In 1993, Evan Chandler, a dentist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, accused the American singer Michael Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son, Jordan Chandler. Jackson had befriended Jordan after renting a vehicle from Jordan's stepfather. Though Evan initially encouraged the friendship, he confronted his ex-wife, who had custody of Jordan, with suspicions that the relationship was inappropriate. Jordan initially said Jackson had not acted inappropriately, but later supported his father's allegations.
In August 1993, Chandler demanded money from Jackson, threatening to go to a criminal court, but no agreement was reached. After Jordan told a psychiatrist that Jackson had molested him, the Los Angeles Police Department began a criminal investigation. The investigation found no physical evidence against Jackson. As the second leg of Jackson's Dangerous World Tour began, news of the allegations broke and received worldwide media attention. Jackson canceled the remainder of the tour, citing health problems arising from the scandal. Jackson's sister La Toya Jackson spoke out against Jackson, but produced no evidence and withdrew the accusation, saying she had been forced to make it by her husband.
In September 1993, the Chandlers filed a lawsuit against Jackson. They and Jackson reached a financial settlement in January 1994; Jackson and his legal team stressed that this was not an admission of guilt. In September 1994, the investigation closed after the Chandlers declined to cooperate, leaving the case without its main witness.
The allegations damaged Jackson's public image, health, and commercial standing. Several of his endorsement deals were canceled, including his decade-long Pepsi endorsement. Further allegations of abuse by Jackson led to the People v. Jackson trial in 2005, in which Jackson was acquitted.
Background
In May 1992, Michael Jackson's car broke down in Los Angeles and was towed to Rent-a-Wreck, which was owned by David Schwartz. Schwartz contacted his wife, June Chandler-Schwartz, who arrived with her twelve-year-old son, Jordan Chandler. Jordan was already a fan of Jackson and had briefly met him as a young child. Jackson and Jordan subsequently became friends, and Jackson invited Jordan, June, and Jordan's stepsister Lily to spend time at Neverland Ranch and accompany him on several trips.
The following year, Jackson became a frequent visitor at the Chandler family home. According to June Chandler's testimony at Jackson's 2005 trial, he regularly telephoned Jordan, visited the family in Santa Monica, and shared Jordan's bed at their home on about thirty nights. June also testified that, during a trip to Las Vegas, Jackson repeatedly asked to let Jordan sleep in his bed. After she initially refused, Jackson insisted that there was "nothing wrong" with the arrangement and eventually she relented. According to The Guardian, June later testified that she was given a gold Cartier bracelet in return the next day.
In May 1993, Jackson invited June, Jordan, and Lily to accompany him to Monaco for the World Music Awards. After they returned to the United States, the National Enquirer published a story titled "Michael's New Adopted Family", featuring photographs of Jackson with the Chandlers. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, the publicity alarmed Jordan's father, Evan Chandler, who believed the relationship had become too close and feared that the attention could make his son a target for kidnappers.
According to Randall Sullivan, Evan initially encouraged Jackson's friendship with Jordan and even invited him to stay at his home. Jackson spent five days there and shared a bedroom with Jordan and his younger half-brother. Evan later said that this visit was when he first became suspicious of possible sexual misconduct, although he acknowledged that he never witnessed any sexual activity and never saw Jackson or Jordan unclothed. By the end of June 1993, Evan had become increasingly concerned about the relationship.
In late June 1993, June Chandler and her son Jordan planned to accompany Michael Jackson on the next leg of his Dangerous World Tour, scheduled to begin in August. Jordan's father, Evan Chandler, opposed the trip and expressed concerns about his son's relationship with Jackson and the diminishing contact between them. On July 2, Evan met with Jordan's stepfather, David Schwartz, to discuss the situation. On July 7, Evan sought a modification of the existing custody arrangements, requesting restrictions on Jordan's contact with Jackson and on travel outside Los Angeles County.
On July 8, Schwartz secretly recorded telephone conversations with Evan concerning the family dispute. During the conversations, Evan discussed his difficulties communicating with Jordan, his disagreements with June over Jackson's involvement in their son's life, and his unsuccessful attempts to arrange a meeting with Jackson. He also referred to his consultations with attorney Barry Rothman and to actions he was considering taking, describing their potential consequences for Jackson's career and June's custody of Jordan. In one passage, Evan warned that making a phone call would end Jackson's career. The recordings did not establish precisely what Evan wanted from Jackson. According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, June and Schwartz played the recordings to Jackson's private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, and attorney, Bert Fields, on July 9. Pellicano subsequently questioned Jordan privately about his relationship with Jackson, according to Pellicano's own account as reported by Taraborrelli.
Fields and Rothman subsequently discussed an arrangement under which Jordan would spend a week with Evan. Fields later stated in a court declaration that he had acted as an intermediary between June and Rothman rather than representing either parent. According to Taraborrelli, June initially decided against sending Jordan for the visit, instead setting out with Jordan and his sister Lily for Neverland Ranch to celebrate Lily's birthday. During a stop at financier Michael Milken's residence, Jackson telephoned Pellicano about the change in plans. Taraborrelli wrote that, following a disagreement, June abandoned the trip and returned to Los Angeles with her children. She subsequently changed her decision and agreed to allow Jordan to stay with Evan for the week.
Allegations
On July 12, Evan Chandler persuaded his former wife, June Chandler, to sign a stipulation barring Jordan from any direct or indirect contact or communication with Michael Jackson. Under the agreement, June relinquished legal custody of Jordan and could visit him only on the condition that he have no contact with Jackson. The stipulation was subsequently filed with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth A. Black. June later withdrew from the agreement, saying that she had signed it only because Evan had threatened not to return their son otherwise. Court records described the dispute over Jordan’s custody as stemming at least in part from Evan’s objections to his son’s relationship with Jackson.
On July 16 1993, Jordan Chandler had dental surgery to remove a baby tooth and, under sedation, he disclosed to his father that Michael Jackson had touched his penis. The drug was administered by dental anesthesiologist Mark Torbiner and, according to Diane Dimond, Torbiner's records show that Robinul and Vistaril were administered.
On August 4, Evan and Jordan met Jackson and Pellicano in a Los Angeles hotel room. According to Pellicano’s later account, Evan read from a letter in which a therapist discussed hypothetical contacts between an adult and a child in relation to child-molestation laws. Pellicano said that the dispute subsequently became tied to a proposed film-development arrangement worth $20 million, consisting of four $5-million projects.
On August 5, Pellicano met Evan and Barry Rothman, Evan’s attorney, for approximately half an hour. Pellicano said he proposed a single film-development deal instead. The following day, August 6, he told Rothman by telephone that such a deal would ordinarily be worth about $350,000. According to Pellicano, Rothman informed him on August 17 that Evan had rejected the proposal. The Los Angeles Times noted that Pellicano produced no recordings or other documentation corroborating his account of these negotiations.
By August 17, Superior Court Judge Kenneth A. Black had voided the July custody arrangement and ordered Evan to return Jordan to his mother, June. That day, Jordan underwent an approximately three-hour interview with Mathis Abrams, a Los Angeles psychiatrist. Abrams reported the allegations to authorities, and the Los Angeles Police Department opened a criminal investigation. Jordan was also interviewed that day by LAPD officers and a county social worker. Case files later obtained by the Los Angeles Times stated that Jordan had difficulty recalling specific times and dates of the alleged incidents, but described him as consistent in his account.
Investigation
News of the investigation became public on August 23, when Los Angeles television station KNBC reported its existence and police confirmed that an inquiry was underway. Although early reports in the Los Angeles Times did not identify the complainant, the British newspaper The Independent had published his full name, Jordan Chandler, by August 26.
On August 24, Jackson, who was in Bangkok for the opening of the third leg of his Dangerous World Tour, issued a statement through his attorney Howard Weitzman denying wrongdoing and expressing confidence that the investigation would clear his name. He also stated his intention to continue the tour. The Jackson family also publicly defended him, issuing a statement rejecting the allegations and reiterating their support during an August 30 press conference.
On August 31, attorney Gloria Allred confirmed that she had been retained to represent Chandler. On September 10, Allred announced her withdrawal from the case without publicly explaining her reasons. Three days later, Larry R. Feldman, a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, was retained as Chandler's attorney.
Testimony from other children
During the 1993 investigation, police examined Jackson’s relationships with several boys. Investigators questioned a group of boys identified by the accuser, reportedly four boys, including the child actor Macaulay Culkin. Brett Barnes, 11, was questioned by investigators at Neverland, while later reporting identifies Wade Robson, 10, as another potential victim located by investigators. On August 25–27, 1993, Barnes and Robson publicly denied any sexual misconduct despite acknowledging that they had shared Jackson’s bed; later reporting states that these appearances were arranged by Jackson’s private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Robson repeated his denial under oath at Jackson’s 2005 trial, but on May 16, 2013, he reversed his account and alleged that Jackson had sexually abused him. Robson said that during the 1993 investigation Jackson called him daily and role-played/rehearsed how he should respond, warning him that disclosure would send them both to prison.
In August 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported that a boy who was at Neverland when police executed search warrants acknowledged having shared Jackson's bed but denied that Jackson had molested him. When prosecutors closed the investigation in September 1994, they said it had uncovered two additional boys who alleged that Jackson had molested them. Neither was publicly identified at the time; one was living outside the United States and had previously made statements generally denying wrongdoing, while the other alleged three incidents and had been receiving therapy. In 2004, retired LAPD detective William Dworin similarly told the Los Angeles Times that two other boys had told detectives that Jackson had touched them inappropriately, although he described their statements as weaker than that of the original accuser.
On November 17, 1993, the Los Angeles Times reported that Jackson attorney Bertram Fields accused LAPD investigators of intimidating children by falsely telling them, among other things, “we have nude photos of you”; Police Commission president Gary Greenebaum rejected the allegations as unfounded. On April 5, 2005, The Guardian reported that Jason Francia, son of Jackson's former maid Blanca Francia, rejected defense suggestions that police had pressured him into accusing Jackson, stating that investigators had asked him to disclose misconduct if it had occurred.
Testimony from staff
In early September 1993, former Neverland employees Mark and Faye Quindoy publicly offered to testify about what they described as Jackson’s unusual behavior around young boys. Contemporary reports noted that Mark Quindoy had left Neverland following workplace disagreements and a pay dispute, and the Los Angeles Times later reported that the couple came forward after Jackson refused to pay approximately $283,000 in back salary they claimed was owed to them. Quindoy alleged that he had seen Jackson fondling boys on at least two occasions. On September 22, the couple were interviewed for nearly four hours in Manila by investigators from the LAPD and Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, and said they had provided details of alleged child abuse they claimed to have witnessed.