Michael Jackson pieces reportedly pulled from Children’s Museum of Indianapolis following ‘Leaving Neverland’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the wake of the documentary “Leaving Neverland,” the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis reportedly decided to pull some of its memorabilia associated with Michael Jackson.
The items, which were from two separate exhibits at the museum, were a fedora, a glove and a poster of the musician, The Indianapolis Star reported Friday.
The decision came following the HBO documentary’s release. The program details allegations of child sexual abuse against the singer by Wade Robson and James "Jimmy" Safechuck. The Jackson family has vehemently denied the accusations.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The move to pull the Jackson-affiliated pieces was a collective choice by the team at the museum, Chris Carron, the museum’s director of collections, told The Star. The group “always” handles such situations “collaboratively as a team,” he said.
“We look at our audiences; we look at the messages we’re trying to tell as an institution. What sort of stories do we want to tell in the exhibit?” Carron said. “We’re looking for good examples of how to make an impact on the world. That’s really where our focus lies.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But while the aforementioned items were removed, the museum explained in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter why they decided to leave other memorabilia.
A selection of items tied to Jackson were kept due to their connection to Ryan White, a boy diagnosed with AIDS who, before his death in 1990, had connected with the artist, the outlet said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Michael Jackson pictures on display in The Power of Children exhibit remain because they are part of a direct re-creation of Ryan White’s room,” the museum said in the statement. “Ryan’s family found Michael Jackson’s kindness to them to be an important part of Ryan’s story and the pictures of Michael displayed in that exhibit will always be an integral part of the Ryan White story. The poster was removed because it was not part of the original re-creation of Ryan’s room.”
The three memorabilia pieces were removed “in an excess of caution, and in response to the controversy” surrounding the documentary, the museum said in the statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fox News’ Jessica Napoli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.