Leaving Neverland, the controversial documentary that told the stories of two men who alleged they were sexually abused as children by Michael Jackson, picked up five Emmy nominations Tuesday in North Hollywood.
The two-part film from Dan Reed follows James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who said they were 7 and 10 years old when the alleged abuse began.
The HBO release received nominations for outstanding documentary, sound editing, sound mixing, directing, and picture editing.
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The documentary premiered on March 3, and immediately drew condemnation from Jackson fans and the late singer’s estate, which described the film as “tabloid character assassination.”
Leaving Neverland was among five documentaries Television Academy voters chose to single out for outstanding directing.
Also picking up nominations were National Geographic’s Free Solo, The CNN Films releases RBG and Three Identical Strangers, and Netflix’s Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.
Fyre received four nods — for outstanding documentary, directing, sound editing and sound mixing.
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The film, directed by Chris Smith, offered a behind the scenes look at the unraveling of the Fyre music festival. The gathering, organized by Billy McFarland, CEO of Fyre Media Inc, and rapper Ja Rule, was touted as a “luxury music festival” on a private island. Instead, the festival imploded, led to lawsuits and a fraud conviction for McFarland.
The Emmy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, September 22. A full list of the nominations can be found here.
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