Michael Jackson's trusted staffer goes public: "It's time for the world to know"
Michael Jackson’s former staff have opened up about what they witnessed at the Neverland in the wake of sexual assault allegations against the King of Pop.
Almost 10 years after Jackson’s passing, the singer continues to dominate headlines. Earlier this month, Jackson’s family filed a $100 million lawsuit against HBO over its documentary Leaving Neverland, which focuses on two men who have accused the late pop star of molesting them as children.
Jackson’s former private security guard Melanie Bagnall has told Sunday Night about her experience of working at Jackson’s residence at the Neverland Ranch in California, US.
“It’s time for the world to know,” said Bagnall, who claimed she saw bizarre behaviour during her three years of working for Jackson.
“There was a child sitting on his lap and he had his hands close to his genitalia,” Ms Bagnall said. “Like, cupping his genitalia.
“It was disturbing, it was alarming, a confirmation in a way … I think Neverland was built for his pleasure. I think it was part of romancing kids. You know?”
Former maid Adrian McManus, who worked from 1990 to 1994 at the ranch, also told 60 Minutes that some of her findings gave her “anxiety and misery”.
“I knew the little boys were there,” said McManus.
“When they would arrive they would put their clothes in a suitcase and the suitcase in this room. I started realising, thinking, wondering, when he was taking baths with them, with the boys, and they were sleeping in his bed.
“When I would go in the next day there were little boys’ underwear either on the floor with Michael’s, or they were in the jacuzzi.”
McManus also claimed that Vaseline could be found all over the ranch.
In January, Jackson’s brother Jermaine Jackson told Good Morning Britain that his family was “tired” of the allegations.
“I am a thousand per cent sure because Michael was tried by a jury of his peers and he was acquitted on all of this because there was no real evidence,” he said.
“There was nothing there. And I will say this, our family are tired. We’re very tired.
“Let this man rest. He did a lot for the world, let him rest. I’ll just say this, there is no truth to this documentary.”
Jackson’s lawyer Tom Mesereau, who helped the singer get acquitted in a 2005 child molestation case, continued to deny allegations of sexual abuse.