Wade Robson

Wade Jeremy William Robson (born 17 September 1982) is an Australian dancer and choreographer.

He began performing as a dancer at age five, and has directed music videos and world tours for pop acts such as NSYNC and Britney Spears.

During the late 1990s, while still a teenager, Robson choreographed Spears's Pepsi commercials, including one which aired during Super Bowl 35.

In 1993, when Jackson was first accused of child sexual abuse, Robson, aged 10, told police that nothing sexual had happened between them.

He choreographed the performance by NSYNC and Spears at the 1999 Video Music Awards and he co-directed Spears's 1999–2000 world tours as well as NSYNC's 2000 No Strings Attached Tour.

In 2001, he choreographed Spears' I'm a Slave 4 U video and was choreographer and director of NSYNC's 2001 PopOdyssey Tour.

In the NSYNC music video "Pop", Robson had to fill in for NSYNC member Joey Fatone during several of the dance sequences because of an injury that Fatone sustained at an NSYNC concert the night before the video shoot.

That same year, he directed Spears's Dream Within a Dream Tour.

Robson and NSYNC's Justin Timberlake partnered in 2001, co-writing the hit singles "Pop", "Gone", and "See Right Through You" on NSYNC's final album Celebrity.

Robson had initially written "Celebrity" for his own album, but was persuaded to let NSYNC record it instead.

They also co-wrote Britney Spears' "What It's Like to Be Me", on which Timberlake sang backing vocals.

The song's copyright is held jointly by Robson's and Timberlake's respective companies, WaJeRo Sound and Tennman Tunes.

Robson was the creator and host of MTV's The Wade Robson Project, a talent search competition for hip-hop dancers.

The program was sponsored by Juice Batteries.

In 2002, Robson was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch".

Dance clothing company Power T Dance developed a line of name-brand consumer dance shoes with Robson.

Robson was the host and executive producer of The Wade Robson Project, which aired on MTV in 2003.

The shoes were distributed in the U.S. through the Ralph Libonati Co. Robson appeared as himself in the 2004 urban dance film You Got Served, which won Best Dance Sequence (Feature Film) at the 2004 American Choreography Awards.

Robson joined several other choreographers, such as Mia Michaels and Shane Sparks, on the PULSE Tour, a series of nationwide weekend workshops designed to give dancers the chance to train under top choreographers.

In 2005, during Jackson's trial, Robson stated under oath that Jackson had never behaved inappropriately.

In 2007, he joined the Fox television dance series So You Think You Can Dance as a guest judge and choreographer.

He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for the dance number "Ramalama (Bang Bang)" of So You Think You Can Dance.

When Robson was a child, he was befriended by the pop singer Michael Jackson.

In 2007, Robson began choreographing the American Idols LIVE! Tour.

He also choreographed both group and partner pieces for the second and third seasons of So You Think You Can Dance.

In September 2007, Robson was awarded a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for the dance number "Ramalama (Bang Bang)" on Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance.

However, in 2013, Robson reversed his position and filed a late creditor claim and a civil lawsuit against the Jackson estate, saying that Jackson had abused him from 1990 to 1997, when Robson was aged between seven and 14.

His case is currently before a California court as Robson v. MJJ Productions.

He detailed his allegations in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.

Robson was in a talent troupe called Johnny Young's Talent School, and the group did 14 shows a week, usually at venues like shopping malls.

When he was nine, Robson moved to the United States with his mother and sister.

Michael Jackson assisted them in the move and recruited Robson to appear in three music videos: "Black or White", "Jam", and "Heal the World".

At the age of 11, Robson had an agent.

Along with friend DeWayne Turrentine, he formed the hip-hop duo Quo and by the end of the year released an album on Jackson's MJJ Music label through Epic/SME Records.

The following year, he was teaching dance classes in Hollywood.

He formed a troupe of dancing children, which performed internationally.

He received his first choreography job for the R&B group Immature at 14.

The job led to others for artists such as Britney Spears.

Clients were sometimes reluctant to take direction from Robson, a self-described "skinny little white kid".

When Spears first interviewed Robson to choreograph her tour, she exclaimed, "He's a friggin' baby!"; she had expected him to be in his 30s or 40s.