The first half of the two-part doc aired on Wednesday night.
Ever since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the controversial documentary Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson & Me has been a huge talking point for any and all viewers who have seen it.
Soon after it debuted on American TV on HBO, and this week viewers in Ireland and the UK can watch the documentary in-full across two nights on Channel 4.
On Wednesday night, the first part of the film aired, and the response online was immediate and intense.
There was definitely two camps that viewers seemed to primarily find themselves in, the first being those who found Leaving Neverland to be almost entirely untrue, or at least extremely unfair that it all occurred after Michael Jackson had passed away and was no longer able to defend himself against the accusations:
https://twitter.com/jcdiimarshall/status/1103444352431460357
Unpopular opinion but this #LeavingNeverland Michael Jackson documentary is complete bullshit. Imagine the amount of money these “victims” have been paid to lie.
— Jordan (@Jordan_Coombe) March 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/TROYmagician/status/1103445200947548161
No counter-arguments. No evidence to support their claims. History of both parties claiming millions from the MJ estate. And THAT SHIT LULLABY apparently written by one of the greatest artists of the last century…they need a big 2nd half to turn this around…#LeavingNeverland
— Grant (@GrantTHFC) March 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/jamesRichard96/status/1103404556220813312
And those who believe that victim-shaming is part of the bigger problem, and was probably the main reason why it took the reported victims so long to come forward in the first place:
Reactions to #LeavingNeverland are exactly why most victims of abuse will never come forward. People who have never experienced abuse or trauma declaring themselves experts on analyzing interviews & feeling entitled to declare victims as liars.
— Roe McDermott (@roemcdermott) March 6, 2019
"Paedophiles should all be strung up."
"Oh no, MY husband/brother/friend/uncle/ trusted neighbour/favourite celebrity would never harm a kid, all child abusers are monsters in bushes, that kid is a liar"*(*about 80% of abusers are known to their victim)#LeavingNeverland
— Peter McGuire (@PeterMcGuireIE) March 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/clementine_ford/status/1103467524916563970
https://twitter.com/MisterPreda/status/1103451582383837184
MJ fans questioning why these men didn’t speak up when they were little boys?! Can you even begin to imagine the fear they must’ve felt? On the most basic level how do you even defend a grown man sleeping in the same bed as a child? IT IS INSANE! #LeavingNeverland
— Jayne Sharp (@Jaynesharp) March 6, 2019
Part Two of Leaving Neverland airs on Channel 4 tonight (Thursday 7 March) at 9pm.
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