Corey Feldman was among the celebrities defending Michael Jackson in the wake of a documentary that detailed sexual abuse allegations against the singer.
Feldman, who was a child actor when he spent time with Jackson, said that the singer “never touched me inappropriately.”
He said his experience was similar to those of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who said in the “Leaving Neverland” documentary that Jackson coddled and manipulated them before abusing them.
“All I know is what I experienced, and yes, every experience was the same right up to the sex part,” Feldman said via Twitter on March 4 after the documentary aired on HBO. “That is where it becomes La La Land, instead of Neverland for me.”
NEVER ONCE SWORE IN MY PRESENCE, NEVER TOUCHED ME INAPPROPRIATELY, & NEVER EVER SUGGESTED WE SHOULD BE LOVERS IN ANY WAY! I FEEL LIKE IF PPL COULD HEAR OUR CONVOS THEY WOULD HEAR THE INNOCENCE IN THEM. NO HINT OF PERVERSION. I HAV A TAPE, IM THINKIN ABOUT RELEASING, WHICH COULD
— Corey Feldman (@Corey_Feldman) March 4, 2019
Robson, 36, and Safechuck, 40, said they were 7 and 10, respectively, when the alleged abuse started.
Feldman, who has said before he was molested when he was younger, said his abusive experiences never included Jackson. At one point Feldman, then 13, was speaking to Jackson frequently over the phone while the singer was 30 years old. Feldman claimed it was an innocent relationship.
“Never once swore in my presence, never touched me inappropriately, & never ever suggested we should be lovers in any way!” he tweeted. “I feel like if ppl could hear our convos they would hear the innocence in them. No hint of perversion.”
Feldman also said he knew “many kids” who spent time at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California, and none of the other children mentioned any inappropriate behavior.
SO GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY WHICH HE CERTAINLY HAD W ME & OTHERS, BEING ALONE, W NO PARENTS AROUND, HOW DID HE CONTROL THOSE URGES SO WELL, WHILE SO BLATANTLY SEXUAL W THOSE 2 BOYS? IT DOESNT REALLY FIT THE PROFILE. BUT WHAT MOTIVE BESIDES $ DO THEY HAV? ABANDONMENT IS A STRONG 1!
— Corey Feldman (@Corey_Feldman) March 4, 2019
HOWEVER I DO TAKE ISSUE WITH THE FACT THAT THIS WHOLE THING IS 1 SIDED W NO CHANCE OF A DEFENSE FROM A DEAD MAN, & NO EVIDENCE OTHER THAN THE WORD OF 2 MEN WHO AS ADULTS DEFENDED HIM IN COURT! BUT AS WE WILL NEVER REALLY KNOW, I ONLY HAV
— Corey Feldman (@Corey_Feldman) March 4, 2019
“What motive besides money do they have? Abandonment is a strong 1,” he wrote. Feldman later added that the men “deserve to be heard … but not everyone has to agree on the outcome.”
Both men hit back against similar criticism from others, saying it wasn’t about the money.
“The question was, Could I do something good with this bad? Is there a place I can tell this story that would be a credible, powerful platform where they would have to listen, the estate, that they would have to be held accountable?” Robson told Oprah on Monday night.
“I could’ve, I guess, just gone on some TV shows and done some interviews and more than likely it would’ve been sensationalized and over in a couple weeks,” he added.
Addressing why he didn’t testify in a 2005 trial that ended with Jackson being exonerated of abuse claims, Safechuck added: “I was afraid of being caught. It was on the news 24/7. It was too much to handle. When I said no [to testifying], I wasn’t trying to do the right thing. I was just afraid. It was self-preservation.”
Robson said he was brainwashed, and he couldn’t, at that time, confront what had happened.
“If I was to question Michael and my story with Michael, my life with Michael, it would mean that I would have to question everything in my life, so it wasn’t even an option to think about it,” Robson said. “Michael was good. That was all that existed in my mind.”
