Despite his death nearly 20 years ago, there are still few figures on Earth as famous as Michael Jackson. A singular entertainer, Jackson’s music has a timelessness and energy that reverberates across generations. However, the “Thriller” artist’s eccentricities and legal battles also remain forever tethered to his name. When Jackson was accused of multiple accounts of child molestation in 2003, it set off media mayhem, rivaling the O.J. Simpson trial a decade prior. Now, in Netflix’s latest docuseries, “Michael Jackson: The Verdict,” director Nick Green examines the case against the Motown legend, the news circus surrounding the 2005 trial and what happened inside the courtroom. 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.
The three-episode series opens amid the search warrant executed on Jackson’s 2,700-acre ranch, Neverland near Santa Barbara, California. Never-before-seen video shows law enforcement officers combing through every nook and cranny of the estate, including bedrooms, hidden stairwells and rooms full of dolls, videotapes and figurines. Though many Jackson fans and people who were around in the early 2000s certainly will recall the hoopla that was the trial, Green goes back to the beginning. Former BBC journalist Martin Bashir’s documentary “Living With Michael Jackson” put the spotlight on the entertainer’s relationship with 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo, who would go on to accuse the King of Pop of molesting him.
As Episode 1 highlights, Jackson never really recovered from the 1993 child molestation accusations when he settled with 12-year-old Jordy Chandler and his family for $23 million. Determined to reclaim his image, Jackson invited Bashir to Neverland to make a film. In “Michael Jackson: The Verdict,” Bashir recalls meeting the singer, earning his trust and filming “Living With Michael Jackson.” In the BBC documentary, Jackson is seen clutching Arvizo’s hand and speaking joyfully about sharing a bed with the boy on multiple occasions. It was a revelation that stunned the world and set off a firestorm, followed by accusations of child sex abuse.
Using archival footage, trial notes, clips and interviews from key players, including prosecutor Ron Zonen, defense attorney Mark Geragos, several jurors, Bashir, investigative journalist Diane Dimond, and several folks from Jackson’s inner circle — like his then-publicist, Raymone Bain, and director of security Kerry Anderson — “The Verdict” recounts Jackson’s indictment, trial and, eventually, the verdict.
No cameras were allowed in the court, yet the series does an expert job unpacking the ins and outs of the three-month-long trial. Dimond and CBS trial analyst Trent Copeland, among others, reflect on the ups and downs of both legal teams across the 60-day long trial, while offering viewers insight into Jackson’s state of mind and the public’s perception of what was happening.
Still, the trial itself isn’t the most interesting component of the docuseries. What’s most significant is Green’s ability to showcase how the trial wasn’t going to be “fair” on either side. There are some figures who can usurp the American justice system (no matter how historically corrupt, racist and unfair it may be), and Jackson was one of those people. Despite the damning evidence and testimony, the prosecution appeared to have forgotten the burden was truly on them to prove guilt, which meant they needed to battle the court of public opinion from the start.
From the media tapes, jurors and archival footage of megafan Sheree Wilkins, who quit her job as a preschool teacher to be present for the trial, it quickly became evident people had long ago formed their opinions of Jackson, and they were sticking to their beliefs at any cost.
That’s clearly still true today. Amidst the current frenzy surrounding the success of the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” it makes sense Netflix would revisit one of the defining moments of the “Man in the Mirror” singer’s life. However, when it all shakes out, “Michael Jackson: The Verdict” is an indictment of a society committed to whatever narrative made most sense to them. Two decades after the trial ended, the only innocents in all of this were the children.
“Michael Jackson: The Verdict” is now streaming on Netflix.
