When I think of Sundance, the first word that comes to mind is quality. After that, I think of Robert Redford, integrity, and honor. Integrity for his vision in creating the Sundance Institute to bring movies made with class and vision and honor for sticking with that vision. To hear that Sundance would be screening the “Leaving Neverland” documentary hit me like a punch in the stomach.
Did Sundance take any steps whatsoever to investigate the real criminals in the multiple Michael Jackson extortion attempts? In 1993 Evan Chandler, a dentist who wanted to be a full time screenwriter made an attempt to blackmail twenty million dollars from Michael. When his demands were not met, he was recorded saying, “Everything’s going according to a certain plan that isn’t just mine … and if I go through with this, I win big time. There’s no way I lose. I’ve checked this inside and out. I will get everything I want, and they will be destroyed forever. June will lose custody of Jordy and Michael’s career will be over.” He did not go to social services, which is where one would go if there was any thought of child molestation. No, Evan Chandler went to the “meanest son of a bitch” (his words) attorney he could find.
Is Sundance aware that Thomas Sneddon, District Attorney of Santa Barbara County, in California, falsified evidence in a court of law in his vendetta against Michael Jackson? Why Sneddon wasn’t imprisoned is the bigger question. Sneddon is best known for his hunt against Michael Jackson even though Jackson was acquitted of all charges because simply, there was no evidence, only lies.
I am a award-winning documentary photographer who has spent nine years on various photo essays covering topics such as my father’s survival in eight concentration camps during the holocaust and my mother’s life in an aging facility after her second husband’s abuse left her with brain damage.
Another project I have been working on is “Searching for Michael Jackson,” a project for which I spent eight years researching who Michael Jackson really was, apart from the image the media fed us. During my research, I found that Michael Jackson had lawsuits brought against him almost weekly for financial gain. After reading the court transcripts it became clear that the Arvizo Family was trying to get their slice of pie from Jackson’s hard work by making up lies that were so preposterous that laughs could be heard in the courtroom in 2005.
Now, with the anniversary of Michael’s death around the corner, the media has begun bashing the man who was a proven victim of blackmail and extortion. First there was greedy Evan Chandler, who committed suicide four months after Michael died. Next the “Me Too” ( I want Michael’s money) Arvizos, proven extortionists and the biggest player of all, the media who loved to smear his name from Diane Diamond to Martin Bashirs.
When will the travesties against this man end? The media doesn’t reflect the facts and Sundance should. When it comes to Michael Jackson, it is about lies and profit and always has been. The Michael Jackson estate has issued a statement saying this film was “another rehash of dated and discredited allegations” and a “pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on” the singer.
Wade Robson applied for a job choreographing a Michael Jackson tribute show for Michael’s estate. And when he was not chosen, Robson filed fifty lawsuits, seeking money for abuse, even though he testified under oath, vehemently denying any abuse in a court of law in 2005 even going as far as saying it was silly to even suggest he was improperly touched by Michael. Wade’s actions since he accused Michael are simply not consistent with someone who was traumatized by him. There are videos where he was praising Michael. Wade Robson is bankrupt because his lawsuit was dropped due to a lack of evidence and he is seeking to get money because after all, why work if you can just sue the Michael Jackson estate? What is Robson’s motivation? In the immortal words of Michael Jackson, after the first allegations: “If you show me the cash then I will take it. If you tell me to cry then I will fake it. You do anything for money.”
I would look forward to and welcome Sundance to screen a legitimate documentary made about the lies by Evan Chandler, Thomas Sneddon planting fingerprints and falsifying evidence in a court of law, Harvey Weinstein peddling fake Michael Jackson stories to take the heat off his real sex abuse, the “Me Too” Arvizos and their false claims against JC Penney and all the other weekly, monthly, and yearly blackmails made against Michael Jackson, a victim of extortion attempts, who was humiliated over and over while the media crucified him. When are we going to see that documentary?
Bad move, Sundance film festival.
