Michael Jackson: The Verdict Recap - Was Michael Really Guilty Of Child Sexual Abuse?

Let me start by saying this, for the sake of a bit of context. I come from a country where a child sleeping with their parents, or a fun uncle or aunt of the opposite sex, used to be normalized, at least back in the nineties. Of course, the reason I’m bringing this up is Netflix’s latest three-part docu series, “Michael Jackson: The Verdict,” which focuses entirely on the infamous trial of the King of Pop, back in 2005. There shouldn’t be any doubt that Jackson remains a pop-culture icon forever; the very recent biographical movie, “Michael,” has testified to that. But this documentary series doesn’t get into that at all. Its only concern is whether Jackson did the wrong thing or not. Well, Jackson himself admitted that he slept with all those boys at his house, the Neverland Ranch, in the same bed. But the key part here is that, according to Jackson, it was non-sexual. There’s no denying that in the world and society we live in, the term “sleeping with” automatically implies physical intimacy. Naturally, a grown man sleeping with a twelve or thirteen year old is seen as quite a sin, in that context. This docuseries hinges very much on that, in a very typical, flashy manner like most Netflix docs do.

It’s futile to discuss the intention behind making a documentary of this kind, especially hot on the heels of a movie on Michael Jackson; that said, we’ve gotta admit this is the kind of subject that sells. While the whole world already knows that Michael Jackson was found not guilty of all charges, this docuseries decides to question that, and breaks things down in three parts. In this article, I’m gonna introspect about the same, in three segments. If you’re looking for a personal opinion regarding this, then you’re most likely gonna be disappointed, as I’m not here to offer mine. Instead, I’m just gonna run a discourse and let you think whatever you want to think, alright? 

Michael Jackson liked children, possibly a bit too much for the rest of the world. That’s probably why he named his sprawling ranch “Neverland,” after Peter Pan’s island, where he used to invite kids – especially the ones who are struggling physically or mentally, to spend time with him and be happy. An absolutely novel thing to do, right? But then the world started smelling something fishy, with allegations of Jackson taking advantage of those young boys floating around. Jackson even had to (allegedly) settle out of court with a certain Jordy Chandler accusing him of sexual misconduct back in 1993.

Things really blew up after Jackson gave an interview to Martin Bashir, the same journalist who took the infamous Princess Diana interview – I take it you know what I’m talking about! While that interview made things between Diana and the Royal family quite sour, Jackson specifically went for Bashir because he really idolized Diana. During Bashir’s interview, he made it a point to bring in this kid, Gavin Arvizo, who was living with him during that time. Jackson went on to say that he and Gavin, who was just about a teenager back then, slept in the same bed. He did add that he didn’t see anything wrong there, as what he basically did was just tuck in the kids, with milk, cookies, and bedtime stories. But nobody else saw it like that, and the matter escalated after Bashir’s interview came out. Things got out of hand when the Arvizo family formally launched a complaint against the King of Pop, and he was eventually arrested. The docuseries shows the footage of the police interviewing Gavin, where he described how “inappropriate” Michael Jackson had been with him.

This was no ordinary case by any means, and the trial further proved that. As cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom, we don’t get to see any visuals but the makers still get pretty deep by constantly intercutting between interviews of people who were adamant Jackson did no wrong, like his family attorney, Brian, to the ones who were out to get Jackson, like the public prosecutor, Ron. Despite Gavin saying all those things in the police interview, things didn’t appear that easy in the courtroom. The man responsible for that was Jackson’s attorney, Tommy Mesereau, who cross-examined every witness, especially Gavin and his brother, Star, in such a manner that their statements against the pop icon immediately became kind of irrelevant and untrustworthy to the jury. Two of the jury members appear in the docuseries and say that Mesereau’s argument in favour of Jackson was more convincing than the opposing side’s case.

What became further worse for the prosecution is some of their star witnesses, namely Jackson’s ex-wife, Debbie, and Gavin’s mother, ultimately ended up helping the defense. While Debie vouched for Jackson as the man she still loved, Mesereau was able to establish the Arvizo family was in it mainly for the money. Other instances of Jackson doing the same also came out in the open, including “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin allegedly being one of the victims. But most of them also denied that Jackson did anything wrong to them. Instead, they pretty much said that Jackson took good care of them. 

Thanks to Mesereau, the jury was very much in favor of giving a verdict that acquitted Jackson of all the charges against him. It was still not easy, and the judge pretty much asked them to make sure they didn’t cause a mistrial. Jackson came out unscathed, although the whole thing did leave a scar for sure. His popularity never went down, but the legend died an untimely death, four years later. The legacy, however, lives on forever.

The point of this documentary is of course not the result of the verdict, which is known to everyone. I believe the agenda was to make you think about what was right and what was wrong. It is impossible to say for sure that Jackson did all those terrible things, especially when the allegations were not legally proven; even prosecutor Ron says that he had no trouble accepting the verdict, that’s just how the world works. That said, I could not help but notice a certain side-taking in this docuseries. It didn’t seem to be kind to Jackson, although it shouldn’t have been either. That’s just how I felt, not necessarily you felt the same. If you read this much, then do share your thoughts in the comment section.