156: The Case for Innocence Special

Sheryl and June Valone join Elise Capron and Charlie Carter for a discussion about the origins and behind-the-scenes stories of their podcast series, “The Case for Innocence“.

Growing up as a young Michael Jackson fan, June was passionate about learning everything she could about the King of Pop and his music. But when “Leaving Neverland” was released in early 2019, her mother, Sheryl, was concerned about how to handle this information. Would she have to explain to her daughter that her icon was not the hero she thought he was? Believing in the power of due process, Sheryl chose to do her own research so that she could give her daughter the truth, whatever that might ultimately be. In the course of what became an extensive personal investigation over the course of many months, and which expanded into researching each set of allegations against Michael Jackson, Sheryl realized that the evidence overwhelmingly pointed to Jackson’s innocence. She was also shocked by how many major media outlets and well-known figures had completely disregarded or manipulated the actual facts of the allegations. With a mission to share the truth, Sheryl and June decided to create a deep-dive podcast series which covers every detail of the Chandler allegations, the Arvizo allegations, the Robson allegations, and the Safechuck allegations. They leave no stone unturned, and give a fair and balanced perspective in their approach. They have also created an impressive website which documents, in detail, their sources, and provides a wealth of additional resources for listeners.

In this chat, the team talk about their original motivations for creating this podcast, what the process has been like for them, the reception from the fan community, their experience now that Season One is out in the world, their plans for continuing to reach new listeners, and what we can expect from Season Two.

This episode was edited by Charlie Carter.

Additional Links
• The Case for Innocence website and Twitter.
• Please consider donating through PayPal to help cover our costs. All proceeds go towards online running costs, upgrading equipment, and charity donations. Learn all about the various ways you can support The MJCast through visiting our website.
• We also have an official merchandise shop. Support The MJCast and Michael Jackson all at the same time by buying some of our fun merch.

Connect with Us
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If you have feedback on this Michael Jackson podcast episode, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.com. Stay Bad!

137: He Is Not Committed to the Lean

In this regular episode, host Jamon Bull is joined by returning guests Rickey Alexander and Velo Kristina for a big update on news in the world of Michael Jackson. They discuss a restored version of the HIStory album teaser, several upcoming films related to Jackson, including Marcos Cabotá’s greatly anticipated “Sonic Fantasy”, updates on James Safechuck’s lawsuit, a newly released photo of MJ, a new article on Jackson’s time in Bahrain, and much more.

This episode was edited by Charlie Carter.

Discussion Topics
• A restored version of the HIStory album teaser is coming.
• A new Netflix documentary on Michael Jackson is imminent.
• The second trailer is out for Jin Chohan’s “Trial By Media” has been released.
• Marcos Cabotá’s has released a trailer for his documentary “Sonic Fantasy”.
• James Safechuck’s lawyer has filed a late appeal.
• Billy Porter and Lang Lang have paid tribute to Michael Jackson at the Global Citizen concerts.
• Glen Ballard is interviewed on working with Michael Jackson.
• A new photo of Michael Jackson, shot by Greg Gorman has surfaced.
• Moonwalkers documentary, now titled The Three Michaels, finally has a theatrical screening date coming up soon.
• A Tokyo baseball team is collaborating with the Estate on merchandise featuring MJ and their team mascot.
• A new article has been released on MJ’s post-trial year in Bahrain.

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If you have feedback on this Michael Jackson podcast episode, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.com. Keep Michaeling!

Film Review: Danny Wu Goes Back to Square One with a Crucial Michael Jackson Allegations Documentary

“Square One” is the Michael Jackson documentary we need now.

It has been a tough year for the worldwide Michael Jackson fan community in the wake of “Leaving Neverland”. With celebrities like Oprah Winfrey hopping onto Dan Reed’s bandwagon, and almost all mainstream media purposely stifling any voice in protest of the film, or even any voice of reason, many fans have been left feeling hopeless. A select few podcasters, YouTubers, and media personalities have created great content countering “Leaving Neverland” but, as of yet, nothing has truly managed to get mainstream, lasting attention. And while the fan community awaits Taj Jackson’s docuseries (you can donate here), that project is still a long ways off.

But the tide may be changing. Just this month, three documentaries have been released in support of Michael Jackson (all of which The MJCast team discuss in #TheMJCastEp108): “Chase the Truth”, “Lies of Leaving Neverland”, and most importantly, in my view, “Square One”, by Danny Wu. After viewing the film at its premiere in Hollywood on September 28, 2019, I believe that Wu’s film has the potential to be a game-changer. It is the film we need in these times.

To give you some background on Danny Wu: Based in Vancouver, Canada, Wu is a YouTuber and up-and-coming filmmaker who grew up as an MJ fan, but who watched “Leaving Neverland” and was convinced of Jackson’s guilt. He decided to create a YouTube video presented as a compelling “Did he or didn’t he?” investigation. However, in the course of Wu’s extensive research, he realized that the facts didn’t add up, and that there could be no way that Michael Jackson was guilty of his accused crimes. Over this time, he interviewed Taj and Brandi Jackson and developed close ties with content creator Liam McEwen (who produced one of the first “Leaving Neverland” rebuttal videos, “Neverland Firsthand”). These relationships would solidify Wu’s support of Jackson’s innocence as well as his dedication to getting out the truth about the allegations. I want to emphasize that Wu “walks the walk”. His efforts are not motivated by money or attention-seeking. In fact, he has donated all of his YouTube revenue from his Jackson-related videos to Taj Jackson’s docuseries, and he self-funded “Square One”. When we interviewed him on The MJCast, he specifically recommended that anyone who wants to donate to him should give their money to Taj Jackson instead.

One might have assumed that Wu would create a film examining the lies in “Leaving Neverland”, since that has been the big focus of this year. But he took a different approach. Wu saw a video of Jackson’s 2005 defense lawyer, Tom Mesereau, in which he spoke about how, if Jordan Chandler had been called to speak in that trial, there would have been a line-up of Chandler’s friends ready to tell the opposite story. Inspired by this idea, Wu decided that he needed to find one of these friends who would be willing to speak publicly. And, in doing so, he could potentially take every allegation “back to square one”, where it all started. By focusing on the 1993 allegations and the Chandler family, he could expose the lies at their root.

With this context in mind, it was with great hope that I attended the film’s premiere on September 28, held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. It was hard to know what to expect for this event. Would the fans turn out? Would the film succeed in its goals? Wonderfully, Danny Wu’s “Square One” premiere was a night to remember, when the fan community came together to support a superb film that I believe will make a real difference. In attendance were all the stars of the film, including Danny Wu, Taj Jackson, Charles Thomson (investigative journalist and Legal Correspondent for The MJCast), Jenny Winings, Geraldine Hughes, and Josephine Zohny, who knew Jordan Chandler in college, had been on the 2005 trial witness list, and whose experiences with Chandler frame the film’s narrative. (More on that later.) The rest of the attendees represented a “who’s who” of the MJ community. It was an exciting, inspiring, and dynamic evening. Guest highlights included Tom Mesereau, Liam McEwan, John Ziegler, Tommy Organ, Thayana Sco Jackson, Edwin Costa (of @edwinsgeneration), filmmaker and podcaster Adam Green, actress Lori Petty, and many more. Fans had come from far and wide, with a few attendees flying from China for the event. There was a great energy, buzz, and a lot of love in the room in anticipation of the screening.

Now, onto the part you’re waiting for: So, how was the film?

“Square One” is a brilliant, professional, and entirely convincing film which will, in my view, speak both to fans and to a mainstream audience. When non-fans, or even casual fans, have asked me this year how to address the questions brought up by “Leaving Neverland”, I have found myself pointing to a lot of different resources, but they are typically overflowing with far more information than the average person is willing to sort through. Enter “Square One”, which is now the film to which I will direct people to understand the 1993 allegations and everything that would come after. The way in which it walks the viewer through a complex set of circumstances is impeccable: easy to absorb, concise, grounded in facts, and it lays the groundwork for precisely why things happened as they did, and how the 1993 allegations would set the stage for the Arvizo trial, Robson, Safechuck, and more. As Josephine Zohny says in the film, “Every allegation is built on the ’93 allegations”. By understanding the chain of events involving the Chandler family, the spider web of misfortunes that plagued Michael Jackson throughout the rest of his life are illuminated.

The structure of the film: First, I want to make clear that there are no surprise bombshells in this film. Serious fans will know this information already. (Though, for casual fans or non-fans, most of the facts presented in this film will be new and, I imagine, revelatory.) Its value is not in making new claims, but in presenting the information in the clearest way imaginable, and in doing so with authority. The film is framed by Zohny’s experiences with Jordan Chandler, with powerful interviews with Taj Jackson, Jenny Winings (who, like Zohny, was on the 2005 trial witness list), and Geraldine Hughes woven throughout the narrative. Caroline Fristedt also appears a few times, if briefly, and some archival audio from “Big Al” Scanlan is included. Danny Wu appears in the film to move the story along at certain points, though it is really Charles Thomson who serves as the film’s primary narrator. (It is worth noting that Thomson did not go into this project realizing that his interview would become so key to the film, and it is a testament to his encyclopedic mastery of this chronology that he can provide such a perfect explanation of the chain of events in two unscripted interviews.) Thomson essentially walks us through every step of the 1993 allegations, with the other interviewees highlighting key moments. The rest of the film is primarily made up of archival audio, video, articles and legal documents, which are all well-presented and well-edited. There is no feeling of a passionate “fan-made defense video” here. The information is serious, journalistic, grounded and credible. I particularly appreciate that the film immediately opens by clarifying a few major questions which seem to eternally emerge up in the Jackson allegation conversation: No child pornography was ever found at Neverland, and nothing was ever discovered during the extended, off-and-on investigation of Jackson by the FBI. The actual chronology of the film walks us through the history of the Chandler family, with a particular focus, of course, on Evan Chandler, and his growing rage. It establishes perfectly the sequence of events leading to Chandler’s extortion of Jackson and why Chandler filed a criminal report, when he clearly had had no intention of alerting authorities regarding the supposed abuse of his child. The film makes very clear, as well, why Jackson settled, and how this settlement never voided the possibility of a criminal trial if there had been any evidence to do so. Wu also addresses and clarifies La Toya Jackson’s support (at the time) of the allegations, Victor Gutierrez and Rodney Allen’s role in the fiasco, and concludes with a short section touching on the Arvizo case. The film’s greatest accomplishment is to put all these puzzle pieces together in a way that any viewer can comprehend. Once set in place, there is a sense of crystal-clear understanding that, as Geraldine Hughes says, “Michael Jackson was the victim of an elaborate extortion scheme which launched the allegations.”

Why Josephine Zohny? Zohny has been unfairly criticized by some people online, saying that she is not a credible source. I completely disagree with this. She, along with Jenny Winings, were on the 2005 trial witness list, and would have been part of that trial if Chandler had been brought into the case. Also, Zohny is not motivated by anything but telling the truth: She gave one statement when she was put on the 2005 witness list, but has never spoken publicly about her experiences otherwise. She has never sold her story, nor has she told conflicting or exaggerated tales. And, while it’s true that she was not a close friend of Chandler’s, just an acquaintance, she had interactions with him on multiple occasions when they were classmates together at NYU, and heard him make statements specifically related to Jackson. According to her, Chandler surrounded himself with MJ memorabilia and fan friends, and, upon the release of Martin Bashir’s “Living with Michael Jackson”, Chandler stated, in front of multiple witnesses, that Jackson was “not capable of the things he was being accused of”. In sum, Zohny has put herself in the spotlight at personal risk (she has had to deal with internet trolls and her professional website being hacked) in order to defend Michael Jackson, and I have absolutely no doubt that viewers will find her story compelling and credible.

The minuses: I have very few critiques of this film, which I hope will be widely shared across the global MJ fan community and far beyond, except to point out that it could have benefited from a bit more editing. Wu created “Square One” in just a couple of months, which is deeply impressive, so I am perfectly willing to excuse any slight imperfections. I personally wish that Charles Thomson’s narration wasn’t via a sometimes-crackly speakerphone, for example, but that is a small complaint. So many long-time fans have spent years exploring the issues around the Jackson allegations, but no one has managed to create anything quite like this, and I encourage every Jackson fan to come together to support this film in whatever way we can.

I’ll conclude with a few words from Tom Mesereau, who was interviewed by John Ziegler immediately after the film premiere:

“It’s a fabulous film. It is high quality. It was carefully investigated. It was condensed in a very professional attempt to find the truth, and it tells the truth. Michael Jackson was not a pedophile. He never should have been put through what he was put through, starting with the case in ’92-’93. And I commend Danny Wu and all of his people for the fabulous job they did, and I can’t wait to hear this circulating through society, because we live in very, very biased, troubled times. Michael Jackson was never a pedophile, never should have been accused as such, and his life was destroyed by greed, by people without integrity, by people without a conscience. This film starts the road back from some of the recent developments, which have been very troubling. [Wu] did a tremendous job in showing the truth.”

Let’s gather as a community to support this film and other quality content being released in Michael Jackson’s defense. This is our moment.

How to watch “Square One”:

October 5, 2019: Worldwide debut of “Square One” on YouTube.

London premiere: UK residents can attend a screening of the film on October 5th in London. Danny Wu will be in attendance, and possibly other stars of the film. Information here.

Learn more:

The MJCast’s interview with Danny Wu.

Danny Wu’s TwitterInstagram and Facebook pages.

Other episodes from The MJCast related to the allegations:

Episode 108 – Back to Square One

Episode 103 – Vindication Day Special with Larry Nimmer

Episode 099 – Leaving Neverland Q&A

Episode 095 – Leaving Neverland Roundtable

Episode 081 – Vindication Day Special with Aphrodite Jones

Episode 058 – Vindication Day Special (Pirates in Neverland: The Michael Jackson Allegations)

Episode 033 – Vindication Day Special with Scott Ross

Article by Elise Capron.

081: Vindication Day Special with Aphrodite Jones

The MJCast present their fourth annual special episode recognising Michael Jackson’s acquittal from false child molestation allegations on June 13th, 2005. On each of these annual episodes, The MJCast’s Legal Correspondent Charles Thomson along with hosts Jamon Bull and Q, bring a very special guest onto the show to discuss their experience with the trial that so deeply affected Jackson’s life.

In this year’s show, the guys welcome author of the newly released special edition of Michael Jackson Conspiracy, Aphrodite Jones. Aphrodite is a journalist and the author of several bestselling true crime books, one of which was turned into the Oscar-winning movie, Boys Don’t Cry. During Michael Jackson’s 2005 trial, Aphrodite initially found herself on the side of the prosecution. However, after the trial was over, she reassessed her stance, and admitted that she got it wrong. She went on to write one of the most comprehensive books about the trial, Michael Jackson Conspiracy, which includes a Foreword by Tom Mesereau. Self-published in 2007, the book went on to become a cult hit, and is being re-released in a new edition this week. Michael Jackson Conspiracy is the last book Aphrodite published, though she has gone on to be a successful true crime documentary host as well as host of her own podcast, called Sex, Love & Murder.

The new edition of the book features colour photos, exclusive links to footage of accuser Gavin Arvizo being led in a police interview, Michael Jackson discussing a children’s holiday with Martin Bashir and Neverland Valley Ranch during the trial era.

Jamon, Q, and Charles talk with Aphrodite about her early life, her experience being one of the few reporters given permanent seats in the courtroom throughout Jackson’s trial, how she fell under the pro-persecution spell and how she changed her mind. Topics also discussed include her interpretation of how the media handled the trial and how it impacted Michael in his final years.

Additional Links
• 
Aphrodite Jones’ Facebook, Twitter and website
• Charles Thomson’s Facebook, Twitter and website
• Aphrodite Jones’ Michael Jackson Conspiracy (Special Edition) on her website and Amazon
• The MJCast – Episode 010: Vindication Day 10th Anniversary Special with Tom Mesereau
• The MJCast’s – Episode 033: Vindication Day Special with Scott Ross
• The MJCast – Episode 058: Vindication Day Special (Pirates in Neverland: The Michael Jackson Allegations)
• Aphrodite Jones’ Cruel Sacrifice book
• Aphrodite Jones’ All He Wanted book
• Mary Fischer’s GQ article “Was Michael Jackson Framed?”, available on Amazon or on the MJJTruthNow blog

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If you have any thoughts, opinions, or feedback on this Michael Jackson podcast episode, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.comStay BAD!

060: The Laura Comedy Hour

Laura Nicholson returns to guest host with Jason and Q, and this time she has the chance to share her fan story! This is followed by a range of news stories, reactions to and our reviews of the Lifetime TV film starring Navi, Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland, details around what you’ll need to send in for an upcoming Q&A episode, finds of the week and some sweet, sweet tunes.

News
• 
Association On The Line is hosting the MJ Music Day event in Paris, France.
• 
New Who Is It concept art has apparently leaked.
• 
Michael Jackson themed Egyptian movie Sheik Jackson is on the way.
• 
Prince Jackson attends the 2017 Billboard Music Awards and presents Drake with the Top Artist Award.
• 
Shana Mangatal has released never before seen footage from the original Ghosts shoot, with an interesting back story around it.
• 
Janet Jackson reportedly set to document divorce, motherhood and more on Netflix special.
• MJ’s nephew, Austin Brown, collaborates with fraudster Eddie Cascio.
• 
Iconic Michael Jackson film from photo sessions needs $500 000 to be developed.
• 
Michael Jackson fan loses home in London’s Grenfell Tower Fire tragedy.
• 
Thriller 3D to be released in the US this summer.
• 
Review of The Jacksons Glastonbury performance from their 50th Anniversary tour
• 
TJ and Frances Jackson launch The Family Rules, a platform with blogs, posts, Q&A videos on marriage, children and family.
• 
Paris Jackson appears in The xx’s new short film, I Dare You.

Main Discussion Topic
• 
Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Finds of the Week
• 
Jason – How to Make Michael Jackson’s Scream
• Q – Sean Kenneth O’Hara’s HelpHOPELive Kidney Transplant Fund campaign
• 
Laura – Touch of Brass Big Band – Thriller (Arranged by Neil Finn)
• Jamon – “Most Difficult Mix Ever” – Mixing Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us

Additional Links
• 
Laura Nicholson on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
• The Michael Jackson Estate issues a press release about Lifetime and Netflix MJ films
• 
Jankins of Moonwalk Talks podcast does a terrific in-depth review in his Episode 023
• YouTube review of Searching for Neverland from listener Aaron Clements

Music Breaks & Ads
• 
Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (Accents Bring the Sun Remix)
• Michael Jackson – P.Y.T. (The Reflex Revision)
• Michael Jackson – Liberian Girl (Master Chic Mix)
• Jackson 5 – Alpha Bits Commercial
• Michael Jackson – Human Nature (Cover)

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If you have any thoughts, opinions, or feedback on the show, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.comKeep Michaeling!