Neverland Movie Theater abuse & "Locked Door" scene described by Safechuck and his mom
Safechuck explains in Leaving Neverland how he and Jackson would have sex in the private rooms in the back of the movie theater at Neverland. He’s referring to the 2 rooms in this theater designed for children with serious illness. The rooms were equipped with hospital beds facing large windows for movie watching. Safechuck mentions that it was a bit dangerous, implying they could get caught because of these big windows.
Safechuck's words from the film:
"The movie theater had these two like private rooms. It had big glass windows so you can see the theater and so we would have sex in those rooms. That was a bit dangerous. But there's a bit of excitement there."
You can see from the pictures below how this would be a great risk for getting caught in those rooms because you can see directly into them from anywhere in the theater:
See this video at minute 20:59 & minute 23:30 to see private theater room with large clear windows
Here is a screenshot taken from the above video, showing Michael Jackson standing directly outside the large window of one of the private theater rooms:
Here is a picture of the Neverland theater. You can see the 2 private viewing rooms designed for children with serious illnesses. These large windows allowed for anyone in the theater to see inside. There was a living area upstairs, with 2 chairs and a couch, according to Scanlan, but Scanlan said that you could clearly see the chair and couch up there when you were on the theater floor because of the big windows; they were very low so the movie watcher upstairs would have an unobstructed view of the show.
This careless and open abuse in the movie theater alleged by Safechuck in the film (along with his descriptions of Jackson abusing him all over outdoor structures at Neverland), is a stark contrast to the secretive, "paranoid" Jackson of his lawsuit, always worried about getting caught:
"Michael Jackson would run drills regularly with Plaintiff, and make Plaintiff practice putting on clothes very fast and practice running away quietly so people would not hear him."
Even in Leaving Neverland, Safechuck presents two different versions of Jackson. One version is the reckless and brazen Jackson who would abuse him out in the open across the play structures at the ranch and in full view inside the movie theater. And in the other version, Jackson is paranoid and insanely cautious.
Here's Safechuck in the film:
"He would run drills with me... you'd be in the hotel room and he would pretend like somebody was coming in and you had to get dressed...as fast as possible.. without making noise. So not getting caught was a big.. like just kinda fundamental.. it was very much a secret.. and.. he.. would.. tell me that.. if anybody found out.. his life would be over and my life would be over... and that's something he tells you over and over again"
Could Jackson be both insanely cautious and reckless with his abuse? Possibly, but it's hard to wrap my head around both versions of Jackson since they are extremes at opposite ends of the caution spectrum. I find that it's another inconsistency by Safechuck that's worth considering. Especially since both versions of Jackson are helpful for Safechuck's allegations. The careless, audacious Jackson abuser is needed so that Safechuck can corroborate tabloid stories by former Neverland employees. Mark Quindoy said he saw Safechuck being fondled by Jackson completely out in the open in the pool area of the ranch. And being able to describe abuse in the castle, train station, and Indian Village makes the stories exceptionally titillating for the media, and the public may be shocked into belief. But the secretive, hyper-cautious Jackson abuser is also helpful to Safechuck's case. The drills, alarms, vigilance, and threats help justify why they didn't get caught, and match the threats needed to get around filing deadlines.
I'm incredulous when I hear Safechuck's claims that he was abused 100s of times at all these outdoor attractions in Neverland, yet there is only one alleged witness, Mark Quindoy. Not even the tabloid The Sun was willing to use Quindoy stories, and according to the PBS Frontline documentary, Tabloid Truth, he was "useless" to the prosecution as a witness, because of his lack of credibility.
Neverland ranch had between 30-100 workers all buzzing around at all times. There was constant patrolling of the property and constant activity around the living quarters.
In this interview on The MJCast, the head of Neverland Security for about 15 years mentions all the security patrolling that was constant on property.
In this interview with The Michael Jackson Book Club, former housekeeper Judy Brisse talks about the huge staff on property at all times.
So these are some of the problems with Safechuck's claim of the reckless abuse by Jackson in the movie theater. But another issue arises in the film about this scene, when immediately after Safechuck talks about those 2 rooms in the theater, his mother Stephanie tells a story:
“So I didn’t tell him I was coming, and the door was locked. You have to knock loud because the movie is on. He came down and unlocked it and made some excuses. He didn’t mean to lock the door, he didn’t know the door is locked – that’s what he told me. And they were in the bed, they were clothed. I still didn’t think anything.”
Because of Safechuck's description of those 2 private theater rooms just prior to his mom's locked door story, the viewer presumes the mom is referring to knocking on one of these 2 private rooms, and finding it locked.
In order to understand the movie theater design I communicated directly with Allan Scanlan, the amusement park manager at Neverland for over 15 years. Scanlan worked as the amusement park manager at Neverland Ranch, overseeing the rides, trains, and theater, and ensuring the maintenance and safety of all the attractions. He’s a well respected expert in the field which is why he was asked to work full time at Neverland.
The most obvious problem with Stephanie’s story is that these rooms had huge see-through windows, so anyone in the theater can see everything in those rooms--there would be no mystery as to what was going on inside. She could just walk right up to the room in the theater, as you see Jackson doing in the above picture. This is why Safechuck describes sex in these rooms as "dangerous."
And these rooms had panic bars installed, so there were no regular locks. Panic bars are the push bars on the doors you see in regular movie theaters. The only way to lock the doors is with a special tool that only the security department had, and Scanlan says the likelihood of Jackson having that tool is basically zero. This tool would have to be carefully maneuvered into a tiny opening in the panic bars, so Stephanie Safechuck would have been able to clearly see that locking of this type of door couldn’t have been an accident, as she describes in the film. But the larger point is, why would Jackson bother locking this door when anyone can see inside?
So presuming she's talking about one of these 2 private rooms in the theater, this story by Safechuck’s mom doesn’t add up. She wouldn’t have come upon a locked door to either of these 2 rooms, and she didn’t have to wonder what was going on because she could look directly inside from the theater.
This facebook post was confirmed through direct communication by email with me. He notes how these rooms had huge see through windows facing the screen so anyone in the theater can easily see inside.