# Candle True Stories’ Bosses On Revisiting Michael Jackson 20 Years After Martin Bashir Doc & Building A ’20/20′ True Crime Franchise In The UK

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/candle-true-stories-bosses-on-revisiting-michael-jackson-20-years-after-martin-bashir-doc-building-a-20-20%e2%80%b2-true-crime-franchise-in-the-uk/
- Published: 2026-07-22T13:00:00+00:00
- Original publisher: Deadline
- Original article: https://deadline.com/2026/07/candle-true-stories-goldston-on-michael-jackson-2020-uk-1236969685/
- Topics: Art, Culture, UK, World

## Key points

- Netflix's Michael Jackson: The Verdict was 2026's most-watched documentary so far.
- Producer James Goldston also made ITV's 2003 Bashir documentary on Jackson.
- The doc followed Lionsgate's criticised Michael biopic starring Jaafar Jackson.

## Summary

James Goldston, whose Candle Media-backed indie Candle True Stories produced Netflix's recent hit Michael Jackson: The Verdict, has spoken about returning to Jackson's story more than two decades after he exec-produced ITV's controversial Living with Michael Jackson. That earlier documentary, hosted by Martin Bashir, was one of the catalysts for Jackson later being charged with child molestation and related offences, and Goldston said he was initially reluctant to revisit the subject before deciding the changed cultural climate around celebrity justified a fresh look.

The Verdict examines Jackson's 2005 trial, on which he was acquitted of all nine charges, drawing on interviews with jurors, journalists and figures from both prosecution and defence alongside archive footage. It landed on Netflix last month, reaching the top 10 in multiple countries and becoming the most-watched documentary of the first half of 2026, arriving shortly after Lionsgate's biopic Michael, starring Jaafar Jackson, was criticised in some quarters as sanitised. Candle's development chief Miranda Peters said the doc served as a companion piece to the film and highlighted the divided, often contentious response to Jackson's legacy among fans and the public.

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