Leaving Neverland part 2 recap: 'Michael told me I had to lie'

The harrowing two-part documentary Leaving Neverland concluded on Channel 4 on Thursday night, with the alleged victims of Michael Jackson going into further graphic detail of the sexual abuse they say took place.

Here are the key talking points:

“I had to lie”

Both Safechuck, now 41, and Robson, now 36, described being gradually replaced by other young boys, including Jordan Chandler. However, the accusers claim they were swiftly brought back into Jackson’s life when the Chandler family sued the star in 1993 in a $30million lawsuit that accused him of sexual battery against Jordan. In 1994, the case was settled for $23million.

Robson claims that Jackson had been sexually molesting him for several years at this point, and told him to lie to both lawyers and policemen.

“Michael told me that I had to lie. And that’s what I did, I lied,” Robson said.

“I have no guilt…I had no choice but to say what I did in that deposition aged 11. That is what I had to say.” Robson said.

Read more: LaToya Jackson defends alleged victims in unearthed footage

While Safechuck said he was thrilled to hear from Jackson, after waiting for his telephone call for months on end. But he now believes that Jackson simply saw him as ‘useful’ again and described how lawyers trained him on what to say.

He claims Jackson rewarded him with a car for his willingness to help him. Jackson also allegedly encouraged him to drop out of school. He also bought the family a new home.

“He did buy us a house. The timing was there. It just sounds bad. Yeah,” Safechuck’s mother, Stephanie, admitted.

“We’ve been dumped”

Barely a year after Jackson paid the Chandler family in the out of court settlement, he married Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley’s only child.

Stephanie claims Jackson phoned her to let her know he wouldn’t be able to visit her son James as often.

“I told my husband – we’ve been dumped,” she told the cameras.

She described feeling devastated and that at the time she loved Jackson as much as she loved her own children.

“You have to get rid of them”

Robson said he continued to see Jackson during his short-lived marriage to Presley, but only two-three times a year. He said the molestation continued each time they met.

This included him attempting to penetrate his anus when he was 14.

“He was able to for a bit. But it was too painful for me. So he stopped.

“I don’t remember us talking about it. Or acting like anything particularly different had happened. We kind of went back to our regular sexual routine,” Robson alleged.

He then claimed that Jackson’s personal assistant phoned his mother the next day and demanded that he immediately meet him at his dance studio.

“What did you do with your underwear last night?” Robson claims Jackson asked once they met that day.

“You have to go home and find them and there might be some blood on them. If there is you have to get rid of them.”

Robson said he went home and found blood on his underwear, and he threw them in a bin immediately.

“That was the last sexual experience that I remember with Michael,” he said.

‘An obsession’ with Britney Spears

As an adult, Robson became the dance choreographer for Britney Spears and N*Sync. Robson said Jackson had an infatuation with Spears and said he would phone him and ask him about ‘how sexy’ she was and also about his own sexual life.

Trial of Michael Jackson

Both Robson and Safechuck claim Jackson tried to involve them in his 2005 trial. Jackson was accused of molesting Gavin Arvizo when was 13-years-old. Arvizo was featured in the British, Martin Bashir-led documentary Living with Michael Jackson.

Read more: James Bulger’s mother calls Leaving Neverland claims ‘crap’

Jackson allegedly contacted them directly, but only Robson appeared in court. While Robson defended Jackson and said he had never molested him under oath, Safechuck refused to do so.

“These people are trying to take me down. These evil people,” Robson said Jackson would tell him repeatedly on the phone.

Safechuck said that Jackson begged him on the phone to testify, but he refused.

“I had never seen him this angry,” he said. He added that Jackson threatened to use lawyers ‘to get me’ if he didn’t partake.

He attempted to reach out to him at the end of the trial.

“He said to me: ‘I know I haven’t been there for you in directing, let’s do something together.’ [Safechuck had had aspirations of becoming a film director, he now works as a computer engineer].

“I cut the conversation short, I said don’t call me again, I didn’t talk to him again.”

Michael Jackson dies

After Michael Jackson died in June 2009, Robson described feeling tremendous grief. He attended the televised official memorial service that year, which was also attended by Jackson’s surviving family members and many of his celebrity friends.

After his death Robson says he went through a dark depression and just after he had his first child with wife Amanda, he was given a ‘dream role’ as a feature film director. He pulled out of the project from anxiety.

Safechuck described suffering from similar mental health issues shortly after Jackson’s death and also after the birth of his first child.

“When you see how innocent kids are, this kind of shoves that in your face. He was getting closer to the age I was when I was getting abused,” he said.

‘I had one job – and I f***ed up’

One of the biggest talking points of the series undoubtedly has been the alleged victims’ mothers roles. Both admit to allowing Jackson to sleep in the same bed with their children unattended.

In the closing minutes of the four-hour series, Joy and Stephanie speak about the shame they feel in pursuing a friendship with the late music superstar.

“I had one job – and I f***ed up…My son had to suffer for me to have this life. My son is messed up today because of it. I am messed up today because of it,” Stephanie said.

“He was a paedophile. The word says it all. Paedophile,” she added.

“Forgiving myself is the other thing. I don’t know if I can ever do that,” Joy admitted.

Can either sons forgive them? Robson said it had taken him many years, but now he had forgiven his mother.

Safechuck said forgiveness is still very much a work in progress for him.

“It was all a big seduction. Do I blame them? I’m still working on it,” he says as the haunting documentary drew to a close.