People are completely done with Netflix and are canceling their subscriptions after they just announced they’re releasing a new documentary on Michael Jackson soon. Coming out on June 3rd, it’s called The Verdict. Uh, having not seen it, I’m skeptical that they will actually focus on the verdict of innocence.
Right now, Michael Jackson fans are furious at Netflix and they’re not staying quiet about it. The Michael Jackson biopic Michael had just given millions of fans around the world exactly what they had been waiting for, a powerful celebration of the King of Pop’s life. What’s wrong, Mom? What’s wrong, Mom? Mommy, are you okay? Yeah.
Just weeks after a biopic brought Michael Jackson back into the spotlight in the best possible way, Netflix dropped a documentary that does the exact opposite. It’s called Michael Jackson: The Verdict and people are calling it disrespectful, badly timed and even part of a deliberate agenda.
Wow, the Michael movie’s doing pretty well, huh? Check out this new documentary that we made against him. Okay, we would like to cancel our subscription. Wait, what? Why are you leaving? We thought you love Michael content. I love Michael and you need to leave that poor man alone. He’s literally dead.
You’re literally beating a dead horse. This new documentary might change your opinions on Michael with the new information that we gathered. I don’t want to change my opinion on Michael. I love Michael and he was already tried for this and he was found not guilty on all 10 counts. This is double jeopardy. Leave the poor man alone. But what about the potential victims? So, what exactly is in this documentary and who’s behind it? Let’s break down the whole story.
I just watched Michael Jackson: The Verdict on Netflix. And as expected, it’s 5 minutes in, I see Martin Bashir’s face on my screen. You know, the guy that ruined Michael’s life and started all this BS. I couldn’t believe that he had the balls to actually be part of this. They couldn’t even hide it for 10 minutes what side they were on by putting this man on my screen.
It’s not just cuz it’s against MJ. It’s because there’s nothing new here. To understand why people are so angry, we have to go back to earlier this year when the Michael Jackson biopic hit theaters starring Jaafar Jackson as his uncle. The King of Pop is now officially King of the box office. Michael, the highly anticipated biopic about Michael Jackson, debuting at number one in theaters this weekend, raking in $97 million domestically and $217 million worldwide.
Fans can’t seem to get enough of the new movie. The film focused on his rise to superstardom, his music, his dancing, and the moments that turned him into the King of Pop. It didn’t dig into the scandals. It didn’t dwell on courtrooms or allegations. It just lets people celebrate the artist. And it worked.
The movie became a massive hit with fans walking out of theaters saying it felt more like a concert film than a biopic. What a lot of people didn’t know is that behind the scenes, the film actually went through a 22-day reshoot because the studio realized they couldn’t legally keep certain scenes touching on the allegations in the final cut.
So, even before Netflix entered the picture, some critics were already saying the biopic felt sanitized. Even Michael Jackson’s daughter said that she didn’t like the movie. So, I just like butt it out and I just like I’ve left it alone cuz it’s not it’s not my project. So, you know, they’re going to make whatever they’re going to make.
A big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are going to be happy with it. Like a big section. The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy. It’s Hollywood. So this is this is it’s it’s fantasy land. It’s not real.
Um but it’s sold to you as real. And a lot of sugar coated like like the narrative is being controlled. Everybody involved in this whole whitewash is like, well, you know, yeah, obviously part two will be a lot more difficult. Tell me. Tell me how they’re going to try to frame doing a part two minus multiple accusations of of really abusing minor boys. Tell me.
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It’s very difficult, but as we said a minute ago, we always get to the truth on the show. It’s about the money. Then, almost on cue, while Michael was still playing in theaters and dominating conversations online, Netflix announced its own project, Michael Jackson: The Verdict.
On the surface, it was pitched as a deep dive into the 2005 criminal trial where Jackson was found not guilty on all 14 counts against him. Netflix even pointed out that cameras were never allowed inside that courtroom, so this would offer a never-before-seen perspective. But then the trailer dropped, and one line in particular set fans off immediately.
Is he guilty or is he not guilty? What do you mean by we will finally reveal now, and what do you mean by is he guilty? Because here’s the thing, someone already decided that, a real jury, 20 years ago. The jury deliberated for eight days. They had seen almost five months of testimony. They had been in trial five days a week during those five months.
They deliberated eight days, and they came back with not guilty on every felony count and every misdemeanor count. 14 times they said not guilty. He was totally exonerated. So, why are we going through a documentary on this? What’s the point? I don’t think we need a documentary on this. I think there’ve been enough.
And I didn’t want to participate in it because we don’t need it. He was exonerated. The jury couldn’t have sent a stronger message. Not once, not twice, but 14 times the jury said that Michael was not guilty. So, fans had one simple question. Why are we doing this again? Netflix, y’all subscription numbers must be down because I never knew y’all to be this thirsty because we are literally celebrating the legacy of Michael Jackson right now.
His movie is doing numbers, his book is doing numbers, his music is doing numbers, and y’all want to come out with this trash? Like for real, that man was found innocent, not guilty. Like that stuff happened decades ago. Decades ago and y’all want to bring a whole documentary out about this cuz y’all are just trying to get some clicks and views? Y’all are just trying to get a couple subscribers? Ain’t nobody subscribing to Netflix for one, y’all are too expensive for one, y’all barely have good content as it is.
Why can’t y’all focus on the stuff y’all already got before y’all to be acting like y’all are the TMZ of streaming services trying to come out with this BS? Critics online pointed out that this narrative made it feel like the documentary was putting Michael Jackson back on trial in the court of public opinion more than two decades after he was acquitted and over 15 years after his death.
And that’s where the timing argument really took off. Why drop this right as the biopic is still riding high in theaters? Why not a month earlier or 6 months later? Some viewers went further, accusing Netflix of trying to slow down what they called the wave of love around Michael Jackson, almost like a counter narrative arriving right on schedule.
Others pointed out that other deceased icons like Elvis Presley got biopics without a major streamer immediately following up with a documentary revisiting their darkest controversies. It happened to Elvis also later, uh different allegations of course. Uh but at least they had the decency to wait until he was past.
Uh Michael’s case, uh it’s it’s awful. Then this thing came into light. Who was actually producing this thing? And one name kept coming up, James Goldston. Don’t stop there because another producer of The Verdict is James Goldston. And James Goldston just so happens to be one of the producers of the Living with Michael Jackson documentary.
You know, the one that was made by Martin Bashir that was completely taken out of context and purposely manipulated to make Michael Jackson seem like a terrible person, aka the documentary For a lot of long-time Michael Jackson fans, that name brought back painful memories. Goldston was connected to the team behind Living with Michael Jackson, the infamous Martin Bashir special from years earlier.
The one where Michael talked about letting children sleep in his bedroom, a clip that’s been replayed and taken out of context for decades. terrible. He finally said, “Okay, if you love me, you can sleep on the bed.” I was like, “Oh, man.” You can see it. You look at that moment in Martin Bashir Live. I don’t understand it.
He had asked him if I could stay in his bedroom. He let me stay in the bedroom. And I was like, “Michael, you can stay sleep on the bed.” And he was like, “No, no, no, you sleep on the bed, sleep on the bed.” We were like, “No, no, no.” And he was like, “No, you sleep on you sleep on the bed.
” And then he finally said, [snorts] “Okay, if you love me, you can sleep on the bed.” I was like, “Oh, man.” And so I finally slept on the bed. But it was fun that night. I slept on the floor. Uh I was in a sleeping bag. No, he he packed a whole mess of blankets on the floor. What? A large wave of backlash came specifically from the African-American community, with many pointing out that Michael Jackson, as one of the most powerful black entertainers in history, has repeatedly had his legacy picked apart by major media companies, while other white with documented
controversies don’t get the same treatment. You guys are watching the documentary talking about, “Oh, I don’t know, guys.” Oh, you don’t know that it’s actually heavily edited. Like the interviews are edited to make paint him in a bad way because it’s big Gemini season and his birthday is coming up.
He just had a very great movie and they’re trying to paint him in a bad light. Netflix, you are making it very easy for black people to cancel their subscriptions. Michael Jackson was one of the most powerful black men this world has ever seen and we watched what happened to him because of it. I’m not interested in another platform using his name and legacy for content that does not center truth.
Why would I want a white child to play me? I’m a black American. I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride in who I am and dignity. It’s like you wanted an oriental person to play you as a child. Does that make sense? No.
So, please people stop believing these Okay, Michael Jackson was The strategy behind the boycott was also surprisingly organized. People decided not to stream the documentary at all in its first week, not even out of curiosity because opening week numbers are what platforms use to decide what gets promoted and what gets green-lit for more seasons.
And the frustration wasn’t just about timing, it was about fairness. Even viewers who went in with an open mind walked away feeling like only one side of the story was being told. I just I just hated the doc because I felt like they didn’t fairly portray both sides. Like there was too much leaning on like the allegations and he did this, he did that and not enough on the other side.
I feel like if we were going to explore it if we were going to explore it, I wanted it to be heavily on both sides and allow me to choose. about it, the more that people who haven’t heard about it or didn’t even think about it is going to want to see it. It’s worth noting that Netflix isn’t just some small streaming app here.
We’re talking about a company with over 325 million paid subscriptions worldwide operating in more than 190 countries pulling in around 45 billion dollars in revenue in a single year. A boycott from even a fraction of Michael Jackson’s fan base isn’t going to sink a company that size overnight. But that’s not really the point.
This isn’t about whether Netflix survives. It’s about sending a message showing that Michael Jackson’s name isn’t something companies can use for clicks without consequences. Especially not weeks after his fans had finally been given something to celebrate. As the days go on more reaction videos, more think pieces and more boycott posts keep stacking up all circling the same question.
Why bring this up again right now of all times. And it is not just about the timing. Fans are angry about what was left out because according to the man who actually won that trial, the documentary conveniently ignored some very uncomfortable witnesses. There’s no mention of Chris Tucker who was our last witness, the famous comedian and actor.
He testified as our last witness. He said that he knew this family. He had experience with them. He had concerns about them and he told Michael to be careful. And he described the accuser as cunning. I called Jay Leno as a witness. Jay Leno testified that the accuser and someone in the background, he thought it was his mother, called him. He got on the phone.
They said the accuser sounded scripted. Something seemed off. He thought they were after money but they didn’t ask for it. And after that phone call he told his staff to never put them through again. Chris Tucker, Jay Leno, George Lopez, none of them appear in the Netflix documentary. And that’s exactly what fans mean when they say this isn’t the full story.
Whether or not the verdict turns out to be balanced once people actually watch it, the damage to its reception seems to be already done. The trailer alone was enough to reignite a fight that’s been going on for over 30 years between people who see Michael Jackson as a misunderstood genius and people who feel his story can never just be about the music.
And maybe the most painful part of all this isn’t the documentary itself. It’s what these constant attacks actually cost Michael Jackson as a human being. They ruined him. I absolutely believe that those those those people in their greed killed Michael Jackson. They went after him to they ate pieces of him, they destroyed him and and spit out the spit out the pieces.
That’s not a common man talking. That’s a journalist who spent a lot of time with Michael Jackson on and off camera. And that’s the feeling that millions of people carry every time something like this drops. And maybe that’s the real story here. Every time it feels like the world is finally ready just to celebrate Michael Jackson’s talent, something comes along to pull the conversation right back into the same old fight.
So here’s the question. Do you think Netflix seriously underestimated Michael Jackson’s fan base or was a backlash like this always going to happen no matter when this documentary came out? If you liked this video, don’t forget to hit the like and subscribe buttons. Thanks for watching. I will see you in the next video.
