Most people surveyed about Michael Jackson said rekindled allegations of sexual abuse have not stopped them from listening to the late singer’s music, pollsters said Friday.
The results of a national poll conducted in the aftermath of HBO recently airing an explosive documentary about Jackson, “Leaving Neverland,” found that a minority of respondents have stopped listening to his songs following the film’s television debut last weekend.
Among 1,952 adults surveyed this week, 16 percent said they have stopped listening to Jackson, or roughly 1 in 6 people polled.
More than half of respondents — 54 percent — said they have not stopped listening to Jackson’s music, however, according to The Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter survey.
Twenty-two percent of respondents said they did not listen to Jackson before the film’s release, and 9 percent said they had no opinion, the poll concluded.
Produced by British filmmaker Dan Reed, “Leaving Neverland” profiles two adult men — Wade Robson and James Safechuck — who claim they were sexually abused by Jackson as boys.
Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50. His estate has denied the men’s allegations and is suing HBO for $100 million.
On Thursday, meanwhile, James L. Brooks, a longtime producer of “The Simpsons,” said that a 1991 episode of the animated series featuring an uncredited appearance by Jackson would be pulled from circulation to “show compassion for Mr. Jackson’s alleged victims.”
“The documentary gave evidence of monstrous behavior,” Mr. Brooks told The Wall Street Journal.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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