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Beyond Today

Beyond Today: Is it still ok to listen to Michael Jackson's music?

Is it still ok to listen to Michael Jackson's music?

BBC Radio 4 - Beyond Today, Is it still ok to listen to Michael Jackson's music?

Stories of abuse that raise questions about what makes entertainment.

The Beyond Today podcast team look at two recent stories where abuse raises uncomfortable questions about what makes for entertainment.

PART ONE: Is it still ok to listen to Michael Jackson?

Michael Jackson is perhaps the biggest pop star there’s ever been. He’s still thought of as a legend, despite years of allegations regarding his relationships with young boys. Jackson was found not guilty at a court case in 2005, but now one of the men who testified in Jackson’s defence in that case has appeared in a documentary to say, alongside another man, that the singer did regularly sexually abuse him. Michael Jackson’s family has rejected the claims and say there is "not one piece of evidence" to back up the allegations. But at a time when we tend to more easily believe victims, might Michael Jackson’s music now be off-limits? Dan Reed, the director of “Leaving Neverland” talks to us alongside the BBC’s Peter Bowes, and Scott Bryan from the Must Watch podcast.

PART TWO: Should the James Bulger story win an Oscar?

When toddler James Bulger was abducted from a shopping centre in Merseyside in 1993 and murdered by two ten-year-old boys the country was appalled. Now a new short film has been made and nominated for an Oscar. ‘Detainment’ uses the original police interviews with the boys as a basis for the drama. It’s causing a lot of controversy as the family weren’t consulted and now want people to boycott it. We hear about the original trial from Winfred Robinson, who covered the story for the BBC, and Entertainment Correspondent Colin Paterson, who has seen the Oscar-nominated film.

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Is it still ok to listen to Michael Jackson's music?

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