Michael Jackson was “very manipulative and very deliberate in his grooming” of young boys, according to the director of a controversial documentary about the pop superstar.

Dan Reed said his film Leaving Neverland, which will air in two parts on Channel 4 next month, will demonstrate that the singer was very different from his “Peter Pan-ish image”.

Directed by Dan Reed of @amospictures1, #LeavingNeverland premieres 3/3 and 3/4 at 8PM on @HBO. pic.twitter.com/vVqQ87PzYh

— HBO Documentaries (@HBODocs) February 19, 2019

It features interviews with two alleged victims of Jackson – James Safechuck and Wade Robson – who say that he abused them when he was children.

Reed said: “I have always approached this film as a film about Wade Robson and James Safechuck, not a film about Michael Jackson.

“It’s about Wade and James and their families and that’s the story that I set out to tell.

Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me – a documentary shown in two parts about two men who recount their experiences of being sexually abused by Michael Jackson. Starts Wednesday 6th March. pic.twitter.com/TKkzBDydEU

— Channel 4 (@Channel4) February 19, 2019

“The fact that it’s about Michael Jackson gives it an extraordinary reach and I think will open a lot of people’s eyes to the way child sexual abuse, this sort of grooming mode that Jackson practised, how it actually all plays out”.

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