The new musical film about Michael Jackson has been smashing box-office records across the globe.

Telling the story of his life and career from the 1960s to the late 1980s, it is introducing a new generation of fans to the King of Pop.

But ‘Michael’ has also been criticised for sanitising the superstar’s life and making no mention of the child sexual abuse accusations that dogged his career.

Jackson was accused of molesting several young boys, but never convicted of any sexual offences against children.

He settled out of court with one young accuser, while jurors cleared him of molestation charges relating to another boy.

Jackson, who found fame as part of The Jackson Five, vehemently denied any wrongdoing up until his death in June 2009.

Several alleged victims later came forward claiming he had molested them when they were youngsters.

Wade Robson and James Safechuck told the 2019 ‘Leaving Neverland’ documentary they were abused at his Neverland Ranch.

Jackson, who found fame as part of The Jackson Five, vehemently denied any of the sexual abuse allegations levelled against him until his death in June 2009

Jackson, pictured with his brother Randy, at a pre-trial hearing in Santa Maria, in 2004

Several men allege horrific sexual abuse took place at Jackson’s Neverland ranch when they were children in the 1980s and 1990s

Jackson’s family and supporters dismissed the allegations, saying the pair were lying.

But as one of the only journalists to ever be invited inside Neverland ranch, I believe they were telling the truth.

I can reveal for the first time the chilling throwaway remark from a Jackson employee which made me convinced he was a predatory paedophile.

Back in 2004 I was working for a press agency in Los Angeles and was tasked with covering Jackson’s upcoming child molestation trial.

A young boy, Gavin Arvizo, had told detectives a year earlier that he had been abused by the singer at Neverland.

Police carried out a dramatic raid on the ranch in November of that year and charged Jackson with seven counts of child molestation the following month.

His first court appearance in Santa Maria, 160 miles north of Los Angeles, in January 2004 predictably turned into a media circus.

Journalists from across the world descended on the small town, as did thousands of delirious ‘Jacko’ fans.

Jackson, accompanied by Nation of Islam bodyguards, arrived late for the Friday morning hearing and was scolded by the judge.

Meanwhile outside the courtroom, his minders were quietly handing out invites to an afternoon party at Neverland.

The A5-sized posters read: ‘In the spirit of love and togetherness, Michael Jackson would like to invite his fans and supporters to his Neverland Ranch.’

A photographer colleague managed to bag two of the invites before Jackson emerged from court, climbed onto the roof of his SUV and blew kisses to his fans.

I jumped into my car and followed the Jackson convoy as it sped towards Neverland, followed by TV helicopter crews.

Wade Robson (left) claimed he was abused by the late singer starting when he was about eight, from 1990 to 1996, and James Safechuck alleged the sex abuse took place between 1988 to 1992, starting when he was about 11 years old 

Safechuck, aged 10, was befriended by the star and regularly visited his Neverland ranch

Robson aged 5 with Jackson during the first time he met the singer in November 1987

As I pulled up at the famous wooden gates, the singer’s vehicles sped straight in.

I was stopped by a Nation of Islam guard, who asked to see my invite and then waved me through.

Guests were directed to a makeshift car park, and then inside a marquee where mobile phones and cameras had to be handed in.

I was also made to sign a release which allowed the Jackson estate to film visitors on his property.

We walked towards the iconic train station, passing bronze statues of children and turkey hotdog and fried chicken sellers.

It felt like being in a magical theme park rather than someone’s private home.

A train tooted as it meandered through the estate, while the air was filled with the sounds of fairground rides.

Within an hour there were hundreds of visitors strolling the grounds, many of them families with young children.

Jackson was nowhere to be seen, but his relatives could be seen inside the main closed-off residence.

I remember peering through the windows and seeing the superstar’s self-portraits on the walls.

Members of his immediate family, including his mother Katherine, stood chatting in the kitchen.

Classical music played throughout the ranch through speakers disguised as rocks, while a gospel group entertained the crowds.

The fairground had rides including a replica Disney carousel, a pirate ship, bumper cars and a giant slide.

I also saw elephants, giraffes, chimpanzees and snakes in his private zoo.

Eventually I made my way into Jackson’s 50-seat cinema.

It boasted a snack bar, where staff handed out free popcorn and sweets.

Inside it was painted a lurid blue, with maroon seats and one film playing – Peter Pan.

As I walked into the cinema itself, things took a sinister twist.

One journalist who visited the Neverland ranch was surprised to find additional rooms behind the cinema room which played Peter Pan ‘all day, every day’

A grab from documentary leaving Neverland shows the room behind the cinema from where his accusers allege they could watch the film from a bed

I exchanged pleasantries with a staff member who was sitting on the back row.

‘Do they show any other movies?’ I asked her.

‘No, it’s just Peter Pan, on a loop, all day every day,’ she replied.

When I exclaimed surprise, she pointed to the rear of the cinema and said: ‘That’s nothing, take a look in there’.

She opened a door to a room next to the movie projector, which had a huge king-sized bed and a window looking out towards the screen.

‘That’s where he watches the movie with his ‘special friends’,’ she whispered. ‘He gets into bed with them and locks the door. You get me?’

I was flabbergasted and horrified. The insinuation was clear – Jackson molested his victims in the exact room I was peering into.

When I questioned the employee further, she muttered: ‘That’s all I’m saying man, I ain’t stupid.’

For a journalist, this was explosive material – but also unreportable.

I have no idea why that woman chose to show me the room, but it stayed with me forever.

The Neverland party finished at around 5pm, with guests making their way back through the marquee to collect their belongings.

I filed a story for that week’s Sunday papers – minus the cinema claims – and drove home to Los Angeles, barely believing what I had seen.

It would be another 15 years until I saw that cinema again.

‘Leaving Neverland’, which was released in 2019, aired the harrowing accounts of Wade and James, who say they were groomed by Jackson as boys.

James described how Jackson molested him and forced him to perform oral sex in various sites on the Neverland ranch.

To my horror, they included the same room at the back of the cinema that had been pointed out to me on my visit.

It seemed the female employee had been telling the truth all along.

‘Leaving Neverland’s’ makers had even sourced photographs from inside the cinema, showing the red seats and secret room, minus the bed.

It also turned out there was a second identical room, on the other side of the projector, which I had not been shown.

James recalled: ‘The movie theatre had these two private rooms, big glass windows so you could see the theatre.

‘We would have sex in those rooms. That was a bit dangerous, there was a bit of excitement there.’

James’s mum Stephanie remembered almost catching Jackson in the act when she turned up in the cinema unannounced.

‘I didn’t tell him I was coming, so the door was locked,’ she recalled.

‘You had to knock loud because the movie was on. He came down, unlocked it and made some excuse.

‘He didn’t mean to lock the door, he did not know the door was locked,’ that’s what he told me.

‘He was in there with Jimmy, they were in the bed.’

Just a month after my Neverland visit, I had another encounter with the King of Pop.

After receiving a tip-off that he was in Aspen with family, I was dispatched to Colorado with photographer Phil Penman.

Unbeknown to us, he was staying in a mansion on a ranch just outside the ski resort with his children.

After four days trying unsuccessfully to find Jackson, we were on the verge of giving up.

By sheer luck, we happened to spot two heavily-built men standing outside a shop on Aspen’s Main Street.

They looked out of place and slightly agitated, so we watched as they went from shop to shop, glancing in the windows.

It suddenly dawned on us that they were using the windows to watch what was happening in the reflection across the street.

We glanced behind us and there was Jackson, wearing a blue ski suit and black balaclava, walking hand in hand with a young boy.

Our pictures and video were published across the globe and left Jackson’s PR team furious.

The following year he was cleared of all child molestation charges by a jury in Santa Maria after a four-month trial.

Jackson refused to set foot in Neverland again after the acquittal, telling his sister LaToya: ‘I hate that place’.

He died four years later, aged 50, after overdosing on propofol and other prescription drugs at his Los Angeles home.

But nearly 17 years after his death, the child abuse allegations continue.

Four siblings filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles in February claiming Jackson groomed and abused them for years at Neverland and other locations.

James Safechuck and Wade Robson are suing the late singer’s company, MJJ Productions, alleging staff were complicit in the abuse they suffered

In an interview earlier this month, Edward Cascio, Dominic Cascio, Marie-Nicole Porte and Aldo Cascio said members of his entourage enabled the alleged abuse.

The suit describes Jackson as a ‘serial child predator’ who ‘drugged, raped and sexually assaulted’ the siblings.

They claim Jackson’s aides ‘installed security systems at Neverland designed to prevent outsiders from discovering Jackson’s crimes’.

Marty Singer, lawyer for Jackson’s estate, described the lawsuit as a ‘shakedown attempt’.

He added: ‘Sadly, in death just as in life, Michael’s talents and success continue to make him a target.’

Their accusations echoed those of Robson, now 43 and Safechuck, 48, who have long claimed the late King of Pop sexually abused them as young children – and are awaiting a civil trial scheduled for later this year.

They alleged the abuse, which continued for seven years in Robson’s case and four in Safechuck’s, left them mentally traumatised.

Now a father-of-two, Safechuck is a podcaster who draws on his own experience of abuse to help others.

Meanwhile, Robson, a successful choreographer who once dated Britney Spears, has swapped glitzy music tours for rural peace in a quiet part of Maui, where he works as a life coach.

On his website, he reveals his experience of childhood abuse resulted in him suffering two nervous breakdowns. 

Robson and Safechuck, who are suing the late singer’s company MJJ Productions, allege staff were complicit in the abuse they suffered because they knew Jackson was grooming and abusing children and helped him cover it up. 

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail last year, Michael Jackson’s bodyguard fiercely defended the late popstar and dismissed his two accusers as opportunists ‘looking to make a quick buck.’

Jimmy Van Norman, who worked as Jackson’s security detail for a decade, accused both Robson and Safechuck of ‘being full of s***’ and trying to sell a bogus story.

Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard Jimmy Van Norman said Jackson’s accusers are ‘looking to make a quick buck’

He remains adamant that he never witnessed any inappropriate behaviour with the pair or any other children Jackson hosted at his Neverland Ranch.

‘If I ever thought anything untoward was going on with children, I would’ve freaking killed him myself,’ he said.

‘No doubt about that. I was never going to put up with that. And other guys that worked there, too, would have done the same thing,’ he added. 

Neverland was put up for sale for £80m in 2016. By that time the fairground rides and most of the animals were gone.

It was eventually bought for around £18m by billionaire businessman Ronald Burkle in 2020 and rebranded as Sycamore Valley Ranch.

According to reports, the cinema is still there.