Radio stations in Australia, Canada and New Zealand have become the latest to ban Michael Jackson from the air after horrific abuse claims.
Sydney’s Nova Entertainment on Thursday became the latest radio group to announce they are taking the late ‘King of Pop’ off the air in response to public opinion.
Wade Robson and James Safechuck claim in HBO’s “Leaving Neverland” that Jackson abused them aged seven and ten respectively.
‘In light of what is happening at the moment, SmoothFM is not currently playing any Michael Jackson songs,’ local media quoted Nova’s programme director Paul Jackson as saying.
The documentary has not yet been broadcast in Australia. A second major Australian radio network, ARN, said it was ‘closely monitoring audience sentiment in relation to individual artists’.
In New Zealand, the star’s songs are now almost totally absent from the airwaves, after being pulled by the country’s two biggest radio networks, MediaWorks and NZME.
The HBO documentary, which aired in the United States on Sunday, has rekindled long-running questions about Jackson’s relationship with children.
There had been persistent rumours throughout Jackson’s life, but no allegations were ever substantiated.
The four-hour two-part documentary – which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year – has made sure those allegations continue a decade after he died of an overdose.
