The public will never know for sure.

He was a very broken person, in many ways. That doesn’t prove or disprove that he did anything illegal or immoral.

Some of the ways he acted? They seem questionable to most folks, myself included. But through the lens of his emotional and psychological issues? They could have appeared harmful but actually been harmless.

For example: Is it weird for an adult celebrity to have pajama parties with kids? Yes. Is it harmful if it was, in fact, only a pajama party? Probably not.

Michael Jackson is a complex figure with huge cultural import. That doesn’t change the fact that he may have been a problematic individual.

In some ways, he may have been less harmful than other historic figures. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question the possible bad things he did.