Amid the conclusion of HBO's controversial Leaving Neverland documentary, Oprah Winfrey sat down for a conversation with the subjects of the film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck.
In Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland, which aired Monday night, the OWN mogul talked to Robson, Safechuck and director Dan Reed about the claims made about Michael Jackson in the documentary. In the film, Robson, 36, and Safechuck, 41, share allegations of child abuse against the late singer, detailing their relationship with Jackson over the years.
Let's take a look at the biggest bombshells from Winfrey's conversation with Robson, Safechuck and Reed in After Neverland.
"When the abuse started, when I was 11, and even when I was 22, and later, I had no understanding that what Michael did to me sexually was abuse," Robson shared. "I had no concept of it being that."
"From night one of the abuse, of the sexual stuff that Michael did to me, you know, he told me that it was love," Robson continued. "He told me that he loved me and that God brought us together. And I was this little boy from the other side of the world in Australia, and Michael was a God to me. And now, who was God to me was telling me, 'I love you, God brought us together. And this, this sexual stuff, this is how we show our love.'"
"When I testified when I was 11...from the first night on, started training me right away for what ended up happening when I was 11, when I was 22, with the trials," Robson said of Jackson.
When asked if he could see the pattern of abuse as a little boy, Robson replied to Winfrey, "Absolutely not."
HBO
2. Safechuck Says He "Hated" Himself and Didn't Know Why: Safechuck, who claims Jackson abused him starting at the age of 10, was asked when he realized he'd been abused.
"It wasn't until Wade came out," Safechuck told Winfrey, referencing Robson's 2013 Today show interview, during which he shared his abuse claim. "I was really suffering, I couldn't sleep at night, I would sleep for two hours and I'd wake up and my body was buzzing and I'd be up all night. And I hated myself and I don't know why, it's like, 'Why do I hate myself?' This intense feeling of hate, you don't understand it. And then when I see Wade come out, you go, 'OK, maybe there's a reason for this, and if there's a reason for this, now I can figure out what to do about it.' You don't think it's abuse."
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