Netflix almost pulled the streamer’s recent documentary “Michael Jackson: The Verdict” a week before its release for fear of reprisal, Variety has learned.
The three-part docuseries re-examines Jackson’s 2005 criminal trial, which saw the pop superstar acquitted of all charges, including child molestation. It ultimately ran as planned, premiering on June 3.
“It would have been very embarrassing to pull the series after you drop the trailer — it would have been a huge story,” a source told Variety.
That source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was one of two who told Variety that “higher ups” at the streamer got “cold feet,” and considered axing the project after it had already been announced, mere days before it was due to be released, primarily because of concerns about blowback from Jackson’s estate, which has a reputation for litigiousness. The response from Jackson’s fans, who are known to be vociferous in their support of the deceased singer, also added to the streamer’s nervousness around the doc.
“It was the fear of a lawsuit from the estate rather than the fans,” the first source told Variety. “[Netflix] was really scared of their financial muscle.”
A Netflix spokesperson, however, disputed these claims in a statement to Variety, which read: “Characterizations that Netflix reconsidered the release or changed course because of outside pressure are inaccurate. The series launched as planned and reached the Netflix Top 10 for three weeks.”
The Michael Jackson estate’s litigiousness, however, is well-documented. The estate previously sued HBO over the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland,” eventually succeeding in getting the film pulled from HBO Max in 2024. Before that, in 2018, the estate also sued ABC over another doc, “The Last Days of Michael Jackson,” which resulted in the parties reaching an out-of-court settlement.
Despite the streamer’s concerns, Variety understands that, to date, Netflix has not heard from the estate. (A spokesperson for the estate did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.) But the source did say that Netflix was unhappy it received “so many emails from the fans” complaining about the documentary, although the company apparently relaxed after discovering a number of those emails were sent by bots, the source added.
The docuseries presents an even-handed look at how the 2005 trial unfolded, with first-hand testimony from both camps: those who believed Jackson was guilty of molesting 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo as well as those who continue to plead his innocence, including long-time Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman, publicist Raymone Bain and even a fan who quit her job to attend the trial at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.
Two jurors were also interviewed for the series, giving reasons for their decision. Neither Arvizo nor his family, who supported his account, participated.
Variety‘s TV critic Aramide Tinubu wrote of the doc in her review: “Though the show offers the details and accounts which eventually led to Jackson’s acquittal, it stands more as an examination of our collective obsession with celebrity, who the public is willing to believe and why.”
Jackson’s fans, who remain convinced of their hero’s innocence in the face of numerous child sex abuse allegations, have been quick to attack projects and outlets that set out the case against him in the past.
A Change.org petition titled “Pull ‘Michael Jackson: The Verdict’ off Netflix” has garnered more than 188,000 signatures, while numerous threads on social media platforms including Reddit have seen fans claiming to have canceled their Netflix subscriptions over the doc. On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience rating is 7%, while the reviews from critics put the series at 82%.
Variety understands that Netflix took a number of precautions around releasing the documentary, including only announcing its existence just two weeks before the launch, sending security briefings to those involved in its production and only corresponding about the documentary from a single dedicated Netflix email address that did not disclose the sender’s name. The streamer also declined all reviews ahead of the premiere, as well as any interviews with the documentary’s makers.
“There was anxiety,” the source said. “And as a result of that anxiety they took the decision there’d be no marketing and no publicity.”
“[The filmmakers] weren’t allowed to talk,” added the source. “There was no publicity whatsoever, it was extraordinary.” In spite of the brouhaha behind the scenes, “Michael Jackson: The Verdict,” which was directed by Nick Green and produced by Candle True Stories, landed on the streamer on June 3, just a few months after the release of the estate’s blockbuster “Michael” biopic, which ends its action before the allegations against Jackson began. The documentary quickly jumped to the top of the TV charts with 17.8 million views in its first five days, reaching No. 1 in 61 countries, and the Top 10 in 89 countries.
