As the fall-out caused by new documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’ continues to unfold, the man behind The Simpsons has come out and said that Michael Jackson apparently used his cameo in the show to “groom boys”.
Al Jean, the showrunner, believes that MJ didn’t use his famous cameo in the episode ‘Stark Raving Dad’ for comedy, but as “part of what he used to groom boys.” The episode has been removed from future airings.
“What saddens me is, if you watch [Leaving Neverland] —which I did, and several of us here did— and you watch that episode, honestly, it looks like the episode was used by Michael Jackson for something other than what we’d intended it,” Jean said to The Daily Beast.
“It wasn’t just a comedy to him, it was something that was used as a tool. And I strongly believe that. That, to me, is my belief, and it’s why I think removing it is appropriate.”
“I think it was part of what he used to groom boys,” Jean continued. “I really don’t know, and I should be very careful because this is not something I know personally, but as far as what I think, that’s what I think. And that makes me very, very sad.”
Leaving Neverland has had major impacts close to home, with Australian radio giant Nova removing Jackson’s music from air.
You can watch the documentary on TenPlay now.
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