Michael Jackson artifacts found in The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis have been removed. The Indiana museum is the largest children’s museum in the world.
According to the New York Daily News, the late-musician’s fedora and white gloves will be removed from the American Pop exhibit, while a signed poster will be removed from the The Power of Children display in response to the aftermath of the HBO documentary, Leaving Neverland. The four-part doc spotlights two men who allege in graphic detail that they were sexually abused by Jackson when they were children through the musician’s grooming techniques.
“As the world’s largest children’s museum, we are very sensitive to our audience,” said the museum in a statement. “In an excess of caution, and in response to the controversy over the HBO film called Leaving Neverland, which directly involved allegations of abuse against children, we removed those objects while we carefully consider the situation more fully.”
Despite the iconic items being nixed from the museum, items gifted to AIDS victim Ryan White by Jackson will remain on display. The song ‘Gone Too Soon’ was written after White died in 1990. The young boy idolized and befriended Jackson as he battled his illness.
“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 museum continued.
