Jermaine Jackson made a tearful appearance on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain, during which he branded sexual abuse allegations against his late brother, Michael, as “nonsense”.
The allegations are featured in a new four-hour documentary, Leaving Neverland, which has already made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival.
It focuses on the accounts of two men who claim they were sexually abused by the singer as children.
Their claims have already been vehemently denied by the Jackson estate, and Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine addressed the controversy during a Good Morning Britain interview.
Referring to accuser Wade Robson, who previously said in court that he’d never been assaulted by the late star, Jermaine said: “What people don’t know is that Wade changed his story that he maintained, before and after Michael’s death.
“He tried to go out and shop a book deal, that no publisher would touch. He even sued the estate for $1.5 billion, it was tossed out of court. He wanted to try out for the hit choreography part for [a Michael Jackson-themed show from] Cirque Du Soleil, so what was left for him to do was to do a documentary.
“So he gets in front of the camera with a bunch of people and spews out all these nonsense statements.”
He continued: “The statement we put out says it all. I wanted to come on because I’ve always jumped to my brother’s defence, even when he was living.
“I’m just saying he was tried with all these things, even child services in Los Angeles cleared him, even before the trial in Santa Barbara, and so they had to put his name through the mud and he was cleared of all of this. So it’s nonsense.”
Jermaine also reflected on the difficult years the Jackson family have endured, recalling: “We lost Michael, we lost our father, we’re still mourning, we lost… we lost a lot. Just leave us alone. Leave him alone. Let him rest, please. Let him rest. He deserves to rest.”
Channel 4 is planning to show Leaving Neverland here in the UK, though it’s not currently clear when.
Michael Jackson always denied abuse allegations while he was alive. He died in June 2009 after a lethal dose of anaesthetic propofol.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6.30am on ITV.