Michael Jackson Foundation lawyer: Robson’s claim is shameless and pathetic
Wade Robson (Wade Robson), the ۳۰-year-old Australian dancer and choreographer, owes everything he has today to Michael Jackson. But his desire for money is stronger than the love he once claimed to have for Michael. He is now the perfect example of “eating salt and breaking the saltcellar”!
Michael Jackson made this child’s talent flourish. He brought him to America, gave him wings, became his teacher, and entrusted him with what he knew. Robson rose, became famous, gained a name and reputation, and even became a choreographer for Britney Spears. But beyond all these achievements, there is a twenty-year friendship with Michael Jackson.
He was a guest of Michael in Neverland as a child and benefited from private dance training sessions with the dance teacher, Michael Jackson. For years he praised Michael, and after his death he mourned him. Today, however, he is speaking entirely different claims.
When allegations of sexual abuse against Michael were raised in ۲۰۰۵, Wade Robson stubbornly defended Michael. He appeared in court and, during a fiery Q&A session with the case prosecutor, not only defended Michael’s innocence, but also denied the prosecutor’s claims. The prosecutor claimed that Robson was also one of Michael’s victims. Robson, who had sworn that in the witness stand he had never seen any improper behavior from Michael. In addition to him, his mother and sister also testified in court, and all of them defended Michael. His mother said: “I have known Michael for a long time. I have spoken with him for hours, back and forth. I trust him. I am willing to leave my children alone with him.”
After Michael’s death in ۲۰۰۹, Robson described him as a very good person and said he had an extremely good relationship with him. Three months after Michael’s death, at an MTV ceremony, Robson paid tribute to him. Robson was one of the dancers who performed on stage alongside Michael’s sister, Janet Jackson, to the song “Scream.”
But now the situation has changed. Robson’s pockets are empty, and he may receive a multi-billion-dollar compensation from the AEG company within a few months.
CNN obtained documents yesterday showing that Wade Robson filed a lawsuit last week against the Michael Jackson Foundation, claiming that he was sexually abused as a child. After Michael’s death, many people went after their claims against his foundation, and the Los Angeles court set a legal deadline for these people to submit their cases and allegations to the legal authorities. That deadline ended long ago. However, Robson has asked the court to allow him to present his case.
But why is he speaking up after all these years? Robson has claimed that he suffered from repressed memories. Meaning that his memory automatically blocked his memories, and only recently has he remembered everything.
Wade Robson worked for AEG on Britney Spears’ ۲۰۰۸ tour as a tour choreographer. He is currently an employee of this company and works on Demi Lovato’s tour. Did Robson take bribes from the company to come up with this lie? Are his baseless claims part of a company plot to damage Michael Jackson’s name? Is this lie the same dirty secret that the company’s lawyer promised to reveal in court?
Wade Robson’s memories of Michael Jackson
Judge Robson’s shameless claims by reading his memories, which were published by his foundation in the book Opas Michael Jackson after Michael’s death.
“I used to be in the habit of talking to Michael on the phone for three hours a day. I was never arrested to see how he found the time to do that, because it seemed to me he had a lot going on, but he would call me and we would talk and talk and talk. When he bought a mobile phone, he always called me and sent me text messages. This was part of an extraordinary friendship that lasted twenty years.
The first time I met him was on the BAD tour in ۱۹۸۷. I was five years old. Michael’s company held a dance competition in every country where the tour took place, and I participated in the competition held in Brisbane, Australia.
In fact, the trailer was the first song I danced to when I was two years old. My mother had a video tape that I would watch obsessively. Whenever the image of that werewolf-looking man (Michael) appeared on TV, I would run away in fear to the kitchen. When I turned three, I had learned many of the trailer’s dance moves.
In the dance competition, I won. They took us to meet Michael, and that’s where I was introduced to him. I remember that I was wearing an outfit like the one Michael wore in the video “Bad.” My mother’s belt had been wrapped around my waist about five times. Michael’s attention was drawn, and he asked me if I had participated in the competition. I told him yes, and then he asked me, ‘Do you want to perform next to me tomorrow night?’ I couldn’t believe it. He was going to perform in Brisbane the next night. His idea was that I would go on stage during the final part of the concert, which was the performance of the song ‘Bad.’ He was going to bring some orphaned children on stage, and he thought it would be interesting to have me appear on stage in my special outfit.
The next night, at the concert, at the end of the song, all of us went on stage. Stevie Wonder was also there. Michael came toward us and said, ‘Come on, hurry up.’ I thought he meant, ‘Give yourselves a push.’ I went to the front of the stage, threw my hat into the crowd, and started dancing and going crazy. When I turned my face back, I saw Michael saying goodbye to the crowd, and the other kids had already left, and they were escorting Stevie Wonder off stage. Michael’s meaning was, ‘Come on, we have to go, it’s over.’ When I realized that, I immediately ran to him. My mother and I spent two hours in the hotel with him and became friends. He showed us clips from the movie Moonwalker that he was working on at the time, and we talked and talked and talked. Our relationship didn’t continue, but exactly one day after that performance, I got hired by a dance company, and two years later I was in America to perform at Disneyland. I connected with him through Michael’s employees; he remembered me. My family and I went to the studio where he was mixing the album Dangerous. I showed him some of my dance videos, and he said, ‘Do you want to come to Neverland tonight with your family?’ We all agreed, and we stayed there for two weeks.
Our friendship began. He took me to his dance studio for two weeks, played music, and we danced for hours. We would sit there and watch videos—for example, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The rest of the time we would go out of Neverland and go for car rides, and the recording sound was turned up very loud. He even taught me Moonwalk. We were in his dance studio, and he taught me step by step. That night, I couldn’t sleep at all. The experience of learning Moonwalk next to the man who had made this dance famous around the world created a lot of excitement in me.
After that, my mom and I decided to move to America so I could pursue my dream of becoming a dancer, and Michael was the one who helped us. By including me in the video “Black or White,” he gave me a stormy start. The role he played in my life was that of a teacher. When I was seven, he told me that one day I would become a film director—and I did. He instilled in me a thirst for learning and knowledge. Once, a representative from a music recording company came to my house. (Refers to MJJ, the subsidiary of Michael Jackson’s music publishing company, Epic. In ۱۹۹۴, Michael signed a contract between his own company, MJJ, and Robson, and formed the group Quo.)
What’s interesting is that he prevented me from becoming a spoiled, selfish kid. He would say, ‘This is yours, but I want you to use it properly. Always be grateful, otherwise I’ll take it back.’
The last time I saw him was in July ۲۰۰۸. I was busy working in Vegas on a show, and he lived in the same city. My wife, him, and his three children had a barbecue party. That’s the most normal thing. My wife and I prepared healthy food and did a lot of shopping. But when we got there, we saw that Michael had done a lot of cooking. I told him, ‘Man, why did you prepare all this? We brought regular food with us.’ I went out to get things for the barbecue, and Michael sat under an umbrella there.
We had a great time together because he was a very kind and caring man. More than anything, I miss those phone chats. I still have his mobile number in my phone. I can’t even think about deleting his text messages.’”
Are these the words of a man who claims to have repressed memories? He remembers the details of his meetings with Michael so well!
In ۲۰۰۱, Michael Jackson told Robson in an interview with Rabia Shimioli Boutique about Wade:
Boutique: Oh, so he wasn’t in *NSYNC?* I’m talking about Wade. Michael: No, he’s a choreographer for Britney Spears and *NSYNC. Look, I was teaching Wade. Boutique: Really? Michael: Yes, I was teaching him. All the dances you see today from Britney Spears and *NSYNC—those dances and styles all come from me, because I was Wade’s teacher. He was from Australia, and I brought him to America.”
Michael Jackson Foundation statement
Howard Weitzman, the lawyer for the Michael Jackson Foundation, said today about Wade Robson’s claim:
“Mr. Robson’s claim is shameless and pathetic. He is the same young man who, over the past twenty years, has testified at least twice under oath in court and in his interviews said that Michael Jackson never committed any improper act. Now, four years after Michael’s death, this sad and unreliable claim has been raised by him. We are confident that the court will judge this matter the way it truly is.”
Thomas Mesero’s reaction
Robson’s empty words, calling himself Michael’s friend, have sparked a strong reaction from Thomas Mesero. Thomas Mesero handled Michael’s defense in court in ۲۰۰۵ and, during the hearings, proved that the complainant’s and the family’s statements were baseless. Over the years, he also used every opportunity to defend Michael. Mesero said about Robson’s new remarks to CNN:
“Nonsense. In the ۲۰۰۵ court case, he was one of our most important witnesses. He swore an oath and his testimony was unshakable. He said he had never been sexually abused by Michael. In response to the prosecutor’s aggressive behavior, he appeared very strong and firm, and he didn’t change his statements. He never showed any weakness or hesitation in emphasizing that Michael definitely did not cause him any harm.”
In the witness stand, Robson had addressed the court firmly: “I’m telling you that nothing ever happened between us. He never touched me.”
Mesero, pointing to the timing of this claim alongside the AEG trial, called Robson’s claim suspicious and said Robson is only after money. Mesero also mocked the claim that Robson suffered from repressed memories.
Roger Friedman’s remarks
Roger Friedman also addressed the issue on his website.
“Robson is trying to get compensation from the Michael Jackson Foundation. He and his mother testified in favor of Michael in the ۲۰۰۵ court case and were praised for him in the media. For Robson, it’s too late now. But what is the issue?
Robson’s common ground with Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and *NSYNC. Robson not only knew Jackson, but in his early youth he worked for *NSYNC. He choreographed for Britney and Justin Timberlake, another *NSYNC member, and now he is serving Demi Lovato.
The timing of Robson’s claim is very strange. The Jackson family has taken AEG to court and made a heavy compensation claim. But Robson’s claim doesn’t add up. He has paid tribute to Jackson in many performances and he was also a guest at Michael’s memorial in ۲۰۰۹. He also endured the prosecutor’s intense Q&A in ۲۰۰۵. Robson first needs to take back everything he said and did in praising Michael Jackson. To start, his video interview with E! where he described his relationship with Michael as ‘great.’
Joe Vogel’s reaction
In response to Robson’s shameless tribute, Joe Vogel, an author of books about Michael Jackson including Man in Music, posted on his Twitter some of Robson’s lines that were said in ۲۰۰۹:
“Michael Jackson changed the world, and he changed my life too. He is the reason I dance, the reason I make music, and one of the fundamental reasons I believe in people so much. He was my best friend for twenty years. His music, his dance, the words he inspired me with and gave me the courage—his endless, unconditional love will live in me forever. I miss him more than I can imagine, but I know he is at peace now and has enchanted heaven with his singing and dancing. I love you, Michael.”
Source: eMJey.com / CNN & Roger Freidman at Showbiz۴۱۱ & Joe Vogel at twitter