What happened to Michael Jackson’s Neverland?
MICHAEL JACKSON was one of the biggest and strangest stars in pop history and he had a house to match.
A new documentary will be released on September 6, 2022 delving into what happened on the day of Jackson's death.
What happened to Michael Jackson's Neverland?
Michael Jackson, who died in 2019, when he was only 50 years old, was one of the biggest selling artists in music history.
His success brought enormous wealth and some extraordinary purchases.
Perhaps the most famous was his vast property in Santa Barbara County - Neverland Ranch.
Visitors to the 2,700-acre estate would see a number of odd features, including fairground rides, a train, and even a zoo.
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Jackson was accused of abusing children on the property, accusations which he vehemently denied.
He stopped visiting Neverland in 2005 after he was acquitted of child molestation charges and the ranch fell into neglect.
The property was later sold in 2020 - after five years on the market - for $22million.
The property was sold in December 2020 to a billionaire buyer, well below the initial asking price of $100million, the .
Jackson originally bought his Neverland home in 1988 for about $17million and spent millions adding its various odd features including a zoo, an amusement park complete with a Ferris wheel, a 50-seat theater, and a train.
Prior to his death, he sold it to Colony Capital for $22.5million and his estate co-owned it “with a fund managed by Colony Capital, a real estate investment trust."
He defaulted on a loan backed by Neverland and Colony Capital “bought the note in 2008, putting the property’s title into a joint venture it formed with the pop star.”
After a number of price cuts, Neverland was bought for $22million and was renamed the Sycamore Valley Ranch.
There was initial speculation that the Neverland estate would be memorialized in Jackson's memory, much like Elvis Presley's Graceland home, but was placed on the market in 2016.
The house was originally listed for $100million and dropped to $67million the following year.
“We don’t yet have any permit requests for new structures, but they’ve pulled permits for roofing, existing structures, electrical — pretty minor stuff, but we can confirm work is being done.”
Burkle made his fortune by flipping large estates including the house used in the 1982 film, Blade Runner, in 2011.
He purchased the property for $4.5million and in 2019 it sold for a whopping $18million.
Burkle has not revealed what the long-term plans are for Jackson's home.
Briggs told SF Gate: “In situations like this, we’re not always the first to know what intentions are.
“We only know when they pull permits — so we won’t really know what they’re up to beyond work taking place.”
Is there a new Michael Jackson documentary?
FOX is releasing a new documentary titled TMZ Investigates: Who Really Killed Michael Jackson.
The documentary will reveal exclusive interviews delving into Jackson's death and will be released on Fox at 8pm on September 6, 2022.
TMZ's documentary will feature Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Row, and the Los Angeles Police Department, shining new light on what really happened the night Jackson died.
The head of TMZ, Harvey Levin, spoke about his new documentary with , saying: “There were a lot of people who have never had a reckoning over his death, and that’s what we get into. That’s what we focus on.”
He continued: “We broke the story of Michael Jackson’s death and followed it for a long time, and there were things about this for us that never sat right.”
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The documentary suggests there may have been more than one doctor involved in Jackson's drug use, but specifies that Jackson was not innocent in the outcome.
“Michael was gonna get what he wanted," Levin told the outlet, adding: "and if you said no he would find somebody who would do it for him.”