The social media verdict following documentary allegations of paedophilic abuse in Leaving Neverland

The BBC reports that his legacy has been called into question after a documentary called Leaving Neverland was shown on TV in the US and UK this week.

In the programme, James Safechuck and Wade Robson claim they were abused by the singer when they were children.

Michael Jackson’s family has denied the allegations, but the claims have cast a huge cloud over his name.

Digital marketing firm SEMrush analysed nearly 30,000 tweets that used #michaeljackson and #leavingneverland between 6 and 8 March.

Here are some of its findings:

▪ 33% (7,995) of the tweets using “Leaving Neverland” used positive language

▪ 39% (9,252) used neutral language

▪ 27% (6,385) negative language

▪ 37% (2,008) of tweets using “Michael Jackson” used positive language

▪ 38% (2,048) used neutral language

▪ 24% (1,286) used negative language

Olga Andrienko, head of global marketing at SEMrush said: “Leaving Neverland moved people to discuss the documentary openly on social channels in large numbers.

“Almost three times as many people were positive about the documentary than were backing the hashtag #michaeljackson after it aired.

For decades, Michael Jackson has been called “the King of Pop”. He’s one of the biggest superstars of all time.

The Guardian reports that “In 1993, Oprah Winfrey visited Michael Jackson at his Neverland ranch for a television special – Jackson’s first interview in 14 years, watched by more than 90 million people worldwide.

This week, Winfrey hosted an hour-long show about the King of Pop with a very different tone, in front of a studio audience of sexual abuse survivors.

The show aired on US screens on Monday following the concluding episode of the two-part HBO documentary, Leaving Neverland, which has hurled America into a fresh bout of soul-searching over Jackson’s cultural legacy, his estate’s financial future and whether his music is too good to be muted. More broadly, it is also the latest test for the nation’s attitude towards stars accused of sex crimes.

“For me, this moment transcends Michael Jackson,” said Winfrey, who has said she was sexually abused as a child. “It is much bigger than any one person. This is a moment in time that allows us to see this societal corruption. It’s like a scourge on humanity and it’s happening right now.”