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00:11I think every child is born to do a certain thing.
00:19I knew I wanted to be a star.
00:27Just being on the stage, just looking out over a sea of faces when they're chanting and screaming.
00:44And I've wanted it because I wanted to be loved.
00:50That's the real truth. I wanted people to truly love me.
00:57A lot of people ask, who was Michael Jackson, really?
01:04I mean, he was a child star who became the most famous man on the planet.
01:16This is a man who changed the music industry.
01:20I mean, he is a musical genius.
01:25But he was also accused of abusing children.
01:30And died without a cent to his name.
01:36I mean, this is the ultimate story of power, celebrity and money.
01:47And now the battle is raging for the truth and Michael Jackson's legacy.
02:19That level of mega stardom is not healthy.
02:23People are not gods.
02:33Tonight, Jackson is wanted by police of multiple felony counts of child molestation.
02:41The Jackson machine just keeps right on rolling.
02:45I mean, the nigga's in the country.
03:01But I think when you are not, when you are about it, the ะัะพัลฤ ...
03:08Well, you're Dรผny's house is going to be able to go on.
03:12It will go out of the seventh form of the country.
03:13where I am to the country and I am to Jowyn.
03:13I am so happy.
03:13I'm up to the country and I am so happy to see.
03:15Are you guys ready for me?
03:22Whenever you're ready.
03:26People don't know my brother. They never did.
03:29They thought they did.
03:31And I think it's important for the public, the world, to see...
03:38I don't want to say the truth, but from a family member's perspective.
03:42And that's important to me so you get it right and you understand
03:48as opposed to reading nonsensical things in the media.
03:56What do you do mostly?
03:58I mean, you know, in your spare time?
04:01Sports. Messing around.
04:03I go swimming all the time.
04:06Like swimming.
04:08Play basketball.
04:09Catching little different things.
04:15My memory of Mike is basically a child that was far older than his age.
04:26Mike was always just feisty.
04:31No, sit down.
04:37As young kids, we would have a photo shoot.
04:41He would stand there and then he would get out the picture and say,
04:44no, put Jermaine here, Jackie here, and I will be in the middle.
04:47And this is a little kid talking to his siblings.
04:54Northwestern Indiana is not like any other part of the state because it is solely industrial.
04:59One factory next to another for miles.
05:02The Negro population of Gary, Indiana is 45.8%, the highest percentage in any city north of the Mason-Dixon
05:08line.
05:11Growing up in Indiana, it was humble beginnings.
05:16My father, Joseph, worked in the steel mills.
05:20And we were a large family from a small home.
05:25It was two bedrooms.
05:26In one of the rooms, the brothers slept, and there were six bunk beds.
05:31And my sisters and I, we slept on a let-out sofa in the living room.
05:39We were a family that loved music.
05:45And when Mike was around eight or nine, he would do riffs constantly.
05:52And no matter what you would sing to him, he would do it even better.
05:58My father, he saw them performing together.
06:02And he says, geez.
06:05He became their manager because he saw a bigger and brighter future.
06:15They used to do shows.
06:17What they called back then was the Chitlin Circuit.
06:20It was famous black artists, but they were performing for black audience.
06:26Don't be afraid.
06:27Don't be ashamed.
06:28We want black power.
06:30We want black power.
06:32We want black power.
06:35We want black power.
06:39The performance during that period of time was very challenging.
06:43Based on the fact that we were kind of relegated to certain areas of our country.
06:48And not very welcome in some parts.
06:54That we learned how to deal with it.
06:57And how to break down the barrier that they thought they'd put in front of us.
07:25I met Michael when they were coming into audition to be on Motown.
07:30I had to kind of just look at him and shake my head.
07:35I said, my God, this kid is amazing.
07:38It was an exciting time.
07:41They wanted it so badly.
07:43And then finally, there they are, signed Motown.
07:57Michael, he had something that nobody else had.
08:02And his performances were meticulously done.
08:06And then, watching their growth over their years, was sensational.
08:13We've got some great guests, the incredible Jackson 5.
08:21One of the hottest recording groups today is the Jackson 5.
08:25The only American group to have four consecutive number one records.
08:30Kids nowadays don't know how big the Jackson 5 were.
08:36They were our Beatles.
08:38Our black royalty.
08:40You had Beatlemania, you had Jacksonmania.
08:45Since the heyday of the Beatles, has the music world seen anything like the Jackson 5?
08:50About to receive yet another platinum record.
08:53But you have to give a lot of the credit to the original Jackson 2, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Jackson.
08:59I decided to deal with the boys as much as I possibly can,
09:03getting them prepared to be in show business.
09:06They come to us originally from Gary, Indiana, the Jackson 5.
09:14It was just amazing.
09:17To see this black family, post-segregation, who were so famous,
09:25and that you could identify with,
09:28showed black people that we can make it in America.
09:42It's called Los Angeles, the city of the angels.
09:48People from all over the world, drawn by a city of limitless boundaries,
09:53and one that offers unlimited opportunity.
10:03Growing up in Indiana, Mike would have this little projector thing that you put over your eyes,
10:08and you would click it, and it would show a different slide of L.A.
10:13It would say,
10:14Oh, this is so beautiful.
10:15I would love to live there one day.
10:18So moving to Los Angeles was simply amazing.
10:24We were so elated and excited just to see the beauty of the city.
10:31And it was such a different life.
10:36We moved to this huge mansion,
10:39and my father just said, I think this will be a perfect place.
10:45And, you know, what my father said, it goes.
10:50Let's introduce Mr. Joe Jackson, the father of the city.
11:03Okay, we're going to find out who's boss around here.
11:07Do you have to ever discipline this lively group you've got here?
11:12I have a way.
11:13You know, like, when Randy don't do right,
11:15we make him take out all the garbage or something.
11:18Oh, that's fair.
11:20Yeah, but what about Michael?
11:21Michael always does right?
11:24No, not all the time.
11:25The way we discipline Michael is sort of like,
11:29you know, we don't give him as much money to spend.
11:32That's it.
11:34You think it's a good profession for them?
11:37Yes, I'd like for them to...
11:39I moved to Los Angeles
11:42to work for the family
11:45out of Joseph's office.
11:48When Joseph spoke to me about coming to work for the boys,
11:52he presented himself as a really concerned, loving father.
11:59Joseph grew up dirt poor before civil rights.
12:05And to take from nothing and build that act was huge.
12:11And all of a sudden, now he's living in a wealthy house in Encino.
12:15He's got a Rolls Royce.
12:17He really was chasing the American dream.
12:24At that point, they were portrayed as this happy, loving family.
12:30But my experience,
12:32can't speak for anybody else's, but my experience of what I saw,
12:35that was the farthest thing from the truth.
12:40I went to high school with Michael's baby sister, Janet.
12:44And Michael was also a very close friend.
12:47And when I would be there and Joseph would pull in,
12:51you know, the speaker or the phone would ring
12:53and it would be like, Joseph's here.
12:54And everyone's like, oh God, Joseph's here.
12:56We weren't that, you know, savvy back then about this stuff.
13:00But knowing that there was just weirdness.
13:06Our career was very important.
13:10My father made sure that we rehearsed every day.
13:14Lock all the doors.
13:16It's time to rehearse.
13:18If you went out of step, you'd get it real bad.
13:24He would oil you down.
13:25Your whole ritual, he would oil you down.
13:29So when the foot of the ironing cord hits you,
13:34it would just, you know,
13:35you put it on your face, your back, everywhere.
13:40He said, if you guys ever stop sinking,
13:42I'll drop you like a hot potato.
13:47I found out later,
13:50Joseph had done some really awful stuff.
13:54Joseph would put Michael in the closet,
13:57in the dressing room, in the dark,
14:00and lock it so that he was,
14:03he would do what Joseph would tell him to do.
14:09And nobody figured out what was going on.
14:18He wasn't as cruel as people think.
14:21But Mike had a fear, my father, we all did.
14:24Because we felt, okay, what did we do wrong?
14:30He's going to discipline us.
14:31And you were kind of afraid of that.
14:33It just put something in your belly.
14:36And you would say to yourself,
14:39oh no.
14:41His eyebrows would go up,
14:43and his eyes would turn
14:46a deeper green.
14:48A deeper green than they were.
14:50And you knew he was angry.
14:52Everybody would say,
14:54I don't want to get in trouble,
14:55because Joseph's going to strangle us.
15:07We're right almost in the middle of a recording session,
15:10with the Jacksons.
15:11And we're going to bring the boys in right now.
15:14All five of them.
15:16Here they are!
15:25Now, I don't have to give any introduction to these gentlemen, do I?
15:29You knew them originally as the Jackson Five.
15:32They're the Jacksons now.
15:34They record on Epic.
15:38This is really a special picture to me.
15:42Both of our hair was kind of big.
15:44See, his face looks completely different,
15:46so this was earlier, I guess.
15:48He still looks like a great-looking kid, you know.
15:52When the Jackson Five came to Epic,
15:55they were a good pop group.
15:58But Michael was so much the center of it,
16:02the star.
16:05He just wanted to be perfect in a way.
16:08He wanted to be the best dancer ever,
16:11best singer, best entertainer.
16:14He wanted to be a great.
16:16You guys are really riding a big high now,
16:18as far as producing records and so on.
16:21Do you think this is the peak of your career now,
16:23or have you gone down a little bit?
16:25Are you expecting bigger and better things?
16:26Well, we're looking forward to doing other things,
16:28like producing other people,
16:30and producing ourselves in the future,
16:33and going into acting and that type of thing.
16:46New York is the most exciting city in the world,
16:48but New York has never seen anything like The Wiz,
16:52a new musical motion picture being made here
16:54that stars Diana Ross.
16:58The Wiz was the black version of The Wizard of Oz,
17:03and Michael really wanted to be in that movie.
17:10My father didn't want him to venture off into movies,
17:15because he felt it would break up the group,
17:18and he would go in a different direction,
17:19and he wanted to keep the brothers together.
17:23As he always said, I want to keep my boys together.
17:25But this is something that Mike saw.
17:28He loved opportunity, and he went for it.
17:42How did you feel when you heard you got the part in The Wiz,
17:45and especially playing with Diana Ross?
17:47I was very happy.
17:50I would talk to Diana on the phone,
17:51I'd say, you're going to film The Wiz next week, huh?
17:53Or next month.
17:55She would say, yeah, next thing I noticed, I was in it.
18:01Mike and I were extremely close.
18:05So we moved to New York together.
18:11And going to the set every day,
18:14he just embraced it with great joy.
18:18But most of all, what he would always say,
18:21I'm learning so much, LaToya, you have no idea.
18:24Hey, fellas, is today today you're going to help me get down from here?
18:27Help you down?
18:29Hey, what is going down in that hayloft you call a head?
18:35Living in New York, we were so used to being with family, being controlled by my father,
18:46but yet you could do what you wanted.
18:50It was so wonderful.
19:07Is Michael there?
19:09Hi, Michael.
19:10Come on in, you can come right in.
19:11Hi.
19:12How are you?
19:13You just walked in.
19:14How are you?
19:15Michael, this is Jane.
19:16Come sit over here.
19:18It's been a long day for you and you're unwinding here?
19:22You mean today?
19:23No, we're all finished with the movie.
19:25But I'm just relaxing now.
19:28Just hanging out in New York?
19:29Yes, Studio 54.
19:31When you hear the name Studio 54, what does that do?
19:35Does your pulse quicken and your beats start moving?
19:37Yeah, I'm ready to have a good time.
19:39It's where you come when you want to escape.
19:42It's really escapism.
19:44Sure, Michael Jackson, you don't have it so bad.
19:46What are you escaping from?
19:48You know?
19:48I'm not escaping from anything.
19:49It's just a change of pace.
19:51Right, it is.
19:52It's a change of pace.
19:53He doesn't escape from anything.
19:54If anything, he's one of those people who are very recognized.
19:57Doing the Wiz, and all the work that he had done,
20:04and the growth that came with it,
20:09took him mentally in a different direction,
20:13saying, I want to do a solo album.
20:23By Michael doing the Wiz, he had a chance to meet great composer, arranger Quincy Jones.
20:35And Quincy, I work with Sinatra, I mean, the greatest music people ever.
20:44I called Quincy up one day, I said, Quincy, I'm ready to do an album, a solo album,
20:49but I want a real good producer to work with me.
20:54I said, can you recommend somebody?
20:57And he said, why don't you let me do it?
21:15I remember getting a copy of Off The Wall, and when I heard, Don't Stop Forget Enough, I was just
21:22astonished to hear, oh my gosh.
21:25I said, Michael, this is going to be, it's going to be phenomenal.
21:32This is the album that's caused the storm right around the world.
21:35It's Michael's Off The Wall album, and hopefully we've got Michael in LA on the phone now.
21:41Let's have a say.
21:42Oh, here we go.
21:43Hello, Michael.
21:44Hello.
21:45How are you?
21:49He's the first artist to have four top ten singles with his Off The Wall album.
21:54He keeps breaking records.
21:55It's just amazing.
22:04It had to happen.
22:07I feel like I love a rock.
22:09He had earned the right to be Michael.
22:18He felt that it's now my time.
22:35All the time.
22:36Yeah.
22:37It was right there.
22:40Mayor?
22:41Okay.
22:42Let's get the mayor back here.
22:43Yeah.
22:44I'm rolling.
22:46Hey, guys, what did you think of this?
22:48Were you ever afraid when you saw that big crowd?
22:50Never afraid.
22:51Never afraid.
22:52Never afraid.
22:52It's a lot of excitement, and it's nice to see the fans all come out at the end.
22:56To greet us at the airport.
22:58I think it's wonderful.
23:01What do you have to say for Atlanta?
23:03I'll start here.
23:05Love it.
23:05I can't wait.
23:06Tomorrow night.
23:08I love it.
23:09We love you, Atlanta.
23:11We love you very much.
23:12Tomorrow night, everybody be out there.
23:14We're gonna do our best.
23:15Have a good time.
23:26At this point, Michael really is kind of the mainstay of the Jacksons.
23:29Has it always been that way?
23:32Um, yes, yes.
23:35Michael has always been sort of the star.
23:37Yeah, he's been highlight the most, because he's the lead singer, and he's up front, you know?
23:41As a little kid, we put him up front, because he danced so much and had so much energy.
23:50I think my brothers, some of them felt that once he do this, he's never coming back.
24:00He's gonna abandon us.
24:04And that was kind of disturbing to some of them.
24:07And then the others were just, well, let's see where it goes.
24:11Let's see where it leads.
24:19I remember the boys being in the office, and one of them distinctly said,
24:25if it wasn't for them, Michael wouldn't be who he was, because they were the ones.
24:30And Joseph was the one who made Michael who he is.
24:33And he basically wouldn't be shit without them.
24:36And it was them that built him.
24:39And Michael's just sitting there listening to this.
24:42And he sat there and he took it.
24:45I just remember thinking, how mean, why are you guys being so mean to him?
24:50I just, I wanted to go in and, like, hurt them, because they were being mean to Mike.
25:00I think Michael had grown up feeling under Joseph that he wasn't anything more than a commodity.
25:07And I think in that moment, it crystallized for Michael that he was nothing more than a commodity to his
25:13brothers.
25:13And I think it broke his heart.
25:17And I think it broke his heart.
25:43And he, like, for Mike, he always had a very loving relationship with my mother.
25:49It was a very trusted relationship.
25:55if something upset him.
25:57She would always make sense out of everything.
26:16My mother was a very religious person.
26:22And she was a Jehovah Witness.
26:26And she always thought,
26:28if you had a personal relationship with God,
26:31then he would show you away.
26:44It's strange being back here.
26:46I haven't looked here for many years.
26:50Yeah, it was such a strange time,
26:52you know, with Michael being suddenly so famous.
26:55And we're just going door to door trying to save souls.
27:00Michael would say,
27:02Hi, my name is Joe.
27:03That was his middle name, so he wasn't lying.
27:05This is my friend Christian.
27:06We're here to talk to you about the wonderful hope of God's kingdom.
27:10And the people would kind of stare.
27:12They would think,
27:14God, he really looks like Michael Jackson.
27:17You can kind of see it in their eyes.
27:21The Jehovah's Witnesses are millennialists,
27:24so they believe that Armageddon is coming any day now
27:27when God's going to cleanse the earth of all the evil people.
27:31And so our job as Jehovah's Witnesses
27:33was to go door to door and try to recruit people to save them
27:36so that they could join our religion
27:38and then, you know, hopefully make it into the paradise
27:41that was going to come.
27:44Michael had a tough upbringing,
27:45and I think that he had a, you know,
27:48fantastical view of what he wanted the world to be.
27:52And I think this idea of God bringing a paradise
27:57just was very appealing.
27:58And I think that was a big part of his enthusiasm
28:01for going door to door.
28:02He genuinely wanted to tell people.
28:05We did missionary work, door to door.
28:09You do 90 hours a month.
28:11It was just a wonderful time for me
28:13because it allowed me to get out into society
28:16and to see people.
28:17I was totally deprived of seeing people open their doors.
28:20I don't go to other people's houses.
28:22I don't know what they live like.
28:23So when they would open the door and say,
28:25come in, I would come in.
28:30I was 15 when we started hanging out together.
28:35I think he felt safe with us
28:37because he had no other space
28:39where he didn't have something,
28:41some place where people wanted something from him
28:43because of his fame.
28:44We just liked him because of who he was
28:47and that he was part of this joint community
28:49where we were all working to do God's will.
28:55But at the same time,
28:56I think he was conflicted about who he was
29:00because even though he was very devout,
29:03I think Michael had a lot of ambition
29:07around being perceived as very successful,
29:12very talented.
29:13He was raised in this paradigm
29:14where success is how you get validation, right?
29:17And from the time he was a little kid,
29:19so I don't think he ever lost that.
29:20Michael sometimes would stand in front of a mirror
29:22and say 100 million, 100 million
29:25because he wanted to sell 100 million albums
29:28on his next album.
29:30And I think that really fed him.
29:54Michael's ambition, I believe,
29:57was to make the greatest album ever heard.
30:02But he also knew the power of motion pictures.
30:09He wanted to use video to drive sales.
30:14I mean, rock bands have been doing that for years.
30:39Michael, I think this is going to be the Citizen Kane of the videos.
30:42I really do.
30:43It's going to be the most revolutionary thing
30:45in the history of the videos, you know.
30:50I mean, it's a new art form now,
30:52but I think this is leading the way.
30:53Beat it, and this one is leading the way.
30:58God.
31:00What a great-looking kid.
31:04Filmmakers, they usually know
31:06when they have something.
31:07And I knew we had something.
31:10Music video was new at that time,
31:13and this is pre-internet.
31:17And Michael's videos were special.
31:20You could tell.
31:26Some prominent black musicians are complaining
31:28that they are being left out of the video market,
31:31specifically the music television cable operation.
31:34We are looking for a certain sound
31:36and a certain point of view.
31:37Bob Pittman is the 29-year-old whiz kid
31:40who created MTV after a successful career
31:42as a radio station program director.
31:45We are not all things to all people.
31:46We are cable television,
31:48and what cable television does best is specialize.
31:51One thing per channel.
31:52So you know exactly what you're getting
31:54when you turn on the channel.
31:56It was almost impossible for a black artist
31:58to get on the cover
31:59of any of the major magazines or TV shows.
32:04Over Christmas, I watched MTV.
32:06I saw no black star.
32:08Plenty of black stars,
32:10but only black stars who do rock and roll.
32:13And MTV refused to play Michael's video.
32:16Jazz, you don't see R&B.
32:18He was outraged.
32:20It was pure, blatant racism, plain and simple.
32:24Prejudice is ignorance.
32:27Music has no color.
32:28I don't believe in that.
32:30What I do, I don't want it labeled black or white.
32:32I want it labeled as music.
32:35A few of us at Epic
32:37and the president of CBS Records,
32:39we all went up there
32:40and explained why they had to play those videos.
32:43They said you can't continue
32:46with a program like this
32:48without honoring some of the best music
32:50that America has to offer
32:52and some of the best music America has to offer
32:54is made and performed by black artists.
32:58Period.
32:59End of discussion.
33:00They only could look at the bottom line
33:02and say you can't ignore these tracks.
33:04And once they played Michael,
33:08it took off.
33:15Michael Jackson's album Thriller
33:17has been topping various record charts,
33:19so it should come as no surprise
33:21that Thriller is number one
33:22on Billboard's chart
33:23of most successful pop albums.
33:26Well, the title song
33:27from that blockbuster album,
33:28now the subject of the most talked about music video
33:30to come along.
33:31Take a look at this.
33:35Thriller was an amazing piece of work.
33:39Like, everybody loved it.
33:41And it just got bigger and bigger.
33:44We love you!
33:46We love you, Michael!
33:48Michael Jackson was partying in New York.
33:51The occasion for selling 23 million albums.
33:54He exploded.
33:57Everybody wanted a piece of him.
33:59Everyone wanted to see him.
34:02Michael Jackson's Thriller
34:04is now the highest-selling solo album
34:07in the history of recorded music.
34:10The number one artist in the world!
34:14He is, simply put,
34:15probably the most exciting
34:17and intense performer of the decade.
34:21You have something within your records
34:24that everybody just loves.
34:27Boy, I couldn't say.
34:29I just created it.
34:31Where do you think the gift came from?
34:34God.
34:39There you go.
34:41There you go.
34:43I'm not sure.
34:45I'm not sure.
34:48I'm not sure.
35:03Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, I have your attention right now, I am saying
35:13for the last time, as chairman of the Walk of Fame, if you do not back up, this ceremony
35:21will be mutual. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson. And now, welcome home to the Walk of Fame.
35:39The Thriller album was fantastic. It was far exceeding anyone's expectations about how big it was going to be.
35:46Michael was becoming sort of transcendent as a pop star. But he was still very idealistic, very devout.
36:00I mean, nobody had been that famous in the Jehovah's Witnesses yet.
36:07It was very much at odds for the church for someone to be famous because any kind of notoriety could
36:12be considered
36:13controversial potentially. Even his deciding to do the Thriller video.
36:19The church was very paranoid about any demon influence and anything with demonology.
36:24And so, zombies rising from the dead or anything related to the occult.
36:28Suddenly, the hammer came down from the headquarters of the church.
36:32And so, when he realized that this was going to be a problem for him, he panicked.
36:37He wrote,
36:38Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in
36:43the occult.
36:44And he had to put that at the beginning of the video in order to get the church to go,
36:49OK, you can release it.
36:52It really created some tension.
36:55On the one hand, fame brought him all this opportunity.
36:59And I think he liked the adulation.
37:01It was very validating.
37:02But I think he started to feel handicapped by the fact that he couldn't pursue all his creative stuff,
37:07that the church was constantly tightening the screws and saying,
37:10No, you can't do this. No, you can't do that.
37:13And later on, he just made a decision.
37:18He disassociated himself, which basically meant he was leaving the church.
37:23You know, I left the church in 1990.
37:26And when you leave, you know, the church completely cuts you off.
37:29You know, you lose your whole foundation.
37:31You lose your family, all of your friends.
37:33You're really adrift in so many ways.
37:37And when he left, he lost the thing that had grounded him for so long.
37:47How long have you had this beautiful beast?
37:51Gosh.
37:52A little bit before Thriller, I had him.
37:55Almost a year.
37:58And this type of snake is not dangerous?
38:01Well, I don't think so.
38:02Some people want it.
38:04Could it be dangerous?
38:05Yeah, they squeeze.
38:06They can really squeeze.
38:10I think he's great.
38:12What other animals do you have?
38:15After Thriller, I saw a completely different Michael Jackson.
38:23I was his personal cinematographer from 1981 to 1987.
38:32And when I first met him, Michael was really humble.
38:39He was a true cool dude.
38:43But after the Thriller album, his personality started to get a little bit different, more eccentric.
39:05I could see he enjoyed being around kids.
39:14Hello.
39:15Hi.
39:17Hi.
39:18Hi, we're gonna do our own interview here.
39:22Okay, this is the Michael Jackson interview show, okay?
39:24So, how old are you young man?
39:26No, not how old are you.
39:28What show are you on?
39:30My show is with staff.
39:32And who do you play your show?
39:34Out of nowhere, Michael's good friend was Emanuel Lewis.
39:40emmanuel lewis was a star of the tv show webster
39:47and then one day michael calls me up he goes i need you to come over
39:53so i get there and he has emmanuel with him they're dancing to one of his new songs that
40:02never ever was released and he's holding him like a baby
40:15and i could see michael had a connection with children
40:21when a child steps in the room i think i'm totally changed i feel their energy and i feel their
40:28spirit
40:31when i look in their eyes i feel healed
40:43what i saw michael liked
40:48kids because of the fact that they weren't domineering they weren't asking for something
41:00you know because you had too many of these producer bigwigs coming over
41:04what i called and what he called suits and when the suits would come over it was a different
41:11atmosphere because they wanted something but then michael got so big now it's just a business
41:24jackson's image has been pressed into plastic in a short six months since they first came on the
41:29market michael jackson toys dolls and other products have been selling with a fury
41:34jackson has become a mini conglomerate he is setting up five separate companies to handle his business
41:40interests albums video cassettes concert tours merchandising tie-ins this year michael jackson is
41:47expected to earn more than 50 million dollars michael jackson made recording business history today
41:53by closing the deal on the beatles catalog from now on all those royalties go to jackson
41:59michael jackson has a new manager jackson has hired the vice president of promotion for epic
42:04records frank de leo to manage his booming career formerly jackson was managed by his father joseph jackson
42:15mike decided to end the relationship with my father and his his thinking and his thoughts were
42:23i need a manager who's who's much bigger and better and someone who really knows what they're doing in
42:29this big industry but i think the part that became difficult was the people that entered into his life
42:40because this business can be very overwhelming cutthroat and people will say and do anything to get
42:49into your circle and to manage you and that part of it destroyed him
43:02michael jackson has not a song on his lips but a bottle of pepsicola this week he signed up for
43:09five million dollars or more to promote pepsi in concerts and commercials a lot of people are asking
43:15why would michael jackson do commercials well the reason is is that these commercials are going to
43:21be just extraordinary they're using state-of-the-art technology they're going to be creative
43:26masterpieces no expenses spared they asked me to direct them because i had success and a relationship
43:37with michael we're going to shoot two promotional commercials even though michael confessed to me
43:45and he never drank pepsi in his life we went down there and started shooting and the plan was
43:51there was an explosion michael would come down and dance the pyrotechnics added too much
44:00and all hell broke loose
44:06so
44:10so
44:41The scene was wild as hundreds of fans tried to see Michael Jackson as he was carried
44:45into a Los Angeles area hospital with second and third degree burns on his scalp.
45:09I'll never forget the image of Michael being taken away in the stretcher, but smart enough
45:14to take his glove, the famous glove, and wave it.
45:20But it was the beginning of a dark time.
45:46I remember in the early years, Michael would just come out and hang out.
45:50It was just, it was casual, it was normal.
45:55But at that point, Michael started going out a lot less.
46:05Everybody was like worried.
46:08He would call all the time.
46:11He would constantly reflect back on things from his childhood.
46:20I was always trying to be perfect.
46:24Trying to impress my father.
46:30And I wanted him to be proud of me, but he would never say it.
46:37He used to make fun of me.
46:41You are so black, you don't look like my child.
46:47You look delicious, boy, you got a big nose.
46:53You don't realize how much it hurt.
46:57I wanted to just die.
47:08When I went to the house after the Pepsi burn, with Michael there were some times where we
47:16would talk and he would come a little close.
47:19And then I would say to myself, what is on his nose?
47:24And those were stitches.
47:26Physically or visually, you could see that it had been, you know, worked on.
47:32I have a shot of Michael when he's leaving the Havenhurst house.
47:36And that was what I saw the change.
47:39You know, the transition from the Negro look to look like something different.
47:52It was heartbreaking.
47:55Michael was trying to erase something off of his face.
47:59And it was all the nastiness and all the things that Joseph said about him.
48:04But I think that set Michael on a very unhealthy pattern and path for the rest of his life
48:09when it came to facial reconstruction and his skin color.
48:15But I don't think anybody was prepared for how extreme it would get.
48:22Michael!
48:24Please, sir.
48:30Michael!
48:35Michael!
48:37Michael!
48:38Michael!
48:41Michael!
48:50How was this race?
48:52How was this race?
48:56How was this race?
49:07Not since Thriller five years ago
49:10has the record industry been so focused
49:12on a single album?
49:13It's called Bad.
49:15It's Michael Jackson and Bad right here
49:17on Kiss FM.
49:23They were queuing all over America,
49:25snapping up the first copies
49:27of Michael Jackson's latest offering.
49:29But after five years of comparative seclusion,
49:32he's changed his image.
49:34It's a lot of talk.
49:36A lot of people are talking about it
49:37and how foolish he looks.
49:41Well, the new look is not too hot,
49:43but the album is great
49:44and he's a great entertainer.
49:48I was a fan of Michael Jackson
49:50since I was a kid.
49:52From, you know, the Jacksons,
49:54you know, I loved Off the Wall.
49:59I was a talent manager at the firm
50:02that managed Michael Jackson.
50:04And it was our job to manage his career
50:06and public image.
50:08I remember when I met him, like,
50:10up close and personal,
50:11and I was just surprised at, like,
50:13how white he was.
50:15I mean, and just almost like,
50:18almost like translucent.
50:19That was good.
50:20It's beautiful.
50:21What happened?
50:22You know, we were wondering
50:23if he was bleaching his skin
50:25or maybe it was makeup.
50:28I can remember one instance
50:30and we had made this video.
50:32It was, like, multi-million dollar video.
50:34We had David Fincher, you know, directed.
50:36I remember at one point,
50:37he literally kind of broke down in tears
50:39and he was kind of ranting, like,
50:41I look like a monkey.
50:42I look like a monkey.
50:44And I was, like, thinking, what?
50:45I mean, he looked great in the video,
50:47but in his own mind,
50:49he, you know,
50:50he hated the way that he looked.
50:52And some people mentioned,
50:53I think it's called baking,
50:54where they, you know,
50:55could lighten him up
50:56throughout the video.
51:00I mean, that word,
51:02I look like a monkey,
51:04first it was kind of shocking from him.
51:08I'm thinking,
51:09here's this huge, amazing artist.
51:12His own issues with self-image
51:15actually became a form of, like,
51:18self-sabotage with his career.
51:25I remember a lot of the black community
51:28felt like he had deserted them
51:33and thought that he didn't want to be black.
51:39And it was really difficult
51:40because he was in the tabloids every week.
51:45He sort of became a joke.
51:48First problem is the sex problem.
51:51The problem being,
51:52we don't know what sex he is.
51:58The latest of the Michael Jackson rumors.
52:01Are Michael Jackson and his sister,
52:03Latoya Jackson,
52:04actually the same person?
52:06I'm here with Lars Bunquist
52:08of the IOFC IRA,
52:11the Institute of Facial Changes
52:12in Recording Artists.
52:13And I understand you had a grant
52:15for the last six years
52:16to study the facial changes
52:17in Michael Jackson.
52:18That's correct, Dave.
52:19And it's been a full-time job.
52:23To most of us,
52:25he's just wacko jacko.
52:26And if some of the press
52:28are to be believed
52:29and sleeps in an oxygen tent,
52:31often with a chimp,
52:32a snake,
52:33and an alien.
52:35When you think of Michael Jackson,
52:36you don't first think,
52:37what a great artist,
52:39what a definitive performer.
52:41You think,
52:41what a weird guy.
52:43Record stores have been reporting
52:44disappointing sales
52:45for the new album.
52:47Some have already begun
52:48taking down
52:48the bad promotional posters.
52:52The bad album
52:53had been released
52:53in the late 80s,
52:54but it hadn't been
52:55as successful as Thriller.
52:57We had to get him
52:59back to basics
53:00as an artist,
53:01as a singer,
53:02and get away from
53:03the wacky personas
53:05and the trappings
53:05and everything else and stuff.
53:15We had to make him
53:18more relatable
53:18to the public
53:20to answer the questions
53:21that people had
53:22about him,
53:23about his skin,
53:24about bubbles,
53:27about everything,
53:28because up to that point,
53:30Michael hadn't done
53:31a major interview.
53:32People hadn't heard him talk.
53:34People didn't know
53:36anything about him.
53:39And then Michael's managers
53:41had this idea
53:43that he should do
53:44an Oprah Winfrey interview.
53:57And the whole objective
54:00for that interview
54:01was to humanize him
54:04to the world.
54:06Oprah was calling
54:07every day
54:08like five or six times a day.
54:10Nothing was left to chance.
54:12His whole career,
54:14his reputation,
54:15were dependent
54:16on this interview going well.
54:23Ladies and gentlemen,
54:24Michael Jackson.
54:26Hey.
54:27Oh, hey, hey.
54:29Well, how nervous
54:30are you right now?
54:33How what?
54:34How nervous
54:34are you right now?
54:36I'm not nervous
54:37at all, actually.
54:38You really aren't.
54:39No, I never get nervous.
54:41You don't?
54:42No.
54:42Not even for your
54:43first interview
54:44and it's live
54:45around the world?
54:46I thought you'd be
54:47a little nervous,
54:48but that's great,
54:49because if you're not nervous,
54:50I won't be nervous.
54:51I just wanted to
54:52let the world know that...
54:54We were all watching it
54:56on TV,
54:56and it was pretty eye-opening.
54:58I think it really was
54:59the first time
55:00that I can recall
55:01where he ever sat down
55:03for a length of time,
55:05answered the questions
55:05that we all wanted to know,
55:08and was really pretty candid.
55:10I was actually surprised
55:11how candid he was.
55:13The main thing
55:15in that Oprah interview
55:16that was talked about
55:17was his answer
55:18to his skin color changing.
55:21The color of your skin
55:22is obviously different
55:24than it was
55:25when you were younger.
55:26And so I think
55:29it has caused
55:30a great deal
55:31of speculation
55:32and controversy
55:33as to what you have done
55:35or are doing.
55:36Are you bleaching your skin?
55:37And is your skin lighter
55:39because you don't like
55:40being black?
55:41The number one
55:42is just the situation.
55:43I have a skin disorder
55:44that destroys
55:45the pigmentation
55:46of the skin
55:47is something
55:48that I cannot help.
55:49Okay?
55:50But when people
55:51make up stories
55:52that I don't want
55:53to be who I am,
55:53it hurts me.
55:55So, it is.
55:58It's a problem for me, okay?
56:00I can't control it.
56:01I'm a black American.
56:03I'm proud
56:04to be a black American.
56:05Yes!
56:06Oh, boy.
56:08The black community
56:09was really relieved
56:10to hear that.
56:11You know,
56:12I remember people saying,
56:13oh, well,
56:14that's why it was.
56:15Of course.
56:16Of course Michael
56:17wouldn't desert us.
56:18He has a disease.
56:20It makes me feel
56:21some of the pain
56:22that he's feeling
56:22because I can look
56:23in his eyes
56:24and I can see
56:24the hurt in his eyes.
56:26You know,
56:26he looks like
56:27he's so lonely
56:28and so hurt, you know,
56:29and it makes me want
56:30to just reach out to him.
56:34And it worked.
56:36And it really changed
56:37a lot of people's
56:38perceptions of him.
56:40Now, Michael,
56:40you're pointing the thing
56:41now, you're driving.
56:42One hand on the way.
56:42It felt like
56:43Michael was back
56:44on top.
57:01My name is
57:03Rosabelle Smith.
57:05In 1993,
57:07I was working
57:07in the sexually
57:08exploited child unit.
57:09A case had come in
57:11involving a young boy
57:14who was 13 years of age
57:15and that the perpetrator
57:17was Michael Jackson.
57:26We knew that
57:28it was going
57:29to be a huge case.
58:00๋ the woman
58:04was working
58:04and that the end
58:06was going
58:06to be a huge acontece.
58:06You