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The attorney who took Wade Robson’s hours-long deposition ahead of Michael Jackson’s now infamous 2005 child molestation trial says he and James Safechuck are lying about being abused by the King Of Pop and insists the pair were never paid off by the superstar.

The bombshell documentary Leaving Neverland premiered on HBO on Sunday, detailing the shocking abuse allegations made by the two men.

But Jackson’s former lawyer and confidante Brian Oxman, 66, blasted the film, claiming Robson and Safechuck are simply chasing ‘fame and money.’

And for the first time the former attorney – who knew Jackson for three decades – details to DailyMailTV how he had numerous telephone calls with Robson to take his sworn out-of-court testimony ahead of the Gavin Arvizo trial and reveals how he repeatedly stated: ‘Michael never abused me.’

The once high-profile attorney was on the defense team which successfully helped Jackson get acquitted of 14 charges of abuse leveled at him by accuser Arvizo.

And at each point during his deposition and while sitting on the stand, Oxman says, Robson was ‘adamant’ that Jackson never touched him or any other children.

Oxman said the Australian dance choreographer even volunteered to fly from his homeland to defend the Bad singer at the highly publicized trial.

And the attorney said an emotional Robson was tearful during their lengthy phone chats, telling him: ‘They shouldn’t be doing this…tell Michael we are in his corner…I will do whatever it takes to be there for Michael.’

In an exclusive interview, Oxman told DailyMailTV: ‘We heard the prosecution was planning to make a case that Michael had abused Wade.

‘Obviously, we reached out to Robson after that to ask him to give evidence about what he knew.

‘He was hesitant at first to go public in this case but did always say Michael never touched him.

‘We weren’t sure he was going to give evidence, but he kept calling me asking about the progress of the case.

‘He was very concerned and was so upset that he had a change of heart.

‘And I was charged with taking his deposition. I spent many hours talking to him on the phone and cannot tell you how many countless times Robson told me: ”Michael did not do this. This boy (Arvizo) shouldn’t be doing this.”

‘He always tried to reach Michael and told me, ”Can you get a message to him that we are in his corner” and added, ”I will do whatever it takes to be there for Michael.”

Oxman says the detailed deposition covered every aspect of Robson and Jackson’s relationship and the allegations of abuse the prosecution asserted.

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited Oxman said the Australian dance choreographer volunteered to fly from his homeland to defend the Bad singer at the highly publicized trial

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited . And the attorney said an emotional Robson (right) was tearful during their lengthy phone chats, telling him: ‘They shouldn’t be doing this…tell Michael we are in his corner…I will do whatever it takes to be there for Michael’

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‘Let’s not sugarcoat this matter,’ Oxman explained. ‘Wade and I discussed explicit details of the allegations and any things he may have felt were inappropriate, but he always stuck to his story that Michael was innocent of these charges.

‘I talked to him and asked: ”They say Michael put his hand on your penis and m*******d you.”

He replied: ‘No that did not happen.’

On one occasion there was talk of abuse at a hotel, but Robson hit back: ‘No that was not true and my mother was there.’

‘Over each conversation he was adamant, and I was so confident in his testimony that I arranged for the ticket from Australia for him to be a key defense witness.’

Oxman insists there was no secret monetary deal struck with Robson other than to pay his travel expenses.

‘It was simply a payment of a witness’ reasonable expenses to attend, which is statutory, and we stuck to the ethical boundaries,’ he said. ‘It was arranged strictly through attorneys not Michael.’

Oxman arranged for Robson to fly to Santa Barbara from his home in Australia for the trial in Santa Maria, California, and refutes claims that Jackson coached or bribed him.

‘Michael nor any of the legal team paid him a dime to give evidence or talk positively about Michael,’ Oxman said.

‘And any suggestions that Michael had contact with the witness at that time to coerce him is nonsense too, because it would be undue influence. Under my instructions they did not meet or talk.

‘And at that time given how prosecutors were keen on getting Michael for anything, that did not happen on my watch.’

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited  Oxman also claims that Robson’s co-accuser James Safechuck (pictured with Jackson) of lying, in order to gain ‘fame and money’ 

After Robson jetted to California to testify as a key defense witness, Oxman recalls being in court to watch his testimony held over two court sessions.

And in court transcripts obtained by DailyMailTV his denials couldn’t be clearer.

Lead defense attorney Thomas Mesereau asked Robson outright three times and he denied each count.

According to the transcript dated May 5, 2005, Mesereau asked: ‘Mr. Robson did Michael Jackson ever molest you at any time?’

The choreographer, then 26, replied: ‘Absolutely not.’

The lawyer then followed up: ‘Mr. Robson did Michael Jackson ever touch you in a sexual way?

Robson responded: ‘Never, no.’

Then he probed again: ‘Mr. Robson has Mr. Jackson ever inappropriately touched any part of your body at any time?’ Robson again said: ”No.”

Oxman fired back on the court documents: ‘It clearly shows the two men are liars. Robson told the court the same thing he had told me many times before and had sworn on the Bible. So for him to change that story all these years later means he lied to us all, including the court – and that is perjury. But it is such an old case, the police will not act.

‘And I count at least six felonies if he is really telling the truth now. I just do not buy it. Even if he told his version of events now, he would have been impeached because he told the police in 1993 that Michael did not abuse him.

‘I would have loved to have stared into his eyes and cross examine him for this TV show.’

The former lawyer added that the documentary is not ‘balanced’ saying it’s a ‘one-sided attack on a dead man from two perjurers’.

He said: ‘It is a disgrace that they had a guarantee that no one would confront them.

‘The Jackson family members would all have lined up to give their versions.’

Oxman says he did ponder for a moment whether the two men, who as children spent time in Jackson’s bedroom, could be telling the truth – but he reflected: ‘Wade never changed his story for many years and I do not believe what he is saying today. It is for fame and money.

‘Personally, it sickens and hurts me that they would stoop this low.

‘The Michael Jackson I knew was not a child abuser and I knew him throughout the whole of his life.’

However, Oxman did admit that Jackson refused to stop entertaining children at his Neverland ranch, despite his nearly $25 million payoff to Jordie Chandler in 1995.

‘We told Michael it is was too risky. He was always insistent: ”I am not doing anything improper and I am not going to let my critics dictate my life.”

‘From my knowledge, there was someone present who watched and nothing ever took place that was improper.

‘His theory was that he did not have a childhood and this was his decision.

‘I challenged him about his great childhood, but he always said, ”I would have liked to have played more, and lived like other children… and so I am doing that now.”

Oxman, who can no longer work as an attorney after being disbarred by the California Bar Association in 2012 over misuse of a client’s trust, says he’s still close to the Jackson family. He reveals Jackson matriarch Katherine has been rocked by the HBO documentary, which has affected her health, while other family members are livid at Robson and Safechuck.

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited The bombshell documentary Leaving Neverland premiered on HBO on Sunday, detailing the shocking abuse allegations made by the two men. Pictured l-r: Robson, director Dan Reed and Safechuck 

‘Wade always said that he supported Michael to the family, and they were grateful when he gave evidence in the trial,’ he explained.

‘So for this to happen now is like a dagger to their hearts, and they cannot understand why he is doing it. It’s a betrayal and everyone feels it is money motivated.’

In 2005 Jackson endured a painful three months on trial for seven counts of child sexual abuse on 13-year-old cancer survivor Gavin Arvizo.

But the jury found the superstar innocent of all charges.

Unfortunately, Oxman was fired from Jackson’s defense team by lead attorney Mesereau before the trial concluded.

He later appeared as a legal expert on a range of TV programs including Good Morning America, Nancy Grace and Larry King Live.

The former attorney believes the ordeal and toll of the trial led The King of Pop into a downward spiral that ended with his drug-induced death on June 25, 2009.

Oxman, who also acted as the Jackson family lawyer for years, said: ‘Michael never recovered from the 2005 trial. It was the beginning of the end for him.

‘He was cleared and was innocent of every charge, but the damage was done mentally and physically.

‘In a poll, 80 percent of the American people believed he was guilty. It still shocks me to this day.

‘Whatever he did wherever he went a cloud hung over him.’

‘Michael couldn’t stop thinking about it; it tormented him every day as he relived those court moments.

‘The kid looking at him in the eye and saying you molested me. It destroyed him – his spirit, spark, outlook on life, friendships and heightened his dependency on drugs to escape those flashbacks.

‘The mental and drug damages proved too much and within four years he was dead.

‘And it breaks my heart still to this day that a case I lived ate and breathed that Michael was innocent from the start. He should never have even been on the stand.’

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