Channel 10 to air controversial Michael Jackson doco Leaving Neverland in March

Channel 10 has won the Australian rights to air the controversial Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland — if his estate doesn’t take legal steps to stop its broadcast.

Channel 10 has won the Australian rights to air the controversial Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland.

The network will air the show over two nights — Friday March 8 at 9pm and Saturday, March 9 at 9.30pm.

However, the documentary is still the subject of a major lawsuit between Jackson’s estate and US cable network HBO, which picked up the US TV rights to the documentary after it aired at the Sundance Film Festival last month, where it received a standing ovation.

FINAL PHOTOS OF MICHAEL JACKSON

PARIS JACKSON ANGRY OVER NEVERLAND DOCO

BEYONCE VS MICHAEL: WHO’S THE GREATEST?

American TV insiders say if the estate is successful, damages could top $100 million.

HBO and Channel 4 in the UK plan to air Leaving Neverland on March 3 and 4.

Wade Robson, director Dan Reed and James Safechuck. Picture: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP

It contains allegations from James Safechuck and Australian Wade Robson, who both spent time at Jackson’s ranch as children, that the superstar molested them.

Both men had previously denied any such incidents; Robson testified in court that the singer was never inappropriate in him.

In Leaving Neverland Robson says “I want to be able to speak the truth as loud as I had to speak the lie, for so long.”

THE CHANGING FACE OF MICHAEL JACKSON

Jackson’s family has already gone into damage control ahead of the TV screening of Leaving Neverland.

Jackson’s nephew Taj, son of Jackson Five guitarist Tito Jackson, has started tweeting screenshots of old tweets Robson sent him around the time of Michael Jackson’s funeral.

Taj is also crowd-funding to raise money for his own documentary.

#receipts
Facts don't lie,People do. pic.twitter.com/EgH1hwtK43

— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) February 21, 2019

“Instead of being able to mourn and properly celebrate and honor Michael Jackson, we are, again, being forced to educate the media and the general public with the evidence-based truth about him,” Taj writes.

“Once again, we have to defend Michael Jackson’s name and legacy from vicious and calculated lies. We can no longer sit back and wait for the ‘right thing’ to be reported or for someone else to step in and champion our cause. This is on us — fans, friends and family. I know that the unanimous acquittals and the FBI’s 10-year investigation (resulting in my Uncle’s complete exoneration) should have been enough. The worst thing we can do is let this continued slander go unchallenged.”

So far it has raised $60,000 of a goal of $777,000.

Leaving Neverland’s director Dan Reed said: “Anyone who sees the film will know it is solely about hearing the stories of two specific individuals and their families in their own words, and that is a focus we are very proud of”.

Could Leaving Neverland derail the billion-dollar Michael Jackson estate? Picture: AFP

There are fears that, like the Surviving R Kelly documentary, Leaving Neverland could lead to a campaign to mute Jackson’s music.

His lucrative estate has reportedly earned more than $1 billion since his death in 2009.

Australian 60 Minutes will air an interview Liam Bartlett has conducted with Jackson’s former maid Adrian McManus this Sunday.

Channel 9 states that she talks about “Jackson’s obsession with young boys; how he went about grooming them; and what he did to them. The discarded items she found in Jackson’s bedroom and jacuzzi, and his attempts to cover up his inappropriate relationships with the boys. How Jackson routinely distracted the boys’ parents with money and lavish gifts and attempts by Jackson to buy her silence, and the death threats that stopped her speaking out”.

MICHAEL JACKSON — THE EARLY YEARS

McManus has been giving several interviews this year, claiming she saw the singer “kissing and petting” young boys but was too afraid to speak out and found children’s underwear and ‘sex tapes” at his Neverland ranch.

McManus told American 60 Minutes: “There was a kind side to him, and yet there was a dark side. They told me if I ever came up on TV that they could hire a hitman to take me out, slice my neck, would never find my body.

“I was scared to say anything bad about Michael. I know the truth — I was there.”

Wade Robson testifying as the first defence witness for Michael Jackson in 2005. Picture: EPA