![leaving neverland documentary online leaving neverland documentary online](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/04/13/33D38AF000000578-3573003-A_documentary_airing_on_ITV_has_gone_behind_the_walls_of_the_pri-a-13_1462363940450.jpg)
![leaving neverland documentary online leaving neverland documentary online](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article14103394.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/0_MAIN-Michael-Jackson-Leaving-Neverland.jpg)
The difference is, Spacey is alive, and the ostracisation will have some impact. One can argue that Kevin Spacey’s career is over despite a body of critically acclaimed works. It doesn’t make a difference to the King of Pop whether you listen to his music anymore. It doesn’t matter to King of Pop whether you listen to his music or not
![leaving neverland documentary online leaving neverland documentary online](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2019/02/22/11/wade-robson-meets-mj-first-time-1.jpeg)
Boycotting Jackson’s music will send out the message of zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and therefore he should be put alongside the Harvey Weinsteins and the Bill Cosbys and the Kevin Spaceys of the world.
![leaving neverland documentary online leaving neverland documentary online](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/03/05/arts/05mj-superfans/mj-superfans-superJumbo.jpg)
Michael Jackson should be treated similarly as the other ‘stalwarts’ named in the #MeToo. Those boys were in awe of him, adored him and looked up to him. The brilliance of Michael Jackson’s music won’t change the fact that he was a molester, and that he molested young boys by taking them into confidence. If we believe the accusations, what do we do with the art? While it will be difficult to stop listening to songs written and performed by Jackson, or for that matter consume any art by an artist accused of being a sexual molester, it doesn’t change the fact that the person still did something horrible to other human beings. Leaving Neverland, the documentary by Dan Reed, has once again brought out accounts of sexual abuse against ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson, as well as that question that has been asked most in recent times with the rise of the #MeToo movement – should we separate the art from the artist? Michael Jackson doesn’t fit anywhere other than alongside Bill Cosbys and Kevin Spaceys of the world It’s really up to you, and unfortunately or not, we tend to make exceptions for our favourites. The rule isn’t uniform though – Kevin Spacey was fired after all, but perhaps we were able to cancel him because he wasn’t the king of pop. To isolate one and say, ‘hey this is cancelled,’ would mean that every subsequent thing inspired by it would also need to be scrutinised – which is impossible to do. Cultural evolution, be it music, film, literature, theory, dance etc, takes place in a continuum of conversation – ideas lead to other ideas. The truth is that no one really has an answer to whether it is right, or even possible, to separate the artist from their art. Whether or not you want to listen to Michael Jackson after hearing the testimonies of boys he sexually abused, is up to your personal politics. Calls for boycotting or ‘cancelling’ take place in a para-legal setup that tries to compensate for deficiencies in mainstream justice. While a significant rubric to judge the effectiveness of social activism, and change brought through it, is to see how many people it was able to impact, in some cases it just doesn’t work. I don’t think it’s a question of collective action. Isolating one art would demand scrutiny of every art influenced by it, which isn’t possible ThePrint asks: Should we stop listening to Michael Jackson after HBO’s ‘Leaving Neverland’ documentary? The Jackson estate has filed a $100-million lawsuit against HBO. HBO’s documentary Leaving Neverland has reopened the debate on ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson’s alleged sexual abuse of children, with two men detailing their memories of being sexually and emotionally manipulated as under-teens.