SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS TODAY AND ENJOY THE BENEFITS. And immediately I was up all night trying to think of the type of songs that would create excitement among people. OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: So he would tease you, make fun of you? I have loved Michael Jackson the artist for several decades. RODNEY JENKINS, MUSIC PRODUCER: Wow, 50 dates; 50 dates at 50 years old? TARABORELLI: Michael began to sort of surround himself with young boys, and much to, I remember, the chagrin of people who were working for him. JACKSON: My friends and doctors advise me to seek professional guidance in order to eliminate what has become an addiction. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he's not breathing, sir. You think about what the it factor is, that's what he had. Like what are we doing? JACKSON: This one, this one -- CASTRO: Almost pathological in his spending ways. When I think about my childhood, some of my earliest memories are lying on my living room floor watching Michael Jackson's .css-9cezh6{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#E61957;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-9cezh6:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Moonwalker film over and over, and Sundays on the way to my grandparents' house, bellowing the lyrics to "Remember the Time" from the backseat of my Dad's cherry red Jeep. But Reed cleared up one important thing: Neither Robson nor Safechuck were paid to be a part of Leaving Neverland. More "CNN Presents: The Man in The Mirror" in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need an ambulance as soon as possible. Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jackson: Were MJ and Oprah Winfrey friends Presley filed for divorce in 1996. None of those episodes, she goes on to say, illustrated that fact the way Reed's film did. It was an exclusive talk with Michael Jackson who had refused to be interviewed for 14 years. JOANN SAMS, SECRETARY, ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL: Oh, it was just unbelievable, because they were so young, but yet they were so talented. Get more inspiration like this delivered to your inbox, How well do you know the King of Pop? His mistake is that he took it way too far, so that he stopped being a curiosity, and he started being a freak. The weight, the gravity, the way he would sing. A 13-year-old boy filed a lawsuit accusing the singer of sexually molesting him. 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. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, and he's not conscious either -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he's not conscious, sir. Michael had turned down interviews for 14 years, until allowing Oprah access to Neverland. . Test yourself, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. "You can count them on two fingers," he said. The interview went on to become the most watched in television history, thanks in part to the Thriller star's unusual openness, which saw him discuss everything from his relationship with his father to his skin condition, vitiligo. Oprah immediately connected with the artist and the audience by asking Michael if he was nervous. RABBI SCHMULEY BOTEACH: On the one hand, he would always complain. The interview [ edit] "Anybody who knew Michael Jackson will tell you that when you are up close to himhe had absolutely no pigmentation in his skinyou are looking at his veins when you look at his hand. Every time a shot opens, we see behind him a huge, lonely room filled with expensive works of art. On the day after his death, Presley wrote on her blog that Jackson always thought he'd die early like her father. On the weekends, I'm probably either having a margarita, adding new books I don't need to my TBR pile, or playing with my puppy, Leo. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This man was the greatest recording artist of our time. JACKSON: I'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. Michael, a fiercely private entertainer, had refused to give an interview for 14 years. Michael Jackson Talks . Michael Jackson's House - Michael Jackson Fan Page - www.mjshouse.com Interview Transcripts Archives - MJ Facts He felt betrayed. 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. He said he urged the singer to keep children out of his bedroom. It cost him around 10 million dollars to keep that up at its peak. In a 1993 Interview with Oprah, Michael Jackson Said He Didn - Jezebel TOURE: Every few months you would see him, and you'd go, whoa, you're looking weird, dude. 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. Were you as happy offstage as you were onstage?, Offstage I was very sad. LEMON: That documentary triggered bombshell news that thrust the fated pop star back into the spotlight. In the second block of the interview, the tone changed completely. LEMON: By 1975, the Jackson 5 had made a highly publicized split from Motown. Im a gentleman. Who satisfies your desire? asked Oprah (in a nod to a line from the then newly released single Give in to Me). OPRAH IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF HARPO, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2023 HARPO PRODUCTIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. He is later joined by his sister and guest star, LaToya Jackson (1983/1984): . The Watch OWN app is free and available to you as part of your OWN subscription through a participating TV provider. He wasn't making new records. On February 10, 1993, Oprah sat down with Michael Jackson for what would be the most-watched interview in television history. MESEREAU: I just looked at him and hugged him and he just said, thank you, thank you. SMITH: Neverland, which cost him around 19 million dollars in 1987, had a staff of about 150 at its peak, and all these carnival rides, exotic animals which required full-time veterinary care. That is why to escape death, I attempt to bind my soul to my work. Oh, there's a lot of is sadness about my past life and, you know, adolescence, and my father, and all of those things. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (CROSS TALK) LEMON: The very public trials of Michael Jackson eventually took their toll. He's trying to not affect the legal proceedings in any way. Rick: Well, you just want to. LEMON: But Jackson was born to perform, and the show must go on. In a new interview, Oprah discussed and reiterated her support for HBO's documentary series Leaving Neverland, which explores two allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson.The series saw two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, accusing Jackson of sexually abusing them as children, and immediately sparked intense backlash online from fans of Jackson and from the Jackson estate. But was damage done to his soul, to his spirit, to his gentle, kind way of looking at the world? The interview aired on February 10, 1993, and it coincided with a crucial moment in Jacksons life. LEMON: On the very next morning, Jackson was found unresponsive in his own bed. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. That is when everything clicked for mewhen I had what Oprah likes to call an "aha moment." Some say the Jackson's turned to music the day their television set broke down, but from the day they started performing, they were destined for stardom. And the lead singer, Michael, was just so incredible. Despite the success of "We are the World" in the mid '80s, seemingly soft-spoken Michael was retreating into a world all his own. Jackson would turn to Quincy Jones, then musical director for "The Wiz," now a multi Grammy winning producer, arranger, and composer. Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, who's believed to have been with the singer when he died, has hired an attorney. to Oprah had a 39.3 rating and a 56 share of the viewing audience, meaning 36.6 . And I said, Mr. Gordy, you just have to see these kids. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Hello, I'm Don Lemon, live from Los Angeles. LEMON (voice-over): It was June 13, 2005. Tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, we'll talk to a member of Amnesty International about what is going on in Iran and how bad it has gotten. In this never-before-heard interview from 2012, Emmy and Tony-award-winning actress, Cicely Tyson explains the surprising story of how she found her calling, shares behind-the-scenes history of her most iconic roles and reveals the biggest life lessons she's learned. Then Oprah asked the question even she says was embarrassing: "Are you a virgin? It's a very complicated cultural dynamic with roots in slavery and beyond that would take me an entire separate article to unpack. DE PASSE: I was asked to come to see this group. 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. Every day, Michael Jackson showed up in one of his Captain Crunch outfits. Meantime, the Reverend Jesse Jackson tells CNN the Jackson family wants answers. JACKSON: Yes. Taking a cue from "Bad's" title, he became a crotch-grabbing tough guy, a far cry from his gentle, offstage personae. He was very, very controlled. It is strange to see Michael in the absence of screaming and crowds; he seemed removed from his own celebrity. A lot of people from the Mideast love Michael Jackson. LEMON: Three years later, in the fall of 1991, "Dangerous" was released. This is really it. Michael Jackson Interview with oprah - YouTube BOTEACH: He puts on that black thing, that mask. Semipresencial en Madrid, Espaa, Maestra en 'Data Management' e Innovacin Tecnolgica 100% en lnea. 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.. That's all tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN, live from Los Angeles. We may earn commission from the links on this page. Leaving Neverland and Oprah's interview helped me come to terms with the fact that by continuing to defend Michael Jackson in the name of his talent, I was contributing to our society's habit of victim shaming. And in 1999, they divorced. to Oprah" interview. There wouldn't even be the MTV that is now without Michael Jackson's influence. (I should note that for the record, Leaving Neverland was in production long before Surviving R. Kelly aired.). 7 of the most memorable Oprah Winfrey interviews ever - The National These are victims whose lives were forever ruined by a troubled, sick person who had the access and power to manipulate them for decades, even after his deathbecause he was larger than life. In an exclusive interview, Murray's attorney tells CNN his client is upset over Jackson's death and that he plans to cooperate fully. But that becomes problematic when sometimes, that means we turn a blind eye to their mistakes, or, in this case (and the cases of other public figures like Kelly, O.J. Id like to, Michael replied, apparently forgetting that he just implied that he was in a romantic relationship with Brooke Shields. And I'd see all the children playing, and they'd be rooting and making noise, and I would cry. It was just very difficult to imagine this is a guy who's ready to come back and do an amazing series of 50 concerts, and then more across the world, which was the plan. He sat there on a daily basis, watching accusations hurled at him, suggesting that he was an insensitive monster. But a lot of people think that he has bleached his skin. The Jackson 5 exploded on the charts. Oprah Talks 'Leaving Neverland' Backlash, Affirms Support For Michael Because of that you became a great performer, and maybe even because you were not given enough love as a child, you wanted the world's love. Rank Interviewee Interviewer Avg. It was not like watching a 50-year-old man returning to the stage. Music would not be what it is without Michael Jackson. The unprecedented live event drew a worldwide audience of 90 million people. Michael Jackson Talks to Oprah (1993) - YouTube The interview had the intended effect (many considered it a promotional ploy by the two, rather than a real interview). BEN BROCKMAN, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL JACKSON: I was trying my best to get him down. I would see kids on the monkey bars and I would cry because I couldn't have a childhood. He announced his farewell tour, This Is it, in a brief press conference on March 5, 2009, in London. 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. When he answered no, she commented that she wouldnt be either. People were talking about his plastic surgery. Yes. With Brooke Shields? Yes. The interview with Jackson took place at his huge Neverland Ranch, complete with its own amusement park and zoo. For more stories from OprahMag.com, sign up for our newsletter. In 1993, Jackson spoke about both in this interview with Oprah Winfrey. USHER: He is everything to music. My father made me into a performance machine. Did he ever hit you? Yes. Why? He was very strict; just his look alone terrified me. "Leaving Neverland" debuts Sunday, March 3 at 8 PM EST on HBO. As the trial progressed, he got weaker and weaker, including that one bizarre day when he called in sick and the judge said, come in anyway.