LEMON (on camera): Were you worried that he might not make it? PETER CASTRO, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: He's on the set, and he's descending a staircase. It remains to be seen how the recently announced film about Michael Jacksons life (which will star his nephew Jaafar and will be directed by Antoine Fuqua) will reflect this transformation. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: In November 1982, 24-year-old Michael Jackson released "Thriller." Disfruta con nuestros Crucigramas para expertos! Throughout the film, we hear from both men (in, yes, graphic, explicit detail) about exactly what they say transpired between each of them and Jacksonand across four hours, we hear why neither of them came forward about what purportedly happened to them until adulthood. And, worst of all, a potentially terrible father. (And who could ever forget that interview Jackson did with Martin Bashir in 2003 where he whispered "I am Peter Pan"? RODNEY JERKINS, MUSIC PRODUCER: Michael called me, and he says, "Why can't we create new sounds?" Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Jacksons 2005 trial lasted 18 months; the trial lasted 14 weeks. Welcome to Prime Time. LEMON: It was 1984 when Jackson was making this Pepsi commercial and his hair caught fire. 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. 21 das de prueba gratuita de nuestro curso de francs online, Mejore su ingls con EL PAS con 15 minutos al da, Disfrute de nuestras lecciones personalizadas, breves y divertidas, Mejore su italiano con EL PAS con 15 minutos al da, Las mejores oportunidades hablan alemn. In my opinion, there is no manufacturing that kind of hurt and pain. No word on where they were taken. And he said -- and even then he said to me, well, it was more like he says a razzle-dazzle kind of thing. "I had no understanding of it being abuseI loved Michael," he told Oprah. That was the first time Jackson had given a televised interview since 1979. Premiered in Feburary 10th 1993. Addeddate 2021-07-25 18:28:55 Closed captioning no Color color Identifier okra-interviews-michael-jackson-1993 BROCKMAN: I feared for Michael Jackson. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: By the early 1990s, Michael Jackson's new music, even fresh R&B hits like "Remember the Time," couldn't come close to the phenomenon he had created with "Thriller." That's a lot of dates. My father didn't love me enough. It just made me very, very, very sad. Ellen: Oh, thank you. LEMON: Can you sing it a bit please? And Jackson showed up in court in his pajamas. I think he was responding to his fans by, at least showing them his face. Their first three single "I want you back," "ABC," and "The love you save" all hit number one. 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. BOTEACH: He did say to me that he was once on an airplane, and his father said to him, you know, your nose isn't nice, or something like that. We may earn commission from the links on this page. And no one wanted it more than Michael. LEMON: Jackson would become more reclusive, retreating into his Neverland Ranch. I said that Michael is over-medicating and that I did not want to see this kind of a case develop. LEMON: But Jackson was born to perform, and the show must go 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. He's a 12-year-old superstar with thousands of people shrieking and screaming. In March, 1988, Jackson finalized the purchase of a 2,600 acre ranch. By the end of the documentary, I felt an unexpected emotion: numbness. CASTRO: If you believe the fact that he, you know -- that he has this congenital skin condition, that's why he's so white, then fine. NORRIS: Michael had begun to exhibit a certain, I think aloofness, and a tendency to kind of withdraw from the world. LEMON: It was March 10, 2005, the second day of testimony by Jackson's teenaged accuser. LEMON: De Passe was just starting out at Motown, working with founder Berry Gordy. 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." She explained: (I should note that for the record, Leaving Neverland was in production long before Surviving R. Kelly aired.). 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. Later, he added: "Michael told me it was love, that God brought us together. I tuck them in. It was just sad. And, as unconventional as it is, if you really look at it, it's sort of surrogate motherhood. The only way you become immortal is that your work lives on. BOTEACH: The fact that he could even find himself in the situation after the '93 allegation shows he didn't take that sufficiently to heart, because if he did, he never would have been along with the child. BRIAN MONROE, "EBONY MAGAZINE": I was really struck by the razor stubble, all along his face. 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. The interview would be Jackson's last. NORRIS: There's a reason it's called "Neverland Valley." transcript. As a result, its lead single "Black or White" shot to number one. I was like, "What do you mean?" And all you had to do was to look in his eyes and to know that was the truth. Are you a virgin? Michael sighed, laughed and replied, How could you ask me that question? Ultimately, he sidestepped a direct answer with an odd response. Special effects? And part of my concern about Michael was the fact that he always seemed to be suffering from some form of ailment or infirmity. Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, who's believed to have been with the singer when he died, has hired an attorney. In the second block of the interview, the tone changed completely. Leaving Neverland is about the childrenand adultswho are silenced by people like me who are quick to defend accusers simply because of their statusor the people who choose to live in silence because they are afraid of exactly that happening. Not to mention the timing; Leaving Neverland just so happens to be coming out months after an explosive Lifetime documentary that may have played a part in R&B singerR. 90 million people tuned in for the sit-down chat at the King of Pop's Neverland Valley Ranch in Los Olivos, California. Someone created a piano. Michael Jackson was adamant that he was a "gentleman" first and foremost while talking to Oprah Winfrey. And the lead singer, Michael, was just so incredible. Don't treat me like a criminal, because I am innocent. And it also broke barriers. In 1993, Jackson spoke about both in this interview with Oprah Winfrey. It could not be stopped. Michael, a fiercely private entertainer, had refused to give an interview for 14 years. Similarly, Safechuck recalls meeting Jackson while filming a Pepsi commercial; they developed a similar working relationship that morphed into sleepovers at the ranch. ), I shared the same mindset of many of the folks Oprah was talking about. So an auction of his most personal items seemed like the answer. LEMON: It is Chopra's belief that prescription drug abuse was Jackson's downfall. After nearly a decade of being suspected of child molestation, the King of Pop was about to face the music. on July 25, 2021. You can count them on two fingers. It doesnt take a surgeon to know that Michael was lying; he maintained that falsehood in 2003, in his interview with Martin Bashir, when he responded sardonically to the same question: Ive had two operationsthat I can remember., But Oprah pressed the point, Youve had a nose job, thats obvious. Yes, like a lot of people I know, Michael responded But Ive never had my cheeks, eyes or lips done. Do you like the way you look now? Oprah probed further. He filled the property with an amusement park, a private zoo, and dubbed the oasis Neverland. LEMON: It would take a year before a jury was seated and the trial began. Coincidentally, fans were wondering about Michael's much lighter skin tone, from black to white. LEMON: Although Jackson denied the abuse allegations, he was arrested and charged with seven counts of child molestation. At first that's a starling thing. Oprah is the queen of this format (her 2021 conversation with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is the most recent great example of the show-interview). This content is imported from poll. Stay up to date with the latest trends that matter to you most. QUINCY JONES, MUSIC PRODUCER: Michael had it all. He's trying to not affect the legal proceedings in any way. ETHAN SMITH, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": After the trial, he had spent a lot of money on lawyers, and had very little coming in. Naturally, an arena for 62 million viewers when Oprah Winfrey in 1993 interviewed Michael Jackson in today's multi-fractured media landscape simply no longer exists. Then two years later, I was like, I was wrong. Semipresencial en Aguascalientes, Maestra a distancia en Actividad Fsica y Salud, Maestra a distancia en Energas Renovables, Descubre un completo Directorio de Centros de Formacin, Mejore su italiano con solo 15 minutos al da. Michael Jackson Talks . The circus surrounding the trial seemed more than Jackson could bear. TARABORELLI: The thing about Michael is that he does want what he wants, and he will find a way to get it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a gentleman here that needs help. Michael Jackson and Brooke Shields at the 1993 Grammy Awards, a few days after the interview with Oprah Winfrey. Jacksons album Dangerous, which had been falling down the charts in the two years after its release, became a top-10 bestseller again. Nobody ever talks about that, but it takes you aback at first. A 13-year-old boy filed a lawsuit accusing the singer of sexually molesting him. Sometimes he would come to see me, and I would throw up. As an adult too? Yes., Then Oprah started to fire away. Attorney Brian Oxman. Oprah Live: Directed by Roger Goodman. JOANN SAMS, SECRETARY, ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL: Oh, it was just unbelievable, because they were so young, but yet they were so talented. He was like, "Someone created the drum, right? And I remember going to the recording studio, and there was park across the street. USHER, SINGER: Michael had an unseen magic to influence people, the music and the culture. 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. I just wish I could understand my father. 1993 Michael Jackson interview (Oprah) Bhawgwild 5.23K subscribers 928K views 4 years ago I do not own any copyrights. SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS TODAY AND ENJOY THE BENEFITS. 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. TOURE: I don't think anybody, even like the Iowa housewives, were saying, you know they're not sleeping together. LEMON: Pain that dated back at least a quarter of a century. He was sobbing. The Oprah Winfrey-Michael Jackson interview 30 years later In February 1993, the talk show host landed the first live, televised talk with the singer in 14 years. Ellen: I can defnitely hang out. And another girl. The next question that followed was the most striking of the entire encounter, because it was asked of a 35-year-old man who had just claimed that he dated and had been in love. LEMON: Motown gave the group a record deal. MONROE: The trial hurt him to the core. LEMON: Jackson's follow-up to "Thriller" hit stores in 1987. They performed as if they had been performing for years. So if it gets you, our audience, to see how it happens, then some good would have come of it.". HIATT: At the same time he was announcing these shows, he also made sure to say these are the final shows. On February 10, 1993, Oprah sat down with Michael Jackson for what would be the most-watched interview in television history. "After the attention is no longer on this film, this is something I will be dealing with for the rest of my life," Safechuck told Oprah. "It certainly was going to be the most watched interview I had ever done. 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." Interviews. this is SOOO funny. And yet the money kept rolling in. And then he would dance, you know. And a 14 week trial in 2005 found Jackson not guilty of charges that he had molested another 13-year-old boy, Gavin Arvizo. CNN has unearthed a 1993 Oprah Winfrey interview with Michael Jackson in which he addresses Pepsi's then plan to cast a white actor to play him as a child in his ill-fated advertisement for the . LEMON: From his fans, an outpouring of love, grief, and fond remembrance. LEMON: The transformation was complete. And is aid to him, take that stupid thing off! After the second half airs on Monday, March 4, Oprah Winfrey Presents: After Neverland" will air simultaneously on HBO and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network on at 10:00 PM EST. When he answered no, she commented that she wouldnt be either. 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. There wouldn't be BET. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson doesn't just come along once in a century or a lifetime. An aerial view of Jackson's Neverland theme park taken in 2011. that interview Jackson did with Martin Bashir, a study by the Census Bureau and Stanford University, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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. It was a tense atmosphere, given that MJ didn't take part in an interview for 14 years. Almost all of the most watched TV interviews are from the United States, except one from BBC One. To me, she's perfection. I was never able to enjoy the simplest things that a child takes for granted in his life. He had the discipline at such a young age, originality, willing to try everything, a work ethic, all of it. LEMON (voice-over): It was June 13, 2005. Eight minutes into the show, Oprah posed the question that would allow her to get to the meatier questions. No barrier stood before this man that he didn't challenge, that he didn't break down, that he didn't tear down. But their victory tour reviews were mixed. In the most awkward part of the interview, Oprah took up the topic of the singers love life and asked him a strange, nave question that seemed more suited for a child than a 34-year-old man. Jackson vehemently denied the accusation on national TV. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (CROSS TALK) LEMON: The very public trials of Michael Jackson eventually took their toll. "I love my father, but I don't know him. This time, she wants to speak candidly about the intimate, personal details that made her relationship with Michael as complicated and misunderstood as it was. LEMON: Physician Deepak Chopra, a personal friend, said he knew Jackson was taking narcotic painkillers. And I'd see all the children playing, and they'd be rooting and making noise, and I would cry. Have you ever been in love? Oprah pressed on. "Leaving Neverland" debuts Sunday, March 3 at 8 PM EST on HBO. There is no song, album, or memory that is worth discrediting what happened to a seven year old little boy who was so young when he was being touched sexually, he worried that his abuser would turn into the werewolf from "Thriller." JACKSON: Yes. Do you go out and have fun, do you date? Yes, Michael replied. DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From child prodigy to cultural icon. I don't know him the way I'd like to know him," he said. He's not going to be able to get any weirder than this. It was the kind of attention and screams he was accustomed to. For him it was a world of betrayal. LEMON: In 1986, a photograph of Michael asleep in an anti-aging chamber rocked the tabloids. You heard things from him that you've never heard before. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's 50 years old. 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. I'm ashamed to admit it in writing, but, here goes: I was one of those critics. Instead, it is about the millions of people in this world who never got to have a childhood because of the sexual abuse they experienced before their young brains were even developed enough to know what was occurring. They don't sound dated. And it would catch fire when Jackson unveiled an out of this world dance move on a television special for Motown's 25th anniversary. CRAIG MARKS, FORMER EDITOR, "BLENDER" MAGAZINE: Hysterical adulation does play tricks with your mind. He gave the world his heart and soul through his music. 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. TARABORELLI: Nothing was the same after "Thriller." Oprah also mentioned the criticisms she had been receiving on social media, with commenters asking why she would do this interview when Jackson can't defend himselfand also accusing her of "trying to bring the Black man down.".