Living with Michael Jackson was a Granada Television documentary, in which British journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Michael Jackson over a period of 8 months, from the middle of 2002 to January 2003. It was shown first in the UK on ITV (as a Tonight special) on 3 February 2003 and in the US three days later on ABC. The revelations of Jackson's controversial personal life in the programme was one of the factors that led to his trial for child molestation. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Martin Bashir interviewing Michael Jackson Martin Bashir (born January 19, 1963 ) , in London) is a British journalist of Pakistani descent. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting... Tonight or Tonight with Trevor McDonald is the name of a British television newsmagazine, anchored by Sir Trevor McDonald and produced by Granada Television for the ITV network since 1999, when it replaced the long-running investigative series World In Action. ... is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... People v. ...

The documentary was made on the suggestion by Jackson's friend Uri Geller. It later emerged that Geller had turned down another 'bid' for the interview by 'faux-naïf' journalist Louis Theroux. The interview was very unusual, as it had been extremely rare for Jackson to allow such access to his personal life, or to talk so freely about his traumatic childhood. Nevertheless, he did show some reserve when asked to discuss other personal issues, such as the plastic surgery he has had. Uri Geller (Hebrew: אורי גלר), (born Gellér György[1] December 20, 1946 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an Israeli-British performer and celebrity famous for claiming to have psychic powers. ... Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (born 20 May 1970) is a British broadcaster holding both British and US citizenship, best known for his television series Louis Therouxs Weird Weekends and When Louis Met… // Theroux was born in Singapore,[1] the younger son of the American travel writer and novelist...

The Interview

Living with Michael Jackson began at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. During the Neverland section of the interview, Jackson gave Bashir a tour of Neverland. During the interview at Neverland, Jackson discussed topics including his song writing, performing and personal life, and alleged abuse by Michael's father Joseph. Neverland Ranch, or Neverland Valley Ranch, is owned by American pop musician Michael Jackson, although Jackson currently resides outside the United States. ...

After Neverland, Bashir followed Michael Jackson in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, Jackson spoke about his love life, his changing appearance, and his children. Jackson's children wore face masks while being filmed. Jackson also visited a shopping center and embarked on a spending spree. For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ...

Jackson then went to Berlin, Germany. This is where the "baby dangling" incident occurred. Jackson also visited Berlin Zoo and a charity auction, and received a humanitarian award at the Bambi Awards. This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ...

The interview process ended in Miami in January 2003. This section of the documentary is the most controversial, as Jackson revealed information about his plastic surgery, spoke about the 1993 allegations, and defended his love of children. This article is about the city in Florida. ...

The documentary also shows a twelve year old boy who was Jackson's favourite friend at the time, and who later became his accuser in charges of sexual abuse. Although on later repeats the documentary censors the child's name, the captions originally stated his name was Gavin. The boy is seen holding hands with Jackson and resting his head on Jackson's shoulder. The boy later stated in the trial that the first encounter was by Jackson's initiative, the latter his own because he was really close to Jackson, and Jackson was his best friend. He and Jackson told about the two sleeping in the same room, though not in the same bed (an occasion was mentioned where Jackson was happy to sleep on the floor and let the boy have the bed). The boy later said that he had not realised the footage would be broadcast globally, and after it aired he was teased by his friends. His mother claims that she did not give Bashir permission to film her son, and was not even aware of the documentary until it aired. Teasing is the act of playfully disturbing another person, either with words or with actions. ...

Jackson admitted that "many children", especially pre-adolescent boys (including the Culkin family children Shane, Dakota, Macaulay, Kieran, Quinn, Christian, Rory, and Justin Timberlake) have slept in the same bed as him, but he denies having had sexual contact with any of them. Jackson claims to allow his children to stay with his friends, for example with Barry Gibb. Primary or elementary education is the first years of formal, structured education that occurs during childhood. ... Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. ... Kieran Kyle Culkin (born September 30, 1982) is an American actor. ... Culkin in Signs, 2002 Rory Hugh Culkin (born July 21, 1989) is an American actor. ... Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is a two-time Grammy Award-winning American pop/R&B singer, and actor. ... Sexual activities are often performed in a bed. ... Barry Alan Crompton Gibb CBE (born on 1 September 1946) is a singer, songwriter and producer. ...

Complaints

Out of concern for Gavin and his younger brother, a school official lodged a complaint of general neglect by their mother and sexual abuse by Jackson. See DCFS interview.

Comment by Sneddon

Responding to concern after the airing, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. said that, under California law, merely sleeping with a child, without "affirmative, offensive conduct," isn't criminal. [1] Santa Barbara County is a county located on the Pacific coast of Southern California, in the state of California, just west of Ventura County. ... A district attorney at the county level in the United States is the prosecutor for a county or local judicial district. ... Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. ...

Dissatisfaction of Jackson

Jackson felt betrayed by Bashir and complained that the film gives a distorted picture of his behaviour and conduct as a father [2], [3]. He claims that Bashir, in the final version of his interview, used only that material which supported Bashir's opinion of Jackson, which was not a favorable one.

Jackson has filed complaints with the UK's Independent Television Commission and the Broadcasting Standards Commission. The ITC has been superseded as the British commercial television regulator by Ofcom (the Office of Communications). ... The Office of Communications, usually known as Ofcom, is the UKs communications regulator. ...

Jackson's lawyers claimed in a British High Court case against Martin Bashir and Granada TV that the documentary was a breach of contract and breach of confidence. The proceedings were put on hold when Jackson was charged with 10 felony counts in late 2003, but since Jackson's acquittal the proceedings could now continue.

Ann Kite, a public relations consultant hired by Jackson's advisers to counter negative publicity, called the documentary a PR-disaster. Public relations (PR): Building sustainable relations with all publics in order to create a postive brand image. ...

Rebuttal video

In an attempt to repair his image following the Bashir interview, Jackson released a second interview, called 'Take Two' (also referred to as "the rebuttal video"). This was presented by Maury Povich, and contains material which Bashir omitted. It also features new interviews with people close to Jackson, such as his former wife Debbie Rowe. In this interview, she claimed it was on her request that the children wore masks in public. In law, rebuttal is a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party. ... Maurice Richard Maury Povich (born January 17, 1939 in Washington, D.C.) is an American TV talk show personality who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury which has earned him national recognition due to the paternity tests that are often aired. ... Deborah Jeanne Rowe (born 6 December 1958) was the dermatologists nurse who married singer Michael Jackson, and bore two children for him. ...

She also pointed out that the concept of "sharing a bed" can be misunderstood: for example, she herself likes watching TV in bed; when she has a visitor, often both watch TV together in bed.

The video has been shown in a Fox Network special [4], [5]. The Fox Broadcasting Company is a television network in the United States. ...

Part of the footage was not aired because the videographer Hamid Moslehi refused to hand it over because of a financial dispute with Jackson [6], [7]. It was found by police in a search of Moslehi's home in November 2003, and showed the accuser's family praising Jackson.

External links

• Living with Michael Jackson at the Internet Movie Database
• Complaint to Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) by "media psychiatrist" Carole Lieberman (see a little down the webpage)
• Interview with Lieberman