Michael Jackson’s Maid Reveals Shocking Neverland Secrets

This is Neverland, the sprawling estate currently for sale. It once served as the home and personal playground of musical icon Michael Jackson. Ten years after the star’s death, he still makes headlines.

These days, though, the stories focus less on him as the King of Pop and more on his reputation as the King of the Kids.

He once told Adrian, “You’re excellent. Loyalty to me means a lot. You can be with me forever.”

The first time she cleaned his bedroom, she hardly knew where to begin. He lived like a classic rock star, dropping everything behind him and leaving others to pick up the pieces. Yeah, he was like that.

Home videos from those years captured the singer relaxing at Neverland. It was a place where he lived out his fantasies, and he shared that fun with children. He surrounded himself with them.

Adrian McManus remembered the first signs that made her suspect Michael Jackson had an unhealthy interest in children. She noticed there were a lot of little boys hanging around, but hardly any little girls. She knew the boys were there.

When they arrived, they would put their clothes in a suitcase in his room. She started realizing, thinking, and wondering. He was taking baths with them, and they were sleeping in his bed.

She was talking about the worst kind of sleeping with children. Yes, she knew the truth because she was there. The next day she would find little boys’ underwear on the floor mixed with Michael’s, or in the jacuzzi.

She grew suspicious as soon as she saw that. Then she would also find underwear in his bed. She discovered boys’ briefs in the walk-in closet—right there—and she didn’t like to say it, but they were crunchy, hard, with yellow stains all over them.

She didn’t know who they belonged to at first. The little boys started wearing Michael’s briefs and would leave their own underwear inside his drawer. The more Adrian saw, the more convinced she became that Michael Jackson was a predator.

She felt this view was shared by other staff at Neverland. There was a lot of Vaseline around the property. Sometimes it turned up in the golf carts when Mr. Jackson wanted to take off with the boys.

Vaseline in the golf carts, yeah. There was a lot of Vaseline in Michael’s bedroom too. It was actually all over the ranch.

Is there possibly an innocent explanation for that? She didn’t think so. What disturbed her most was how physical the pop star would get with the kids entrusted to his care.

The children sat on his lap. She saw a lot of what looked like fondling—maybe rubbing his hands on the kids’ hair, kissing them. When she said fondling, she meant hugging, kind of petting—petting the kids, kind of by the rear end.

She didn’t think it was appropriate because they weren’t his children. She just didn’t think it was right. Did she ever talk to anybody about it?

She had signed a confidentiality agreement. She was already conditioned and programmed not to question anything, and staff were told to stay away from the family. You just did your job.

Every time they were together, it happened. There was no night she spent with him that he didn’t sexually abuse her. Adrian is not the only one speaking out on the tenth anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death.

Wade Robson, an Australian choreographer, claimed he was molested by the singer when he was a boy. Michael told him that if anyone ever found out what they were doing, he and Wade would go to jail for the rest of their lives. Now he and former child actor James Safechuck have gone much further.

They accuse Jackson of the most despicable depravity in the controversial documentary *Leaving Neverland*, which was recently unveiled at the Sundance Film Festival. Some people don’t believe their stories or perhaps don’t want to believe them. Is there anything they feel they can’t say to them?

Not that long ago, Wade was in the same position they were. Even though it happened to him, he still couldn’t believe it. He still couldn’t believe that what Michael did was a bad thing.

Would he have thought, fourteen years later, that all this would be regurgitated? He would never have imagined such a thing happening. He still has trouble comprehending it.

For loyalist Tom Mesereau, the latest allegations are the claims of opportunists out to make a buck. He can’t get over it. He just doesn’t put any credibility in any of this.

In 2005 he helped clear Jackson of child molestation charges and defends the singer to this day. He is one hundred percent convinced Michael never abused a child, never harmed a child, certainly never molested a child. He thinks this is hogwash.

Are you on any sort of retainer at all from the Jackson estate? No, he’s not on any retainer at all. So no one’s paying him any money to say nice things about Michael Jackson.

No, no. He will always say he was a nice person. He was one of the nicest people he ever met.

But you of all people know the smoke and fire argument. Is there any fire? There’s no fire here whatsoever.

Coming up. He used his fame and power in very loving and also very childish, mean ways inside the playground of evil. Did you at any time see Michael Jackson molest Jordan Chandler?

It was terrible. Desperate bribes. Three hundred dollars—that was for covering for him. Death threats. If they could hire a hitman to take me out. Slice my throat. And Michael Jackson’s darkest secrets.

We just want to show you this. She remembered that she was working there the day when that ad was taping. That’s next on *60 Minutes*.

He was enormous. It shouldn’t have been King of Pop. It should have been Gotta Pop Emperor. Charisma isn’t even the word for the spell he had on people.

So she was caught up in it too. Everything around him was a fantasy. Genie Wolf is an old-school entertainment reporter who followed Michael Jackson’s career right from the start.

She regarded Jackson as the ultimate creative genius but also saw a dark side. She couldn’t help but observe what a spoiled King of Pop he was—how he used his fame and power in very loving and also very childish and mean ways. Genie remembers how at the height of Jackson’s fame it was easy for starstruck families and their kids to be drawn into the singer’s magical world.

Surrounding himself as he did with children, didn’t you ever find that unusual? They didn’t think much was unusual. He tried to be the Pied Piper.

When she was around him, they were hidden in groups. All these little kids—some in costumes, some just regular kids—following him. It just seemed like a comfort for him, and his explanation was he didn’t have a childhood.

Yes. Did it seem strange? Did it seem eccentric? Yes, but that eccentricity allowed him to get away with a lot because it’s Michael.

In the 1990s, busloads of children would be invited to Neverland to enjoy the theme park and a zoo. Down this way, you’re gonna see the game room is right there. But Jackson’s maid Adrian McManus says there was always a lucky few who seemed to receive special attention.

Young boys like *Home Alone* actor Macaulay Culkin, who she claims she saw being touched inappropriately by the singer. You’re on record, on public record, court record, talking about Macaulay Culkin. Do you stand by that story?

She stands by what she said during her deposition. She thinks it’s best just to leave it at that. Because Macaulay Culkin says it’s preposterous, doesn’t he?

Yeah, he denies it to this day. He does. But you say you did see it. She says she saw what she saw.

Macaulay Culkin has always supported Michael Jackson and denies the singer ever molested him. But back in 1993, another of Jackson’s young male friends turned against him. Thirteen-year-old Jordan Chandler accused Jackson of sexually abusing him during sleepovers at Neverland.

Did you at any time see Michael Jackson molest Jordan Chandler? She saw some stuff that she didn’t think was appropriate with Mr. Jackson and Jordan. What sort of things? Michael kissing on him. Michael’s hand kind of very close to Jordan’s crotch.

It was terrible to see. Police launched an investigation into the abuse allegations, and Jordan Chandler’s family announced they were preparing a civil case. But despite her strong suspicions, in a sworn deposition Adrian McManus said she had never witnessed Jackson molest children.

She was scared to say anything bad about Michael, Mr. Jackson. Then after that—probably thirty days after—she claims Jackson called her at her home. He demanded to know what his personal maid had told investigators about his behavior.

Adrian found herself in an unenviable position. She didn’t think she was supposed to be doing that. She was kind of worried, but then she thought, well, you better do it.

So she did it. One day in the afternoon he came up to her and said, “Adrian, this is for you.” He handed her a little index card stapled on the sides. It said “Thanks for everything.”

She opened it and it was three hundred dollars. So that was for covering for him. He paid her three hundred dollars. He bought her silence for three hundred dollars. Yeah.

Michael Jackson fired back at his accusers in a live televised announcement from Neverland. “There have been many disgusting statements made recently concerning allegations of improper conduct on my part. These statements about me are totally false. Don’t treat me like a criminal because I am innocent.”

She remembered she was working there the day when that message was taping in 1993. It takes her back to that day. It makes her mad that she had to be involved in something like that. Why me?

So you don’t believe those protestations one tiny bit? They don’t. Jackson was never charged with molesting Jordan Chandler, but the young boy and his family received a twenty million dollar settlement from the singer.

It led to intense criticism. Jackson was buying the silence of his victims. “Did you ever sexually engage, fondle, have sexual contact with this child or any other child?” “Never. Ever. I could never harm a child or anyone. It’s not in my heart. It’s not who I am and it’s not what I meant. I’m not even interested in this.”

This is Joy Robson. You’ve known Michael Jackson. How would you describe your relationship with Michael? “Michael’s like family to us. He’s been very supportive personally and he waits career.”

At the time many came to Jackson’s defense, including Wade Robson and his family. Wade was the ten-year-old Australian boy who developed an extremely tight bond with the singer and was still having sleepovers at the Neverland Ranch. How would you describe your relationship with Michael? “It’s a real close relationship. It’s both sides friendly and business. We love each other. We’re just real good friends.”

How did you feel when you heard that a boy was alleging that Michael had abused him? “Oh, shocked. And I think it’s sick ’cause I know Michael well enough that he wouldn’t do anything like that. I know that for a fact.”

After Jackson paid millions to settle the case against Jordan Chandler, things changed for the worse for the workers at Neverland. Adrian McManus claims she and other staff were victimized by Michael Jackson’s security guards because they knew too much. It was threatened. His bodyguards told her that if she ever came up on TV they could hire a hitman, take her out, slice her neck, and no one would ever find her body.

And you believed them? Yeah, she did. She lived in fear for many, many years.

Adrian lived with the fear and Michael Jackson lived with the rumors. But in 2003 he made a monumental mistake by inviting journalist Martin Bashir to show his life at Neverland. “Do you come out here on your own?” “Yeah.” “Just come out on your own?” “Yes.” “What then, go on a ride?” “Yep. You see the carousel. I’ll play music. I look—I don’t play classical music on the carousel.”

The documentary *Living with Michael Jackson* gave an insight into the madness that engulfed the singer’s every move. Michael Jackson had just dangled his new baby out of the window of a Berlin hotel. The documentary was supposed to turn his reputation around. Instead, it destroyed it.

“Have you been hearing about what people have been saying?” “That’s totally ignorant. I would never do that to my children or any child. Trying to kill them? Gone stupid. And why would I put a scarf over the baby’s face if I was trying to throw him off the balcony?”

She thinks the Martin Bashir documentary was a disaster for Michael Jackson. He never should have trusted Mr. Bashir to do an objective professional documentary. Jackson’s lawyer Tom Mesereau believes it was a turning point.

Why do you think that? He thinks the result was slanted. Mr. Bashir turned it all against him, tried to create a sensationalist documentary for personal gain. That’s his opinion.

It was spliced together in a way designed to make Michael look bad. What looked particularly bad was this: twelve-year-old Gavin Arvizo had been recovering from cancer when Jackson met and befriended him. In the documentary Martin Bashir asked the young boy about the sleeping arrangements at Neverland.

“And then he finally said okay. If you love me to sleep with me, I was like, ah, man. And so I finally sat on the bed. But Michael, you know, you’re a forty-four year old man now. What do you get out of this? What can’t you share your bed? But the most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone.”

After the broadcast Michael Jackson accused Bashir of betraying his trust and manipulating the interview. But the fuse was lit. Police raided Neverland Ranch. Approximately seventy sheriff’s deputies scoured every building, every room, for computers, for documentary evidence—anything they could find.

They were relentless in their efforts to find evidence to convict Michael Jackson. And in a raid of that size, what did they find? Nothing, in her opinion.

Michael Jackson was arrested and charged. It was a humiliating downfall that would see Jackson’s dirty laundry aired before the world. Coming up, the Jacksons bite back.

So you think it’s all tied into money? Yes. Money and fame and publicity. How do we know you’re telling the truth now?

But always defiant. “I know the truth. I can sleep very good at night.” That’s rich.

On *60 Minutes*, Adrian McManus claims she has been left penniless by her four years working at Neverland as Michael Jackson’s housemaid. When she left in 1994, she and four other employees sued the singer for wrongful termination and lost. Do you still owe the Jackson estate money?

She probably does, but Michael’s dead now. She knows the amount—it might have been… oh God, it was a lot of money. She was ordered to pay legal fees initially for breach of contract for suing Mr. Jackson, which was what—1.6 million? Yeah, just to refresh your memory.

The sheriff hasn’t come knocking at the door yet? No. And you hope they don’t? Well, they do.

In a countersuit, Jackson’s estate accused her of stealing belongings from Neverland to sell to the media. There was a sketch that she found in the trash. She then sold that sketch—the sketch of Elvis that she supposedly found in the trash.

She figured, well, she found it in the trash. It didn’t mean anything to her. Which she shouldn’t have done, but she did.

The jury said that she then owed Michael Jackson thirty-four thousand dollars. Yeah. So did you pay the thirty-four thousand back? No, she didn’t. No.

You haven’t paid any of that back either? No. The credibility of Adrian McManus has again been questioned because of her changing account of what she saw at Neverland. In sworn evidence she gave in 1993, she said she never saw any inappropriate behavior by Jackson towards any child.

At Michael Jackson’s trial you were found to have lied under oath. Okay. Now she’s gonna explain that. When Michael threatened her she was scared what was gonna happen to her and her family and her son.

You admit to not telling the truth? Yeah, because he threatened her. How do we know you’re telling the truth now? Well, let’s put it this way. She knows the truth. She can sleep very good at night.

She’s happy she did what she did by standing up and trying to do the right thing. You’ve got to look very carefully at people’s motives and you’ve got to look very carefully at the facts. You’ve got the most famous person in the world, one of the wealthiest people in the world, perceived as very vulnerable.

And people constantly try to exploit him throughout his lifetime. The lawyer Tom Mesereau says so much of what was aimed at Michael Jackson was about cold hard cash. People wanted to make so much money on watching the great Michael Jackson rise high and then splatter.

They wanted the story to have a miserable ending for him. They hoped they would see him in the courtroom in chains and jail clothes, without makeup, without his hair fixed up, without the clothing he liked to wear. They were looking forward to seeing the final chapter where Michael Jackson gets destroyed, and it was very disheartening to observe.

So you think it’s all tied into money? Yes. Money and fame and publicity. Including what he views as the latest trumped-up charges of child abuse.

Some of these accusers have not just changed their story slightly. They’ve done a 180. Is there a possible explanation in the #MeToo movement where people now feel more comfortable saying publicly, look, I was abused. Can we now please do something about it?

Right now if you are accused of this type of thing you are almost judged guilty before you can defend yourself. He thinks right now we’re going a little too far, and a lot of people who are not honest, who are trying to capitalize on this particular movement, are raising accusations that need to be challenged. You don’t think the freedom of the #MeToo movement could explain these latest accusers coming up and saying that Michael Jackson molested them?

He thinks the freedom of the #MeToo movement has allowed false accusations to be made as well as real accusations, and we’ve got to be very careful to make sure we sift out what’s real and what’s false. Coming up, King of Pop in court. I think it’s worse to be charged with something like this than homicide. Disputed testimony.

She saw a good bunch of people who she felt very deeply were lying. And an extraordinary result. Were you surprised by the outcome? Celebrities can do no wrong in today’s world. That’s next on *60 Minutes*.

“Why can’t you share your bed? The most loving thing they do is to share your bed with someone.” By agreeing to participate in Martin Bashir’s documentary, Michael Jackson, with the innocent assistance of his twelve-year-old friend Gavin Arvizo, had given police all the reason they needed to investigate.

America, indeed the world, had never seen anything like it. In 2005 Jackson’s case came to court. So the stage was set for what would be one of the biggest trials of the century.

It was a showdown more than a decade in the making and covered by twice as many media as turned up for the O.J. Simpson trial. Jackson faced fourteen counts from child molestation to conspiring to imprison the accuser and his family at the Neverland Ranch. If found guilty, he faced at least twenty years in jail.

“These are horrific charges. These are ugly, nasty charges. I think it’s worse to be charged with something like this than homicide. I really do.”

The fourteen-week trial was a circus. It takes about twenty minutes to make it a hundred yards when you’re in Mr. Jackson’s company. Everyday crowds would gather to see the King of Pop.

This case is about one thing only. It’s about the dignity, the integrity, the decency, the honor, the charity, the innocence, and the complete vindication of a wonderful human being named Michael Jackson. Hollywood journalist Genie Wolf saw things very differently.

She saw people who were out to get Michael Jackson. She saw people who were angry at Michael Jackson. She also saw people who adored him, and then she saw a good bunch of people who she felt very deeply were lying, were getting paid, were getting influenced.

She found the whole thing frightening. On which side do you think people were lying? In favor of Michael Jackson, in his defense, saying that nothing ever happened.

Adrian McManus took the stand to give evidence against her former employer. Well, it’s pretty crazy. She wasn’t shocked that it was happening again because she knew it was gonna happen again.

You always thought a trial sooner or later was going to come along, did you? Yeah, she did. Yes, she did. Sad to say, but yeah.

Wade Robson is now accusing Michael Jackson of abusing him throughout his childhood. He was the star witness for the defense. He was very, very strong in his defense of Michael Jackson.

He told them in no uncertain terms he had not been molested, he had not been abused, and that these claims were ridiculous. This man was so strongly supportive of Michael Jackson, so powerful in his defense, that it just shocks her that he’s changed his story in recent years. She just can’t get over it.

As the trial reached a conclusion, the strain on Michael Jackson was starting to show. She watched him deteriorate physically and emotionally during the trial. He lost weight, his cheeks became more sunken in. By verdict day he just looked like a shell of his old self.

After eight days of deliberation the jury reached its verdict. “We the jury find the defendant not guilty of attempting to commit a lewd act upon a minor child.” A unanimous decision of not guilty on all charges.

That moment in the courtroom when they said not guilty—how many times? Fourteen. Fourteen times. What was that like? That was one of the most unique, powerful, unusual experiences of his lifetime.

What would Michael Jackson say to you? He said thank you, thank you, thank you. Never forget.

For Michael Jackson, it was vindication. But the damage was done and life at Neverland would never be the same again. Were you surprised by the outcome?

No, she wasn’t surprised because she thinks in today’s world a lot of jurors don’t like to say that a celebrity is guilty. Why not? Because they think they’re above everybody else. They just look up to them and right away think everybody wants money. That’s why celebrities can do no wrong in today’s world. That’s what she thinks.

Coming up, the biggest headline of all. Very eerie to even be around you. I’ve never visited this place before. The stories that won’t go away.

Talk about their abuse. Make these new accusations. Do you believe them? It would be very hard not to believe them.

And returning to Neverland one last time. Yeah, I can’t believe I’m coming back here. Very mixed emotions.

Michael Jackson might have been found not guilty of child sexual abuse in 2005, but the trial and the lurid headlines irreparably damaged his career. Never again would he hit the highs of the musical stardom he had once known. “These will be my final show performances in London. This will be it. This is it. When I say this is it, it really means this is it.”

In 2009, though, at fifty years of age, he announced one last shot. Jackson called his farewell tour *This Is It* and sold out fifty concerts at London’s O2 Arena. But less than three weeks from the start of the tour, Michael Jackson made his biggest headline ever when he overdosed on prescription drugs and died.

The day Michael died, where were you? She came home and their father called her and he said, “Katherine, you have to come down to the hospital.” Like the rest of the world, news of Jackson’s death was met with disbelief.

By his family, as his mum Katherine told Liz Hayes in 2013: Nobody would say anything and she said, well, where’s Michael? I want to go to his room. I want to go and visit him. Nobody said anything.

Then finally in about ten or fifteen minutes later they took her to a room and nobody would say anything. So finally she said, well, did he make it? And she was screaming like, did he make it? And Frank finally said slowly, “No, he didn’t make it.”

She doesn’t know what happened after that. She guesses she must have blacked out or screamed or something. But that’s what happened.

More than one billion people watched a funeral service that was broadcast live around the world. The curtain closing on one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived. This is where Michael spent his last few hours.

It’s very eerie to even be around you. I’ve never visited this place before. I’ve never even wanted to.

Returning to the mansion where Michael Jackson died is a reminder for Genie Wolf of what has been lost. Once blinded by his star power, she now views him differently. Do you think, Genie, that these latest accusations have affected the Michael Jackson legacy?

She definitely does. She doesn’t think people will look at him in the same way. She doesn’t think his music will die. It’s just too great. She thinks his music is beyond him, but the myth—the myth is gone.

But for Tom Mesereau, the lawyer who defended him, it’s Michael Jackson who is the victim, not the boys who ended up in his bed in Neverland. You’re one person that knows in life there’s a lot of gray, not a lot of black and white. But you’re adamant, aren’t you? You don’t think Michael Jackson has molested one single person.

Michael was a creative spirit. He danced to his own drummer. He saw things we don’t see. He heard things we don’t hear. He was a creative genius. He was eccentric. He was different. He was an artist.

He doesn’t believe he was a molester for five seconds. If we look at the history of this, though—the number of accusers: Chandler, Gavin Arvizo, Wade Robson, now James Safechuck. Are they all making it up?

Let’s look at them individually. Safechuck swore under penalty of perjury that he wasn’t abused. Robson swore under penalty of perjury that he wasn’t abused. The jury didn’t believe her.

Two other people were paid off to end the litigation so he could get on with his career. So where do you come up with when you look at everyone under a microscope? Not much.

Well, a lot more than most mere mortals face in their lifetime, but he’s the biggest target on the planet. He was the most famous person on the planet. He was immensely wealthy. He was perceived as immensely vulnerable. This made him a target throughout his life. And he’s being attacked even in death by people who want money.

The days were filled with magical childhood adventure experiences—playing tag, watching movies, eating junk food. Anything you could ever want as a child. Out of a storybook, right? A fairy tale.

Michael Jackson gave the world his music, but to his accusers he took away so much more. Genie Wolf has listened to what they’ve said and believes their accounts of what happened at Neverland are convincing. Genie, you’ve seen and heard Wade Robson and James Safechuck. Yes.

Talk about their abuse. Make these new accusations. Do you believe them? It would be very hard not to believe them.

How do you explain their complete reversal of their stories? They were both in love, as only a kid could be, with Michael Jackson. Both of them have repeatedly said that Michael Jackson told them over and over again: we can never tell anyone because if we do I’ll go to jail for life and you’ll go to jail for life.

So embedded in their mind was the imperative that we never tell this secret. I can’t believe I’m coming back here. Very mixed emotions.

Adrian McManus insists she’s also telling the truth about Michael Jackson and what went on in Neverland—a place she would rather forget. When you see these gates again, what’s the abiding memory? Anxiety. Misery.

She would never go through those gates again, ever. That’s how she thinks about all those years here. Misery. Misery. A bad choice. Bad choice that she made.

If Michael Jackson was still alive today, do you think you would be speaking out like this? If he was alive, she would say it. She would say it to his face. She really would.

She was twenty-eight when she started working for him. These boys were young. If it was hard for her at that age, can you imagine how it was for them? It was another side to him and she saw it.

She doesn’t feel sorry for that. She just doesn’t. She feels sorry for the children.