Michael Jackson: Man in the Mirror (2017) - full transcript

In December 1993,
Michael Jackson was forced to face

his toughest audience.

Why are you doing this to me?

The DA and cops from the LAPD
investigated allegations

of child abuse.

It broke his heart to the point of tears.

It really disturbed him.

This is very humiliating,
very embarrassing for me.

The police were collecting
evidence to corroborate the story

of Michael's accusers.

Can you stand on the chair, please?



So many knives in his back,

people that he thought he could trust,

stabbing him over and over and over again.

How did the King Of Pop...

...get to this?

We need to get close-ups from all angles.

Physically abused by a violent father...

He couldn't catch me half the time,
but when he would catch me,

oh, my God.

...living his life in the
very grown-up music business.

You learn a lot about relationships
and sexuality and violence

that a kid shouldn't know.

Trapped by his childhood success,

Michael Jackson struggled
to embrace the adult world.



Was he straight, was he gay?

Was he bisexual?

Lisa, please.

Was he not sexual at all?

Michael remained childlike forever.

He saw himself more as this
kind of Peter Pan character,

who never really grew up.

Eventually, allegations of
child molestation followed,

investigated by the LAPD.

Please.

This is the story of an artist
who was lit up with talent...

We used to sing songs together
and harmonise together,

and I knew where their talent was.

...but unable to go
from boy to man...

I said, "You bathe in Perrier?"

And he said,
"Yeah, I like the bubbles."

Right!

...and unable to create
his own family.

He phoned me up out of the blue and said,

"Would I be a sperm donor for him?"

I thought...

"Yeah, what the hell, why not?"

Michael Jackson was a pop genius,
selling 750 million albums,

charting 20 number one US and UK
hits, and earning over $1 billion.

But his gift was also his curse.

With a talent like that,
he could never belong to himself.

That's where his tragedy has its roots.

He was a tragic figure.

Unprepared for the trappings
of mega fame and success,

he lost sense of where
Michael Jackson "the pop star" began

and where
Michael Jackson "the person" ended.

There was no umbilical cord.
There was nothing grounding him.

It was sad.

In order for him to be "Michael Jackson,"

it cost him so much.

It cost him his life.

I guess it's a bittersweet tale.

When Michael Jackson created
his dream home, he built the

Neverland ranch - a 2,500-acre estate

that included a zoo and a fairground.

He wanted to be Peter Pan.

He built Neverland, probably
thinking if he was a child,

what would be his ideal paradise?

Neverland was Michael's monument
to childhood, wonder and play.

His reality is other people's fantasies.

He was just in a world where
he could and would do

whatever popped up.

Michael built Neverland
to entertain children,

to make them happy and carefree.

But he also built it so he
could remain a child forever.

Michael Jackson, and Michael
Jackson's career, were forged

in America's industrial heartland.

He was born in 1958, the
seventh child of Joe and Katherine,

in Gary, Indiana, a suburb of Chicago.

Gary was just amazing.

"City on the move" is what they
called it, "the city on the move."

We had just recently got
the first black mayor

of a large city in America.

People had work, there
were businesses here booming,

there were nightclubs,
there were theatres.

Joe worked the steel mills,
backbreaking, dangerous work.

And bought a small two-bedroom house.

Not again!

Katherine raised nine children here.

Boys. Hey, Dad. Make sure you
save me some money now. OK, Dad.

They were a very close-knit family.

I mean, they're all living
in the same room, with bunk beds.

I mean, there was no money.

Come on.

Chitlins again?

You carry on with that nonsense,
you'll be lucky

you get any food at all.

Boys, get yourself ready for dinner now.

We won't live like this forever.

One day, I'm gonna buy one of
them big houses up on the hill.

'You have to think about it
from his perspective.

'What are your kids gonna do?'

Especially black kids
being raised in America.

Like, what is their future?

Do you want them to do this?

And so I think for Joe, there was a
lot of personal, financial, social,

maybe even spiritual drive

for his kids to be successful.

Jesus, we pray, thank you, amen.
ALL: Amen.

For struggling black families in the '60s,

two of the best routes out of

low-paid jobs and rough neighbourhoods

were becoming either a professional
athlete or an entertainer.

Michael grew up in the shadow
of the great Hollywood performers.

He dreamt of artists like Fred Astaire...

...and Gene Kelly.

Showmen who sang and danced and enchanted.

A world away from his
sheltered Gary upbringing.

WHITE NOISE

WHITE NOISE CUTS OUT

It's really done this time.
What are we gonna do now?

Your father and me never
had no TV when we were growing up.

Here we go again.

What did you used to do, Mama?

They didn't play, they didn't
go out and their mom was, you know,

a Jehovah's Witness.

♪ As I went down
in the river to pray... ♪

'They didn't celebrate birthdays,

'they didn't celebrate
Christmas, or other holidays.'

So that made them kind of a quirky family.

They stayed to themselves.

ALL:
♪ Good Lord, show me the way. ♪

She was a very strong woman,
but she delivered it...

...just in subtlety, softness and
kindness, and wow, that rocks.

♪ Down to the river to pray. ♪

Joseph and I used to sing
when we first married,

I didn't have any children.

We used to sing songs together
and harmonise together, because...

And then Joe got in a group
called The Falcons.

And when the kids came along,

they came up listening to music
and singing and dancing,

and I knew where their talent was.

ALL: ♪ As I went down
in the river to pray

♪ Studying about that good old way

♪ And who shall wear...

MICHAEL ALONE:
♪ ...the starry crown

♪ Good lord, show me the way. ♪

His mother would say he was born like

he just had something in him that was...

outstanding.

♪ Oh, brothers, let's go down

♪ Let's go down, come on down

♪ Oh, brothers, let's go down

♪ Down in the river to pray. ♪

He was so angelic, he was like an angel,

a little cherubic, like little angel boy.

He was so talented. I mean,
he was a force to reckoned with.

♪ Come on, mothers, let's go down

♪ Down in the river to pray. ♪

Hey, when's that next talent contest
up at the school?

I do remember the talent shows
in Gary, Indiana.

It was extremely competitive

because there was so much talent here.

♪ That's just your style

♪ Your smile's got me thinking
things I shouldn't be thinking. ♪

You had to be dynamic.

You had to be almost ready
to play Carnegie Hall

just to play the high school talent show!

You had to be really sharp.

♪ Simply irresistible. ♪

Aged five, Michael formed a vocal group

with his elder brothers, Jackie,
Tito, Jermaine and Marlon.

♪ You're simply irresistible. ♪

Their harmony and everything
was so perfect.

To me, I couldn't listen to it for crying

because I was so happy
for my life and soul.

Thrilled.

And didn't think
that they had that in them.

I know they had talent in them,

but the way they sound
together was beautiful.

♪ I wanna have it all

♪ I swear I'm not giving up
till I get enough. ♪

RECORD SCRATCHES AND MUSIC STOPS

Again.

And again, until we get it right.

All right, all right. OK, come on.

Joe believed that his kids had to
work twice as hard as everyone else,

because if you're only somewhat
good or kind of good,

then you don't stand a chance.

Every Friday night,
they had an amateur night

at Roosevelt High School.

And the Jacksons won
pretty much every night.

Ladies and gentlemen, The Jackson 5.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The one and only, The Jackson 5.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The Jackson 5.

Word got around that
there was these terrific kids.

Then they started getting...

jobs over in Chicago.

I would be coming from Chicago...

HORNS BLARE
...and I'd hear someone blowing their horns

and it would be the Jacksons,
on their way home.

When he was only six,
Michael and his brothers were going

from amateur to pro.

Home movies show a prodigy,

a precocious little boy
with the artistry of an adult,

who could hold an audience
on behalf of his band,

now called The Jackson 5.

Marlon, bed, now!

OK, Tito.

Hey, Joe.

He wanted to be a star, which was
the dream of any poor person

in the so-called ghettos of America.

Had aspirations to be successful
and rich and famous.

He had all those things
beyond his wildest dreams.

MICHAEL: 'Five, six, seven, eight.'

That's good.

Jermaine, man!

What the hell was that?!

Joe was determined to lift his kids
out of poverty.

I told you what would happen if...

And for him,
that end justified extreme means.

Behind the showbiz smile, Michael
lived in dread of his father.

It took him 40 years to talk
about Joe's reign of terror.

He would lose his temper.
I just...

remember hearing my mother scream,

"Joe, you're gonna kill them,
you're gonna kill them. Stop it!

"You're gonna kill them."
You know, and...

I was so fast, he couldn't
catch me half the time,

but when he would catch me, oh, my God!

It was bad.

The first time I ever met their
father, I swear, when I stood...

...this distance from him,

I could
see the flames of hell in his eyes.

All right.

Joe Jackson saw to it that his
children would escape the ghetto.

And yet there was a terrible price.

Five, six, seven, eight.

The beatings, the isolation
and the relentless work

turned Michael's childhood into a prison.

Michael never truly forgave his father.

In his will, he left everything to
his mother, Katherine,

and his children.

He made no mention of Joe.

Michael would eventually
escape from his father,

but he would never
truly escape his childhood,

returning to it again and again.

♪ Stories to share... ♪

Even in his mid 40s,
Michael was still casting himself

as the lonely, isolated and sad singer,

asking his fans to forgive his immaturity.

As an adult, Michael would become
obsessed with children.

He would identify with children so much

that he could never truly become a man.

His mournful delivery of the song

reveals the tragedy behind the legend.

♪ I wanna have it all. ♪

At the age of six, Michael started
his touring career...

♪ Simply irresistible

♪ I wanna have it all. ♪

...playing venues across the Midwest
and as far as the East Coast.

From now on, he would be
increasingly disconnected

from ordinary life.

He only went to public school

for a short while and would always
be taken out to go on tours.

I heard one of his teachers speak -
his kindergarten teacher -

she said he was gone for maybe a week.

And when he came back, he apologised
for being gone, but he said,

"I had to do some
shows in New York."

I mean, can you imagine?

♪ Ooh, can you feel it? ♪

Michael mastered his stagecraft
watching older artists perform,

soaking up every turn, smile and mic drop,

learning how to capture
and hold an audience.

♪ Do you wanna dance
the night away? ♪

Life outside the clubs, though, was tough.

♪ Higher. ♪

The Jacksons had to travel
through hostile territory.

America was racially segregated.

It was quite dangerous
to travel in your tour bus,

cos you had to worry about...

...you know, possibly
the Ku Klux Klan or someone...

...not liking you travel at night.

Michael learned early
to fear the outside world.

I mean, black people suffered so hard.

They couldn't go to the hotels,
like nowadays,

they could not eat at a restaurant,
you couldn't sit in accommodation,

you couldn't use the restrooms.

This was the fight
to create a fairer America.

It was fought in the streets...

...and on stage.

Years ago, black entertainers, men,

could not look at white females
in the audience,

they had to keep their head down.

Imagine that.

The Jackson family could only
play in the black venues.

A network of funk, soul, rhythm and blues,

known as the Chitlin' Circuit.

Chitlins are the intestines
of a hog or a pig.

So it was like, Chitlin, the bottom
of the entertainment circuit.

The black American Chitlin' Circuit
was after-hour clubs

in the black community that we had
created because we weren't allowed

in the mainstream, so you would have
maybe a little gambling there,

maybe, you know, the married man
might have his mistress there.

Touring was a bewildering experience
for the young Michael...

...being exposed to sexuality
and sex at a tender age.

I had to share a bed with
one of my brothers on the tours.

And there was some action
going on in my room every night.

I could hear it.

My job was to play sleep.

And I was told by one of my brothers,

"No matter what, don't get up.
Don't open your eyes."

I go, "I promise, I won't."

And so I would hear these girls come in.

I would hear them say,
"Is that little Michael?"

My brother would say, "Yeah."
They would go, "Aw, he's so cute!"

I heard everything.

That's not what Marlon and Michael
need to see,

and Jackie and Jermaine!

No, Joe! Our boys are robust.

We can take them to the clubs.
"Train a child in the way

"he should go and when he is older,
he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6, Joe.
Don't quote me Bible.

I'mma tell you something.
Can you just close that Bible

for one minute?!
No, I will not close that Bible!

The mixed lessons of sex and sin
tormented the young Michael.

Sex would never be normal for him.

OK. Jehovah is watching.

You'll see, you'll see!

By 1967, the Jackson 5 were
earning up to $600 a gig.

Joe could give up his job at the
steel mill and the industry was starting to take notice.

Joe, we can't afford this.

We can now!

Their first contract was with
Steeltown Records.

The Jackson 5's first release was
the single Big Boy,

in which nine-year-old Michael sang
about growing up,

leaving childish things behind.

The song sold around 10,000 copies,

a modest success in a relatively
small corner of the music business.

As a black artist in music, I mean,

there were charts that kept you from
what they would call crossing over

into pop, because your sound was
whatever, too black.

Other artists on the Chitlin'
Circuit thought The Jackson 5 could do better.

They put Joe in touch with Motown Records,

headed by the legendary Berry Gordy.

In ten years, he had built the
company from nothing and become

the most powerful man in black music.

Motown had broken through the
race barrier.

The label had notched up 17 number
one singles on the mainstream Billboard Hot 100 chart.

With artists like the Temptations,
Gladys Knight and the Pips,

and their biggest star to date,
Diana Ross.

Motown was the most important thing
that had happened

musically for black people in America

for the decades in which it was in
existence.

In late July 1968,

The Jackson 5 were auditioned on
camera and gave

the performance of a lifetime,

with Michael as their front man,
showing off his James Brown moves.

I think Michael really always stood out,

because his voice was so mature at
a young age.

♪ ...cute little baby... ♪

He was a freak of nature in the best
sense of that phrase.

Very rarely has nature bestowed on
one individual that much talent.

The footage was shipped to
Berry Gordy in Los Angeles.

He thought that he was a midget.

Singing, they didn't think he was
really a child.

PHONE RINGS

Uh-huh.

OK, yeah. Katherine.

What's happening?

Motown.

Oh, it was a dream come true.

I mean, like a God-given.

To get a deal from Motown,
THE company in the world

for black entertainment.

Berry Gordy. You couldn't ask for
any more.

Thank God, thank Jehovah.

That was it. It was like -
now you've made it.

It's like, you just bowed down.

It was like that's it!
That was the top.

That's what you're going for.

Motown released I Want You Back
on October 7th 1969.

It immediately hit number one in
the R&B charts.

Mainstream America too was ready
for a black boyband.

Oh, my God! The barriers they were
breaking down was that they were

crossing over. They crossed over and
they broke down that whole myth of

R&B charts only, or soul charts only

and then having the mainstream chart.

♪ Oh, baby, give me one more
chance... ♪

For all the work, though, fame and
success did not bring freedom for Michael.

By the time the Jacksons have come along,

they had established an absolute
machinery for greatness.

They discovered people but they
don't just discover them,

they discover them and they put them
through the Motown machinery,

that includes the studio musicians,
songwriters, the choreographers,

the image consultants.

The artist was elevated, but
the artist was also controlled.

Once they'd got to a level,

they started to bristle against
the intense control.

Michael was no stranger to control.

Inside the Motown machine, though,
the supervision would be total,

deciding his music, his image,
his behaviour, even his sense of reality.

Just how old are you, Michael?

Eight. But I thought you were older
than that.

Maybe closer to 11.

Well, I'm not. I'm eight.

But I heard...

The kid said he is eight, all right?

Next question. Next question,
please.

At the age of 11, Michael knew he
was a product.

A pop singer with a huge, joyous
voice, who was a cute kid.

What the hell was that?

What? You ain't eight years old.

It's OK. If they say something about
me that isn't true, it's a lie.

If they say something about my image
that isn't true, that's OK.

It's not a lie. It's PR.

By the time he could walk and sing,
he became public.

So he really

was out there. He was Michael
Jackson, from the start, right?

At Motown, The Jackson 5 was
a winning formula.

Four number one singles,
over ten million albums,

they even has their own animated TV show.

By the mid-1970s, The Jackson 5
WAS American popular culture.

And yet the band's name was misleading.

One Jackson clearly stood out.

Michael was always the main singer.

He was always in the centre and
he was always the main dancer,

he was always the main... star!

And indeed, this is where the
beginning, I think, of his tragedy,

this is where his tragedy has its roots,

because with a talent like that,

he could never belong to himself.

He always belonged to other people,

because he meant so much to everyone
and everyone needed him to be

something for them.

And what Michael's family and label
needed was a little boy in front of

his brothers, singing his heart out.

What Michael needed was never considered.

At just 14 years old,

Michael was already recording solo
singles like Rockin' Robin.

♪ Rockin' Robin
Tweet tweet tweet... ♪

But on stage, he was forced to
perform them as part of The Jackson 5.

Offstage, too, Michael's choices
were limited.

Under the control of his father,
Joe, isolated by his family and fame,

Michael was a shy and withdrawn teenager.

Michael was a scared little boy at
times and Michael didn't really know

how talented he was until later on.

And I think he was insecure in many ways.

I think the way that he got over
his insecurity was on stage.

As a performer, Michael was every
inch the polished pop star.

Young, handsome, famous and on
the verge of manhood,

he had the world at his feet but
an interview on Soul Train,

America's top TV show for R&B talent,

revealed that Michael still enjoyed
simple, childlike pleasures.

I feed my birds every morning.

What are some of the birds you have?

Peacock. Pheasants.

Parrots.

He was at a very awkward stage.

He was tall and rail thin and

had not quite grown into his manhood

and was a long way from boyhood.

And there was a

soulfulness about him, kind of

humble, but he seemed sad.

The people around Michael struggled
with the idea of him growing up.

Joe especially wanted Michael to
stay the nine-year-old boy,

under his control, fronting The Jackson 5.

To leave the band was to leave the family.

Michael's restlessness fixed on a
new focus.

He found Motown, his record label,
as stifling as Joe and The Jackson 5.

He decided to go and see rival
label Epic on his own.

Michael came into my office and I
asked him what he would like to do.

He had this big company and we can
offer you all sorts of things.

Not money, we weren't talking about
that, and he said that he would like

his own creativity to be heard.

I said, "Yeah, your own creativity?

"I mean, you want to write music on
your own?"

"Yeah."
"OK."

It's unfair to go behind our back.
I wasn't behind your back.

We're a family, Michael.

OK? We're the Jacksons.

Berry was fine.

But now we need a goal.

We are dying at Motown.

There are winners and losers in life.

And you boys ain't going to be no losers.

Not now...

not ever.

For once, Michael and his father,
Joseph, were in agreement.

Motown had bought a boyband but
the Jacksons were no longer boys.

Let's see your hands.

Only Jermaine, married to
Berry Gordy's daughter,

voted against the move to Epic.

Think about your family.

I am, Michael.

I am.

But while Michael had shaken off
the fetters of Motown,

he still hadn't escaped the family.

Or his father.

'I think at Epic, they promised Joe'

more managerial control.

Michael joined Epic when he was 18,

signalling a new start as a mature artist.

But in many ways, Michael had
barely grown at all.

Here he was, having hits already

and having the genius brain,

but as a person, he was like a child.

He would take my pocket book and
turn it upside down and everything would fall out.

Now you expect really a
four-year-old to do that.

Then, shortly after joining Epic,

Michael was finally offered a way
to break free.

Producer Rob Cohen offered him the
part of the scarecrow in the movie The Wiz,

alongside a cast of Hollywood greats.

He would have to leave the Jackson
family home in Los Angeles

for three months,
and go to New York on his own.

This was an act the family couldn't
get in on too.

He was really keen.

Because he understood that to be
with Diana Ross, Richard Pryor,

Lena Horne, he was getting a chance

to put himself in this black
superstar firmament.

And I think he knew what
he could do and what he could show.

Joe immediately spotted the threat.

I don't want you doing this movie.

We're a family, Mike.

We came up together and we stick together.

Get up.

You're not even an actor.

Boy, what the hell is wrong with you?

Are you going to answer me, boy?

Joe was starting to lose control of
his child prodigy son.

And now Michael had powerful allies.

We didn't want Joe in New York.

I had really worked hard to make
sure Joe stayed away.

So that Michael could thrive,
without a severe father around.

Every day, he would commit magic on film.

Though The Wiz was a commercial and
critical failure,

it was a triumph for Michael.

The way he could dance with those
big feet and the complex costume.

The thing that has stood the test of
time and will always stand the test

of time is the performance of
Michael Jackson.

The Wiz also introduced Michael to
a man who would have a profound

influence on his music and career.

While recording the soundtrack,
he met producer Quincy Jones.

The chemistry was immediate.

I could see in Quincy's eyes was
like when a leopard looks at a baby goat.

I mean, he just saw it.

And like, it was the beginning of
that incredible collaboration.

While filming, Michael was living in
his own apartment close to Central Park.

This was the Big Apple,
home of sex, drugs and disco.

I said to him one night, why don't
we go to Studio 54?

It's the best dance club.

If there's one person that Studio 54
was created for, it's you.

We pulled up to that theatre, and, I mean,

the red velvet rope came up so fast,

I thought Mark at the door was going
to get himself whiplash!

Michael was a megastar,

adored the world over, but when it
came to relationships,

he was uncomfortable, awkward
and desperately insecure.

It was an astounding night
and I said, "You can have anybody you want."

He goes, "What do you mean?"
I said, "Well,

"you could take any one of those
girls home, you know, you're free now.

"You're not living in your father's house.

"You could have a life, you know."

"Oh, Rob,
I don't think so!"

Up to this point, Michael had only
been with one girlfriend

- his childhood sweetheart Tatum O'Neal.

Tatum described the relationship as
a wonderful friendship.

It was also in New York that
the eccentricities that would characterise

Michael's life started to become apparent,

as Rob Cohen found when he took him
home from Studio 54.

I'll never forget it.

He has crates of Perrier all over
the apartment and I said, "Michael,

"what are you, like, really
thirsty?"

And he goes, "Aw, no, I bathe in it.

"I don't drink it. I bathe in it."

And I said, "You bathe in Perrier?"

And he said,
"Yeah, I like the bubbles."

You like the bubbles!

And I often wondered if he named
his chimp Bubbles

because of that! Right,
that he liked the bubbles!

For the people around him, Michael's
ambivalence to sex was puzzling.

I sat with him, I said, "Hey, Mike,

"you're at an age where you're going
to start to interact

"with women a lot.

"And sometimes, you might not
feel..." -

just judging by the interaction of
the family, I said,

"...you may not have anyone to talk
to about stuff."

You know, if you ever want to talk
about this stuff,

girls, anything, all you've got
to do is ask me.

OK. You know I'll be there.

I mean it, man.

At any time, I'll I give you my two cents,

I've kind of live already, OK, and
maybe I can help you.

But I've already got someone.

Great!

Diana Ross.

That was his answer.

I went, "Oh!

"Well, I guess you don't have to
call me, then."

Michael, you in effect dance for
a living and sing too.

Though Michael was still emotionally
struggling to embrace adulthood,

he was slowly managing to free
himself from the family.

'You don't have it so bad.

'What are you escaping from?

'I'm not escaping from anything.

'It's a change of pace.'

But the Jacksons were never going to
let Michael escape without a fight.

For Michael, leaving Motown to go to
Epic was more than moving to a

different label with his brothers.

Epic offered him support outside of
his family to enable his career as

a solo artist. And Michael grasped
the opportunity with both hands.

This was a coming out party with
regards to him writing.

Him being involved in his own music.

Michael realised that if he started
writing his own songs as well as

performing them, it would make him
more powerful.

The man who found being an adult so
emotionally difficult was proving to

be a smart and ruthless operator
in his career.

It was a big risk, though.

Michael had never written songs
before and his first attempt was nearly a disaster.

HE IMITATES A RIFF

HE CONTINUES THE SAME RIFF

Great. For 20 minutes.

SAME RIFF PLAYS

Oh, man!

And it just kept going.

It's one chord.

It's one fucking chord!

So Michael eventually comes in and
sings a lead vocal.

♪...with your head all up in the sky

♪ And I do know that I want you

♪ Let's dance

♪ Let's dance, let's shout
Shake your... ♪

'Understand, I'm hearing this verse
melody...'

Oh, man.

'...that is so dissonant to
that bass line.'

We've got to shake this up a little bit.

I'm supposed to come up with a
record here,

so I just piled everything onto that
I could possibly and the chorus,

percussion, everything, and like
backwards tambourine.

♪ Shake you body down to the
ground... ♪

I called a friend of mine. I said,
"Can you put this through the board?

"Don't add anything, nothing.

Can I have some blank tape over
there? Yeah. OK."

He said, "What do
you want me to do?"

I said, "Just record this to that
tape."

♪ Shake your body down to the
ground... ♪

And I had my hand on the volume
fader and I went like this.

And it goes from the beginning
of the song.

Three minutes. There you go.

Here's your 3.40 single,
ready to go.

Ship it.

Creative success, however, did not
bring freedom for Michael.

The video for Shake Your Body Down
makes it clear what the Jackson family

expected from him. Michael was the
front man who wore the same uniform

and danced the same steps.

The same tune as his brothers.

♪ And I do know that I want you... ♪

But while Michael desperately wanted
to be his own man,

the lessons of his childhood would
continue to haunt him.

♪ I just can't
I just can't control my feet... ♪

During the recording of their first
album for Epic, Destiny,

producer Bobby Colomby got a sense
of the darker forces at work within Michael.

'He throws his headphones down.

'And runs out of the studio.'

Why did he leave?
I've no idea what's going on.

He's flipping out.

He's just dancing like crazy.

What the hell are you doing?

You OK? I'm better than OK.

So what's with the...

I just can't listen to this song
and not dance.

I've got to get it out of me.

I can't stand there and sing this
section until I've got this out of my system.

Where do you learn to dance like that?

Like what? So fast?

Running away.

Running away from my father.

That was the first ominous moment.

"Ooh, interesting."

Come on. Let's lay it down.

Michael now had a taste of what
success on his own might look like

but Destiny was a huge hit for the
Jacksons and in 1979,

a major worldwide tour was launched
off the back of it.

127 shows across three continents

with Michael singing lead
for his brothers.

It must have been hard for
him to return to that role.

Once he had a vision that he might
be able to operate a Michael Jackson

story on his own.

Michael was determined to make it
and to make it

to be the biggest star in

the world and he became that and he
just had...

barrier after barrier had to be
broken down, and it took a lot.

During the tour, Michael started
to go truly solo.

His collaborator on The Wiz, Quincy Jones,

was keen to make a record with him.

I heard you pull in.

They sent a car.

I'm doing a solo album next.

No, you are not. Yes, I am, Joe.

And there ain't nothing you can do
about it.

You're going to do another record
with your brothers.

I am your father.

All of this was for you, you know.

All of this was for you.

Every damn bit of it.

Joe had always
aspired to keep Michael as the kid

brother in the band, singing
mainstream bubble gum pop.

But Quincy Jones would be a very
different kind of mentor.

Where Joe was domineering and critical,

seeking to contain Michael's talent,
Quincy was encouraging,

collaborative, guiding Michael to
embrace his own creative process.

He comes in, and he got the eye of
the Tiger.

I mean, I have never seen a singer
light up a song like that.

I mean, you know, the napalm
explosion in Apocalypse Now.

It was like that in a recording booth.

Michael developed a strong
signature sound.

But it was his raw, now-unfettered
emotion that pushed him to greatness.

Start from the beginning.

Start over again.

Under Joe, Michael had felt
insecure and disempowered.

Under Quincy, he could freely
express himself in a safe place.

This was an altogether different
type of fathering.

He was secure and you could feel it
on the record.

He was telling stories and each
record, he was very involved.

Quincy showed Michael how to take
the best of his previous work and

build on it, to give the audience a
fresh sound that felt familiar.

It was a trick that Michael would
use on each of his albums.

You listen to...

♪ Get enough. Da da!

It's dum-dum dum dum de de

It's not that different from
Shake Your Body.

It's kind of the same thing.

The only difference is the bridge.

Ba-da da, ba-da da, da-da da Da da da...

This time, there were no brothers
in the video.

Even when he needed more dancers,
there were just more Michaels.

His point was made.

When Off The Wall spawned two
number one hits,

selling over 20 million copies,
earning Michael millions of dollars,

it was clear that professionally he
was now free from his family.

I couldn't believe it.
It was historic.

It was incredible.

I said, this is good to be huge,
which it was.

But Michael's professional maturity

didn't translate into a personal one.

He was still tied to the emotional
bonds of the Jackson family -

continuing to live in the family home,

and still suffering from the same
issues of racism that had plagued

his time back on the Chitlin' Circuit.

Michael Jackson is still an urban
artist for a lot of people.

Because he's a black kid.

So, it's always been more difficult
for your artistry to be taken seriously.

At the Grammys, in 1980,
Off The Wall was only nominated for two awards.

The song Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
won Michael the best R&B vocal performance.

I think that he was pretty clear
that Off The Wall's snub at the Grammys

was at least related to race.

Maybe people weren't, like, we're
not going to let that black guy win,

but that people didn't recognise the
music because the maker was black.

Michael found his failure at
the Grammys incredibly hard to deal with.

He sulked at the Jackson home for
weeks on end and cried endlessly.

His childlike inability to deal with
the perceived rejection was so

extreme that his family worried he
was losing it.

Please, get up.

You've been there for days.

But from the ashes came a determination.

'The start of the revolution of
Michael Jackson'

came from a period of self-doubts and
re-examination, introspection.

Michael, tell me what's wrong.

He questioned where to go next.

And what are the things he wanted to do.

The next one.

The next one's going to set
the whole world on fire.

Eventually, the solution for Michael
was a simple one.

To erase the hurt of the Grammys,

the brutality of his father, and
the pain of his lost childhood,

he would have to do something truly
extraordinary.

But so successful was this solution
that, in the end, it destroyed him.

By the age of just 24,

Michael Jackson was well on his way
to becoming the greatest pop star ever.

But while his mastery of pop music
and performance was divine,

his mastery of himself was far
more troubled.

He never developed that skin,
what we call a thick skin.

This was a man so sensitive

that he insisted on staying childlike.

In the video for Billie Jean,
Michael is dynamic and accomplished.

But also cautiously taking one step
at a time.

I think he stepped in very tentatively,

almost like the way he stepped on

those little coloured blocks in
Billie Jean.

♪ Don't think twice... ♪

Symbolically, that little passageway
of things lighting up kind of lead

to the opening of his career.

The video and the song hint at the
complexities of Michael's own inner

world. Billie Jean tells the story
of an obsessive fan,

convinced that Michael Jackson is
the father of her child.

I think it was him finding his
voice, not only as a musical artist,

not only as a dancer, not only as a
physical, solo performer, but also

behind the scenes and creatively.

In the video, a sinister detective
pursues Michael relentlessly.

Michael continually denies he is
the father.

The effect on the view and listener

is almost like experiencing a
private dream Michael has had.

Billie Jean was the first single
from a new album, Thriller.

By now, Michael was an established
solo artist in his own right,

but there were still many people who
couldn't separate him from

the Jacksons.

Berry...

In the spring of 1983,
Michael's old label, Motown,

planned a major televised
extravaganza to celebrate its 25th birthday.

Berry put together a musical variety
show to reunite all those people.

It was a very good show, and it was
a very good time for that show.

I want Michael Jackson.

If Berry Gordy needed Michael for
the show,

Joe and Michael's brothers needed
him even more.

I'm not talking to you.
You get back here, boy.

I don't have to listen to a word you say.

The rise of Michael's star had
inevitably lead to the demise of their own.

Your brothers need you, Michael.

I don't need them.

You'll do what I tell you
to do. No, I will not.

You are a member of this family and
a part of the singing group,

no matter what you do.

It was Berry Gordy who had to go and
see Michael Jackson and say,

"Can you come back and do this
with us?"

Not because we want you, not because
we'd like to have you,

but because it won't mean anything
if you're not there.

If I do this thing,

I want to have a solo spot.

And I want to do Billie Jean.

Once again, Michael the careerist
saw an opportunity and ruthlessly

exploited it.

It was an artist who was declaring,

I have these roots that belong to
this group of people,

but I also created something
all unto myself.

It will be the only one.

Negotiating with Michael Jackson was
becoming a tough deal.

Ah, what the hell.

I do love that song.

All right.

On March 25th, 1983,

The Jackson 5 came together on stage

for the first time in seven years.

It was a landmark performance,

a show stopping medley of
their greatest hits and the crowd went wild.

But it was what happened next that
changed music history forever.

Michael was able to do a song with
the brothers,

then he broke away from the brothers.

He put a white glove on and that
sequinned jacket,

and he did his Billie Jean thing.

The way the audience reacted in
that moment,

the way that we all reacted,

we were literally watching a king
be crowned.

♪ Whoo... ♪

And then you have Michael Jackson's
moonwalk.

The Motown 25 performance happened
to align with the point at which people

had video cassette recorders in
their homes for the first time.

So you could watch it over...

...and over...

...and over again, which we did.

But, once again, Michael's success
was tinged with dissatisfaction.

Years of practising to perfection
under the stern eye of his father

meant that he fixated on one element
of his performance.

After the show, he was disappointed,

even though it was one of the
greatest performances

anybody had ever seen.

He had turned, and he got on his toes,

and he wanted to stay on his toes longer.

But he came down quick.

So he fixated on that.

He just wanted that moment to be
just a little longer.

But the success was short-lived.

In the summer of 1983, Thriller
started to slip in the album chart.

Michael was determined to stop
the slide by making a video for the title track.

Backstage footage reveals elaborate
sets, costumes, make-up,

prosthetics and a crack corps of
dancers, overseen by top Hollywood

director John Landis.

With Michael physically transforming
into something strange and unfamiliar,

the most famous music
video all time would also prove to

be an eerie prophecy of where
Michael's life was heading.

While we were working together on
Thriller,

I remember him teaching us and we
got to this part where

he did... you do this little pulse.

He would be, like, OK,

you've got to see the back teeth
when you do the growl.

Ba-da, chin, ba-da...

And he would do... He goes,
"No, no, you've got to...

"So you see the back teeth."

And then when I would watch in the
mirror, I went, "Oh!"

Because it changes your facial expression.

Like, you get the growl,

you chew on the dance.

At one level, Thriller is a corny
take on '50s horror films.

On another level, Michael reveals
himself as an uncanny shape shifter.

Are you all right? Get away!

He transmogrifies from clean-cut
adolescent to werewolf

and then zombie,

defying his straitjacketed upbringing,

rebelling against his family and
even his God.

The fact that he decides to play
with monsters and demons,

and Satanic elements, when he comes
from a family, particularly a mother,

that is super-duper religious and
has a pretty hard line about what kinds

of imagery we're to talk about, and
what kind of imagery we're not,

I don't think that's an accident.

Exodus 20.4.45.

"You must not make for yourself a
carved image,

"or a form like anything that is in
the heavens above."

I'm not trying to be a carved image.

I just want to bring...
This is for your sake.

If Thriller was Michael's attempt to
cast off his religious upbringing,

he failed.

I still believe. I know the truth.

Your film is in praise of
the devil himself.

Is your soul worth one song?

'I think that was the first time I
saw confusion in him.'

Why would people think I was doing
something bad,

when I was only trying to do
something fun and good?

Although Michael was at the height
of his success,

he could never quite cut
the apron strings.

I want to do what's right.

And now I'm going to burn in hell for it.

John, I just wanted to make a good,
fun, short film.

Not to purposefully scare people or
do anything bad.

I want to do what's right. Michael
had already rejected his father.

I want you to destroy it.

All of it. Every frame.

But his mother's opinion still held sway.

No-one must ever see this video.

The first thing John Landis did was
protect Michael's work

from Michael and his guilt.

He then showed Michael how he could
be an artist...

...and still be his mother's son.

Michael's $500,000 gamble paid off.

The single hit number one, the third
track of the album to top Billboard.

Thriller became the
biggest selling album ever,

and Michael Jackson was suddenly free.

At the 1984 Grammy Awards, he cleaned up.

He was getting Grammy, Grammy,
Grammy, Grammy.

He really just didn't know what
to say, getting all those Grammys.

It was, "I love you and thank you,"
and, "I love you and thank you."

Michael won a record-breaking eight
awards, including Album Of The Year.

He was happy, he was satisfied.

He felt he had justice.

When it recognised...

When his talent was recognised,
this time with Thriller,

he was happy.

Michael's success brought
more power and money

than any recording artist since Elvis.

He was beholden to nothing and no-one,

but he belonged to everyone.

I think he was public 24 hours a day.

I don't think there was
a real private part of him.

A real inside person...

...I don't know that
it really existed.

Michael Jackson had achieved
everything he had dreamed of,

but he was ill-equipped to deal
with any of it emotionally.

Offstage, he was shy, ill at ease

with anyone other
than children or animals.

The height of his success
marked the start of his downfall.

In 1984, just after
the release of Thriller,

Michael's mother, Katherine,
persuaded him to rejoin

the Jackson 5 to film a Pepsi commercial.

It would change his life forever.

It was strange, to me.

Maybe he did it for the brothers,

cos he certainly was on top of the world.

Michael was now so successful in his
own right

that granting a favour to
his brothers was easier than before.

But ever the businessman, it was
his music they would be singing

and his moves they would be dancing.

The second commercial was filmed as
a live concert

on January 27th, 1984.

Again, with all the brothers.

We had enough takes.

We wanted more.

The agency wanted bigger.

So, the pyrotechnics department

decided to make it more.

His hair was full of flammable material.

And they set off...

...a spark.

I don't think Michael
knew it until he was down.

The film shows, he came down and
then, all of a sudden,

he was grabbing, it looked like he
was trying to take off his jacket,

cos I think he thought
his jacket was on fire.

But it wasn't, it was the hair that
went up and the crown caught fire.

He burnt the back of his head.

He was on fire.

This was not a mild burn.

As Michael was wheeled out,
his mind was not on himself...

...it was on his image.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

My glove.

I need my silver glove!
My silver glove!

Like a security blanket.

Baby has a bottle, the glove
is like a bottle to him.

So, in that moment,
Michael is able to recognise that,

"I need to create a lasting image here

"that also shows that Michael
Jackson is still happening, guys."

And the easiest way to do
that is with this glove.

In this instant,
it became clear that there were

two Michael Jacksons -

the real Michael Jackson, badly
injured and lying on a hospital bed,

and Michael Jackson, the mirror image,

a product for the world to consume.

Third-degree burns involve...
Unbelievably painful.

So, undoubtedly, he needed painkillers.

You don't survive something
like that without them.

His relationship to painkillers
began at that point...

...and it didn't stop.

Michael was under the knife for hours.

Surgeons cut away the dead skin

and inserted tissue expanders
under his scalp.

He had balloons implanted in his
head to keep the shape, surgery.

I mean, it was a really big deal.

By this point, though, Michael was
no stranger to operations.

He had already undergone
two bouts of plastic surgery.

To begin with, he said
he was insecure about his looks.

He wrote about his nose, and how his
father would make fun of his nose,

and he always felt
self-conscious about it.

So he did something about it, just like

thousands and thousands of performers do.

Nonetheless, Michael
went beyond the usual nose job.

Over the next six years,
plastic surgery would become almost

a form of self harm.

I think the plastic surgery
was an external manifestation

of the confusion he was feeling
about who he truly was.

I think when you go to that extreme,

you're trying to find a face that fits...

...this new thing
that you're becoming.

I think Michael realised
that he had enough money

to do whatever he wanted to do.

And he obviously...

He wanted to be Peter Pan.

Michael was modelling himself on a
fictional boy who never grew up,

because he was afraid to be an adult.

INTERVIEWER:
Do you identify with him?

Totally. You don't want to grow up?

No, I am Peter Pan.

This was the child inside,
demanding to turn the clock back

and relive childhood on his terms,
and his alone.

Like all children,
he had no idea of the cost.

Michael never mentioned
the plastic surgery at all.

It was like the elephant in the room.

It's like, "Come on." You know...

"You're talking to me."

But he never discussed it,
so I didn't feel

it was right for me to discuss it.

Michael did discuss his appearance
with Oprah Winfrey,

who asked the point-blank question.

Are you bleaching your skin and is
your skin lighter because you don't

like being black?

Michael, unused to being
accountable, was defensive.

Number one - this is the situation.

I have a skin disorder that destroys
the pigmentation of the skin.

It's something that I cannot help.

To make matters worse, Michael was
working in an industry

that was fickle and unforgiving.

The emphasis on fame and novelty

would erode his already fragile psyche.

Here today, gone later today.

That kind of sums up pop and rock music.

So you have to keep reinventing
yourself in every possible way,

from your dress,
the way you look, the hair.

Michael, though, crossed a line.

Presented with the giant
train set of fame,

he started to play with the press.

I think Michael, to some degree,
fell into that,

"I want to be on every cover
of every magazine

"and I want to be mentioned
every five minutes."

And I think that was part
of his MO to be successful,

is this constant publicity.

In early 1984,
Michael leaked a photo of himself

in an oxygen chamber and spread
rumours that he would

take it on tour to extend his life span.

I think this is nice.

I think we should push this,
but not too much.

It was more schoolboy prank
than sinister manipulation.

Michael played it, absolutely.

He told me about illusions.

Michael says,
"My whole thing is an illusion."

He said, "I put on a surgical
mask and I walk across the...

"Down Knightsbridge or whatever.

"Virtually every single newspaper
of the world

"will print a picture of it."

Michael, in his childish glee,
failed to understand

the consequences of fibbing.

If he didn't tell the truth,
the press wouldn't either,

and now they came after him.

The Man In The Mirror

slowly metamorphosised into Wacko Jacko.

I said, "Mike, if I had Bruce
Springsteen's head

"and I put it on top of a
giraffe and I sent that picture

"to the National Enquirer,
they'd send it back saying,

"What the hell is this?"

"If I put your head on a giraffe's
neck and send it to the Enquirer,

"it will be front cover page.

"Absolutely."

"What, what?"
I said, "Because you're the..."

"Image that's being projected

"of you is that you're,
like, a weird guy."

As Michael watched his carefully
created image disintegrate,

he struggled to understand that
it was he that had facilitated it.

He would cry sometimes with me when
we were alone in the trailer

and he would ask me,
"Why do people do this?

"Why are they so mean?
What do they want?"

It broke his heart to the point of tears.

I mean, it really confounded him
and disturbed him.

Michael Jackson had now lost control
of the Man In The Mirror.

His reliance on painkillers
pushed him even further inwards.

He was haunted by his childhood
ghosts and as reality receded,

he decided to fly away.

Like Peter Pan, he went to Neverland.

At 30 years old, Michael was still living

on the Jackson family compound.

Now he wanted a family
and a home of his own.

He settled on a ranch 130 miles
north-west of Los Angeles.

Michael renamed the property
Neverland Valley.

A homage to Peter Pan,
the boy who never grew up.

From the get go, this was
no ordinary celebrity compound.

I think Michael was just trying to
create his own world for himself.

He had a full-sized steam train,
he had a full-sized...

Well, maybe 300 seat cinema there.

He had a zoo.

In 1988, Michael moved in
with Bubbles, the chimp.

Many very famous people
that have, kind of,

disjointed upbringings, end up
with some unusual pets in their home

when they have enough money.

He was hanging out
with, like, a chimpanzee.

Michael built Neverland to recreate
a childhood lost to hard work

and a violent father.

A carefree family retreat
for Michael and his young friends.

Michael might have had a very angry

and discipline oriented father...

...but at least there was
somebody who was telling him,

"Don't do that."

When he lost that, he went into a
world where people never told him,

"Don't do that."

Michael had lost Quincy too...

...after creative differences
recording his album, Bad,

released in 1987.

Once he removed Quincy Jones
from his circle of advisers...

...his father was long gone,

who would say no to him, at this point?

There isn't anyone.

I'm gonna do that.
I'm gonna build a water park

on the other side of this mountain.

Michael loved kids.

His hanging out, his building
his little, you know,

arcade or whatever,
that little circus at his house,

he really did love kids.

Michael, can we go on any ride?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

He enjoyed seeing them play,
watching them grow,

teaching them things,
cos he was such an avid reader.

I think that's part of why he wanted
a zoo at Neverland,

to show people the animals up close
and the wonders of the world.

Michael described himself as
the loneliest person on the planet.

So Michael invited poor,
underprivileged and sick children,

along with their families,
to come and enjoy Neverland.

He also craved
more intimate relationships.

Michael had sleepovers.

Well, you probably
had sleepovers as a kid.

There was only one difference
between Michael's sleepovers

and your sleepovers.

Yeah, he had little kids,
cos that's what excited him,

and we're not talking sexually, at all.

Hey, I've got an awesome idea.

Yeah? Let's make
a top six wishes list.

Sure, I've got a pen and paper.
Awesome.

Here you go.

Michael bonded with several
young boys, and in February 1993,

he invited 13-year-old Jordan
Chandler over for a sleepover.

Number six...

Play forever.

Awesome.

I think he liked to get in bed
with other kids because I think

that's when he was happiest as a kid.

He had the brothers, and if the
father was on a raging...

...thing, safety was in that bed
with the brothers.

OK, OK, OK, OK.
Wait, wait, wait!

I never thought it was perverted
or in any way wrong.

Was it wise?

No.

But understandable.

In terms of the forensics
of what happened, I don't know,

no-one knows, and the trials
that have gone down

have concluded we don't
think anything happened.

You are never gonna see him again.

Are you OK? Don't touch him.

But I'm not like that.

As Michael spent more and more time
with Jordan, his parents,

Evan and June, became increasingly
concerned about their son

sharing a bed with a 35-year-old man.

Jordan, you have to tell him the truth!

Please don't go.

If Michael couldn't have
other people's children,

perhaps he could have his own.

He dated child stars Tatum O'Neal
and Brooke Shields in the past.

Now he dated Lisa Marie Presley,
the daughter of Elvis.

She'd also grown up
in the glare of the spotlight.

Wine, please.

The attraction between Michael and
Lisa Marie was immediate.

Chateau Lafite.

The best for a lady.

I love your smile.

Really? Yes.

For possibly the first time,
Michael had found a lover.

May I?

Yes.

This was a shot at a normal life
with a wife and family.

I think that they genuinely connected.

I think they genuinely understood
something about what it means

to grew up in this industry,

that neither of them could find
someone else who understood.

Lisa Marie may have thought
her childhood had prepared

her for life with Michael,

then Evan Chandler alleged that Michael

had sexually molested Jordan.

On December 20th 1993, the LAPD's
Sexually Exploited Child Unit

came to Neverland to investigate.

Can you stand on the chair, please?

Do we have to? We have to, sir.

Jordan claimed that Michael had
distinguishing marks

on his genitals and buttocks.

Can you remove the robe please, sir?

Can you take your shorts off please, sir?

Can you lift your penis up, sir, please?

We need to get close-ups from all angles.

The police photographed
Michael's genitalia

in an attempt to corroborate
Jordan Chandler's evidence.

Can we stop this now?

Please, can we stop this now?

Please, can we stop this now?

I am not guilty of these allegations,

but if I am guilty of anything,
it is of giving all that I have

to give to help children
all over the world.

It is of enjoying through them the
childhood that I missed myself.

Throughout the Jordan Chandler scandal,

Lisa Marie stood by her man.

She thought Michael
was a little strange and immature.

She didn't believe he was a paedophile.

I am totally innocent.

Although no criminal charges
were ever pressed,

Michael agreed to pay $1.5 million
each to June and Evan Chandler.

Jordan got $15 million.

It was a public humiliation,

although Michael was now free
to marry Lisa Marie.

The private ceremony was on May 24th 1994.

From the beginning,
it was a stormy marriage.

At the MTV awards that year,
Michael kissed Lisa Marie in public.

"I hated it," she said.

"I felt used like a prop."

Michael, for his part,
thought that the kiss made great TV.

Years later, Lisa Marie revealed
intimate details of their marriage

to Oprah Winfrey.

Was it a consummated marriage?

Oh, my God, Oprah!
I have to ask that question.

And you all know damn well you wanna know.

You know you wanna know.

But that certainly wasn't
at the top of my agenda.

But, I mean, it was a real marriage,
like between husband and wife?

It was a consummated marriage.

Yep. It was. OK, that's all.
I wasn't seeing...

Yeah, yeah, that's all.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

And Lisa Marie's mother, Priscilla
Presley, shared her insight.

I got it. I do feel there was
an agenda there too, though,

because I think he wanted children
and he wanted her children.

Initially, Michael and Lisa Marie
wanted their own family.

Yet Michael continued to enjoy the
company of other people's children

behind Lisa Marie's back.

Oh, you're very welcome.

Don't you care about
how that makes me look?

You're going on vacation with two kids.

You are the most selfish person
I have ever met.

I love you very much.
No, no, you don't, Michael.

That is a lie! I also love the
children. I won't, I can't, Michael.

I can't listen to you any more!
Lisa, wait, please.

I have had enough of this, and you.
No, Lisa, wait, no!

I'm really going this time.
You hear this sound?

This is the sound of me being gone.
Lisa.

DOOR SLAMS

Michael was desperate for
Lisa Marie to have his kids.

For Lisa Marie, though,
Michael was just too much.

She said, "I think he needs a parent

"and maybe shouldn't
be one himself yet."

Michael and Lisa Marie divorced in 1996.

On losing her, Michael had lost
the ideal family he had hoped for.

Now he would have to settle
for any family he could get.

Despite his divorce from Lisa Marie,
Michael knew he wanted a family.

Children of his own.

He always was into children.

He liked the energy of the young people

and the beauty, you know,
the wondering that they did,

cos he always seemed to keep that wonder.

And Michael realised that to have kids,

he would have to face the reality
that he was once again single.

Although, for Michael, reality would
always be a slippery thing to grasp.

Debbie Rowe was a nurse who worked
for Michael's dermatologist.

In 1995, she made him
an extraordinary offer...

...as she later admitted
in a candid interview.

He said, "I really want
to be a dad."

And I said, "So be a dad."

He looked at me puzzled
and I said, "Let me do this.

"I wanna do this.
You've been so good to me.

"You are such a great friend.
"Please let me do this."

They married, and Debbie gave birth
to their son on February 13th 1997.

At last, Michael had
a childhood he could cherish.

Not his own, but Prince Michael Jackson's.

Michael wanted more children,
and this time turned to a friend

for help, Mark Lester, a fellow
child star who had the title role

in the film, Oliver.

Michael and Mark had known each
other since meeting in the '70s.

Michael was finding it difficult
to conceive

and he knew I had four kids.

He phoned me up out of the blue and said,

"Would I be a sperm donor for him?"

I thought, "Are you having a laugh?"

I really...
"Are you pulling my leg?

"Is this April1st?" He said,
"No, I mean it, I mean it."

So I said, "Yeah.
What the hell, why not?

Paris Jackson was born on April 3rd 1998.

There was talk about Paris being
connected to me biologically...

...which I don't know either way.

The fact is Michael, he brought her up.

He brought her up as his own
child, so as far as I'm concerned,

Paris Jackson
is Michael Jackson's daughter.

I see you've got the Star Wars shoes.

Debbie had Michael's children,

but she was to have no part
in their childhood.

Michael wanted total control,
a single parent assisted by a team

of nannies working around the clock.

Debbie divorced Michael in 1999.

OK, OK, here we go.
A boo! A boo!

Yes! A boo!

Michael's third child, Prince Michael II,

was born to an unknown mother
on February 21st 2002.

I love you.
I love my children very much.

Yes.

Michael gave him the nickname, Blanket.

And he had all his children under
blankets or masks to protect their

identities in public.

I think he just wanted to make sure
that they weren't in the gilded cage

that he was, although, obviously,
Michael had accepted his own fate,

but then why should the children?

When Michael showed Blanket to
crowds outside a Berlin hotel...

...he was protecting his identity...

...while endangering his life.

The press verdict was brutal.

Michael wasn't fit to be a father.

For all the strangeness
and the errors of judgment,

Michael made a good stab at parenthood.

I think Michael was a good father
because he had the time to be.

When the kids were around,
he wasn't recording,

he was still writing,
but he wasn't touring,

so he could dedicate a lot of
his time, or all of his time,

pretty much all his time, to his children.

Michael saved his children
from the upbringing he had.

He couldn't, however, save himself.

He never learned to smell danger.

In 2002, documentary maker
Martin Bashir filmed Michael

at home over six months.

Living with him,
another young friend, Gavin Arvizo.

The 12-year-old Gavin had
just recovered from cancer

and Michael offered to help.

INTERVIEWER: What is it, Gavin,
about Michael that makes him

connect so well with children?

Cos he's really a child at heart.

He acts just like a child.

He knows what a child thinks.

Once again, Michael
got too close for his own good.

There was one night, I asked him
if I could stay in his bedroom,

if I could sleep in the bedroom,
and I was like,

"Michael, you can sleep on the bed."

He was like, "No, no, no,
you sleep on the bed."

I was like, "No, no, no,
you sleep on the bed."

And then he finally said,
"OK, if you love me,

"you'll sleep on the bed."

I was like, "Oh, man!"

And so I finally slept on the bed.

It was fun that night.

I slept on the floor.

The next thing I heard
was that the mother had...

...you know, got the son
to push these charges forward.

It was like, "Oh, my God."

And Michael was really, really,
really upset by the whole thing.

I mean, he felt absolutely devastated.

Michael faced 14 charges of child
molestation and administering

an intoxicating agent.

REPORTER: Dishevelled, seemingly
confused, a man in distress.

The trial began on January 31st 2005.

This whole thing with the trial and
the accusations that were

made about him and the paedophile,

and all that, it really wore him down.

You know, health-wise, I mean,
it hurt him.

After a gruelling five-month trial...

...the jury cleared
Michael of all charges.

By 2009, he hadn't done an album in
eight years or a major tour in 12.

Now he was broke.

I love you.

I really do. You have to know that.

I love you so much.

On March 5th 2009,
Michael announced This Is It.

50 performances at the O2 Arena in London.

This is the final curtain call.

OK?

And I'll see you in July.

This Is It was driven, obviously,
because of money,

because he owed so much money,
and he did not wanna do that tour.

He was very tired
and he was in a lot of pain.

Not just pain from the accident, but
all the pain from all those years

of these incredible physical shows
he put on too.

With pain came the painkillers.

Michael hired a personal physician,
Conrad Murray,

to prescribe them,
and sedatives to help him sleep.

What Michael was doing to sleep...

...was putting himself
in a coma, basically.

It's not a restful sleep, but at
least he was gone for a while.

In May, a few weeks before
he was due to start This Is It...

Michael phoned Murray.

He's barely coherent, heavily dosed.

On the night of June 25th 2009,

Conrad Murray administered two
anti-anxiety drugs

and an intravenous dose
of propofol, an anaesthetic.

Medic 33, what is the emergency?

Yes, sir, I need an ambulance
as soon as possible, sir.

Just after midnight...

...Michael stopped breathing.

Good evening. We have breaking news
for you tonight.

The singer, Michael Jackson,
is reported to have died

from a heart attack.

His death was the ultimate cost
of being the greatest entertainer

in the world.

It's a loss, it's still a loss,
it's still a loss.

God bless his soul and his kids' soul.

He was truly missed.

Truly missed.

Michael Jackson was a child star,
who, despite his adult fame,

could never grow up.

A Peter Pan.

For his millions of fans,
his legacy will be his music,

yet his greatest legacy may be
in giving his children

what he never had...

I just wanted to say...

...childhood.

Speak up, speak up.

Ever since I was born...

...Daddy has been the best father
you could ever imagine.

And I just want to say I love him...

so much.

Subtitles by Ericsson