THE Michael Jackson Estate has issued a statement on the film “Leaving Neverland,” which premiered at Sundance on Friday morning. The documentary was screened at Park City, Utah’s Egyptian Theater. The Estate issued its statement about 12 hours after the film debuted, taking issue with what it calls “the kind of tabloid character assassination Michael Jackson endured in life, and now in death.”

Dan Reed’s film follows two accusers, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, as they describe intense and graphic acts they say Jackson committed against them, as well those they say the pop icon coached them to commit on him. Robson met Jackson through a dance competition at age 5, and alleges the sexual abuse began when he was 7. Safechuck was cast in a Pepsi commercial starring Jackson around age 8, and the alleged abuse began after months of close friendship.

Jackson consistently and wholly denied any wrongdoing when alive, saying he would never hurt a child. As an adult, Robson was one of Jackson’s staunchest defenders, along with the likes of Macauley Culkin and Corey Feldman. Jackson died in June 2009.

(SD-Agencies)