Yikes! The second night of “Leaving Neverland” was worse than the first.
Only 927.000 people watched. The audience didn’t break 1 million. Oprah’s “After Neverland” did worse–780,000.
Viewers rejected the stories of Wade Robson and Jimmy Safechuck. I’m amazed. I really thought this would be a blockbuster.
But the overall negativity and pointlessness of the documentary left audiences cold.
This is very important: no victim of sexual abuse should ever be disbelieved, or ignored. Everyone should share their stories, and there is no shame.
But “Leaving Neverland” broke several conventions of documentary. It functioned not as journalism but as a personal grudge. I expected lie detector tests to show the veracity of the claims. But there were none.
There was also no context provided. No medical or psychological expert to explain how Jackson could have been one way with so many other children, and this way with Safechuck and Robson.
Also, you can never underestimate the power of the Michael Jackson fans. They’ve organized before to fend off Jackson accusers. I’ve seen some pretty ill informed criticism of them by people who were in foreign territory.
Michael Jackson was no angel. I watched him do a lot of crazy and mean things over the years. He was terrible to his employees at Neverland and Hayvenhurst. He wasn’t so nice to the fans when his trial was over. They thought they’d be going to a picnic at Neverland. Michael just shut the gates and left.
There’s more to say, but for right now, it’s instructive to see how ratings bottomed out.
Thanks to Mitch Metcalf and Showbuzzdaily.com for all numbers.
