Long before the award-winning Leaving Neverland arrived on our screens, or those poorly made conspiracy fuelled stan rebuttals, there was already an extensive collection of documentaries highlighting Michael Jackson’s questionable relationships with young boys, as well as his eccentric behaviour.
While none of them had the same impact as Dan Reed’s documentary, there are still some good gems buried deep on the Internet made years before Leaving Neverland and even a few made afterwards.
Below is a list of some of my favourites, in no particular order.
“Searching for Michael Jackson’s Zoo”
Release date: 2022.
Nothing to do with child sex abuse, but an insight into his Neverland zoo and the fate of his caged animals. You don’t have to be a genius to work out that keeping wild, exotic animals in cages in your backyard is a cruel practice. After Michael Jackson was acquitted in 2005, he moved to Bahrain, and left his animals behind. Some of them ended up in good homes, some ended up dead.
“Louis, Martin and Michael”
Release date: 2003
After losing out to Martin Bashir, Louis Theroux makes his own documentary about Michael Jackson. An interesting journey that highlights the paranoid stan community and a scene where Joe Jackson charges the BBC thousands of dollars for an interview.
“Michael Jackson and the Boy He Paid Off”
Release date: 2004
Re-explores the allegations made by Jordan Chandler in 1993. Contains interviews from many key individuals, including Jordan’s uncle Ray Chandler, journalist Diane Dimond, lead LAPD investigator Bill Dworin, and the Sodium Amytal conspiracy story, as told by Mary Fisher.
“Living with Michael Jackson”
Release date: 2003
Martin Bashir is granted unprecedented access to Michael Jackson and his Neverland ranch over multiple months. It was intended to reignite Jackson’s fading career. Things, however, didn’t go to plan. Jackson was filmed holding hands with 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo, openly admitting to sharing his bed with boys, and dangling his youngest child over a hotel balcony. It was a PR disaster.
“Michael Jackson’s Secret World”
Also known as: “Michael Jackson’s Boys”.
Release date: 2005
Many people don’t know that Martin Bashir also made a second documentary on Jackson after “Living with Michael Jackson”, this time focusing entirely on his relationship with boys and the allegations. Contains some great interviews and archive footage from various guests.
“Michael Jackson: What Really Happened”
Release date: 2007
Film maker and Jackson fan, Jacques Peretti, starts questioning whether his childhood Idol could have been a serial child molester. Contains some great interviews, including Jackson’s former PR manager, Bob Jones, who confirms that Jackson and Jordan Chandler spent days alone in a Monaco hotel room.
“The Real Michael Jackson”
Release date: 2020
Another Michael Jackson documentary from Jacques Peretti. This time he goes back to the beginning and charts the rise and fall of Jackson’s career, as well as further exploring the allegations of child sex abuse, and the recent Leaving Neverland documentary.
“Wacko About Jacko”
Release date: 2005
Channel 4 documentary about the nature of staning. Follows multiple Michael Jackson fanatics across Europe and the USA with an insight into their life and their creepy obsession for Michael Jackson.
“What Really Happened Behind the Gates of Neverland”
Release date: 2019
Australian documentary that re-examines the allegations against Michael Jackson shortly before the release of Leaving Neverland. Contains some very interesting interviews from ex-Neverland employees, Jackson family members, journalists and ex-prosecutors.
“Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland”
Release date: 2019
Oprah Winfrey interviews Leaving Neverland subjects James Safechuck, Wade Robson and director Dan Reed. Filmed in front of a live audience consisting of sexual abuse survivors, with heartwarming and touching stories.
MJ Not Innocent 