After opening statements in which prosecutor Tom Sneddon characterized Jackson as Jeffrey Dahmer and defense attorney Thomas Mesereau painted a portrait of St Francis of Assisi, the main action has centered around TV reporter Martin Bashir's documentary Living With Michael Jackson, which aired on ABC in the U.S. three days after it ran in Britain in February of '03. The jury watched the documentary and heard testimony from Bashir himself yesterday. The investigation that followed the airing of the doc led to the 10-count felony indictment of Jackson for child molestation, plying him with alcohol, and conspiring to abduct the boy and his family.
With Living With Michael Jackson playing such a key role in the trial, let's go back and look at our coverage of it from when it aired - no wonder Jacko and his minions freaked:
Freak Week, January 31, 2003, Eric Olsen
These days Michael Jackson is much more popular on TV than he is on record. Why? Because the general populace still can't quite believe what a freak of nature Jackson has become, so he has great oddity appeal, but he hasn't recorded anything very good since "Black and White" over ten years ago.
As a result, NBC's Dateline is airing a special on Jackson's face in two weeks, and now ABC has paid a reported $4-5 million for a documentary on Jackson that it is going to air in a week:
- The documentary, "Living with Michael Jackson," features "unprecedented and exclusive access to Jackson's private life," ABC promised.
British journalist Martin Bashir spent eight months with Jackson and was with him when Jackson horrified onlookers by dangling his baby from a hotel balcony in Berlin, the network said.
Jackson is no longer, as he calls himself, the king of pop music. But he has a proven track record as a television draw.
Some 25.7 million viewers tuned into "Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special" on CBS in November 2001; viewership increased every half-hour for the program, culled from tapes of a Madison Square Garden tribute concert appearance. Previous interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer also attracted big audiences. [AP]
Article comments
1 - swingingpuss
While I was reading "Armand the Vampire" by Anne Rice I wondered whether she had based the vampire Marius on Jackson. They both use wealth and luxury to give children the illusion of fun and security while preying on them to feed their perverse needs.
2 - Eric Olsen
ooh, cold but apt
3 - Sal Hutr
send these cunning british trash back to where he came from.
4 - virginia m. Edwards
martin bashir help to desory MICHAEL and is indirectly the cause of him sinking further into a dependency on rx medicatios and now his death at the hands of a using unethical doctor..I hope that bashir can live with himself and abc can live with keeping this man on their network..i will never watch abc again and will encourage a boycott of all abc networks.