A Kiwi Michael Jackson superfan who nearly got tattoos of the pop icon and his lyrics says she doesn't know how fans can come back from the revelations of sexual abuse in Leaving Neverland, and she doesn't think he's innocent.
More than 700, 000 New Zealanders tuned in to Part 1 of the Leaving Neverland documentary on TVNZ1 last night, with Part 2 tonight.
The programme features two men who accuse Michael Jackson of abusing them when they were boys.
The programme has divided opinion around the world, making some change their minds about their former hero, while others say it's one-sided and uproven.
Siena Yates, who's NZ Herald Deputy Entertainment Editor, told Seven Sharp her Michael Jackson fandom was "embarrassingly big - to I nearly got tattoos of Michael Jackson and of lyrics and all those kinds of things. Just, you know, collecting records and singing all the songs and dressing up".
Asked how she feels about him now, Yates said: "Still think he's great, still think he's a pop icon, undeniable. But I don't know how fans come back from something like this."
"The thing that got me really wasn't so much the details of the physical abuse, it was kind of how he groomed them and their families just to, like, really firmly embed himself into the whole structure of the family. And it's horrifying."
Jackson was tried on child molestation charges in 2005 and acquitted.
But after watching Leaving Neverland Yates doesn't think it's plausible that he is innocent.
"Not any more. As a fan I wish that it could be still a possibility. But I don't think so, not after watching everyone in those families give that testimony," she said.
Still, she doesn't know yet if she'll be dumping her Michael Jackson CDs and memories of the late star.
"I don't know yet. I have not made my peace with it yet. I'm still on the fence about how to separate the man from the art."
Yates would "100 per cent" be watching Part 2 of Leaving Neverland tonight.
"I think it's sort of irresponsible not to," she said.
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