A group of Michael Jackson fan clubs are suing Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two subjects of the recent HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. As Reuters reports, the three organizations—the Michael Jackson Community, the MJ Street, and On The Line—allege that the documentary is “sullying [Jackson’s] image” and are seeking symbolic damages of 1 Euro ($1.13) each.
The three fan clubs are suing in France due to the country’s more strict defamation laws, which extend beyond a person’s lifetime. As Stereogum points out, the group’s lawyer Emmanuel Ludot won a similar case in 2014 against Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray, who had supplied the pop star with drugs in the days before his death. Regarding the fan clubs’ case, Ludot compared Robson and Safechuck’s allegations to a “genuine lynching” of Jackson.
“In France you cannot sully the images of the dead,” Ludot said about his decision to take on the case. “There’s moral and emotional suffering. And when there’s suffering, there’s compensation. It’s very simple.” A court judgement will be delivered on October 4.
