Parents at a Los Angeles elementary school have voted on whether to drop Michael Jackson’s name from the auditorium after damaging pedophilia allegations made against the late pop singer in a documentary. Gardner Street school’s Michael Jackson Auditorium has become a thorny issue ever since the airing of “Leaving Neverland”,
HBO documentary which alleges the singer molested two boys when they were seven and 10 years old. Late Micheal Jackson attended the school in 1969, but left after his family band, The Jackson 5, scored their first big hit, “I want you back”. Officials at Gardner Street school did not reveal when the results of this week’s vote would be released. “Following remarks by some parents and team members about the current name of our auditorium we gave the opportunity to parents and employees to decide on the issue,” said principal Karen Hollis.
The auditorium at the school, in the heart of Hollywood, was named for Jackson in 1989 before first allegations of abuse were laid on the singer, who died in 2009 of a drug overdose.