Myth: James Safechuck Fabricated A Narrative That Jackson Abandoned Him After Puberty

March 31, 2020

A widely spread myth suggests that James Safechuck fabricated a false narrative in Leaving Neverland by alleging that Michael Jackson discarded him from his life after reaching puberty, when, in fact, there's evidence of him working as an employee for Jackson and his wife during his teenage years.

In actuality, James Safechuck has never denied working for Michael Jackson. He openly states this in his civil complaint and during the documentary, where he delves into the nature of his relationship with Jackson during his formative years. Safechuck explicitly conveyed that their sexual relationship came to an end when he reached puberty, after which their interaction became increasingly sporadic.

Below is a passage from his civil complaint which references his work for Jackson in 1994 and 1995:

In 1994, Plaintiff worked as an intern/shadow director in Budapest, Hungary for MICHAEL JACKSON's "HIStory" promo video. Again, Plaintiff travelled and worked under the cover name "Jimmy Andrews" to protect his identity. Plaintiff appeared as "Jimmy Andrews" on the call sheets for the "HIStory" promo video and was employed as a production assistant. Plaintiff's mother accompanied him on the trip to Budapest, which lasted one-two weeks. MICHAEL JACKSON and MJJ PRODUCTIONS arranged and paid for the travel and accommodations.

In 1995, Plaintiff was employed by the MICHAEL JACKSON and/or MJJ PRODUCTIONS and MJJ VENTURES as an intern/shadow director for MICHAEL JACKSON's "Earthsong" video. Again, Plaintiff appeared on the call sheets for this video, which was filmed in New Jersey. Plaintiff was a wardrobe double on this shoot, and also appears as a hand double in the video for MICHAEL JACKSON.

Photographic and video evidence of these jobs even appear in Leaving Neverland (at 20:27 minutes and 21:44 minutes into part 2, respectively).

The assertion that James claimed MJ cut him out of his life after reaching puberty is a distortion of his statements. In both the documentary and his deposition, James recounts how MJ encouraged him to pursue a career in film during his teenage years, how he persuaded him and his parents to leave school for directing, how he kept in touch with him over the years, and how he gifted him a car at the age of 16 (minute 20:25, part 2).

Once he reached puberty, and the sexual abuse stopped, Plaintiff would speak to MICHAEL JACKSON less frequently. MICHAEL JACKSON remained active in his life, however, and paid for the Plaintiff to direct several movies in high school. MICHAEL JACKSON turned Plaintiff's focus away from scholastics and towards becoming a director. MICHAEL JACKSON hired a professor from NYU to teach Plaintiff on the weekends how to direct films. MICHAEL JACKSON told Plaintiff that "one day, we're going to make movies together." He also told Plaintiff to "study hard and be extraordinary" and that "[the MICHAEL JACKSON] will be there to get [the Plaintiff's] foot in the door" of the entertainment industry and motion picture business. MICHAEL JACKSON and/or MJJ PRODUCTIONS and MJJ VENTURES arranged and paid for John Lugar to spearhead Plaintiff's filmmaking and planning; hired Gretchen Sommerfeld to teach directing to Plaintiff, and also hired Craig Thorton to teach script writing to Plaintiff. MICHAEL JACKSON arranged for Ms. Sommerfeld and Mr. Thorton to go to Plaintiff's house on weekends to teach him about the filmmaking process.

Source: scribd.com

James strongly emphasizes that during his late teens and early adulthood, his interaction with MJ was quite irregular. Essentially, MJ only reached out to him when the allegations surfaced. The only instance that James refers to a complete loss of contact with MJ is from 2005 onward.

Therefore, labelling this as a "lie" by James is merely an effort by fans to attribute words to him that he never actually uttered. It is no more than that.