Major radio stations in Canada, New Zealand and Australia have dropped Michael Jackson's songs from their playlists, amid the ongoing uproar caused by a two-part documentary exposing the late singer's alleged sex crimes.

"Leaving Neverland" documentary, aired last week on the U.S. cable network HBO, features two men claiming that Jackson had repeatedly abused them sexually during their childhood.

"We are attentive to the comments of our listeners, and the documentary released on Sunday evening created reactions," said Christine Dicaire, a spokeswoman for Canada's Cogeco, in a statement to AFP.

"We prefer to observe the situation by removing the songs from our stations, for the time being."

Cogeco manages 22 radio stations across Quebec and one in Ontario.

Likewise, New Zealand's most major radio networks, MediaWorks and NZME, have also stopped playing the King of Pop's music.

"This is a reflection of our audiences and their preferences – it is our job to ensure our radio stations are playing the music people want to hear," said the radio station's director, Leon Wratt.

Sydney's Nova Entertainment radio station also announced on Thursday it is dropping Michael Jackson's songs in response to public opinion.

"In light of what is happening at the moment, SmoothFM is not currently playing any Michael Jackson songs," local media quoted Nova's programme director Paul Jackson as saying.

Last week, the BBC Radio 2 announced that it had dropped Michael Jackson's music from its playlist, while at the same time issuing a vague statement reading that "each piece of music is considered based on its merits and decisions on what we play on different networks are always made with relevant audiences and context in mind."