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4 great movies to stream on Amazon, HBO, Netflix and Disney+

<p dir="ltr">Nothing cures boredom like a great movie! Catch up on new releases and take a dive into the beloved classics. </p> <p dir="ltr">Bored? Let’s what a movie! Here are some of the goodies you can enjoy.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Amazon: Smile (2023)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Premise: After witnessing a strange and traumatic incident with a patient, Dr Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) begins experiencing unexplainable, terrifying occurrences. As terror takes over her life, Rose is on a desperate attempt to escape her new reality.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>HBO: Gravity (2013)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Drama</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Premise: This mind-blowing space thriller one seven Oscars! Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is on her first space shuttle mission. Veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) is commanding his last mission before retirement. Disaster strikes, and the shuttle is destroyed, with all communication with Earth eradicated. Watch them navigate their terrifying situation.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Netflix: You People (2023)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Comedy, Romance </p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">Get ready for some laughs with this movie, with a stellar cast - how could it NOT be funny?</p> <p dir="ltr">When Ezra (Jonah Hill) and Amira (Lauren London) fall in love, they know they’re not so well-suited, but love is love. An issue arises as they find themselves navigating societal expectations of being an interracial couple. Watch to find out if their love endures the culture clash!</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Disney +: Disenchanted (2022)</strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Stars: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Maya Rudolph</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr">15 years after moving to the “real world” and marrying Robert (Patrick Dempsey) in Enchanted, and Giselle (Amy Adams) has grown unattached to the city. As she searches for her fairy tale life, the pair move to the suburbs, however, they soon find there are a completely new set of rules in their new suburb. </p> <p dir="ltr">Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph) runs the show in this suburb, and she’s not a massive fan of whimsical Giselle. In hopes of finding her perfect community, Giselle turns to magic, but it doesn’t work out in her favour. </p> <p dir="ltr"> It’s then a race against time to figure out what her happy ever after really is!</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Movies

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Controversial Diana interview to air in new documentary

<p dir="ltr">A new documentary about Princess Diana will air snippets of her 1995 Panorama interview with BBC journalist Martin Bashir once again, despite Prince William insisting it “should never be shown again”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The HBO documentary, titled <em>The Princess</em>, uses archival audio and video footage as part of its exploration of Diana’s complex relationship with the media, including how she often used the press to her advantage with dire consequences.</p> <p dir="ltr">Its release in select Australian and New Zealand cinemas in August comes a year after William made a forceful statement condemning the 1995 interview and describing it as a “major contribution to making my parent’s relationship worse”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Snippets from the interview show the late Princess of Wales speaking about her marriage to Prince Charles, her extramarital affair, and her belief that a campaign was being “waged against” her for her refusal to “go quietly”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is my firm view that this Panorama program holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again,” William said in May 2021.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Prince Harry later echoed William’s statements, saying that “our mother lost her life because of this and nothing has changed”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The BBC has distanced itself from the documentary, saying licences allowing for “any or all” of the interview to be aired had not been granted, per <em><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/07/28/dianas-disgraced-panorama-interview-aired-sky-against-prince/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Telegraph UK</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">It has since emerged that Bahir lied to Diana to gain her trust prior to the interview, showing her forged bank statements and other documents as proof that her most-trusted advisors and staff were spying on her in order to get her to agree to the interview.</p> <p dir="ltr">Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, vowed last week to never show the interview in its entirety or in parts ever again, saying there would only be “few and far between” reasons to use extracts for journalistic purposes and urging other broadcasters to “exercise similar restraint”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He also apologised to Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry for “the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Princess</em> isn’t expected to provide context for the BBC interview, as segments from it will be shown alongside other news bulletins and footage of some members of the public - out of an estimated 23 million people who watched it at the time - watching it in a pub and reacting to it.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a statement, HBO described the film as “intensely emotional” and a “visceral submersion” into Diana’s life under the spotlight of the media.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The film unfolds as if it were in the present, allowing viewers to experience the overwhelming adoration, but also intense scrutiny of Diana's every move and the constant judgement of her character,” the statement reads.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Through archival material, the film is also a reflection of society at the time, revealing the public's own preoccupations, fears, aspirations and desires."</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ea73afec-7fff-008f-91a2-935b7a7cd4f1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

TV

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Why tourists are flocking to Chernobyl

<p><span>Tourists have flocked to the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in droves after the release of a new hit TV show.</span></p> <p><span>The new HBO miniseries <em>Chernobyl</em> has attracted travellers to Pripyat, the Ukrainian ghost city that was evacuated after one of the Chernobyl power plant’s reactors exploded, releasing radiation across a large part of Europe.</span></p> <p><span>Since the show went on air in May, travel interest in the infamous Ukrainian site has surged, according to local travel operators. Reports say demand for tours in the area have increased by up to 40 per cent.</span></p> <p><span>“Most of the people say they decided to book after seeing this show,” Victor Korol, director of tour company SoloEast told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/chernobyl-tv-tourist-attraction/index.html"><em>CNN</em></a>. “It’s almost as though they watch it and then jump on a plane over.”</span></p> <p><span>The five-part HBO show focuses on the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear incident, along with the cleanup efforts and the inquiry that followed.</span></p> <p><span>Last April marked the 33<sup>rd</sup> anniversary of the blast, whose radiation fallout was estimated to affect <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20403-how-many-died-because-of-the-chernobyl-disaster-we-dont-really-know/">thousands of people</a>.</span></p> <p><span>However, Korol said Chernobyl is now safe to visit. “It’s the most popular question visitors ask,” said Korol, who has been taking up to 200 visitors to the area on the weekends since the series hit screens. </span></p> <p><span>“But it’s absolutely safe. The government would never allow tourists to come otherwise. The radiation [visitors] are exposed to on a tour is less than on an intercontinental flight.”</span></p> <p><span>According to tour guide Victoria Brozhko, the amount of radiation visitors can expect to get from their excursion to the Chernobyl exclusion zone is similar to the level they would get from “staying at home for 24 hours”.</span></p> <p><span>Craig Mazin, the creator of the <em>Chernobyl </em>series has described his visit to the place as a “religious” experience.</span></p> <p><span>“I’m not a religious man, but that’s as religious as I’ll ever feel,” Mazin told an HBO podcast.</span></p> <p><span>“To walk where they walked felt so strange, and also being under that same piece of sky you start to feel a little closer, in a sense, to who they were.”</span></p> <p><span>However, the behaviour of some other visitors has been met with criticism following the surge of photographs on social media showing tourists posing inappropriately among the ruins. In one picture, a woman could be seen posing on top of an abandoned building in her underwear.</span></p> <p><span>Mazin has urged travellers to behave “with respect” in a Twitter post. “It’s wonderful that #ChernobylHBO has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion. But yes, I’ve seen the photos going around,” he wrote.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">It's wonderful that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChernobylHBO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChernobylHBO</a> has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion. But yes, I've seen the photos going around.<br /><br />If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.</p> — Craig Mazin (@clmazin) <a href="https://twitter.com/clmazin/status/1138576162781683712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2019</a></blockquote> <p><span>“If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.”</span></p>

International Travel

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"Beyond anything you can imagine": The brutal truth of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

<p>The launch of HBO miniseries <em>Chernobyl</em> has once again brought attention to the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Discussions have emerged as to whether the five-part show provided a realistic depiction of the catastrophe.</p> <p>While some details in the story have been contested, most experts and survivors agree that the portrayal of the radiation effects is true to life.</p> <p>Oleksiy Breus was an engineer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the then-Soviet Union. Following the 1986 explosion at the fourth reactor, he took part in a dangerous operation to drain water from under the power station to prevent further explosion.</p> <p>The 59-year-old told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48580177" target="_blank"><em>BBC</em></a> that the physical impacts of acute radiation syndrome (ARS) were shown well in the series through the character of firefighter Vasily Ignatenko.</p> <p>Breus said he met with shift leader Oleksandr Akimov and operator Leonid Toptunov – both of whom were featured prominently on the show – hours after the incident.</p> <p>“They were not looking good, to put it mildly,” he said. “It was clear they felt sick. They were very pale. Toptunov had literally turned white.”</p> <p>Akimov and Toptunov died two weeks later from ARS. Breus said his other colleagues who worked at the ill-fated night died in hospital after their skin turned to “a bright red colour”.</p> <p>He said, “Radiation exposure, red skin, radiation burns and steam burns were what many people talked about but it was never shown like this. When I finished my shift, my skin was brown, as if I had a proper suntan all over my body. My body parts not covered by clothes – such as hands, face and neck – were red.”</p> <p>This was in line with the testimony from Lyudmilla Ignatenko, wife of the fallen firefighter. In the book <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/apr/25/energy.ukraine" target="_blank">Voices from Chernobyl</a> by Russian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, Lyudmilla said she witnessed her husband’s condition exacerbate as he began experiencing serious diarrhea, hair loss and skin cracking and discolouring.</p> <p>She recalled, “I tell the nurse: ‘He’s dying’. And she says to me: ‘What did you expect? He got 1,600 roentgen. Four hundred is a lethal dose. You're sitting next to a nuclear reactor’.”</p> <p>Archaeologist and Chernobyl expert Robert Maxwell also vouched for the show’s accuracy in showing how nuclear radiation affects the human body.</p> <p>“The skin of the tongue sloughs off; the skin of the body turns black and peels way upon touch... eyes blister. The colon is covered in third degree burns,” Maxwell told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.mamamia.com.au/chernobyl-radiation-poisoning/?utm_source=Mamamia.com.au%20-%20All%20Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=e78d678868-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_06_17_06_53&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_9dc62997a2-e78d678868-211561537&amp;mc_cid=e78d678868&amp;mc_eid=c10f87c072" target="_blank"><em>Mamamia</em></a>. “Their depiction of ARS and its treatment during the Soviet 1980s is highly accurate.”</p> <p>The show’s creator Craig Mazin said he and his team took great care to show “total respect” to Vasily and his family in the series.</p> <p>“We had to be really careful in episode three when we showed the final stage of Vasily Ignatenko's body,” Mazin told <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/chernobyl-finale-explained-creator-craig-mazin-interview-1215670" target="_blank">The Hollywood Reporter</a></em>. “It was the most extreme thing that we showed, and our makeup and prosthetic designer Daniel Parker did a brilliant job — so brilliant, in fact, that there was a concern that we lingered on it a bit.</p> <p>“We shortened that shot by quite a bit, because the last thing we wanted was to feel like we were trading on this man's sad fate for sensationalist points on a TV show. What we wanted was for people to see the truth of what happens…</p> <p>“Those were the things we were dealing with all the time, because that man was a real person, and his wife is still alive, and the last thing we want to do is show anything other than total respect.”</p> <p>134 people were <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18049222" target="_blank">diagnosed with ARS</a> in the aftermath of the explosion. 28 of them died within months.</p> <p>The number of people affected by the disaster remains disputed, with many suspecting that the radiation may be the reason behind other health problems such as cancer and birth defects.</p>

Body

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Leaving Neverland controversy: Michael Jackson’s family hit back with their own documentary

<p>Michael Jackson’s family has hit back at child sex abuse claims against the singer with their own documentary.</p> <p>The half-hour doco, <em>Neverland Firsthand: Investigating the Michael Jackson Documentary</em>, which was released on <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4trDbeFWTY" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <span>aims to refute the allegations made in the controversial HBO doco <em>Leaving Neverland</em>.</span><span></span></p> <p>In the mini-doco, Jackson’s nephew Taj Jackson and niece Brandi Jackson questioned the credibility of Robson and Safechuck’s claims that they were abused as children by the late singer.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m4trDbeFWTY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>Taj dismissed the allegations as an example of people taking advantage of his uncle’s “niceness” throughout his career.</p> <p>Brandi, who was in a relationship with Robson for seven years, described him as an “opportunist” and suggested he went public with the allegations to profit from them.</p> <p>“He has always been a bit of an opportunist, he knows how to position himself into different situations that will benefit him in a financial way,” she said in the film produced by Liam McEwan.</p> <p>“He’s saying that he was in a relationship with my uncle, that they were in love, and that they were having a relationship, if you will. He’s saying that my uncle kept him from women, which is not true.</p> <p>“We were just talking about how my uncle put us together. It would discredit the things that he’s trying to claim, and I find it fascinating that he thinks he’s able to just erase 10 years of his life.”</p> <p>Robson’s lawyer has issued <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/features/8503375/brandi-jackson-on-leaving-neverland-and-wade-robson-relationship" target="_blank">a statement</a> in response to Brandi’s comments: “Ms Jackson was not with Wade and Michael Jackson when the sexual abuse occurred, and as such, she has nothing relevant to say about the topic.”</p> <p>The short film also featured Jackson’s technical director Brad Sundberg, who came to the pop star’s defense despite admitting that he could not say for certain that “nothing happened” in the Neverland Ranch.</p> <p>“Not in a million years did I ever see a child around Michael Jackson that looked like they had been distressed, hurt, abused,” said Sundberg. “[Neverland] was such a peaceful, safe, fun place.”</p> <p>Last week, the director of <em>Leaving Neverland,</em> Dan Reed, responded to critics suggesting that his HBO doco has a factual inaccuracy. Recent reports said that Safechuck could not have been molested at the Neverland train station between 1988 and 1992, as the station was not built until 1994.</p> <p>Reed responded on Twitter: “Yeah there seems to be no doubt about the station date. The date they have wrong is the end of the abuse.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">Yeah there seems to be no doubt about the station date. The date they have wrong is the end of the abuse.</p> — Dan Reed (@danreed1000) <a href="https://twitter.com/danreed1000/status/1112364525922254850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2019</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">1. James Safechuck was at Neverland both before and after the construction of the train station there. The two still photos of the station shown in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/leavingneverland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#leavingneverland</a> were in fact taken by James, who is very clear that he was abused by Jackson in multiple places over many years.</p> — Dan Reed (@danreed1000) <a href="https://twitter.com/danreed1000/status/1113725996354682880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <p>In February, Jackson’s family filed a lawsuit against HBO for “<a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/music/leaving-neverland-doco-why-michael-jackson-s-son-blanket-has-stopped-talking/">[disparaging] Jackson’s legacy</a> by airing a one-sided hit piece against Jackson based exclusively on the false accounts of two proven, serial perjurers.”</p> <p>Jackson, who died in June 2009, settled a child sexual abuse lawsuit out of court in 1993. In 2005, the singer was found not guilty of molesting a 13-year-old boy.</p> <p>Have you watched the<span> </span><em>Leaving Neverland</em><span> </span>documentary? Let us know in the comments below. </p>

Music

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How the world has turned against Michael Jackson after Leaving Neverland documentary

<p>As the controversial new documentary <em>Leaving Neverland</em> hit Australian televisions late last week, the documentary has already had a ripple effect all around the globe.</p> <p>The film documents the experiences of two men who claim that they were sexually abused by Jackson when they were young.</p> <p>The documentary is four hours in total and goes into explicit detail about the Neverland Ranch, as well as the experiences of the two men and what treatment Jackson inflicted upon them.</p> <p>The reactions around the world have divided people into two camps. One camp is saying that they can no longer support Jackson and are questioning why this was allowed to go on for so long. Others have said that since Jackson is unable to defend himself due to his death, this is unfair and tarnishes the star’s name.</p> <p>No matter what you believe, many celebrities around the world, as well as prolific TV shows and radio stations, are removing Michael Jackson from their brand, lineup and playlists.</p> <p><strong><em>The Simpsons</em><span> </span>have cut an iconic episode that used Jackson’s voice</strong></p> <p>The producers of<span> </span><em>The Simpsons</em><span> </span>have felt that they have no other choice after the airing of the documentary.</p> <p>The episode “Stark Raving Dad” was aired in 1991 and featured a mental patient that was voiced by Jackson who meets Homer Simpson in a mental institution. The episode will be removed from streaming services and from future DVD sets.</p> <p>The executive producer of the show, James L. Brooks, stands by his choice.</p> <p>“It feels like the only choice to make” Brooks told <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/simpsons-episode-featuring-michael-jacksons-voice-to-be-pulled-11552007802">The Wall Street Journal</a>.</p> <p><strong>Radio stations pull Michael Jackson songs</strong></p> <p>Radio stations across the world have responded to the documentary. In Australia, Smooth and Nova have decided not to play any Jackson songs.</p> <p>Nova Entertainment group program director Paul Jackson explained to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/aussie-radio-station-pulls-michael-jackson-songs-due-to-leaving-neverland-20190307-p512d6.html" target="_blank">News Corp their decision</a>:</p> <p>“The decisions we make about the music we play on any of our stations are dependent on the relevance to the audience and the current context,” he said in a statement.</p> <p>“In light of what is happening at the moment, smoothfm is not currently playing any Michael Jackson songs.”</p> <p><strong>Oprah believes Jackson accusers</strong></p> <p>Celebrity talk show host Oprah Winfrey hosted an hour-long interview with the men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who say that Jackson abused them as minors.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BueBlRQgiZA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BueBlRQgiZA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">@Oprah reveals the reason she wanted to film #AfterNeverland. Tune in to the two-part @HBO doc #LeavingNeverland on HBO March 3 &amp; 4th - then watch #AfterNeverland, a one-hour special Monday at 10 pm.</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/owntv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> Oprah Winfrey Network</a> (@owntv) on Mar 1, 2019 at 6:37am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Winfrey calls sexual abuse “a scourge on humanity” and has said that “this moment transcends Michael Jackson. It’s much bigger than any one person”.</p> <p>Robson, now 36, explains his side:</p> <p>“He told me it was love,</p> <p>“He told me that he loved me and that God brought us together. Michael was God to me.”</p> <p>Safechuck, 41, also had the same kind of experience.</p> <p>“[Jackson] would cry for you, or he would cry because he’s so lonely. You want to be there for him.”</p> <p><strong>Jackson’s walk of fame star under strict watch</strong></p> <p>Police are monitoring Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles amid fears it could be vandalised.</p> <p>Police in LA <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/03/05/michael-jackson-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-leaving-neverland/" target="_blank">told TMZ</a> they are doing extra patrols of the area after the airing of the documentary.</p> <p><strong>Cory Feldman can’t back Jackson anymore   </strong></p> <p>In an interview <a rel="noopener" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/05/entertainment/corey-feldman-michael-jackson/index.html" target="_blank">with CNN</a>, Feldman said he can no longer defend Jackson from sex abuse allegations.</p> <p>“I don’t want to be perceived as I’m here to defend Michael because I can no longer do that.</p> <p>“I cannot in good consciousness defend anyone who’s being accused of such horrendous crimes, but at the same time, I’m also not here to judge him because he did not do those things to me and that was not my experience.”</p> <p>Feldman also explained that his experience with Jackson didn’t match up with the documentary.</p> <p>“As I’m watching it, I’m going, 'This doesn’t make sense to me, this isn’t the guy that I knew,'” Feldman said.</p> <p>“But look, I’m a guy that at 14 years old was molested, did have a paedophile completely lie to me about who he was.</p> <p>“I trusted him. I believed in him as a friend, and I thought he was a good person and then he molested me. It all proves that I’m not the best judge and that’s why I shouldn’t be the judge in this situation.”</p>

Music

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Leaving Neverland doco: Why Michael Jackson’s son Blanket has stopped talking

<div> <div class="replay"> <div class="reply_body body linkify"> <div class="reply_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>Michael Jackson’s son has stopped talking after <em>Leaving Neverland</em>, the damning documentary on his father, was released last week.</p> <p>According to close family members, the 17-year-old Blanket Jackson, also known as Biji, has stopped speaking following the airing of the HBO documentary, which resurfaced allegations of child sex abuse against his father Michael.</p> <p>The four-hour doco came 10 years after the pop star's death in 2009.</p> <p>“Biji is the most talkative kid at school and he isn’t talking anymore,” Michael’s 45-year-old nephew Taj told the Victoria Derbyshire TV show on Friday. “We’re all worried about him.”</p> <p>Blanket’s godfather Mark Lester also voiced his concern for Michael’s youngest son. </p> <p>“They try and shield him from the outside world, which may be not such a good thing,” Lester told <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/8595324/michael-jackson-blanket-stopped-talking-leaving-neverland-child-abuse-allegations/"><em>The Su</em><em>n</em></a>. “Shield them from certain things, certainly, but to keep him isolated is not right.”</p> <p>Lester said Blanket’s life today is tightly controlled.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7824671/mjchildren.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/d0f4b87242c24f148410c8cdfa7fd5c4" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Michael Jackson's children, Prince Jackson, Blanket Jackson and Paris Jackson in October 2011</em></p> <p>“The Jackson estate don’t want him to make money for anyone else. He’s an heir to a billion-dollar trust.</p> <p>“They have trust issues, especially with people who may think they want to take advantage of either Blanket, [Blanket’s older siblings] Paris or Prince for their own financial gain.</p> <p>“When you get super-wealthy you become very guarded and very mistrustful of a lot of people. It’s just sad that this money issue would get in the way of them actually being able to have good friends.”</p> <p>Meanwhile, Blanket’s 20-year-old sister Paris has spoken up in the wake of the documentary. </p> <p>“Injustices are frustrating and it’s easy to get worked up,” she wrote on Twitter. </p> <p>“But reacting with a calm mind usually is more logical than acting out of rage.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr">i didn’t mean to offend by expressing that titties should be calm, i know injustices are frustrating and it’s easy to get worked up. but reacting with a calm mind usually is more logical than acting out of rage and also.... it feels better to mellow out.</p> — Paris-Michael K. J. (@ParisJackson) <a href="https://twitter.com/ParisJackson/status/1103557775274041344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <p><em>Leaving Neverland</em>, which was released for wide public viewing earlier this month, told the experiences of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege that the pop star sexually abused them when they were children.</p> <p>Last month, the Jackson estate filed a lawsuit against HBO for “[disparaging] Jackson’s legacy by airing a one-sided hit piece against Jackson based exclusively on the false accounts of two proven, serial perjurers.” </p> <p>The lawsuit could see the Jackson estate awarded with US$100 million.</p> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R_Ze8LjzV7Q" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <p>Many of Michael’s family members have spoken up in defence of the late singer. In a February interview with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/michael-jacksons-family-on-leaving-neverland-accusers-its-all-about-money/"><em>CBS</em> </a><em><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/michael-jacksons-family-on-leaving-neverland-accusers-its-all-about-money/">This Morning</a>,</em><span> </span>Taj said he did not find Michael’s “sleepovers” with young boys “odd”.</p> <p>“To the outside world, yes, I think it can be odd,” said Taj. </p> <p>“I mean, I’m not oblivious to what it sounds like. But when you’re actually there in that atmosphere and you’re around it, and you’re watching movies with his kids, it’s very innocent.”</p> <p>Michael’s brother Marlon also refuted the claims made in the doco. </p> <p>“I want them to understand and know that this documentary is not telling truth,” he said. “There has not been not one piece of evidence that corroborates their story.”</p> <p>Have you watched the<span> </span><em>Leaving Neverland</em><span> </span>documentary? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

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