Listen Live
Fantastic Voyage Generic Graphics Updated Nov 2023
Black America Web Featured Video
CLOSE

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has reacted to the allegations made against Michael Jackson in the HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland” by removing three of his artifacts from exhibits.

The documentary features testimony from two men who claim the King of Pop groomed them for sex and molested them when they were young.

CBS News reports that the museum has pulled Jackson’s iconic fedora and white glove — purchased years ago at auction for the museum’s “American Pop” exhibit. A signed poster from “The Power of Children” exhibit has also been removed from public viewing.

“As the world’s largest children’s museum, we are very sensitive to our audience,” Kimberly Harms Robinson, director of media and public relations, told CBS News on Saturday. “In an excess of caution, and in response to the controversy over the HBO film called ‘Leaving Neverland,’ which directly involved allegations of abuse against children, we removed those objects while we carefully consider the situation more fully.”

Several pictures of the musician will remain on display in “The Power of Children” exhibit. The images are part of Ryan White’s room, the Indiana teen who died of HIV/AIDS in the ’90s. Jackson befriended Ryan before his death in 1990 and even attended his funeral.

“Ryan’s family found Michael Jackson’s kindness to them to be an important part of Ryan’s story and the pictures of Michael displayed in that exhibit will always be an integral part of the Ryan White story,” Harms Robinson said. “The poster was removed because it was not part of the original re-creation of Ryan’s room.”

Jackson was acquitted on child molestation charges in 2005. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2009. His family calls the documentary a “public lynching” and the accusers “admitted liars.”

The ‘Leaving Neverland’ Documentary Left Michael Jackson Fans Polarized
25 photos

HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE