Discussion Do you think Michael Jackson is innocent or guilty?

[Riley [CTBus]]

I'm keeping an open mind and would love to know your thoughts. Let's have an educated discussion.

 

[Seneca65AD]

Legally, he was acquitted in June 2005 so there was not enough evidence for the jury to convict him (doesn't mean "innocent").

Personally, I think because of his abusive upbringing - Joe beat Michael and the others and verbally abused them since Michael was about age 5- he was emotionally stuck as a child, so he naturally gravitated towards kids where he could connect with them more easily than older people. While it was definitely weird and even uncomfortable for those looking in on the relationships and interactions, I don't believe the interactions rose to "sexual" in nature.

My opinion is that Michael was an emotionally damaged superstar talent who only felt truly relaxed and even safe around kids because that is where his emotional level stunted as a result of his abuse.

I understand the critics' point to the out-of-court settlements and the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland as evidence of guilt. I counter with the following:

As a lawyer, I counsel some of my clients who are defendants to offer a nuisance settlement with a confidentiality release. To Michael, 23 million was nuisance money spent to avoid what would undoubtedly be a horribly invasive litigation. Legal fees would probably have exceeded the settlement by double. The only criticism I have of the settlement is that the sheer size does have an aura of "guilt". It may have been better to offer $5 million in a public forum, and when the parents turned it down, that would be the opening to launch a media blitz painting them as money grubbers who are trying to shake down Michael Jackson.

Hindsight is 2020, but I remember sitting around a bar table debating the merits of the case with friends, and no one would have recommended the size of the settlement based on what was known at the time.

The documentary Leaving Neverland is a red herring that had 2 men state that MJ had abused them as children. No evidence other than what they said. Lawsuits filed by both men were eventually dismissed. Even when they said Macaulay Culkin was abused by MJ, Culkin defended Jackson from the allegations. Again, at this stage, I don't believe anyone knows for sure what happened, but I don't see enough evidence to label Jackson as a pedophile - at least not in the sexual sense.