Michael Jackson songs are still being played on Australian radio stations despite child sex abuse claims in Leaving Neverland
Two of Australia’s biggest radio networks are still playing Michael Jackson songs despite horrific child sex abuse allegations in Leaving Neverland.
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Two of Australia’s biggest radio networks are still playing Michael Jackson despite horrific child sex abuse allegations.
The late King of Pop’s songs are still being played on Southern Cross Austereo and Australian Radio Network in the wake of explosive documentary, Leaving Neverland.
The Thriller singer’s tracks remain on those Australian radio networks but have been pulled from others around the world, including in Canada and New Zealand.
“We take allegations of this nature very seriously,” a spokeswoman for Southern Cross Austereo said.
“These remain allegations and therefore we currently intend to continue to play his music on occasion,” the network said in a statement to News Corp Australia.
Southern Cross Austereo operates the top-rating Hit and Triple M networks nationally.
Australian Radio Network, whose stations include KIIS FM along with Sydney’s WSFM and Melbourne’s Gold FM, defended its decision not to ban Jackson in the wake of Leaving Neverland.
“At this early stage, ARN stations with music formats that play Michael Jackson won’t be removing his music but we’ll continue to review based on audience’s feedback,” an ARN spokeswoman said in a statement to News Corp Australia.
Only one major Australian radio owner — Nova Entertainment, the media company behind Nova and Smooth FM — has removed Michael Jackson from their playlists entirely.
Nova Entertainment group program director Paul Jackson said the Billie Jean singer’s music had been completely removed from all stations in the Nova and Smooth FM groups.
“The decisions we make about the music we play on any of our stations are dependent on the relevance to the audience and the current context,” he said in a statement.
“In light of what is happening at the moment, smoothfm is not currently playing any Michael Jackson songs.”
Michael Jackson’s songs are also still available on streaming apps Spotify and Apple Music, where Billie Jean, Man In the Mirror and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough are among the accused’s most-played songs.
The two-part Leaving Neverland doco will air in Australia tomorrow. In it, Australian dancer Wade Robson, now aged 36, and American James Safechuck, 41, both accuse Michael Jackson of abusing them at Neverland Ranch when they were children.
“He helped me with my career. He helped me with my creativity, with all of these sorts of things,” Robson said in Leaving Neverland.
“And he also sexually abused me. For seven years.”
The Jackson estate has strongly denied the allegations and is suing HBO — the US TV network — for $US100 million.
After a 14-week trial, Jackson was cleared of child abuse charges in 2005.
Leaving Neverland screens in Australia on Ten tomorrow at 9pm and on Saturday at 9.30pm.