A JUDGE has denied HBO’s request to have a lawsuit brought by the Michael Jackson estate against the makers of the documentary “Leaving Neverland” thrown out of court.

Federal judge George Wu said he would not dismiss the case, and would deliver a full ruling by the end of the month, according to Variety.

“Leaving Neverland,” made by British filmmaker Dan Reed, pivoted on claims from two men, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, that Jackson befriended them as children and later sexually abused them.

The Jackson estate had said that in broadcasting the film, it reneged on a non-disparagement clause that HBO signed when it aired a concert movie from Jackson’s “Dangerous” tour in 1992.

In the contract, HBO agreed not to air disparaging material about the singer in future broadcasts, but it claims that the contract, now 26 years old, no longer applies.

An attorney for the Jackson estate, Bryan J. Freedman said: “HBO has tried everything possible to avoid having a trier of fact adjudicate their wrongdoing.

“If HBO believes its actions were proper then there is no reason for them to try and hide behind procedural technicalities to avoid an arbitration or a trial.”

(SD-Agencies)