Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch is back on the market, with a new slashed price that is significantly less than the original asking price.
According to PEOPLE, the property went on sale back in 2009 for $100 million. It has now been reduced to just $31 million.
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The property — which boasts 2,700 acres and a roughly 12,000-square-foot main house — was purchased by Jackson in 1987 for just under $20 million, and is now co-owned by his estate and fund management company Colony Capital.
His family has had difficultly finding a buyer for the iconic homestead, and as a result they have has to reduced the asking price on it several times.
It is possible that part of the reason why the Jackson family are having trouble selling the property , is due to the numerous sexual assault accusations that have mounted against the singer over the years.
Those claims are now the focus of a new documentary titled Leaving Neverland, which will premiere on HBO next month.
Jackson’s estate and family have been outspokenly critical of the project, even going so far as to label it “a tabloid character assassination” while also calling into question the credibility of its details.
“The film takes uncorroborated allegations that supposedly happened 20 years ago and treats them as fact,”a statement on the film by Jackson’s estate read in part. “Michael always turned the other cheek, and we have always turned the other cheek when people have gone after members of our family — that is the Jackson way. But we can’t just stand by while this public lynching goes on. … Michael is not here to defend himself, otherwise these allegations would not have been made.”
The film’s director, Dan Reed, has since responded to the criticism form Jackson’s family and estate, staying that he understands why they have a problem with it because “They have a very precious asset to protect. Every time a song plays, a cash register goes ‘ka-ching.’ It doesn’t surprise me that they’ve come out fighting in defense of their asset.”
“It is a four-hour documentary by an experienced documentarian with a long track record in investigation and telling complex stories and this is a complex story. So I’d say it’s beyond doubt a documentary. Anyone with any knowledge of that form would recognize a documentary,” he contined.
“A four-hour piece, is that a tabloid? I didn’t characterize Jackson at all in the film — I think if you watch it you’ll have noticed that it’s a story about these two families and Jackson is an element of that story. But I don’t seek to characterize him at all. I don’t comment on Jackson. It’s not a film about Michael. … The film itself is an account of sexual abuse, how sexual abuse happens and then how the consequences play out later in life,” Reed added.
Leaving Neverland will air in two-parts, with the first debuting on Sunday, March 3 and the second airing the following day, Monday, March 4.
