• An iconic episode of “The Simpsons” which featured the voice of Michael Jackson will be pulled from circulation, an executive producer of the show told the Wall Street Journal.
  • The decision follows backlash following the release of the four-hour HBO documentary, “Leaving Neverland,” which contains disturbing allegations of child sexual abuse at the hands of the Thriller singer.
  • The show’s longtime executive producer James L. Brooks said the documentary “gave evidence of monstrous behavior” and hoped pulling the beloved episode would show sensitivity to alleged victims as allegations against the singer resurface.

An iconic episode of “The Simpsons” which featured the voice of Michael Jackson will be pulled from circulation, an executive producer of the show told the Wall Street Journal.

The decision follows backlash following the release of the four-hour HBO documentary, “Leaving Neverland,” which contains disturbing allegations of child sexual abuse at the hands of the Thriller singer.

“It feels clearly the only choice to make,” the show’s longtime executive producer, James L. Brooks, said of the episode.

The 1991 episode titled “Stark Raving Dad” featured Jackson as the voice of Leon Kompowsky, a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be Michael Jackson. The episode features the pop-star singing an ode to Lisa Simpson on her birthday, and remains as an iconic part of the show’s legacy.

"This was a treasured episode. There are a lot of great memories we have wrapped up in that one, and this certainly doesn't allow them to remain," Brooks told the journal. He added that, while difficult, the process of removing the episode from circulation on streaming services, TV stations, and DVD's "has started."

Brooks said he had hoped for Jackson's innocence after being acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005. But the information presented in the documentary "gave evidence of monstrous behavior" and elicited harsh blow-back by the public.

Brooks told the Journal that pulling the episodes was important to show compassion for the alleged victims while the long-standing allegations resurfaced.

Backlash following the documentary has also affected Jackson's musical legacy.

Radio stations from around the globe have banned Michael Jackson's music, including New Zealand's public broadcaster RNZ and several major stations in Canada.

The "Leaving Neverland" documentary aired Sunday on HBO, though viewers who saw the film when it premiered at Sundance Film Festival weeks earlier called the allegations "harrowing."

In the film, two men who worked with Jackson as boys, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, discussed how their relationship with Jackson developed over the course of several years, and say that the singer initiated repeated sexual interactions with them and other boys. Allegations range from the singer sleeping in the same bed as the boys to staging a mock wedding ceremony with Safechuck.

Jackson faced similar misconduct allegations before his death in 2009. His estate has criticized "Leaving Neverland" as "an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson."