Michael Jackson said in an interview with the CBS television network that he still believes it’s acceptable to sleep with children and that he would ”slit my wrists” before he would hurt a child.
Jackson, arrested on November 20 on suspicion of child molestation, denied the charges against him during an interview with Ed Bradley conducted on Christmas night and set to air Sunday on the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes. CBS released a portion of the interview on Friday.
Jackson (45) is charged with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. He remains free on $3-million bail.
Asked by Bradley if it was still OK to sleep with children given the charges against him, Jackson answered, ”Of course.”
”Why not?” he said. ”If you’re going to be a paedophile, if you’re going to be Jack the Ripper, if you’re going to be a murderer, it’s not a good idea. That I am not.”
”Before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists,” Jackson also said.
CBS confirmed comments about the alleged victim that Jackson’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said his client made during the interview: ”I didn’t sleep in bed with the child. Even if I did it’s OK. I slept on the floor. I give the bed to the child.”
The pop singer, interviewed in a Los Angeles hotel room, said the police search of his Neverland Ranch in California had been overdone and so violated his privacy that it will never be the same for him.
”I won’t live there ever again,” he said. ”It’s a house now. It’s not a home anymore. I’ll only visit.”
Meanwhile on Friday, CBS also announced that it had rescheduled a Jackson music special that had been abruptly postponed last month after the molestation charges surfaced. The special will air on Friday January 2.
Bradley had been pursuing an interview with Jackson even before the molestation charges. The CBS newsman travelled to Neverland last February for an interview, but Jackson got cold feet and cancelled it at the last minute.
The existence of the musical special, which had been scheduled for late November and was largely complete before being postponed, was an unusual factor in landing a widely sought interview.
CBS would not have rescheduled the entertainment special if Jackson hadn’t addressed the molestation charges with the network’s news division, CBS entertainment spokesperson Chris Ender said.
The criminal case won’t be discussed during the special, Michael Jackson Number Ones. The special was to include Jackson performance footage, but that filming wasn’t completed before November’s postponement. The special also includes interviews with Dick Clark, Beyoncé Knowles, Mary J Blige and others about Jackson’s impact on pop culture.
Bob Steele, an expert on newsroom ethics, said news organisations should maintain independence and conduct interviews on their news value alone.
”If CBS was creating a deal in any way for a news interview with Jackson that is dependent on the entertainment special or vice versa, that certainly seems to compromise journalistic independence,” said Steele, a scholar for journalist values at the Poynter Institute.
Kevin Tedesco, 60 Minutes spokesperson, said he couldn’t imagine any news organisation that would not pursue an interview with Jackson.
”It’s a big story,” he said.
His musical career may have faded, but Jackson is still a big television draw, if only because of the curiosity factor. His last television interview, with British journalist Martin Bashir, was seen by 27-million people on the ABC network last February. — Sapa-AP