Leaving Neverland filmmaker reveals ‘unceasing abuse’ he received from Michael Jackson fans

Superfans of the singer turned up outside Dan Reed’s office and blasted Jackson’s music

Leaving Neverland creator Dan Reed has revealed the “unceasing torrent of abuse” he received after the release of his Michael Jackson documentary.

Reed’s film, which premiered in January, contained interviews with Wade Robson and James Safechuck, two men who accused the singer of sexually abusing them as children.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Reed discusses the death threats he received from some Jackson superfans and what it was like having protesters turn up to his office.

Reed said he was “surprised at how unceasing the torrent of abuse was”, including threats and emails to his film company as well as the smearing of Robson and Safechuck.

The filmmaker added that, when he gave a talk at the Edinburgh festival, Jackson fans protested outside “with signs saying ‘MJ Innocent’... the usual shit”, and on one occasion they parked a van outside his office and blasted Jackson’s music.

He added he no longer looks at his mentions on Twitter: “There is no point.”

Reed did, though, point out that he has been the subject of much worse abuse. “

I don’t want to sound blase,” he said, “but I’ve received unwelcome attention from people I’m a lot more frightened of than Jackson fans – people from the criminal underworld and terrorist organisations [whom Reed has also made films about].”

Speaking to Rolling Stone earlier this year, Reed said: “I’m getting horrible email messages from Michael Jackson fans. Several thousand emails in the past three weeks. Absolutely as disgusting as you could possibly invent."

As a result of his experience, Reed is now reportedly thinking about making a documentary about other kinds of denialists.

Jackson was investigated twice over allegations of child molestation. He was not charged in 1994, but he went to trial in 2005 and was acquitted on all counts.