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Michael Jackson fans sue alleged abuse victims

Michael Jackson fans sue alleged abuse victims

MJ fan groups sought damages from two of the late pop legend’s alleged abuse victims for “sullying his image”
05 Jul, 2019

Michael Jackson fan groups sought damages on Thursday from two of the late pop legend’s alleged abuse victims for “sullying his image” in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.

The fan clubs sued the men in Orleans, northern France. The court said a judgment would be delivered on Oct. 4.

The Michel Jackson Community, the MJ Street and On the Line groups accuse Wade Robson and James Safechuck of defaming Jackson in the documentary about alleged child abuse by the star.

The fans’ lawyer, Emmanuel Ludot, likened the men’s allegations to a “genuine lynching” of Jackson, who died in 2009.

The fan groups, which are seeking symbolic damages of 1 euro ($1.13) each, are taking action in France because French defamation laws extends libel protection beyond death, whereas the British and U.S. legal systems do not.

Robson and Safechuck were not in court and did not instruct lawyers to represent them.

In Leaving Neverland the two adult men say they were befriended by Jackson and abused by him from the ages of 7 and 10 in the early 1990s.

Jackson was acquitted in 2005 on charges of molesting a different boy, and his family has denied the accusations made in the documentary.

The documentary, broadcast by M6 in France, has caused a backlash against Jackson’s legacy. Some radio stations stopped playing his music, an episode of The Simpsons cartoon featuring the singer’s voice is being pulled from future broadcasts and Louis Vuitton removed Jackson-themed items from its 2019 summer menswear collection.

Ludot said he was confident of winning. In 2014, he represented the Michael Jackson Community when the group successfully won nominal damages of 1 euro from the pop star’s private doctor, Conrad Murray, for his part in Jackson’s death.

“In France you cannot sully the image of the dead,” Ludot said. “There’s moral and emotional suffering. And when there’s suffering, there’s compensation. It’s very simple.”

Comments

Khan Jul 05, 2019 08:04pm
Michael Jackson was murdered after becoming Muslim by Houston,Texas Dr with overdosing the medicine.
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Laila Jul 06, 2019 12:00am
Good. The way MJ was tortured and humiliated while alive losing his career and name . But even in deat these vile vultures won't leave him be. You broke him. Tore him to shreds. When is enough enough? Accusung a navn when he is dead is the action of a coward.
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mumtaz shah Jul 06, 2019 12:29am
Who have the doubts that he was not a child abuser. He was, yes
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aamir Jul 06, 2019 07:31am
and now???
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aamir Jul 06, 2019 07:32am
why people are so conservative...??
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Waqar Khan Jul 06, 2019 09:52am
Michael is dead and anyone could make a lie against him. As far as I know while he was alive the court had proven him innocent.
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Laila Jul 07, 2019 06:47am
@mumtaz shah He was not a child abuser. It has yet to be proven. He was on trial and acquitted. Your opinion do not count as proof. They should have accused him while he was alive. I guess money ran out so they thought why not make a buck off a dead guy who can't defend himself.
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