Supporters of the late pop superstar Michael Jackson have pushed back against recent allegations of child sexual abuse by launching a posters campaign on London’s iconic red buses.
The posters form part of a wider campaign to counter claims made against Michael Jackson in a recent four-hour documentary Leaving Neverland. In the film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck accuse Jackson of repeated sexual abuse when they were children.
One of the posters shows Jackson with the word “INNOCENT” taped across his mouth, with the words: “FACTS DON’T LIE. PEOPLE DO.” The other poster simply displays the hashtag “#MJINNOCENT.”
The buses were funded by the MJInnocent campaign, who have recently raised $19,700 via GoFundMe to help prove Jackson’s innocence, and will run on 60 London buses until the end of the month.
“In response to the #LyingAboutNeverland MOCKumentry, I decided to come up with the idea of having adverts placed on the sides of British buses, showing support for Michael Jackson, both in London and around the country,” wrote the GoFundMe organizer Séany O’Kane.
“The truth is, I am genuinely more interested in principles and the moral wrong that has overcome media outlets recently, in their attempt to vilify a dead black man and drag his life’s work and reputation through the mud – based on seriously questionable declarations from people who stand to gain a lot financially from their untruths,” he continued.
Meanwhile, a website mjinoccent.com has also recently been launched, with campaigners pointing to various inconsistencies in the victim’s stories, including the fact they testified under oath that Jackson never did anything inappropriate.
“The above doesn’t even scrape the surface of the many inconsistencies, contradictions and outright lies being told about Michael Jackson, all of which are being completely ignored by the media,” the campaign reads. “There is so much more to this story and once the true facts are laid bare, it is clear that the only victim here is Michael Jackson.”
The Jackson family have repeatedly denied all claims against their late relative, who died in 2009 of a cardiac arrest.
“Michael was subjected to a thorough investigation which included a surprise raid of Neverland and other properties as well as a jury trial where Michael was found to be COMPLETELY INNOCENT,” they said in a statement earlier this week.