Michael Jackson’s bodyguard has come to the defence of the late king of pop and insists the two accusers are opportunists who are “looking to make a quick buck”.
Michael Jackson‘s bodyguard has spoken out in defence of the King of Pop, insisting against the star’s two accusers and labelling them as opportunists who are “looking to make a quick buck“.
Jimmy Van Norman was Jackson’s security detail for 10 years, and has now claimed Wade Robson and James Safechuck to “being full of s***” for attempting to sell a fabricated story. Van Norman spoke ahead of the release of Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson, a sequel to the shocking 2019 Channel 4 documentary, which focused on both men’s molestation claims against the Billy Jeans singer.
As the sequel premieres tonight, viewers will now be able to watch Robson and Safechuck’s lengthy legal battle and their increased insistence on their claims of being sexually abused for years as children by the deceased star. In retaliation, Van Norman has not wavered from his stance of never witnessing anything suspicious concerning Robson, Safechuck, or any of the other children Jackson had hosted at his Neverland Ranch in the late 80s and 90s.
He said: “If I ever thought anything untoward was going on with children, I would’ve freaking killed him myself”. The ex bodyguard insisted there is “no doubt about that” before adding he “was never going to put up with that. And other guys that worked there, too, would have done the same thing”.
Though the cases against Jackson’s company MJJ Productions are still pending in court, decades on, Safechuck and Robson have previously been thrown from court on two occasion. Van Norman, who is a private VIP security consultant, has worked with other Hollywood stars such as Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift. When talking of his time with MJJ, he recalled that Robson always seemed happy and was escorted by his mother often when visiting the Jacksons.
Van Norman’s argument is that Jackson was simply a generous and kind philanthropist to children, and when looking back, spoke of the singer supporting a boy who had cancer from Arizona. He shared how Jackson would call the boy daily, even though the star had never met him.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, a now 42-year-old Robson blamed Jackson’s staff and security for choosing to ignore the supposed abuse. He claimed there to be “so many times that bodyguards that worked for Michael were right outside of the door when the abuse was going on, whether that was at Neverland or in trailers at a recording studio”.
‘There were always people around that worked for him. There was knowledge that there was something weird going on and nobody in the organization did anything about it. How do they sleep at night, hiding everything that Michael was really up to?” asked Wade Robson.
Van Norman responded, talking to The Daily Mail also, saying: “Wade is looking for sensationalism, trying to say that we were all involved. That is untrue. That statement appears to make me an accomplice. I did nothing wrong. I was there and saw nothing out of the ordinary that would make me concerned. They are trying to sell a B.S. story,” said the bodyguard. He continued to confirm that his “priority would be to protect a child. That’s what we were here for. We’re not here to abuse anyone or allow anyone to be abused,” speaking of other security personel.
Jackson’s global career first became stained by claims of paedophilia in 1993, when he was accused of sexually abusing Jordan Chandler, 13, in a lawsuit which was filed by Chandler’s father. Whilst the investigation found no physical evidence for this claim, Jackson still settled the civil suit with the child’s family in January 1994, paying over $15 million.
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He faced similar claims again, and even underwent a high-profile, criminal trial that involved suspicion of the child molestation of Gavin Arvizo, 13 as well, in 2005. Interestingly, Safechuck and Robson acted as defense witnesses in the ’05 case, which saw Jackson freed from of all charges.
After Jackson’s death in 2009, aged 50, where he underwent cardiac arrest after taking Propofol to help him sleep, his legendary career has become eclipsed by layers of scrutiny over the horrifying molestation claims, recently resurfacing because of Safechuck and Robson’s lawsuit and their documentary Leaving Neverland (2019).
Van Norman said: “When I heard these allegations first from them, I felt [like] they’re just looking to make some money because they got cut off from the Golden Goose, so to speak,” referring to the Smooth Criminal as the metaphorical source of wealth for the Neverland children. He added that “they waited until after Michael died because he could not defend himself”. The guard then singled out Robson specifically, saying he “is someone who thinks everybody owes him” before clarifying he though that “nobody owes [Robson] a dime. It is a money grab”.
On Jackson’s contradictory decision to pay settlement on the 1994 case, Van Norman recalled Jackson “was told it was easier rather than deal with all the media coverage of the claims. They made it go away rather than having Michael’s life dragged through court. Afterward Jordie disowned his father and now Jordie can’t talk because he’s got the money. What does that tell you? There was no criminal case”.
While the bodyguard opened up about how he thought Jackson should have stopped hosting kids at his house after the 1994 agreement, he said that Jackson was ‘desperate’ to relive his lost childhood after the trauma of performing so young as part of the Jackson 5. Van Norman called the star a “little kid himself” as well as a “freaking genius,” and added that he truly “loved Michael to death, but he did not have normalcy growing up” – referring to Jackson being five years of age and already performing for such huge audiences, which left the youngest Jackson debilitated “with trust issues with adults and [feeling] safe around kids”.
Van Norman praised Jackson’s gentle and generous nature and shared his anguish over why the young boys-now men would want to hurt his legacy and family after his death. The Misouri bodyguard stated: “I feel there is something wrong with Wade. And they will have to watch out for the rest of their lives now because it’s the fans of Michael that are crazy”.
Van Norman insisted these parents gave their blessing for Jackson to bond with their children and were on the property when meet-ups would happen, even going so far as to say he knew Wade Robson’s mother and implying that those children who did come alone was a choice at the fault of their parents. Van Norman pointed out that the blame must first start with the parents of the Neverland children and that they should be the subject of scrutiny – calling the Arivos “just a bunch of users and abusers”.
‘If a kid was molested, you would have known something, because the next day he would just start acting differently. And I am sorry, all those kids went back. They all went back multiple times and they always had smiles on their faces.
Van Norman is now producing a project on their time working with the ‘Smooth Criminal’ Michael and says he has a script which is focused on the popstar and his fans.
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