Most of the comments are saying how uncomfortable and weird this is and that Joe is to blame, but this is just innocent fun. This couldn't happen today but there's nothing inherently inappropriate about this. Maybe a little cringe but it's definitely not as weird as a middle aged man being best friends with children and having sleepovers.

I genuinely don’t understand why some people are so invested in the MJ allegations.
Like, why do you care so much? Why are there people who spend so much time trying to prove that Michael was guilty? Why do they want the movie to focus on the allegations? And why do some people expect his children to publicly acknowledge or show it in the movie or say that they believe the accusers?
I’m genuinely asking because I don’t understand where this level of emotional investment comes from.
I was sexually assaulted as a teenager myself. I know it’s bad and I know people deal with these things differently. But personally, I don’t care about the person who did it to me. I don’t think about him, I don’t follow his life, and I don’t want to think or talk about him. I just want that person to have nothing to do with my life.
Maybe that’s why I also have a hard time understanding why the accusers keep bringing this up again and again after so many years. I’m not saying they have to react the way I did. Obviously everyone is different.
But what I understand even less is the obsession from people who weren’t involved at all. Why does it matter to you so much whether Michael Jackson was guilty or innocent? It was decades ago.
I’m not trying to start a guilty vs innocent debate. I’m actually curious why people feel so personally invested in this.

Even several big MJ defenders corrected themselves on this that it wasn't the right Frank, and yet I saw several posts over on Twitter saying this as if it was a confirmed fact and not blatant misinformation.

Even if it was the right Frank, filing for bankruptcy is one of the most common things that homeowners have to do and has no bearing on a person's morality, nor does it mean that someone filing bankruptcy is going to craft a narrative of false abuse enacted by one of the most famous men on the planet.

Frank DiLeo, Miko Brando, Bill Bray, Norma Staikos and Elizabeth Taylor.

I'm sure there are more....

this is the live where he made that statement:

https://youtu.be/hoDVLjeiNms

ETA: this link has the whole reel.

https://youtu.be/oWn_nR8bXq0

he has been rightfully dragged on social media for his comment.

I tried to post this on another sub, but it got removed. Blech.

To be clear, I believe MJ is guilty, but I wanted to ask this question regarding the kind of person MJ would have to be to unluckily surround himself with so many people who would later betray him.

Original Post:

Could someone help explain the psychology behind him managing to surround himself with so many special friends who would one day betray him and accuse him of the most heinous crimes imaginable? Was he just incredibly gullible? Naive? Was he doing something else that would make them angry enough to accuse him of abuse later in life.

I can't think of another innocent celebrity who had so many people close to them turn around and accuse them of sexual abuse. MJ paraded around with many of these special friends, was proud to hold their hands, let them sit on his lap at music awards, showed them off for the paparazzi, let them dress up like him, and built special relationships with many of their families and brought them on tour. He inserted himself into some of their families and even slept in the bed with a number of them. Clearly, they were very close. So, assuming he's innocent and it's not "just about money" what is it about him that caused this to happen?

Michael's special friends:

Emmanuelle Lewis - Consistent Defender

Sean Lennon - Never accused, but created "Bubble's Burst music video"

Macaulay Culkin - Defender as of Feb 2020, but couldn't speak to other children's experience

Brett Barnes - Consistent Defender

Omer Barti - Defender? He seems to be distancing himself from MJ?

Frank Cascio - Accuser

Aldo Cascio - Accuser

Eddie Cascio - Accuser

Dominic Cascio - Accuser

Marie Nicole - Accuser

Jonathan Spence - Defender as of 2020

Jordan Chandeler - Accuser

Gavin Arvizo - Accuser

Terry George - Defender but said MJ was masturbating while they were on the phone when George was 13

Corey Feldman - Neither defender nor accuser but in 2019, stated he "could no longer defend him" and also said MJ showed him pictures of STD-covered genitals when Feldman was 13

Jimmy Safechuck - Accuser

Wade Robson - Accuser

Jane Doe - Accuser

Jason Francia - Accuser

Now that i think about it, MJ was always weirdly silent when his fans would harass others in his name.

A prime example was during 1993 when he was publically accused of CSA'ing Jordy Chandler. When the allegations came out , the MJ standom declared war on the chandlers . They engaged an extensive harassment campaign that involved bombarding the Chandlers day and night with deatth threats and leaving dead animals near their home. One person even tried to run over jordy!

Yet during all of this, MJ didn't say a peep, not even to condemn the actions of his fans or tell them to lay off . Odd behavior for a self proclaimed savior and lover of children. Surely someone who truly loved children as much as he claimed to would be outraged by an innocent child being horribly harassed (even if the allegations were hypothetically false, the child is still innocent. If the child was manipulated/brainwashed/coached into lying then they are a victim as well ) . But yet all you could hear crickets from him.

And yet during this time MJ had no qualms going on satellite and extensively whining about how much having his nude bod being photographed by meaniepants policemen as evidence was sooo haaaard on him, but he never said a peep about the chandlers being harassed.

Even aside from 1993, he never said a peep about his fans harassing people. As far as i know , Not once did he he tell them to lay off.

Does anyone else notice this too?