Peter Andre defends himself over role in musical Thriller following Michael Jackson's sex abuse allegations
23 October 2019, 15:41 | Updated: 29 October 2019, 12:28
Peter Andre has said that Michael Jackson’s music should be kept “separate” from the sex abuse allegations against him as he defends his involvement in Thriller, the musical.
Peter Andre defended his role in the Michael Jackson musical Thriller this week as he appeared on Good Morning Britain.
The singer will perform in the West End musical, which celebrates the music of the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson’s solo music, for a two week stint.
However, Peter has been forced to defend himself for getting involved with the show following the sex abuse allegations against Michael Jackson, which came out earlier this year.
In documentary Leaving Neverland, Wade Robson and James Safechuck accused the star, who died in 2009, of sexually abusing them – claims that Jackson’s estate has vehemently denied.
Talking about the new role, Peter said on Good Morning Britain: “I’m going to be doing more the Off The Wall era, not really the later stuff. I love that music, the first album I bought was Off The Wall.”
Responding to comments about Michael Jackson’s sex abuse allegations, Peter said: “I have always said that we’ve got to keep the music separate.
“The reason I say that, one is because if you’re going to go there and say you can’t listen to the music because there’s allegations, do you listen to the music pre any supposed allegations, where do you go with it?
He continued: “Someone was listening to Rihanna the other day and there was a sample of a Michael Jackson song, and she was telling me she was unsure about listening to Michael Jackson. So where do you draw that line?”
Peter insisted that the show is all about “the music” and not about the allegations.
He explained: “This show is about the music.
“I always have to say that they are allegations. A friend of mine who loved R Kelly as much as they loved Michael Jackson, will not listen to R Kelly because they saw video footage, evidence, whatever the documentary was.
“I think that might be where the difference is, is this is still based on allegations. It doesn’t mean there’s no truth in it or you can in any way ignore it. But we’re not at that point where we know what happened.
“I love the music, this is all about the music.”
