The Verdict, dissects the case against Jackson from the perspectives of both the prosecution and the defense, with interviews with key individuals who were inside the courtroom, including jurors and media figures.
It is set to be released on the streaming platform on June 3, while the Jackson biopic continues to rake in millions in cinemas, following its release last month.
The film, titled Michael, stars the hitmaker’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson as the King Of Pop, and charts his life from being in the Jackson 5 in the Sixties to his early solo career.
But despite breaking box office records, it has faced major criticism over the producers’ decision to cut out all of the abuse allegations, which began in 1993 and have continued to plague Jackson even after his death in 2009.
Netflix has dropped the first trailer for a new docuseries exploring Michael Jackson’s infamous 2005 criminal trial, just weeks after the late singer’s biopic broke records at the box office – and sparked fierce backlash for omitting his child abuse allegations
In 2003, the King of Pop was charged with multiple counts of child molestation involving 13-year-old cancer patient Gavin Arvizo, resulting in the high-profile trial two years later, where he ended up being acquitted (pictured at court in 2005)
The upcoming docuseries, Michael Jackson: The Verdict, dissects the case against Jackson from the perspectives of both the prosecution and the defense, with interviews with key individuals who were inside the courtroom, including jurors and media figures
The trailer for the Netflix three-part series opens with police searching Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, while a voiceover says: ‘He’s the most famous man in the world, being accused of the most heinous crime in the world.’
There is then footage shown of the Billie Jean star waving to crowds of fans holding signs to show their support outside the courthouse, along with court drawings of his accusers giving evidence.
Interspersed are clips of new interviews with participants involved in the trial, from the perspective of both the defense and prosecution, as members of the jury.
One juror can be seen detailing how they came to determine the verdict, saying: ‘What has to be proven is beyond a reasonable doubt. Can you doubt that happened?’
Footage is also shown depicting the media circus surrounding the trial and a shot of Macaulay Culkin arriving at court to testify on Jackson’s behalf.
The pair’s friendship has long been under scrutiny, particularly as it began when the Home Alone star was just 10 years old and also due to Jackson’s claims that he would regularly sleep in a bed with Macaulay on one side and Kieran Culkin on the other.
However, Macaulay has publicly declared that ‘he never did anything to me. I never saw him do anything’, telling Esquire in 2020: ‘If I had something to speak up about, I would totally do it. But no, I never saw anything; he never did anything.’
The trailer ends with Jackson himself appealing to the public ahead of the trial, asking: ‘Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court.’
The series was created by by showrunner David Herman, who also executive produces alongside Fiona Stourton and James Goldston, while Nick Green directs all three episodes.
The filmmakers said ‘it was time’ to revisit the lingering questions of the trial and approached it as a historical account that presents the facts as they unfolded.
‘It has been 20 years since the trial of Michael Jackson in which he was found not guilty. Yet, to this day, controversy still rages,’ they told Tudum.
The film, titled Michael, stars the hitmaker’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson as the King Of Pop (seen), and charts his life from being in the Jackson 5 in the Sixties to his early solo career
‘No cameras were allowed in court, and so the public’s view of the facts at the time were filtered by commentators and presented piecemeal. It was time to take a forensic look at the trial as a whole.
‘The aim was to take the audience inside the proceedings and only speak to eyewitnesses who played a part in those events.
‘Anyone interested in the Michael Jackson story should feel this documentary gives them a window into what was largely a closed event and a chance to feel closer to what happened.’
However, many pointed out the significant timing of the release, coming off the heels of the Michael biopic arriving in cinemas last month.
They took to the comments of the trailer to say: ‘Netflix ain’t slick, the timing is so obvious.’; ‘releasing this while michael is still in theatre is wild’;
‘them releasing this almost a month after Michael came out is crazy smart’; ‘They timed this one; ‘Really releasing this while Michael is still playing in theaters’;
‘It’s crazy marketing by Netflix’; ‘Omg I can’t believe they are making a documentary and the Michael movie is still in theaters’; ‘What timing indeed!’
Jackson’s career and legacy became clouded by rumours of paedophilia beginning in 1993, when he was accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old Jordan Chandler in a lawsuit filed by the boy’s father.
A criminal investigation found no physical evidence of abuse, but he ultimately settled the civil suit with the family in January 1994 for $23million.
However, he later faced further allegations from more boys, including the high-profile criminal trial in 2005, where he was acquitted of all charges.
The trailer for the Netflix three-part series opens with police searching Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, while a voiceover says: ‘He’s the most famous man in the world, being accused of the most heinous crime in the world’
There is then footage shown of the Billie Jean star waving to crowds of fans holding signs to show their support outside the courthouse, along with court drawings of his accusers giving evidence
Four years later, the Thriller star died at the age of 50 due to suffering a cardiac arrest after having Propofol administered as a sleep aid.
But even after his death, Jackson fell under renewed scrutiny in recent years over the ongoing molestation claims, which were reignited by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.
Leaving Neverland 2 was released last year and saw the pair’s ongoing legal battle as they doubled down on their claims that the late star sexually abused them as children for years.
The four-hour exposé was a huge hit upon its release and even won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.
But when Michael hit cinemas last month, it soared straight to the top of the box office, with its current global earnings sitting at a whopping $703.9million – on track to become the top-grossing music biopic of all time in North America.
Yet, critics were underwhelmed by the sanitised storytelling of the cultural icon, with Michael earning a dismal 35 percent ‘rotten’ score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, after scrapping any mention of the abuse allegations.
It premiered a year later than planned after producer Graham King and Lionsgate forced major production delays to completely overhaul the third act, which originally did address the 1993 abuse allegations.
However, lawyers for Jackson’s estate pushed back by citing the clause in the settlement agreement that ‘precluded any depiction or mention of them in a film.’
According to Variety, this forced filmmakers to come up with a new third act, requiring 22 days of reshoots that cost between $10million to $15million, reportedly funded by the Jackson estate.
In regards to his ‘approach’ to the biopic, the film’s director Antoine Fuqua previously said: ‘Just to tell the facts as we know it, about the artist, about the man, about the human being. You know, the good, bad, and the ugly.’
Footage is also shown depicting the media circus surrounding the trial and a shot of Macaulay Culkin arriving at court to testify on Jackson’s behalf who became friends with the star when he was just 10 years old (seen together in 1991)
The trailer ends with Jackson himself appealing to the public ahead of the trial, asking: ‘Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court.’
But Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed slammed the film for the glaring omission, asking: ‘How can you tell an authentic story about Michael Jackson without ever mentioning the fact that he was seriously accused of being a child molester?’
While Jackson was never convicted, he said he personally believes that the star is guilty of wrongdoing, telling The Hollywood Reporter: ‘I think Jackson was genuinely a very nasty man and hurt a lot of children.
‘And he may have been a great entertainer, but those two things don’t cancel each other out. The fact is that pedophiles exist, and he was one of them, and he made those choices. Many other people who’ve been abused as a child did not choose to abuse others.’
While critics opined the omission caused the whole film to suffer, with Empire saying the biopic ‘cannot shake off the uncomfortable fact that there is an entire other side to the pop star’s story which is entirely conspicuous by its absence here’.
In its one-star review, The Telegraph declared: ‘Michael is a Part One that pretends its Part Two doesn’t exist: a structurally complete film that tells only half a story.’
The Daily Mail’s Brian Viner summarised the movie by pointedly noting: ‘I’m sure it will delight Jackson fans happy to turn a blind eye to their hero’s darker predilections.’
And it wasn’t just critics who turned their nose up at the film, but Jackson’s own family members, with his daughter Paris and sister Janet Jackson distancing themselves from the biopic.
Paris has been outspoken in her criticism of the movie, while she is also said to be struggling with the fact she now believes the allegations against her late father after growing close to family of alleged victims. You can read more about that here.
She called the script ‘dishonest’ and a ‘fantasy’, while levelling accusations against the two executors of her late father’s estate who are behind the film’s production.
‘They’re gonna make whatever they’re gonna make. The big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it,’ she said last September.
‘The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in a fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it. The thing about these biopics is it’s Hollywood. It’s fantasyland – it’s not real.
‘But it’s sold to you as real, and a lot of sugar-coated… the narrative is being controlled. There’s a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of full-blown lies. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me. I don’t really like dishonesty.’
Paris is not the only member of the Jackson clan to dismiss the biopic, with youngest sister Janet, 60, being entirely scrubbed from the film after refusing to participate.
Though the singer has not publicly revealed her thoughts on the movie, TMZ claims that she was ‘very critical’ of the film after watching a private screening with her family.
While Page Six has reported that Janet ‘had something negative about almost every scene’.
Also not included in the film are Randy and Jermaine Jackson, although they supported the biopic at the premiere. The eldest Jackson sibling, Rebbie, also does not appear.
Jaafar – who is the son of Jermaine Jackson and Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza – began filming scenes for the biopic in 2023.
Other stars in the project include Nia Long, Miles Teller, Laura Harrier, Kat Graham, Jessica Sula, Kendrick Sampson and Juliano Krue Valdi.
Michael had the biggest domestic opening for a biopic, landing $30million over its projections as it surpassed Oppenheimer’s $80million in 2023.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael is Lionsgate’s best debut since the pandemic, and the company’s sixth-biggest debut after the four Hunger Games installments and the last Twilight film.
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