HBO pulled the explosive Michael Jackson sexual abuse documentary in 2024, but there’s still a way to stream Leaving Neverland in the U.S.

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Michael Jackson is back in the news with the premiere of Michael, the first full-on biopic about the “King of Pop.” The film opened to a massive $217 million global box office, despite poor reviews from critics.

Many critics of Michael felt the biopic offered an overly sanitized look at the superstar, primarily since it ends before Jackson was first accused of child molestation (Jackson denied all allegations). This has led to renewed interest in the critically-acclaimed 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, which centers on Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s accusations of sexual abuse by Jackson.

Is Leaving Neverland Available in the U.S.?

As many are currently realizing, Leaving Neverland is unavailable to stream on any U.S. services. The two-part documentary was originally released on HBO (which also financed the film), but the Jackson estate sued HBO, claiming the film violated a nondisparagement clause in a 1992 contract between Jackson and the cable network. The suit ended in 2024 with HBO removing Leaving Neverland from its streaming platform, and no other streamer has been able to carry it since.

How to Watch Leaving Neverland In the U.S.

Although Leaving Neverland is unavailable to stream on any U.S. services, we were able to find a way to watch it online. Leaving Neverland is available to watch on Netflix Japan, which viewers in the U.S. can access using a virtual private network (VPN). These popular services let you connect to servers in different parts of the world, no matter where you’re physically located, and access content that would normally be geoblocked.

If you want to stream Leaving Neverland in the U.S. but don’t have a VPN, two of the best options are ExpressVPN and NordVPN. Both offer fast connections to hundreds of servers, and they’re reasonably priced with monthly subscriptions starting around $13. That price goes down if you pay for multiple months up-front, and both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you want to cancel.

What Is Leaving Neverland About?

Directed by Dan Reed, Leaving Neverland details sexual abuse allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck against Jackson. The two men allege that Jackson groomed and sexually abused them during different periods — Safechuck from 1988 to 1992 and Robson from 1990 to 1996 — primarily at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The film is extremely graphic, and, upon its release in 2019, seemed to initiate a public reckoning for Jackson.

But judging by the massive success of Michael, either Jackson’s fans’ loyalty or the estate’s victory against HBO (or both) has caused that reckoning to fizzle out. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Reed said, “[The release of Michael] brought back a lot of the Leaving Neverland situation, with these competing narratives of who Michael Jackson was. My first impression [of Michael], obviously, was that’s a weird thing to attempt given the subject matter.”

Reed released a sequel to Leaving Neverland on YouTube last year and is working on another follow-up around Robson and Safechuck’s upcoming civil lawsuit against two corporate entities connected to Jackson.