“Leaving Neverland” transcript. The 1st half hour of LIES AND DISTORTION

If you are attentive enough when watching this film and if you compare it with the two guys’ lawsuits, you will realize that it is not only Robson, Safechuck and their relatives who lie there, but also director Dan Reed who is complicit, because he makes their lies sound even more sinister than they actually are.

You can’t help making this conclusion when you see the free and willful way he edits the footage and changes the timeline of the events to the point of no recognition.

Of course these lies could be initially presented to Dan Reed in their wrong succession, but a real documentary filmmaker should still do proper research, at least as regards the timeline of the events he wants to present in his story.

So what you will see in this series of posts is not only the analysis of the two guys’ lies, but also the role of the film director in making their story even worse than his two main characters actually tell it.

Below is the partial transcript of the first half hour of the film with some of its segments compared with the court documents and thus setting the timeline straight. In my opinion even if the events are falsely described they should still come in the right order, and not turn into a separate weird fantasy of the film director.

HBO documentary film

00:43 Safechuck: When I was with him he was happy. (MJ and Jimmy are shown on stage smiling) He was at the peak of his creativity, his success. Everybody wanted to be with Michael. He was larger than life – and then he likes you (close up photo of Safechuck as a kid, music)

1:15 Robson’s voiceover (photos of him as a kid, music) He was one of the kindest, one of the most gentle, loving, caring people I knew. He tremendously helped me with my career, creativity, all those sort of things.

And he also sexually abused me (pause). For seven years.

(Footage of Michael Jackson smiling and looking straight into the camera, music)

Title: LEAVING NEVERLAND

2:00 (home video of the Robsons’ one-storey house in Australia. Children are sitting around a table with a birthday cake on it).

2:15 Robson: I’m Wade Robson (smiling, in a gentle voice). I was born in Brisbane, Australia (footage of him and other children at a Christmas party, music). I’m the third of three kids. My dad – he worked in construction for a while and then he got into what was like the fruit business (photos of dad).

2:30 Robson: So when I was young he had a couple of fruit shops (photo of Joy and Dennis together). And my mother used to work with him with those businesses.

2:44 Joy Robson: I’m Joy Robson, mother of Wade Robson (footage of the family in the garden). We were middle class Australian family, we lived on 3 acres. We had horses and goats and a dog named Sally (footage of children and animals, music). Shane was nine and a half years older than Wade (family photo) and his was well into elementary school when Wade was born.

3:15 Shane Robson: It was a three-bedroom single-storey house. We had a pool where we had like pool parties (footage of them playing in the pool, music). Pretty good memories from that place.

3:30 Joy Robson: Chantal was very close with him. Being three years apart they played together a lot (photos, music)

3:45 Chantal Robson: Wade was always a very sensitive boy. He played basketball as a little kid, but if he had a choice of doing anything, he would read a book, listen to music or dance (photo) versus going outside playing football with his friends (photo, music).

4:05 Joy Robson: He was the youngest in the area, so he had nobody to play with. He and I were very close (photo), we spent a lot of time together.

4:12 (footage of making Thriller) Joy Robson: I remember one day coming home with the video of making of Thriller. Someone has told me it would be a collector’s item (footage of Michael in the monster make-up, MJ’s music). I really wasn’t a fan of his, but I did like some of his music.

4:38 Robson (to Thriller music): Once I saw that tape everything changed for me. The music – I couldn’t help but move to it, it set me on fire. It made everything tingle and it was so exciting (Thriller footage). I remember just watching the tape over and over again, pausing, rewinding, trying over and over again to really perfect (photo of Robson in “Bad” outfit) the complexities of Michael’s movements (MJ singing).

5:22 Robson: I slowly but surely started plastering my walls with images of Michael 2 They literally became like the wallpaper. So going to sleep, waking up in Michael Jackson land.

(drone footage of Safechuck’s home, intense music)

5:50 Newscaster: “Jackson’s world tour coincided with the release of his latest album entitled “Bad.” Sales are good. Half a million copies were sold the day it went on the market. Not since “Thriller” five years ago has the record industry been so focused on a single album.”

6:05 Joy Robson: He had just turned five (photo of Robson in “Bad” outfit), and people kept telling me, “He is really good, you should do something with him”. A friend of mine came to me and said, “You know, Michael Jackson is here on a Bad tour.” I had thought about buying tickets, but I thought he was so young. She said, “You should go, there is a dance competition, you should enter him, the first prize is to meet Michael Jackson.”

6:35 (drone scene of a big city, invigorating music) Joy Robson: The competition was like a week before the concert and it was held in that Target store. He had a little hat and an outfit my hairdresser had made for him (photo). 36

7:00 Robson: I was too young – it was like 7 or 8 and up. And I was 5 at the time. So they said, “He can’t compete because of his age, but we will let him perform as a special guest” (footage of Robson as a kid).

7:15 Joy Robson: When he got on stage, just everything changed. He wasn’t that shy little boy on stage. Everyone was screaming for him and at the end of it, the store manager who was the judge said, “I want to get out of here alive, so I’m going to declare Wade Robson the winner.”(footage of everyone clapping, quiet music) 37

7:42 Joy Robson: Michael Jackson’s people were there to interview and asked 6 him, if he could speak to Michael what would he say?

7: 50 Robson as a little kid: “I’m going to ask him to come over for dinner”. “Why would you want him to come over for dinner? You are going to see him dance?”  “Yeah”.

8:15 Robson’s voiceover (music): You know, this complete impossibility, this being from another world –Michael – we are going to meet now. I was excited beyond measure.

8:35 Joy Robson (looking inspired, music): I remember getting this clot that it was in my heart, it went into all my extremities. It was an amazing feeling. Something magical is going to happen when you get that feeling.

(music intensifies, a wide panorama of a big city)9:10 Safechuck (smiling): I am James Safechuck (drone footage of his house). I grew up in a little town called Simi Valley. I was a pretty happy and pretty outgoing performer, I guess. My father worked at a rubbish company (photo of father and son), a family rubbish company that my grandfather started. My mom had a hair-styling business (photo of mother and son) and I remember being in a beauty salon as a kid. I hang out there while she was working.

9:50 Stephanie Safechuck: My name is Stephanie Safechuck, I am Jimmy’s mother. When I married Jimmy’s father (wedding picture) he had two children that came with the marriage. At the time my husband had vasectomy and I didn’t think I could have any children (the photo of two of them) but three or four years into the marriage I really wanted a baby (another photo), so my husband had it reversed for me which back then guaranteed nothing (photo with a baby). I was so fortunate to have a baby, I remember having him and being overwhelmed and just crying over his crib, that he’s always alright. He is my love (her photo with the kid, music).

10:40 Safechuck: I have an older brother and an older sister. They are much older. They also left home early, so I was alone (music)

10:50 Stephanie Safechuck: (drone over Simi Valley) It was actually a friend of ours – her daughter was in commercials – and she ran into me and my husband in a grocery store and she said, “You’ve got to get him in commercials (photo of young Safechuck). He is so adorable” and gave my husband the agent’s card, so I called the agent and when she met him she said, “He’s money in the bank, I’ll take him”. So he did very well right away.

11:25 December 1986 (a fragment from the Pepsi commercial)

Safechuck: I met Michael on the set of the Pepsi commercial. I don’t remember being a huge fan of his at the time. I was probably more into transformers (smiles). This kid wonders around backstage (the commercial fragment) and then he discovers the dressing room and me going there and I see the jackets, and the glasses and the hat and I am trying it on and then Michael walks in and says, “Looking for me?” (MJ’s music) They were trying to get my reaction on camera. So the first time I see him is actually the shot that they use in the commercial (a fragment from the commercial).

12:30 Safechuck (looking worried): He invited me into his trailer ((the photo of mother and son).

12:35 Stephanie Safechuck: This was exciting for Jimmy and I didn’t want to be in his way.  I wanted Jimmy to have fun and have a good day. So I let him go to Michael’s trailer with Michael’s hair-styling, makeup artist Karen Faye. And I stayed outside. What she said to me was,” He’s like a nine-year old boy.” So that made me feel comfortable (music)

13:05 Safechuck’s voiceover (photo of MJ and Jimmy, music): How would you explain Michael Jackson? He is larger than life. There’s no stars like that now (another photo). Everybody wanted to meet Michael and be with Michael. He was quiet and he laughed a lot at me. And he’s giggly. To the stand-ins (we became kind of buddies) I said, “We are the luckiest boys in the world.” (smiles and looks aside)

It’s time we interrupted their smooth narration.

The above luck was actually a very brief moment with Michael Jackson that Jimmy Safechuck had during that December 1986 commercial. There were no rehearsals with MJ as he just opened the door and they captured Jimmy’s first reaction. Then he went to Michael’s trailer and that was it.

Then the long months of January and February 1987 passed by and there was still no contact with Michael Jackson. To remind Michael of himself Safechuck started writing him letters. The first letter was not answered, but on March 10, 1987 Michael did send him a polite reply. He explained that had been working on a new video and had been busy, and said it was nice to hear from Jimmy again (so Jimmy wrote to Michael at least twice).

Michael invited Jimmy to come and see him on the set “sometime” and if Michael had free time Jimmy could come and visit him at his house.

There was no special invitation, no nothing – it was just a polite reply.

We know all of it from Safechuck’s complaint which is also totally false, but if you really look into it you can still get some grains of truth there. And what we get is that it was Jimmy who sought contact with Michael and not Michael.

The lawsuit says:

Several months after the Pepsi commercial was shot, Decedent wrote a letter to Plaintiff on Doe 2’s stationery dated March 10, 1987. It stated:

“Dear Jimmy,

Thank you for your letter. It was nice hearing from you again! I’ve been working on a new video for my album and have been really busy.

It was fun working with you on the Pepsi commercial! Maybe we can work together again. I’d like to have you come and visit me on the set sometime or when I have some free time you can come to my house.

Keep sending me letters! I love to hear from you!

Speak with you soon, [Decedent’s signature]”

The Decedent also enclosed photographs from the Pepsi commercial that they shot together.

As you can easily guess Dan Reed says nothing about it in his film. Instead he drops Safechuck at this point and goes over to Robson, producing the impression that while we follow Robson’s childhood, Michael’s friendship with Jimmy is flourishing.  However our aim is to stay with Jimmy to see what’s going on there, so we will drop Robson for a time being and fast forward to the follow-up Safechuck segment.

(drone footage of Safechuck’s home in Simi Valley, intense music)

21:05 Stephanie Safechuck: One day the phone rang and I picked it up. “Hi, this is Michael. I’m calling from Australia.  I was in Jimmy’s commercial.” I thought, how touching! He doesn’t think it is his commercial, he thinks it is Jimmy’s! (photo of Safechuck). So I put him on the phone and I could hear Jimmy say, “People tell me at school that you are weird.” Michael said, “Don’t listen to what anybody says. You know me, you know I’m not weird” And that started the relationship.

A great conversation. However as regards the timeline it is a very big lie. First of all, it produces the impression that Jimmy “knows Michael” and by this moment they are buddies enough for Jimmy to talk to Michael about his “weirdness”.

And secondly, the “one-day-the-phone-rang” wording is exceptionally misleading. Put immediately after the March letter from Michael Jackson, it looks like the call came soon after that. However it absolutely did not.

The schedule of Michael Jackson’s Bad tour says that Michael’s first concert in Australia was … on November 13^th, 1987.

And that call was the first contact with MJ the Safechucks themselves mention after the March letter. Now do your maths and you will come to a conclusion that between the March letter and the telephone conversation with Australia at least 8 months passed.

So now you know why Mrs. Safechuck worded it so vaguely. This vagueness is not just a slip of her memory and not a chance occurrence as you might have initially thought – it is a deliberate cover-up of the fact that there was no contact between MJ and Jimmy for at least 8 months.

Right, Michael Jackson did not even attempt to contact Jimmy for full 8 months.

Okay, but who contacted whom after the long separation of the two big friends?

You won’t believe it but Safechuck’s own complaint suggests that it was the Safechuck family who called Michael Jackson in Australia, and not vice versa. The call was made on Thanksgiving Day, November 26^th, which was the day Michael celebrated with his crew in Australia.

But before you read the respective piece from Safechuck’s lawsuit there is one more note to make.

Same as the film, Safechuck’s complaint also messes up with the dates, so when you read it you won’t be able to make head or tail of what happened when. And this is done for a reason – the idea is to create the impression of a continuous “relationship” and Michael displaying an “interest” in the boy.

However there was no interest and no continuous relationship, and to be able to understand it you constantly have to solve the time riddles in Safechuck’s complaint. Here is just one sentence from its point 10 as an example of such riddles – it is worded so slyly that you won’t be able to decipher it without first conducting a proper investigation.

10. Shortly after their first visit to the Hayvenhurst house, on Thankgiving Day, Plaintiff was on the telephone with Decedent.

First of all the phrase ”Plaintiff was on the phone with Decedent” surely stands for Jimmy calling Michael and not the other way about, otherwise they would have told you a long and colorful tale about how “Michael called Jimmy.”

Another riddle is their remark that the call on Thanksgiving day came “shortly after their first visit to the Havenhurst house”. So there was a visit to Michael’s home after all, and it took place shortly before Michael went to Australia and Jimmy called him there.

So the riddle points to a period between Thanksgiving day in Australia and the time when Michael was still in the US and could invite Jimmy to Havenhurst before his departure.

Let’s look up Michael’s schedule of the Bad tour and search for a moment that could fit the above description.

And yes, we do find such a period – it is a month-long break between the two legs of Michael’s tour. He came home to Havenhurst after his last concert in Japan on October 12th and stayed there until he left for Australia where he gave his first concert on November 13^th.

Shortly after that was Thanksgiving day (November 26th), so the Safechucks’ visit to Havenhurst must have been sometime before Michael left.

The most suitable period that would fit the timeline is early November 1987. This was most probably the moment when Michael invited the family to his home in Havenhurst, just as he promised Jimmy in that March letter of his:

• “I’d like to have you come and visit me on the set sometime or when I have some free time you can come to my house.”

Surely, Jimmy answered Michael’s letter and then waited 8 long months for Michael to have free time and invite him to his home.

This was the real timeline of the events, but if you watch the film or read the lawsuit you will see a completely distorted picture. The complaint says:

9. After receiving Decedent’s letter, Plaintiff and his family were invited to dinner by Decedent to Decedent’s home on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino, California (“Hayvenhurst house”).

The above makes me speechless. They dare claim that the invitation to dinner came after Michael’s letter in March! Some people have the nerve…

The invitation was made by Decedent through Jolie Levine, Decedent’s then secretary/personal assistant. Ms. Levine later became Decedent’s production assistant on the “BAD” Tour, and his production coordinator on the “BAD” album.

Plaintiffs’s parents accompanied him to Decedent’s Hayvenhurst house for the dinner. After eating, all four of them watched the film Batteries Not Included in a small home theater in Decedent’s Hayvenhurst house. During the visit, when Decedent was alone with Plaintiff, Decedent gave Plaintiff presents – a globe and $700. Plaintiff’s parents were not aware that Decedent had given their son money at the time, and when they discovered it later, they asked Decedent not to give Plaintiff money. In response to their request, Decedent giggled and said that he could not help himself.

Bad as the above timeline is, Dan Reed’s film makes it even worse. As usual with the Safechucks, their story about the first visit to Havenhurst starts with “then his secretary called”. But then was when?

“Then” was in November 1987, eight months after Michael’s letter in March, and almost a year after Safechuck first met Michael when doing the Pepsi commercial in December 1986.

Safechuck speaks about that event as something routine and nothing extraordinary – just like another of those allegedly numerous events in his “intense” friendship with Michael Jackson, though in reality he as a boy was most probably counting every day of that long 8-month period while he waited.

23:16 Safechuck: And then his secretary or somebody called (quiet music) and asked if we would like to go to dinner at the Havenhurst house.

(magical music, a long drone overview of Havenhurst) 

23:44 Safechuck: Going to Havenhurst felt magical, the house is beautiful (drone over the house), they have a recording studio there and I think we saw his brothers and said Hi. We had dinner and watched “Batteries Not Included” (picture of the film poster). He gets movies before they come out, so he has a little movie theater there (drone footage of Havenhurst at night, music). I remember seeing his dance floor for the first time, kind of a magical thing to see Michael in it, at his private dance floor (Safechuck looks pensive)

24:24 Stephanie Safechuck: We were so excited – this was big for us. Nobody can befriend him – he has to befriend people. He is unapproachable. So for him to want to be our friend was “Oh my God, how lucky are we!” (photo of her and her husband together)

24:45 Safechuck (music): Mom and dad, I think they were in awe and just star struck. It is like this. (photo of MJ and Jimmy). And then at the same time he’s becoming a real person. He is not like this two-dimensional icon. He gives you focused attention. And I think at that age (speaks very slowly) you want to be important and you want to be noticed and loved, so it is a powerful attraction.

25:27 Safechuck (violin staccato, photo of MJ): We went into the closet and looked at the stuff and he told me I could get a jacket. I picked the Thriller jacket of course, and I took it home and wore it to the grocery store (photo of Jimmy in a gray suit, not in a Thriller jacket) and as I was leaving he gave me like an envelope full of cash, several hundred dollars – which at the time was a lot. It is still a lot (smiles).

(drone footage over Simi Valley)

Okay. The first thing to do after reading the above is correct Mrs. Safechuck – Michael was approachable and the Safechuck family is the best example of it. They approached him again and again until Michael found free time for them and invited them to his home.

Secondly, it was the first time they saw Michael Jackson in almost a year and it is absolutely clear that Michael had no intention whatsoever to have any “special relationship” with Jimmy. Vice versa, it was Jimmy and his family who besieged him.

Thirdly, there was nothing special about that visit – they had dinner and watched a Steven Spielberg movie, and Michael gave him a jacket (he gave away his things to everyone) and also some money – most probably to compensate for the family’s transport expenses or just as a gift. And then he must have said to them, “Good-bye, nice to have seen you, have a nice day.”

However all was not that easy with the Safechucks, and when Michael left for Australia it was this family who called him on Thanksgiving day. The Safechucks are polite people, so now they wanted to invite Michael to make a return visit, this time to their home.

The court documents say about this nice invitation:

10. Shortly after their first visit to the Hayvenhurst house, on Thankgiving Day, Plaintiff was on the telephone with Decedent. Plaintiff’s parents suggested that he invited Decedent to come over to their home. Decedent said yes, and Plaintiff and his parents drove over to the Hayvenhurst house to pick up Decedent and bring him back to their home. On multiple occasions after the first visit to the Hayvenhurst house, either Plaintiff and his family, or Plaintiff on his own, would go over to see Decedent at the Hayvenhurst house.

Wait a minute, how could they pick him up at Havenhurst if they imply in the same paragraph that Michael was in Australia at the time? Of course that was impossible, and this is just another of Safechuck’s manipulation with the timeline which they hoped no one would ever notice.

Of course the earliest the return visit could be made was after the Australia tour ended.

Well, the schedule of Michael’s tour gives us the possible date for such a visit. Thanksgiving was on November 26^th, Michael’s last concert in Brisbane was on November 28^th so he came back to the US soon after that, and the earliest he could make a return visit to Safechucks’ home was early December (or later).

And now look at the fantastic somersaults done by these people in Dan Reed’s film. Do you know what they say in the film?

They simply say that he called them “the next day”.

See how “continuous” and “intense” their relationship was according to their false narration? All events seem to come one after another, deliberately pressed together in time and this is done with the goal to create the impression that the lovely boy was an irresistible attraction to MJ.

But in reality all we have is a brief meeting at a commercial, then Michael’s one reply to Jimmy’s several letters, then the promise he kept by inviting them to dinner at Havenhurst, and then a call from the family to Michael on Thanksgiving day. And that is all.

(drone footage over Simi Valley)

26:05 Stephanie Safechuck (intense music): He had a phone number and he called the next day and he was going by himself. And I couldn’t believe him – how could this man be by himself?

26:18 Safechuck: And so my parents offered to go and pick him up (drone footage of their house by night). We got in the car and we drove to the Havenhurst house, and there is always like reporters and fans, so we had to sneak him out. Michael was darkened with me in the back. Some people gave chase and we had to like “lose them.” I think my father was excited to like lose them. He had to drive fast or something.

 (photo of Michael in red pajamas sitting on the floor) 

26:50 Stephanie Safechuck (music): And he came to our house and went through Jimmy’s closets, through everything, he acted like a little boy.

27:00 Safechuck: We would watch movies and eat pop corn. He loved pop corn (photo of MJ with a football ball)

Michael would come to the house a lot Michael and I would take walks around the neighborhood just talking (photo of MJ, music) just talking and walking. It would be at night time of course, so that he could sort of hide (drone over Simi Valley). Soon somebody noticed and newspapers would be there.

~

All of it is very nice of course.  Only remember that it wasn’t “grooming” as they will tell you, but a polite return visit to Safechuck’s home, made at the invitation of the family.

And it was only the second time Jimmy met Michael in a year (after their brief interaction during the commercial). And if there were indeed several visits to Safechuck’s home during that time, this was indeed the period when they more or less became friends.

And the initiative was with the Safechucks, not Michael. It was Michael’s naivety and willingness to see what a normal family life of ordinary people was like. Mrs. Safechuck greeted him with homemade cookies and in the evenings MJ and Jimmy would walk together along the streets of Simi Valley. And everything was very nice and proper.

And then came Christmas time. As a Jehovah Witness Michael did not celebrate Christmas, but Safechuck and his family did. However Jimmy was probably ill at Christmas as his home video shows him sitting in bed at the time.

Whatever Jimmy’s condition was there can’t be any doubt that Michael sent Christmas gifts to Jimmy and his mom and dad, especially because the mom was so hospitable to him when he had earlier visited their house. Another present to the family was that Michael sent to their house a film crew who made a short video of Jimmy Safechuck dancing.

And all of it would be okay, if Dan Reed had shown these events in their proper order. But no, his incredible film places Christmas first and everything else later. And if it weren’t for a Christmas tree in one of the shots we would have never noticed this other manipulation with the timeline.

To grasp the goal of this deliberate time shift we need to go back to mark 21:40 of the movie.

21:40 Stephanie Safechuck: So Michael is still in Australia and asked him if he could send a crew to film Jimmy (video of Jimmy sitting in bed). So a crew came and Jimmy didn’t have any posters of Michael, so they put Michael’s posters all through Jimmy’s bedroom when they filmed it. It was exciting for all family.

22:07 Jimmy in the video (sitting in bed): “And I was thrilled like WOW, because it’s hard to believe that I can so much […] Michael Jackson when people just dream about him. Nice stuff, it’s really neat.”

22:25 Safechuck: I sat on the bed and put all my memorabilia there and they just interviewed me. And then I did a little dance performance (video of him dancing with another boy). Now that I look at it, it’s almost like an audition for him (gravely). He sends this film crew out (video of him dancing beside a Christmas tree). 

23:00 Stephanie Safechuck: They didn’t explain. I just figured – he is far away, this is part how he can be with people, and he made it clear that he was very lonely, he didn’t have any friends.

23:16 Safechuck: And then his secretary or somebody called (quiet music) and asked if we would like to go to dinner at the Havenhurst house.

(music, drone footage of Havenhurst) 

Oh, this is when we come to that “secretary called them” point again. So the Havenhurst dinner was in November, but the video was made around Christmas time, however for some reason Dan Reed distorted the timeline and did it in the reverse order, placing Christmas first and everything else after it.

The question is Why?

His big idea is to show that Michael was so “infatuated” with Jimmy that when he went to Australia and felt “lonely” there he sent a special crew to film his “special friend” and then enjoy the video of him while on tour.

Personally, I think that the idea to make this trick came to them when they saw that Jimmy was in bed (possibly ill). Dan Reed’s film is nothing but a chain of manipulations to force the viewer to believe the false narration, so the video of Jimmy in bed came in very handy just for the beginning of the film, because everything that comes after that will be perceived by the viewer in a much more sinister light (a visit to Havenhurst, a jacket as a gift, money to Jimmy, etc.)

Please shake off the illusion and remember the correct timeline and correct events:

• First came their brief interaction during the commercial (December 1986)
• Then Jimmy wrote letters to Michael
• Michael answered them in March 1987 and said that maybe they would work together again and if he had free time Jimmy could come to this home
• Jimmy waited for the invitation for 8 long months
• Michael kept his promise when he was free between the two legs of the tour (early November 1987)
• The family called him in Australia on Thanksgiving day and suggested a return visit
• Michael made a return visit (in early December) and then possibly several others visits to their home
• He sent a film crew to their home at Christmas time to make a video of Jimmy dancing.

This is how “intense” it was.

Why did Michael send a crew to make a video of Jimmy dancing? Most probably to keep his other promise to Jimmy to “maybe work together sometime” and certainly because the Safechucks wanted a career for Jimmy with the help of Michael Jackson.

And now this wonderful lady tells us that “they didn’t explain” why the crew came and she had no idea? Just think how meaningful all these seemingly unimportant details are and how masterfully Dan Reed is constructing the story of “abuse” just out of thin air. And we haven’t even come close to its main part yet.

27:30 Safechuck: (drone over Havenhurst) I think I went to Havenhurst a few times, the more I would visit the more I would get longer time with him. I bought him some toys, he gave me some gifts (photo of MJ and Jimmy jumping). It’s more like hanging over with a friend, that’s more your age, so it seems natural.

28:00 Stephanie Safechuck: (photo of MJ, Jimmy and his mom, MJ has a piercing look to his eyes)

I came to feel like he was one of my sons, by how he behaved. I loved him (her photo in the kitchen) He would spend the night, I’d wash his clothes. At the time I was thinking – should we get him into commercials? I prayed to the Lord that if this is good for Jimmy, open the doors for him and let this happen. And if it’s not, don’t let it happen. of course the door was open so quickly. And then when Michael came to our side I told him about how I prayed before it happened, and Michael tells me, ”I prayed too. I prayed that I could have a friend and then I met Jimmy”. Well, to me the two prayers came together and that was a friendship that was meant to be.

Above is exactly the explanation why that film crew was sent – she was thinking of getting Jimmy into commercials, and please don’t tell me that she never mentioned it to Michael Jackson. So that video allowed Michael to see Jimmy’s potential and the way he could use the boy’s dance skills in his own videos, concerts and commercials.

As regards Jimmy’s other visits to Havenhurst, there were two more and both are described in Safechuck’s lawsuit. The second visit was at Christmas time too, when Michael took Jimmy for a ride over the city and passed out $100 bills to homeless people, surely as Christmas presents:

11. On the second occasion that Plaintiff went to the Hayvenhurst house, Plaintiff was dropped off by his parents. Plaintiff’s parents went to dinner while Plaintiff stayed with Decedent. Plaintiff and Decedent drove off in Decedent’s Mercedes and passed out $100 bills to homeless people. Decedent said to one homeless man, “You do know how much this is,” and then landed him a $100 bill.

And the third one was in January 1988, right after Jermaine and his wife Margaret Macdonaldo moved to Havenhurst where, as she recalled, Jermaine began working in the studio.

12. The third time Plaintiff visited the Hayvenhurst house he was accompanied by his parents and they took a tour of Decedent’s recording studio which was located there. Three of Decedent’s brothers were in the studio working, including Jermaine Jackson, and they all exchanged a quick hello.

Another notable event described in Safechuck’s complaint is a detail which most probably echoed in Dan Reed’s film in the form of the so-called “wedding ceremony” and a certain ring allegedly belonging to Safechuck.

The lawsuit says that when Michael visited Safehucks’ home he and Jimmy went to a jewelry shop. And considering that all those visits revolved around Christmas, it is easy to assume that Michael bought some jewelry there as a gift to Jimmy’s mother.

The thing is that at the time there wasn’t even any talk about any molestation, even in Safechuck’s complaint, so there is no way the jewelry could be bought for Jimmy – which leaves us with only one alternative to it, that the jewelry was meant for his mother. And see what stories this grateful woman is now telling us about Michael!

Here is the part of the lawsuit about their visit to a jewelry shop, preceded by all that talk about “regular phone calls”:

14. Decedent began telephoning Plaintiff at home on a frequent and regular basis. Their relationship had grown to a point where Decedent had become part of Plaintiff’s family. Decedent would call Plaintiff at home when he was alone or lonely, and Plaintiff’s family would drive over to the Hayvenhurst house and pick up the Decedent and bring him back to Plaintiff’s home in Simi Valley. One time Plaintiff and Decedent went to the park in Simi Valley. They shot some video footage there that ended up in the closing credits of one of Decedent’s documentaries. On another occasion, Plaintiff and Decedent went to the Zales jewelry store in Simi Valley.

Then came the  year 1988.

In January that year Pepsi invited Michael and Jimmy to their annual convention. Mind you that this was an official event and all the arrangements for that visit (as per their respective contracts with Pepsi) were naturally made by Pepsi and not Michael Jackson.

Dan Reed has the following to tell us about it:

29:03 (the plane is landing, photo of Michael on the plane, photo of Jimmy on the plane)

Safechuck: I went to Hawaii with Michael for the Pepsi convention (jolly music, drone over Hawaii beach). The trip felt like an adventure. We went out there to an amusement park for the night and everybody was there, and everybody played.

29:34 Stephanie Safechuck: We were treated very nicely there. We had a helicopter ride which was nice (drone footage of Hawaii).

Safechuck: And I remember there were dolphins there (photo of MJ, mom and Jimmy walking about the Hilton hotel). We were from a small town, so this is bigger than I think anybody’s expectations (more Hilton photos) 

29:58 Stephanie Safechuck: I wanted them to have fun and I wanted my son to be happy and have a good time (photo of MJ at the Hilton), so I stayed my distance there in Hawaii during the day.

This is how she stayed her distance from Michael Jackson during that visit – picture by Alan Light

Safechuck: The hotel was beautiful of course (photo of all three standing on the balcony) and I remember really wanting to stay in the room with him and my mom wouldn’t allow it at the time.

30:20 Stephanie Safechuck: I didn’t think it was appropriate for my son to go sleep with him (photo of MJ sitting on the bed). I know he was a kind man and he was doing everything to make our trip there as good as it could be, but it didn’t feel right. You don’t allow anyone to sleep with somebody else you don’t really know. Jimmy was ”Please, mom, please,  you know” because he loved Michael (photo of MJ). But no, I wouldn’t let him and made sure I had my meals with them and Jimmy slept with me. That’s how it was the first trip (quiet music)

30:57 (footage of the ocean, piano playing)

By this point the film has already groomed you into thinking that the “relationship” progressed to such a degree that even a possibility of “sleepovers” was discussed.

No, my dear ones, it wasn’t anything like that. First of all, as you remember, it wasn’t Michael’s initiative to go there and take Jimmy at all – both were invited to Hawaii as both took part in that commercial.

As to the idea of staying in Michael’s room it arose under somewhat dramatic circumstances. They rented a helicopter for an air trip, but in 5-10 minutes Jimmy got airsick and the helicopter landed. Michael offered his suite for the Safechucks to stay there, but his mother refused. And that was all.

Safechuck’s lawsuit says about it:

17. While they were in Hawaii, Decedent rented a helicopter to take Plaintiff and his mother on a tour. Plaintiff got airsick 5-10 minutes after take-off, so they had to land. Decedent asked Plaintiff to stay in his room when they got back to the hotel, but Plaintiff’s mother said no. Decedent had also rented out an amusement park for everyone to visit. Plaintiff met Michael J. Fox at the convention, and for the entire time he was treated on a V.I.P. basis.

Then came the trip back from Hawaii.

Safechuck talks of the mock interview of Michael and at some point presents it as “infatuation” and as alleged evidence that he was turning into a “special friend” of Michael Jackson.

Well, see for yourself. Below is the transcript of what I could make of that mock interview. Michael mostly speaks about work and out of politeness calls his commercial with Jimmy his “best” because as Michael explains, “it has heart”.

Incidentally, we learn from Michael what aircraft they were flying – it was DC- 10 with a standard seating of 270 passengers. So it was nothing special and just a regular flight.

31:04 Safechuck (music): I remember the plane being quite empty, and I did this mock interview with him, he said I can ask him anything I wanted (photo of MJ and Jimmy on the plane).

31:15 Michael Jackson’s voice:  “We are in the air on our way from Hawaii. Thousands of feet [.. ], DC-10. I had a wonderful time with Jimmy.”

31:25 Safechuck: I was just playing reporter. And he never gave interviews, so it was kind of like, “sure, you can interview me”

Jimmy: “How did you like Hawaii?”

MJ: “The best thing about Hawaii? Being with you.”

Jimmy: ”What about performing and the stuff you like?”

MJ: “I love performing. It is the greatest thing in the world, because I feel at home on stage, I could live on stage, I am the most happiest when I am on stage, and when I am with Jimmy Safechuck. The Pepsi commercial you and I am in, is the best commercial. Because it has heart. Every time I see it, it makes me smile. And I want us to be friends for a long, forever. Good bye, signing off.

32:30 Safechuck (music): And it’s (pause) hard to listen to (pause). You can hear like the infatuation and how much I was attracted to him and also his (pause), his attraction to you, like making you feel special (music).

~

No, it is absolutely not hard to listen. It is a nice mock interview where Michael is partially serious and partially playing up to Jimmy, telling him how memorable the trip was due to his presence and calling their joint commercial the best because it has heart. In fact, it is the most innocent interview anyone can imagine.

And if you have a different impression of it, my diagnosis is that you are already groomed by Dan Reed’s weird film and now you know what grooming really is.

~

UPDATE

Readers prompt me that in that mock interview Michael spoke not only about Jimmy, but his whole family, and that Dan Reed edited it to make it sound like Michael was specifically singling out Jimmy. The full interview is not available to us, but a closer look at Safechuck’s complaint revealed that Safechuck mentioned the family himself though his variant is also obviously edited to single out only the “best” parts to fit his narrative.

Jimmy: “Any new plans?”

MJ: “Smooth Criminal, short film, new Pepsi commercial, best Pepsi commercial was the one with Jimmy because he had ‘heart,’ best thing about Hawaii was spending time with Jimmy, love his family and want to spend time with them.”