Leaving Neverland, a documentary in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck detail their experiences of child abuse at the hands of Michael Jackson, has sparked widespread debate in the wake of its release. The Jackson estate has been clear in its stance that the allegations are completely fabricated, while both the entertainment industry and the general public seem to be divided on the authenticity of the two mens' claims.
However, in the weeks that followed the four-hour documentary's release, many have come around to the idea that the claims made may be true. Some radio stations have been choosing not to play Jackson's music anymore, and The Simpsons' showrunner has stopped airing the episode in which he guest-starred.
On the other hand, Jackson has seen staunch defences from the likes of T.I. and Diana Ross speaking their mind on the matter. Now, the latest celebrity to comment on the allegations is Paul McCartney, who collaborated with Jackson a number of times.
McCartney has been performing in South America, and just hours before his show at the National Stadium in Chile, he stopped to speak with Patricio Cuevas on Radio Futura, speaking about his career, the show, and even touched on the allegations made against Michael Jackson in the new documentary, Leaving Neverland.
McCartney worked with Jackson in the past, with the 'King of Pop' covered McCartney's song 'Girlfriend' in 1979, before they performed together for 'The Girl Is Mine' and 'Say Say Say' over the next few years.
Given his collaboration with the late singer in the past, he was asked what he thought of the allegations of abuse made by Safechuck and Robson, to which McCartney said:
"I think it’s sad. Obviously Michael was a great singer, a great artist and a great dancer. For years we’ve loved that. Nobody knew about the other side that’s shown in that movie.
"When I knew him he was a really nice guy. I didn’t know about the dark side. It makes it very difficult to look back on the memories which were good memories, to think, oh boy, there was other stuff going on."
His feelings on the matter seem to be complicated, as he explains he believes the experiences told in the Leaving Neverland Documentary, but prefers to focus on the side of Jackson that he interacted with over the years.
“For me, I’m OK to just stay with the personal memories I had of him. The other side is the other side. I don’t know about that.
"I can understand why people are very disappointed in him and angry that he had the dark side.”
McCartney is not the only musician to comment on the documentary lately. Barbra Streisand recently spoke about Jackson and his potential victims, but her words did not go down well with people on either side of the debate...
