A former public relations agent for Michael Jackson has said he believes the late pop star was guilty of ch!ld @buse allegations levelled against him, despite Jackson being acquitted in court.
Vincent Amen, who worked for Jackson in the early 2000s, made the claim in a new Michael Jackson: The Trial documentary airing on Channel 4, which revisits the singer’s highly publicised 2005 court case.
Jackson was tried after allegations by a boy, Gavin Arvizo, who claimed the singer gave him alcohol, showed him pornography and committed acts of s3xual mol3station. The jury ultimately found Jackson not guilty of all charges. He died in 2009, four years after the trial, following an overdose of a prescription anaesthetic.
In the documentary, Amen says he came to believe Jackson was guilty and alleges there was a long-running cover-up to protect the star.
“I absolutely believe that Michael Jackson is guilty of ch!ld @buse and molestation,” Amen said. “I believe there was a cover-up for so many years.”
Amen said he joined Jackson’s inner circle in 2003 to help manage the fallout from the controversial Martin Bashir documentary Living With Michael Jackson. While preparing for the subsequent trial, he claimed he discovered a naturist magazine among Jackson’s belongings.
According to Amen, the magazine contained advertisements for videos of “n@ked kids” that he said were marked for order. “Finding that, I realised, ‘Something is going on here,’” he said. “Where there’s smoke, there is fire.”
Amen said the discovery made him feel misled and prompted him to speak to prosecutors, though he was never called to testify during the trial.
Reflecting on his actions, he said: “I do not have any regrets, when I saw something that was concerning, which I believe would indicate ch!ld s3x @buse, I did the right thing, and I came forward.”
The documentary also examines Jackson’s relationship with former friend and PR manager Frank Cascio. Cascio and his siblings, Aldo, Marie-Nicole, Dominic and Eddie, are now pursuing their own allegations of s3xual abuse against Jackson. The siblings had previously defended the singer but later claimed they experienced grooming, manipulation and molestation while in his company.
They are currently seeking to overturn a prior financial agreement with Jackson’s estate that prevents them from taking legal action. Commenting on Cascio’s shift in position, Amen said: “From what I know now, s3x @buse victims reveal information about their abuse piece by piece, over the years.”
In the years since Jackson’s death, further allegations have continued to surface, most notably through the documentary Leaving Neverland and its sequel, which focused on claims by Wade Robson and James Safechuck and the long-term personal and legal aftermath of their accusations.
