Federal Judge Sides with Michael Jackson’s Estate on $100 Million Lawsuit Against HBO for ‘Leaving Neverland’ Due to 1992 Agreement

Another turning point regarding Michael Jackson’s estate and HBO has just transpired. A federal judge has sided with Jackson’s estate facing the most recent lawsuit.

HBO released the Leaving Neverland documentary in January of this year. The two part documentary explored “ the separate but parallel experiences of two young boys, James Safechuck, at age 10, and Wade Robson, at age 7, both of whom were befriended by Michael Jackson.”Due to the nature of the documentary, Jackson’s estate filed a lawsuit against HBO for creating and releasing the special.

“Michael Jackson is innocent. Period,” the lawsuit reads. “In 2005, Michael Jackson was subjected to a trial — where rules of evidence and law were applied before a neutral judge and jury and where both sides were heard — and he was exonerated by a sophisticated jury.”

On Friday September 20, Los Angeles federal judge George H. Wu accepted the request of Jackson’s estate to hold HBO to a previous 1992 arbitration agreement. According to Billboard, “Jackson’s estate argues the documentary violated a 1992 contract agreement that HBO signed to televise Jackson’s Dangerous World Tour concert in Bucharest, Romania.”

The statement read “HBO shall not make any disparaging remarks concerning [Michael Jackson] … or do any act that may harm or disparage or cause to lower in esteem the reputation of [Jackson.].” The agreement also stated that any disputes that involve this agreement would be handled by an arbitrator.

In a response to the lawsuit, HBO’s lead attorney, Theodore Boutrous stated that “It was filed to chill speech. It was filed to tell the world, ‘Don’t talk about child sex abuse.’ […] A company like HBO may be able to fight back and move forward. Others might not be able to do that.”