michael jackson oprah interview transcript michael jackson oprah interview transcript

And we started -- this is where we started. And then there are all the gatherings, from weddings to birthdays, where the only songs that would get everyone in my mixed, multicultural family on the dance floor to attempt their best moonwalks were "Billie Jean" and "Thriller.". But their victory tour reviews were mixed. TOOBIN: He was emaciated. And so Michael and his managers fought them and said Quincy's doing the record. Of course, in all other meetings there were a whole entourage present. It could not be stopped. Similarly, Safechuck recalls meeting Jackson while filming a Pepsi commercial; they developed a similar working relationship that morphed into sleepovers at the ranch. And Jackson showed up in court in his pajamas. Success at such a cost left Jackson with conflicted feelings for his father. And Michael Jackson was ready to spread his wings. And then he would dance, you know. LEMON: The transformation was complete. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. And I know that it tore him to pieces. I just wish I could understand my father. LEMON: Ben Brockman was one of Jackson's attorneys. Sign up for the oprah.com live your best life newsletter, Get more stories like this delivered to your inbox. When Michael spoke with Oprah, he was extremely open about the sensitive subject, saying his father called him ugly, beat him and frightened him. He's not going to be able to get any weirder than this. Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson's accusers from "Leaving Neverland." By Meredith Blake Staff Writer March 1, 2019 6 AM PT Reporting from New York Oprah Winfrey is arguably the. So as a community, when we do see our people succeed, we want to cheer them on. So off he went to the island nation of Bahrain. web pages It was a tense atmosphere, given that MJ didn't take part in an interview for 14 years. Despite the success of "We are the World" in the mid '80s, seemingly soft-spoken Michael was retreating into a world all his own. We're going to sleep. One of the last photographs that was taken of Michael Jackson while he was alive. I'm going to miss him so much. According to Kitty Kelleys biography Oprah, the host lied when she claimed at the beginning of the interview that nothing had been prearranged. Who wants mortality? And part of my concern about Michael was the fact that he always seemed to be suffering from some form of ailment or infirmity. The circus surrounding the trial seemed more than Jackson could bear. It was not like watching a 50-year-old man returning to the stage. And, as unconventional as it is, if you really look at it, it's sort of surrogate motherhood. He had the discipline at such a young age, originality, willing to try everything, a work ethic, all of it. DE PASSE: I was asked to come to see this group. Mere months later, his public image would be tarnished forever By the end of the documentary, I felt an unexpected emotion: numbness. BRAFMAN: He always appeared to either be in pain or walking with pain. Around 62 million viewers in the United States and 90 million worldwide watched the interview live, although some estimates, such as the one offered by Winfreys biographer, Kitty Kelley, claim it was higher at 100 million. I mean, everybody wants immortality. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. me with them and I will put them on here. This is the final curtain call. This is a moment in time that allows us to see this societal corruption that's like a scourge on humanity. While never forgetting any of the sexual details that happened between us, but having no understanding that it was abusehaving no concept in my mind that anything about Michael could ever badeverything that Michael did was right to me for so many years." Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Jacksons 2005 trial lasted 18 months; the trial lasted 14 weeks. LEMON: It was 1984 when Jackson was making this Pepsi commercial and his hair caught fire. And he's not breathing. The Winfrey-Jackson interview was the 101st highest-rated show in television history. Who do you date? Right now, Brooke Shields. Oprah nodded and murmured Hmm. She comes to my house, or I go to hers, Michael continued. JACKSON: Yes. My "CNN Presents: Man in The Mirror" continues. They are mourning in Gary, Indiana, too, Michael's hometown. LEMON: In 1986, a photograph of Michael asleep in an anti-aging chamber rocked the tabloids. viewers (millions) Series Air date Network Ref(s) 1: Michael Jackson: Oprah Winfrey: 62.30 "Michael Jackson Talks . And in 1999, they divorced. Michael went from reacting to Oprahs questions with some trepidation to carrying most of the conversation. But first an update on the Michael Jackson death investigation. This man through his music actually like made a change in the world. JACKSON: I ask all of you to wait and hear the truth before you label or condemn me. TOOBIN: The criminal charges were not a total surprise, because several years earlier, Jackson had settled a civil claim against him by a boy under very similar circumstances. Jackson told Oprah he suffered from a rare skin disease. CASTRO: He just wanted to give the world the impression he was like this mysterious, kind of enigmatic figure. RABBI SCHMULEY BOTEACH: On the one hand, he would always complain. He also raised eyebrows with his red carpet companions Brooke Shields and Emmanuel Lewis. But in January of that year, Michael had just headlined the Super Bowl halftime show (the staging and format of which provided the template for todays artists performing at the years biggest football game) and won three American Music Awards. The interview had the intended effect (many considered it a promotional ploy by the two, rather than a real interview). He's unconscious? And he just didn't look like anyone else you'd ever met. LEMON: Ten million dollars a year he could no longer afford. URI GELLER, AUTHOR: I was the only person who had the chutzpah to scream at him and tell him that this business of inviting children to his bedroom is wrong. LEMON: Coming up, scandal rocks the gates of Neverland. My father made me into a performance machine. TOURE: So he's doing the moonwalk. In 1993, Jackson spoke about both in this interview with Oprah Winfrey. Jackson fans have also been vicious, as Winfrey also received backlash before the interview. So when I heard about the new two-night HBO documentary Leaving Neverlandand the fact that Oprah was going to be interviewing Wade Robson and James Safechuck, the two men in the film who accuse Jackson of sexually abusing them as childrenI had a similar reaction to the rest of the world: Disbelief. And he said -- and even then he said to me, well, it was more like he says a razzle-dazzle kind of thing. And Michael was happy to play along with that, because he understood at a very early age that image-making and public relations was very important. ), Still, even as a grown, college educated, opinionated adult, until just two days ago, I was one of those Michael Jackson defenders. Diane: Glad you're here. And, generally, he expressed to me that he was made to feel that he was ugly, that he was not pretty. There is not a single thing or person in popular culture that is worth not protecting and believing our children. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LEMON (voice-over): January 16, 2004; it seemed like another classic Michael Jackson performance, surrounded by screaming fans. Later, he added: "Michael told me it was love, that God brought us together. Just last year, a study by the Census Bureau and Stanford University found that no matter what their parents income level, Black men are less successful than white men on average. They come up with these dances," Michael said. NORRIS: Michael had begun to exhibit a certain, I think aloofness, and a tendency to kind of withdraw from the world. THOMAS MESEREAU, LAWYER FOR MICHAEL JACKSON: It took a terrible toll. That is when everything clicked for mewhen I had what Oprah likes to call an "aha moment." Several items were taken away. The superstar seemed to be fading in front of the world's eyes. After all, much of my aforementioned childhood also included walking by the TV and seeing headlines with accusations against my favorite pop star, first in 1993 and later, a much-publicized trial in 2004. PETER CASTRO, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: He's on the set, and he's descending a staircase. There wouldn't be BET. Have expert advice and tips delivered directly to you. Long-awaited, the buzz was big. He made me rehearse too much. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was certainly the most bizarre criminal trial I ever saw. Michael had turned down interviews for 14 years, until allowing Oprah access to Neverland. At first that's a starling thing. On the day after his death, Presley wrote on her blog that Jackson always thought he'd die early like her father. LEMON: The soundtrack of a generation. BOTEACH: He puts on that black thing, that mask. Then moved back. His appearance had changed so much since he was a child star that there was much speculation about the work he'd had done. Ellen: Oh, thank you. To no -- he's not responding to CPR or anything. And immediately I was up all night trying to think of the type of songs that would create excitement among people. Leaving Neverland is, indeed, much, much bigger than Michael Jackson. Or at least that was how it went until February 10, 1993, when, sitting across from Oprah Winfrey in an ABC live special, he responded. It would make me sad that I would have to go and work instead. "You can count them on two fingers," he said. The craze reached a fever pitch in 1984 when a Pepsi commercial gone awry sparked even more frenzy. I mean, you couldn't stop them. RODNEY JERKINS, MUSIC PRODUCER: Michael called me, and he says, "Why can't we create new sounds?" In February, he received the Living Legend Award at the Grammys, an honor bestowed intermittently on the likes of Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin, which Jackson received at the age of 34. MESEREAU: I just looked at him and hugged him and he just said, thank you, thank you. He defended himself somewhat crazily, but it did make some sense: What about the millions of people who put themselves in the sun to make their skin darker, to become someone else? They performed as if they had been performing for years. After more than two months of testimony, 135 witnesses, and seven days of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict. Michael Jackson talks to Oprah (1993) by Harpo Productions Publication date 1993 Topics Michael Jackson, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show This is a UK airing of the famous interview of Michael Jackson by Oprah Winfrey in 1993. LEMON: With each not guilty verdict, the crowd outside cheered. LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The buzz over Michael Jackson's interview with Oprah Winfrey continued on several fronts Friday and included a statement from the pop star's dermatologist about Jackson's much-discussed skin condition. (END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Coming up, Michael Jackson, from riches to rags. CHOPRA: It was the thing that caused his cardiac arrest. Michael, a fiercely private entertainer, had refused to give an interview for 14 years. QUINCY JONES, MUSIC PRODUCER: I said, you know what? MJ: You're welcome anytime. And that is something that is happening every single day in this country at the hands of far less powerful people. ETHAN SMITH, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": After the trial, he had spent a lot of money on lawyers, and had very little coming in. MESEREAU: I was on occasion. Were you as happy offstage as you were onstage?, Offstage I was very sad. According to Winfrey, the conversation was unscripted and uncensored. He hadn't shaved that morning. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Hello, I'm Don Lemon, live from Los Angeles. The Watch OWN app is free and available to you as part of your OWN subscription through a participating TV provider. Michael Jackson, in 1993 in a hospital for sick children. LIONEL RICHIE, MUSICIAN: Now, one great thing that happened that we both had to realize, I can't read or write music, and Michael cannot read or write music. Oh, there's a lot of is sadness about my past life and, you know, adolescence, and my father, and all of those things. A lot of people from the Mideast love Michael Jackson. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran's response to U.S. criticism of its presidential election will be crushing and remorseful. At the end, he talked about his mortality. LEMON: When we return, Michael on-stage the night before he died. ", Michael's relationship with his father, Joe Jackson, has made plenty of headlines throughout the years. It was in the same league as David Frosts interview with Richard Nixon in 1977, Barbara Walters interview with Monica Lewinsky in 1999 and, outside the United States, Martin Bashirs interview with Princess Diana in 1995. But some wondered whether he could pull off a strenuous 50- concert tour. this is SOOO funny. Filled mostly with past hits and some new angry songs like "Scream," 1995's "History: Past, Present, and Future" could not revive Jackson's success in the studio. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: In November 1982, 24-year-old Michael Jackson released "Thriller." Of course, we're following developments out of Iran tonight. BRIAN OXMAN, ATTORNEY: I've talked to this family about it. This is really it. Stay up to date with the latest trends that matter to you most. It physically pains me to think about forever parting ways with "The Way You Make Me Feel," the one song that can cheer me up on even my worst days, or the fact that I will never again get to witness the way an MJ classic brings everyone together at a family party. But a lot of people think that he has bleached his skin. He said, no one wants to be mortal; we all want to be immortal. MICHAEL JACKSON: I would do my schooling for three hours with the tutor, and right after that I'd go to the. Flags at half staff, a memorial at his childhood home. The unprecedented live event, which took place before any allegations were made about sexual abuse, drew a worldwide audience of 90 million people. HIATT: At the same time he was announcing these shows, he also made sure to say these are the final shows. Sometimes I do get angry. CRAIG MARKS, FORMER EDITOR, "BLENDER" MAGAZINE: Hysterical adulation does play tricks with your mind. Mejore su francs con solo 15 minutos al da. So, how do you write a song called "We are the World"? TOURE: It was quite obvious to all of us from the beginning that it was a sham, that it was a publicity stunt. Meantime, members of Iran's government-linked militia are reportedly raiding homes and beating suspected protesters, who are believed to be taking part in nightly anti-government chants from Tehran roofs. A 13-year-old boy filed a lawsuit accusing the singer of sexually molesting him. GORDY: When she told me about another kids' group I said, wait a minute, I got all these other stars. And my worst fears are here. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The record flew out of stores. He suffered from bad acne and was self- conscious of his appearance. DE PASSE: I went back one more time, mustered up all my courage. Michael, a fiercely private entertainer, had refused to give an interview for 14 years. Michael Jackson, left, will be played in the film by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, right. LEMON: Family members came to Jackson's defense. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's 50 years old. When I saw that spectacle, I realized that my concerns about his frailty, about his physical issues, and emotional instability, were even more well-founded. A decade later, Jackson was so dependent on prescription drugs that he had to interrupt a world tour to go into a drug treatment program. Someone created a piano. LEMON: Fans wanted their last good-bye. He pleaded not guilty. JACKSON: My friends and doctors advise me to seek professional guidance in order to eliminate what has become an addiction. When Oprah broached the subject, Michael wouldn't get into specifics but said he'd had less plastic surgery than people thought. (And who could ever forget that interview Jackson did with Martin Bashir in 2003 where he whispered "I am Peter Pan"? To understand the enormous buzz that an interview with Michael Jackson (Indiana, 1958-Los Angeles, 2009) generated in February 1993, one needs to understand the context. Information from IMDB:Oprah interviews Michael Jackson, broadcast live around the world from his home at the Neverland Ranch. He only comes along once. Robson told Oprah of his decision to speak out: "If anything that I say is going to help any other survivors, then I should be able to speak the truth.". There's a flash behind him, and his hair catches on fire. "I had no understanding of it being abuseI loved Michael," he told Oprah. "The moonwalk came from these beautiful black kids who live in the ghettos in the inner cities, who are brilliant. And it was just kind of disgusting and silly. This is a guy 40 years old who has literally done everything that you can think of, but still hungry enough to say, I want to create an instrument. (I should note that for the record, Leaving Neverland was in production long before Surviving R. Kelly aired.). BEN BROCKMAN, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL JACKSON: I was trying my best to get him down. he looks soo mad wen the alarm goes offits soo cute. In the Michael Jackson interview, this is quite noticeable: she describes the artists disturbing environment with a naivet that makes Michael himself not feel attacked. It is bigger than Michael Jackson's fans, bigger than me defending the soundtrack to my childhood. JACKSON: This is it. And the record company said, no, Quincy's too jazzy. LEMON: But Jackson was born to perform, and the show must go on. The only way you become immortal is that your work lives on. Watching the two interviews back to back reveals an undeniable and astonishing fact: the biggest pop star the world had ever seen had become a completely different person in the intervening 14 years. And it's happening right now. LEMON: -- so is his death. KING: Yes, but -- JERMAINE JACKSON: His whole thing is, if there's something that you feel that you want to change, and then you do that. In 1993, Oprah Winfrey made history by conducting the most-watched interview in television history. LEMON: Michael Jackson was officially charged with seven counts of child molestation and several other felonies. LEMON: Three years later, in the fall of 1991, "Dangerous" was released. HARVEY: Those tests we anticipate will take approximately four to six additional weeks. Oprah interviews Michael Jackson, broadcast live around the world from his home at the Neverland Ranch. "You said on my show, 'Yes, this was a real marriage,'" Oprah says, referring to her 2005 interview with Lisa Marie. LEMON: Michael Jackson had probably drawn his last breath by the time this 911 phone call was made from a rented home in the Los Angeles hills. In 1993, Jackson spoke about both in this interview with Oprah Winfrey. JOHN NORRIS, FORMER CORRESPONDENT, MTV NEWS: They are songs that still hold up today. Beating, Joe maintained, is something you do with a stick. In that sense, the show [was] very ambiguous. Despite the interview being filmed in his own home, one of the rooms served as a set. DR. HAROLD, BURSZTAJN, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: The fact that he has spent as much time as he has changing his face, changing his appearance, it's reminiscent of patients who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder, which is the condition where when a patient looks at themselves in the mirror, they just hate what they see. Robson and his mother moved from Australia to work with Jackson, and as a child, he starred in music videos like "Black or White" and "Jam," gigs that he says led to spending more and more time with Jackson, including sleepovers at Jackson's Neverland ranch. Pop icon Michael Jackson sat down for an intimate chat with. LEMON: One month later, Jackson took home eight Grammys. Tern notes that he believes that Michael thought the interview would clean up his image, but instead it showed the grandiloquence of his fame, of having no childhood, which knocks a person off kilter forever.. Oprah's interview with Michael Jackson in February 1993 is the most-watched television interview in television history, with a staggering 90 million viewers. And the Jacksons began their rocket rise to stardom. He was sobbing. LEMON: In July, 1984, the Jackson 5 reunited in a flurry of publicity. For him it was a world of betrayal. Oprah, who referenced her own experiences with sexual abuse as a child during the interview, added that when you're as young as Robson and Safechuck were when they allege that Jackson abused them7 and 10you "don't have the language to explain what is happening to you." LEMON: The Los Angeles Coroner's Office said they would need toxicology tests before determining the cause of death. LEMON: Legendary music producer Quincy Jones would produce Jackson's first adult solo album. LEMON: Pain that dated back at least a quarter of a century. Obtendr un diploma con estadsticas de nivel, progresin y participacin. Welcome to Prime Time. ", If there's one dance move for which Michael will forever be remembered, it's unquestionably the moonwalk. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need an ambulance as soon as possible. NORRIS: And of course, it paid off for all of us, because, I mean, the idea of MTV without Michael Jackson's videos from "Thriller" is almost inconceivable. But perhaps its not all that candid, Borja Tern argues. The most incredible part of that whole thing was that on his being wheeled to the hospital, you know, he's waving to his fans with the glittered glove, you know, to the end a showman. Followed by news helicopters and a convoy of cars, Jackson rushed from Neverland Ranch to the courthouse. It's mysterious. After nearly a decade of being suspected of child molestation, the King of Pop was about to face the music. In 1993, Winfrey was personally invited to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch for an interview with the notoriously private star.