| | | | | Wade Robson was a key witness for the defense. Now, in Leaving Neverland, he says he lied on the stand and that Jackson abused him for years. | | [ view in browser. add esquire@newsletter.esquire.com to your address book ] | | |  |  | | | | Inside Michael Jackson's 2005 Trial Featured in Leaving Neverland | | | Wade Robson was the lead-off witness for Michael Jackson's defense team. In April 2005, Jackson's housekeeper testified for the prosecution that she'd seen a 10-year-old Robson in bed with Jackson naked from the waist up. And she believed the two had showered together after recognizing Robson's neon green Spiderman underwear on the bathroom floor. She was sure it was his underwear because doing the laundry was one of her responsibilities. When Robson took the stand in May 2005, he was calm and collected as he answered the defense attorney's questions. He categorically denied the housekeeper's story. "I'm telling you nothing ever happened," Robson, then 22, said. Journalist Diane Dimond was sitting in the front row of the courthouse that day. "As I watched him testify, he was very confident," she tells Esquire. "He kept looking at Michael Jackson at the defense table for strength." It's been 14 years since Jackson was acquitted of four charges of child molesting, one charge of attempted child molesting, one conspiracy charge, and eight possible counts of providing alcohol to minors. Now, in the explosive new HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, Robson, 36, and James Safechuck, 40, describe in detail years of abuse at the hand of Jackson. The horrific allegations in the documentary shine a new light on one of the most talked about trials of the last two decades. "Michael told me that I had to lie and that's what I did," Robson says in Leaving Neverland. "I lied." READ MORE | | | | |  |
| | | | | The Republican Party Completely and Utterly Disgraced Itself at Michael Cohen's Hearing | | | | Not one Republican asked a question about the specific offenses that Cohen had illuminated in his opening statement. Instead, they hammered away at Cohen's own crimes—which, of course, did nothing but remind the folks watching at home on whose behalf Cohen had told so many lies and paid off so many women. This was a vivid look into the chronic ward of the brain disease that has eaten away the higher functions of American conservatism—and, thus, those of the Republican Party as well—since Ronald Reagan first served up the monkey brains almost 40 years ago. Read On | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sebastian Maniscalco Got There the Old-Fashioned Way | | | | Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco happens to have just achieved one of the most impressive feats in comedy history: making it to Madison Square Garden on stand-up alone. Unlike Kevin Hart with his film career, Aziz Ansari with his TV roles, or Chris Rock with his many films and television shows, Maniscalco has risen to an MSG entertainer just by performing his act in front of audiences, set by set, year after year, in clubs, concert halls, and performance venues across the country. Ahead of this career high, Esquire's Dom Nero spent two days with Maniscalco to find out how he was preparing for the moment. Read On | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Best Podcasts of 2019 (So Far) | | | | There are too many podcasts! And yet there still are a handful of new and notable shows that we'll always return to, eagerly downloading to binge on our commutes to and from the office in order to experience the larger world beyond our own lives. That's why it's important to share with our friends when we've found a good one worth bingeing. Here are the best podcasts of 2019 so far. Read On | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Essential Dress Shoes That Are as Comfortable as Sneakers | | | | The right pair of black lace-ups will never fail you. They're your workhorse. Your super-versatile, can't-fail option for every occasion. Options abound, of course. But if you're looking for a pair that'll keep you looking appropriate while also keeping your feet from aching at the end of the day, look no further than Cole Haan's Hamilton cap-toe oxfords. Here's why they deserve a spot in your closet. Read On | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | True Detective Creator Nic Pizzolatto Addresses All of Your Season Three Finale Theories | | | | In the end, True Detective was far more contained than many of the theories out there. Blogs and Reddit have been flooded since the Season Three finale with theories about the ending. Meanwhile, creator Nic Pizzolatto has been trying to keep up with the conversation out there, setting the record straight on Instagram. But now, in a rare interview about Season Three with Esquire's Matt Miller, Pizzolatto unpacks what really happened to Julie Purcell, the fate of Amelia, the connection to Season One, Hays's memory of solving the crime, and the possibility of a Season Four. Read On | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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