Wade Robson opened up on Today this morning about his claims that Michael Jackson sexually abused him and forced him to keep quiet about it.
Robson told Matt Lauer there is no repressed memory of what happened, as has been reported, nor is he coming forward now just for money.
“I never forgot one moment of what Michael did,” he said. “but I was psychologically unable and unwilling to understand that it was sexual abuse.”
Asked to spell out what that means, he didn’t hesitate.
The choreographer claims that the King of Pop "performed sexual acts on him and forced me to perform sexual acts on him" when he was a child.
Robson, 30, told Lauer that Michael Jackson gained his silence by telling him this was "love" and that they would both be imprisoned if he told anyone.
He called this “complete manipulation and brainwashing.”
Asked by Lauer about those who have publicly scoffed at his claims, such as Jackson’s attorneys and family members, Robson said he understands.
However, he adamantly denies fabricating any of it.
“The idea that I would make this up and put my family through an extremely stressful and painful experience, all for the sake for money … is incomprehensible to me,” he said.
“I lived in silence and denial for 22 years," Robson went on, noting that he suffered nervous breakdowns after his son was born two years ago.
"In order to heal, I have to speak the truth and speak the whole truth. Understand that I’m not going away. I’m not going to be silenced for money."
Asked to describe his feelings about the late music icon, who died in 2009 and who Wade says abused him from ages 7-14, Robson said this:
“Heartbreak, pain, anger and compassion. He was a troubled man. He was many things. He was very talented. But he was also a pedophile and a child sexual abuser.”
The first hearing in Robson’s claim is scheduled for June 6.
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