Square One: Michael Jackson (2019) - full transcript

(wind rustling)

(soft piano fades in)

I came to New York to attend
NYU to study music business.

Yeah, I was 16 years old,
um I- I turned 17 shortly thereafter,

but when I arrived in August of 2001,
I was 16 years old.

Of course, 9/11 happened just- I
believe my second week of classes?

So that colors the memories,
um, of that time,

but it was- it was overwhelming in general.

I mean- I was on my own. Um, I-

I went to go see Michael
Jackson on September 10th,

and I was starting classes.



I was responsible
for getting myself to

classes every single
day. (laughs) You know?

It- it was definitely overwhelming,
you know?

I came to New York University to study
music business, and part of the reason

that I was so interested in
music business was because, um,

I'd been such a big fan of Michael Jackson,

not only of his music
and his dance and all that,

which is incredible,
but also of his business acumen

so I came to NYU knowing
so much about publishing,

and royalty rates,
and things like that because

I had studied all of
his business deals.

You know- our first week of classes,

we had this program, um,
meeting that we would do

which, um, they were weekly assemblies



where everybody in our
major would get together and

discuss things that were
happening in the industry,

um, we would have speakers come in from,
you know,

various record labels or NARAS,
which, you know,

works with the Grammys and- and
different songwriters, things like that.

It was a time to come together and

really assess the landscape
of the music business and

the very first program meeting,

I was introducing myself to the group,
as a whole.

and I don't remember if I was
running for some sort of like-

representative position
or if I just wanted to

introduce myself for
whatever reason? (laughs)

But, I was wearing a Jackson's
Victory Tour T-Shirt, and it was vintage.

I had just bought it in the village,
and a young man came up to me

and told me that he liked my shirt and, ah…

That young man turned
out to be Jordan Chandler.

(melancholic orchestra music)

(orchestra strings get louder)

(strings soften and fade out)

I have on the phone with me
investigative journalist, Charles Thomson,

who is the winner of 6 national
awards for his recent, um,

investigative work exposing
the Shoebury pedophile ring.

So Charles,
you've sat in on a lot of pedophile cases.

What would you say are the main differences

between the cases that you've sat
in on and the Michael Jackson case?

CHARLES: Of course, the first difference

is that the cases that I've
covered were all criminal cases

where there was was no real
financial incentive to make an allegation,

so the motive of seeking
millions of dollars is removed.

And then in the cases where we
see convictions that I’ve been sitting in,

you had victims who were credible,
who were consistent,

and that's never been the case in the
allegations against Michael Jackson.

They've never been consistent.

They've always turned out to be perjurers

and people who were
just looking for a payout.

REPORTER: Michael Jackson was one
of the most famous people on the planet.

It turns out he was also the
target of intensive FBI scrutiny.

DANNY: I have also read that you have

extensively studied the
Michael Jackson FBI files.

What were the findings of the FBI files and

were child porn was ever
discovered at Neverland?

CHARLES: No child porn
was ever found at Neverland.

And in fact, there was a story that said

child porn had been found
around the time of the trial

So the judge and the
prosecutor both released

a stipulation publicly which was that:

No child pornography was
ever found at Neverland

or at any of Michael Jackson's properties.

So that's not just
something that the fans say.

That's the judge in the
trial and even the prosecutor

said that there was no child porn.

In terms of what the FBI files tell us,
ah, what they tell us

is that for over a decade,
the FBI was intermittently

involved in investigating Michael Jackson.

There's no evidence of
sustained surveillance or

sustained investigation,
only of the authorities

occasionally calling the FBI to assist them

with their own investigations,
but nonetheless,

the files tell us that more than
20 different FBI departments

investigated Michael
Jackson at one time or another,

and none of them found any
evidence of any wrongdoing.

Perhaps the most
compelling piece of information

that came out of those files was that

when the prosecutors in
the 2003 - '05 Arvizo case

sent away all of the computers
that they seized at Neverland

to the FBI for analysis,
the FBI was unable to find

anything incriminating
on a single one of them.

So the FBI files don't
exonerate Michael Jackson,

but they certainly don't incriminate him.

DANNY: In 2005,
there was a study done by ABC

with the top psychiatrists in the
country and they all concluded that

Michael Jackson’s behavior would
be very rare amongst pedophiles.

And there are other psychologists
and psychiatrists who echo that belief.

(speaking German)

DANNY: Someone who is
always trying to dispute that notion

is a man named Jim Clemente.

Jim Clemente, to this day,
believes that Michael Jackson

does fit the profile of a pedophile
and that Michael Jackson

did have child porn at Neverland.

CLEMENTE: They found, um, images

and I think they were of a photoshoot with

Michael Jackson's nephew,

Taj.

I think he was still a teenager.

And there's a picture
that's on the internet that I

Um,
It's a picture of Michael. You see that?

FEMALE VOICE: WHAT?! OH MY…. Yes, yes.

- So there are pictures in this series
where’s he actually- he’s actually

GRABBING their cloth
and trying to RIP it off him,

laughing, and joking,
and trying to get him naked.

And he's I mean,
he's virtually naked in this picture

- This is his NEPHEW... this FORTY
something year old man - Yeah..

And why is he posing in
a picture where Michael's

shirt is open, exposing his chest and

this kid's chest- I mean-

He's basically naked!

upper body is basically naked,
he’s got no underwear on,

right next to Michael Jackson.

I mean, it's disgusting.

My name is Taj Jackson. I'm
the nephew of Michael Jackson.

CROWD CHANTING: "3T! 3T! 3T! 3T! 3T"

(3T- Anything) I wait for the
day when I can say that girl's mine

Cuz I would do anything for you,
yes I would.

I'll give you love (I'll give you love)...

TAJ: You know,
and I know it's not gonna be put to rest,

but I hope that it's really put to rest

because these pictures
have been circulating.

These pictures are annoying
that they're circulating.

You know,
we sued one of the tabloids because they

said that they were child pornography
and we had them retract that,

because that's not what they
were. They were for an album.

They were for a single cover, "Why".

(Michael Jackson - Stranger in
Moscow) I was wandering in the rain...

TAJ: My uncle was doing the music video for

"Stranger in Moscow" at the time
and we came down to visit him.

but also, we were “Let's take
this opportunity since we're all here,

Let's do the 'Why' photoshoot as well."

There was wardrobe. There was a
camera director. There was makeup.

We wanted to do something
edgy for our "Why" photoshoot.

We wanted the guys and the girls and we
and we thought we were "too cute" [laughs]

You know a 3T like too "saccharine"
and we wanted to have some “edge”

some- you know? Something to us.

(3T - Why) It's not like I can't
escape what's in my soul. TAJ: It's

frustrating because this is what
they do all the time in this way.

Luckily I was involved in it,
you know? This was my younger brother, TJ.

If he was here, he'd be even
probably more upset than I am right now.

Like it's implied that TJ was clueless
or TJ didn't know what was going on.

TJ was very aware of what was
going on. TJ wanted him to go farther!

I was uncomfortable taking off my shirt,
and so I did have to take off my shirt.

It was never like he said, "No, you take
off your shirt and you do this and that."

It was whatever we wanted to
do because we wanted to be edgy.

And it worked because
people are talking about it!

Now, unfortunately, they're
trying to dirty it, but it was edgy.

He mentioned that you know, Michael's
laughing in that- because we were joking!

We, you know, for us,
we wanted to do something edgy!

But we always laughed
when we were around my uncle

and he laughed when he was around us,
and so

that should tell you
something: that there was

no tension. You're not
seeing our faces like

"We don't want to do this" or whatever
because we were pushing him to do this.

It really- it makes me feel angry
to be honest, um, just because

That photo shoot was a great memory for me

and to hear someone try
and dirty it up in that way?

The way they're trying to twist
it as if my uncle came and said,

"Hey, I'm just gonna start ripping off
clothes." That's farthest from the truth.

There was plenty of people there, you know,

that witnessed everything
that would back up

you know- my story or my
uncle's story if he was alive.

But at the same time this guy who

basically is just guessing what happened

at the photo shoot by pictures.

What gets me upset is just people-

outside people judging my uncle
without knowing the scenario.

One thing I do want to say is you know,

people like that that just,
you know, on the outside,

And he's supposed to be a professional?

And you hear him. He sounds giddy,
you know?

He sounds like someone
that is just spiteful and hateful

and it's those kind of people like-

they need something in their
life. They really do, you know?

Leave our family alone.

(daunting music)

AKON: You never done things
that was missing in your life?

You just go back to do it,
and Mike just like to just have great fun

and the stuff he liked to do,
adults don't like doing that.

SCANLAN: I think he had more fun
hanging out with just everyday people

that he didn't even know who they were,
you know?

Either they were local
people or touristsor whatever

and he didn't even know who they were,
you know?

He'd just meet ‘em and talk to ‘em,

get to know a little bit: “Hey you
wanna come out to the ranch?"

(whimsical music)

DANNY: You were invited to
Michael Jackson's Neverland before.

- I mean, it was amazing. I've been there,
probably 8 times.

- 8 times?

- Yeah! I spent the
night. The first time I ever

went was actually the
time I spent the night.

He walked us through his entire house, um,

his bedroom, his memorabilia room,
bathrooms, every-

every place in his house.

We were like,
telling him how beautiful it was,

and he was like,
"You've never been here before?!"

and my friends and I
looked at each other like,

"Nope, we sure haven't, like-

when would we have been here?"

You know? So he would invite-
if there were fans sitting outside,

he would, like, see us and tell Violet,
who was security,

to let us in and he
would let us do whatever.

- So that speaks volume to just

how easily he trusts people
to like- come into his life, even.

- Yeah, I mean

unfortunately, he trusted a lot of people
he shouldn't have trusted in his life.

- they go,
"oh you slept in the same bedroom as him".

It's like I don't think you understand.
Michael Jackson's bedroom is 2 stories,

(laughs) and it has like- like
3 bathrooms and this and that,

so when I slept in his bedroom, yeah

but you have to understand
the whole scenario,

and the thing is with Michael

is that he's not very
good at explaining himself,

and he never really has been.

- Michael Jackson,
his bedroom was 2 stories

so when you first walked in, I didn't
realize at first it was his bedroom

because his bed wasn't
there on the bottom floor.

but it was just, it was kind of-
very cluttered with a lot of things.

I like- actually sat on his
bed and he was just kind of

just talking about Neverland to us, and

that was surreal. (laughs)

(gentle music)

Michael was going to Miami,
so myself and a couple of friends

flew in from Europe to
spend some time with him.

And before he had to go,

he told us that we could stay and that we
can enjoy Neverland as much as we wanted.

While the ranch manager
took us to the main house,

he told me that Michael had said
to give us the Royal Treatment,

And we sure got the Royal Treatment.

When we went up to the main house,

all the staff were lined up
on the stairs welcoming us,

and they told us that there-

we could move around
as freely as we wanted to.

There were no places that were off-limits.

- And this was 16 years ago,

so it's been a while,
but I just remember like-

being completely in shock the whole time.

Most people are just-

I can't believe that he let
us in his house like that.

(somber music)

JOSEPHINE: Several weeks later,

after we'd already come
back to classes after 9/11,

I was working as a work-study
in the music department.

So, he came in to register
for private guitar lessons.

He always carried his guitar
with him everywhere he went

and um, we had a nice conversation.

He remembered me from our program meeting.

We had a little chat,
exchanged pleasantries,

and he gave me his form,

and as I went to register
him for these private lessons,

I saw his name for the first time,
which was Jordan Chandler.

and I believe he told me his first name,

but I didn't know his
last name at that point.

And when I saw Jordan
Chandler on a piece of paper, I just-

I couldn't quite place it then either.

Um, it just sounded very very familiar,

and keep in mind, at the time , um,

Jordan Chandler's name wasn't widely known

because in the U.S., you know,
alleged crimes of sex abuse,

particularly when they're minors,
are very protected.

but I went online,
and I 'Asked Jeeves'- dating

myself- (keyboard typing
sound and mouse click)

and um, I suddenly realized that he
was in fact the first accuser from 1993.

(somber string instrument fade out)

DANNY: So Evan Chandler and June Chandler,
originally June Wong,

had a child named Jordan Chandler who
turns out to be the first alleged victim.

June Chandler divorced Evan Chandler
and married a man named David Schwartz.

Charles,
can you tell me about Evan Chandler?

CHARLES: So Evan
Chandler was born in New York.

He was actually born Evan Charmatz,
but he wanted a career as a screenwriter,

so he moved to California and changed
his name from Charmatz to Chandler

because he thought that
Charmatz was too Jewish-sounding.

He became a dentist,
but he didn't really enjoy

it and also was not
really very good at it.

He was censured by the
regulatory board for shoddy work.

He was also accused at one
point of sexually assaulting

a female patient while
he was working on her.

He had a very kind of a
brief career as a screenwriter.

He got a screenwriting credit around 1993
on the film, 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights'.

("Men in Tights" plays)

We're men, we're men in tights. We
roam around the forest looking for fights.

REPORTER: Apparently,
he was working on Mel Brooks

when he came up with
the 'Men in Tights' idea-

or he said his son came up
with the 'Men in Tights' idea-

this is the same 13-year-old boy,
and apparently,

maybe Mel was under some
kind of ether or anesthetic

but he decided it was a great idea

and went along with the dentist
and they put the movie together.

I would imagine a dentist to
the stars would be exposed

to a lot of the glamour in Hollywood.

He can see his successful customers
talking on the phone making deals

and it looks so easy to someone
on the outside, you know?

And he figured he wanted to get a
little piece of the pie and get you know?

Stop drilling teeth and maybe become a
producer and really make some big bucks.

(ominous music)

CHARLES: So Michael
Jackson is in Los Angeles

with some of his team
and they're driving along

Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly
Hills and the car breaks down.

There's a lady in the area who sees Michael
Jackson stranded by the side of the road

and calls her husband
who works at a business

called Rent-A-Wreck,
which is a car rental business.

Rent-A-Wreck is owned by Dave Schwartz.

So Dave Schwartz calls his wife June

because he knows that Jordan Chandler,
her son, is a massive Michael Jackson fan.

There was one employee at Rent-A-Wreck
who said that when June arrived,

she was kind of forcing
Jordie on Michael Jackson,

almost like trying to
emotionally blackmail him.

So that's how the numbers got exchanged
and they ended up staying in touch.

DANNY: So, a friendship develops between

Michael Jackson and the Chandler family,
excluding Evan Chandler.

During this period, Michael Jackson
would have stay-overs at their house.

They would come over and
sleepover at Michael Jackson’s house.

Where is Evan Chandler
during this period of time?

CHARLES: Evan Chandler
was pretty much an absent father.

He owed almost $70,000
in unpaid child support.

He had been rowing with June about
how infrequently he was seeing his son.

She was trying to get Evan to take
Jordan more often and he was refusing.

He had his own new family, like June did.

He'd remarried and had
kids with another lady, and

they were struggling to get
Evan to engage with Jordie.

It was not until he discovered
that his son was now

friends with Michael Jackson
that he suddenly became

interested in seeing him again.

FREEMAN: My recollection was that
he was not very interested in Jordie,

prior to the time that
Jordie took up with Michael

and as soon as Jordie took up with Michael,

Evan became the most
interested parent in the world.

CHARLES: They seemed
to be getting on quite well

Evan even at one point asked him
to build an extra wing onto the house

so he could come and stay more often

And then when that idea didn't work,

he said, "Well, I've got a better idea.

Why don't you just build me a new house?"

and then that didn't happen either,

June dropped the bombshell
that she and Jordie were

thinking of going on tour with Michael,

and then Evan,
who previously had been an absent father

and wasn't paying his child support,
and wasn't

really interested in
seeing his son at all,

all of a sudden became
enraged about the idea that Jordan

would be out of the
country for a few months

and that was when the
relationship really took a

dramatic turn towards the negative.

What happened was Evan had
begun making strange comments and

threats to June and Dave
and Jordan about Michael

that he was going to make allegations.

He was behaving so erratically,

that they feared he was
going to do something crazy

So the next time they
spoke to him on the phone,

they tape recorded him.

EVAN: This man is going to
be humiliated beyond belief.

He will not believe what
is going to happen to him,

beyond- beyond his worst nightmares.

He will not sell one more record.

If I go through with this, I win big
time. I will get everything I want.

They will be destroyed forever.

EVAN: That's a fact,
Dave. Michael's career

will be over. DAVE: and
does that help Jordie?

EVAN: Michael's career will be over.
DAVE: and does that help Jordie?

DAVE: and does that help Jordie?
EVAN: That's irrelevant to me.

CHARLES: He's talking about how he's
furious that Michael has stop phoning him

and stopped taking his calls,

and how Michael has stolen his
ex-wife and torn the family apart

and how he's plotting his revenge,
and he says that,

"Everything is moving in accordance
with a plan that's not just mine."

and this phone call occurred BEFORE
Jordan Chandler made any allegations

against Michael Jackson,
and in this phone call,

Evan Chandler alludes
to a "nasty attorney".

EVAN: This attorney I found,
and I interviewed SEVERAL-

and I picked the nastiest
son of a bitch I could find.

Once I make that phone call,

this guy's just going to
destroy everybody in sight

in any devious, nasty,
cruel way that he can do it.

And I've given him
full authority to do that.

(chuckles) It will be a- a
massacre if I don't get what I want.

CHARLES: and that attorney
turns out to be Barry Rothman.

(somber piano music)

My name is Geraldine Hughes.

I was the legal secretary
in 1993 for Barry Rothman,

who was the attorney of Evan Chandler,
the first accuser

that came against Michael
on child molestation.

I was working for him, he hired me.

When I came in for an interview one day,

and he hired me for the
job as his legal secretary.

I was the only legal secretary for him.

He was really an entertainment attorney

and he had a history of
being a good negotiator

in the entertainment field, though.

Whenever Evan would
call Barry Rothman's office,

Barry Rothman would tell
us to put the call on hold

and he'd walk all the
way back to his office,

shut the door,
and that's how he took all of Evan's calls.

He was the only client he did that for.

Anybody else call,
if he was at-away from his office,

He'd just pick up the phone and say,
"Okay.. woo woo woo"

You know, say what he had
to say and then he'd hang up.

But he didn't do that with Evan.

Evan was always behind closed doors.

CHARLES: Evan had
already retained a lawyer.

Jordan Chandler was insisting
that Michael had never touched him.

Anthony Pellicano,
who is Michael's private investigator,

goes around to interview Jordan
Chandler and questions him

for about an hour, I believe,
and asks him all sorts of questions,

and very direct questions:

"Have you ever seen
Michael Jackson naked?",

"Have you ever been naked
in a bed with Michael Jackson?"

"Has he ever touched you?",
et cetera, et cetera

and Jordan Chandler
says "No" to everything.

At the end of the conversation,
Jordan Chandler reiterates that

Michael has never done
anything wrong to him,

and says that his dad is
just trying to get money.

(somber piano music fades out)

(up tempo strings fade in)

GERALDINE: It started out a custody issue.

Evan Chandler wanted the custody of Jordie

because in order to coerce a child
into saying something that's not true,

you need time with that child.

CHARLES: Evan Chandler
goes to custody court and says,

"I want to have a week
of custody with my son,"

and June Chandler agrees on the basis

that he'll be returned after 7 days.

- And he never gave him back. He kept him.

He never brought him back,
and during that time that he had him,

he came into my office and he was
behind closed doors with my attorney

the- the- Jordie Chandler was.

I actually opened up the
door one day. I was leaving,

and I opened up the door
and Jordie was in the back!

And he kind of looked
a little startled when-

Because I looked and I
saw him and I was like:

Nobody in the office knew
that he was even there.

You know, we're like,
"How did he even get here?"

and I opened up the door,
so I had a few encounters

with Jordie Chandler
coming into the office,

and to me,
it just looked like a coaching session.

CHARLES: While Jordan
was in Evan's custody,

Evan sedated him with a
drug called sodium amytal.

He did this supposedly so that he
could perform a dental procedure,

But it's a very dubious
story that he's telling

because there's no reason to use
sodium amytal for a dental procedure.

He gives him this drug, which has a
reputation in the 1980s as a truth serum.

The problem is that sodium
amytal is not a truth serum.

In just around 1993, the evidence
was beginning to emerge that in fact

sodium amytal was the
opposite of a truth serum.

It made people highly suggestible.

So, by today, by 2000s,
Psychology Today and other journals

were saying that it was completely false

that sodium amytal had a
reputation as a truth serum.

- So, I'm just gonna take
a step back for everyone.

Evan Chandler makes a
phone call to David Schwartz

talking about how he is going to make
allegations against Michael Jackson.

Jordan Chandler subsequently
denies all allegations.

Evan Chandler then gets custody of
Jordan Chandler and never returns him.

It was only supposed to be for a week,

and during this period that Evan
Chandler had Jordan Chandler,

there were numerous unethical methods

that we know of being used against Jordan,

notably the use of sodium amytal
and the one on one coaching

between Jordan Chandler and Barry Rothman.

So by the end of Jordan's stay,
he changes his story.

He went into Evan's custody saying that

he wasn't abused by Michael
Jackson to now claiming that,

"Yes, in fact, I had been abused."

So Charles with this new shocking
statement by Jordan Chandler,

what are Evan Chandler's next moves?

CHARLES: So after Jordan changes his story,

Evan,
instead of going straight to the police-

as you'd expect a parent to do if their
child has just said that they've been

that they'd been sexually
abused by someone,

goes directly to Michael
Jackson and his legal team

and starts demanding $20 million.

- But Evan had a desire to be a filmmaker.

He was trying to get the
money so he can make a movie.

CHARLES: So when Evan
meets Michael to confront him

and demand the money,
there were witnesses in the room

who said that he threw
his arms around Michael

and greeted him with a hug,
like an old friend.

FIELDS: I was seated in our big
conference room next to Michael

and the father came into
the room and saw Michael

and went quickly across
the room and hugged him and

said, "Michael,
it's been so long since I've seen you."

which was just... flabbergasting!

because here's a- (chuckles)
here's a father claiming

that this man had abused his son sexually

and rushes across the room to hug him?

Impossible!

CHARLES: Evan's lawyer gets in touch
with Michael Jackson's camp and says,

“$20 million and nobody will
ever hear about these allegations."

But Michael Jackson
is adamant that he is

NOT going to give Evan
Chandler $20 million.

The counter offer which comes
back from Michael Jackson's camp

is a deal for 3 scripts and they say,
"You'll be paid $350,000 per script."

- He said,
"I'll contribute that to your film project,

just to give you and your
son a chance to bond,

to mend, because at that time,
Evan was saying,

"He's stolen my son's affection."

He put that in the paperwork. He said,

"My son is being
starstruck by this superstar.

He's stolen my friends affection".

and so Michael just simply said,

CHARLES: "This would be a great
opportunity for you and Jordan to reconnect

because you'll be able
to write them together."

Rothman comes back and says,
"That's nowhere near what we're asking for.

That's less than $2 million,
you know? We're not going for that."

Michael's camp then makes
another offer which is for a

single script paid at $350,000-

a third of what they'd initially offered.

Barry Rothman is shocked by the low figure.

In response to that,
Evan panics and starts trying

to go back to the million dollar deal, and

Anthony Pellicano comes back and says,

"That's never going to happen."

PELLICANO: Let me ask you for the last
time: he has rejected the deal, period?

ROTHMAN: For one project? Yes.

PELLICANO: OK, so then there is no deal.
ROTHMAN: Right!

- Remember? I said take it or leave it-
- Bingo! Bingo!

- OK. Then we don't have to
have a discussion about this again.

- OK
- Alright.

- That's where it's at.

- I've already told you that we think this
is an extortion attempt from the beginning.

Well you can say that!

I've already made those
statements time and time again.

- You can say that, Anthony. I understand!

but it fell apart because you
offered 3 and then recanted on it.

CHARLES: Meanwhile, the custody
situation happens between Evan and June.

GERALDINE: but what happened
was June filed an ex parte motion

An ex parte motion means:
show up in court the next day.

She was trying to get him back now,

and so we typed a little declaration,
and they went to court.

The went to court on the ex parte, but see,

he had been negotiating
with Michael for a whole month

for the $20 million to make the movie.

He goes to court on a hearing
for the custody, a family law judge,

he said nothing to that
judge about his "suspicion"

or "my child is- I think my child is...",
you know being molested.

He didn't say
anything. So the judge

ordered him to return
Jordie back instantly.

CHARLES: And in order to maintain custody,

Evan has to go to the psychiatrist
and have Jordie disclose.

- I can promise you 3 days later

is when we got the breaking news,

so he never took him back.

He took him to the doctor that he
had already queried about molestation.

CHARLES: He sort of acts out of haste

and goes and triggers
the criminal proceedings

as a knee-jerk reaction
to the custody situation

and then that means he loses control of
the situation and the negotiations cease

because the police are now involved.

(tense music)

ANNOUNCER: This NBC
Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.

BROKAW: Good evening.

Michael Jackson is in
Bangkok Thailand tonight,

where he has now postponed 2 concerts,

claiming that he is ill.
While back in Los Angeles,

there's a press frenzy over

investigations into child abuse by Jackson.

- ..remains the Children's
Services report detailing

the charges by a thirteen-year-old boy.

- CBS News has had access to..

CHARLES: The media went into a frenzy

because after the Michael
Jackson case kicked in,

basically their ratings
went through the roof.

It was astronomical the
difference that this story made

to the ratings of shows like

"Hard Copy" and "A Current Affair".

- I cannot think of a story that's bigger

I mean, this is the story-
if not of the decade, well

certainly of the decade,
but probably of the-

One of the great stories of the century!

CHARLES: This was an era with no internet

and no social media,
and so there was a real thirst

for knowledge about Michael
Jackson because he was

the biggest,
most famous person in the world, but

people really knew
basically nothing about him.

There was a need to keep
the story going every day

They needed new Michael Jackson stories

because that was where
the ratings were coming from,

so the impetus was there
for journalists to seize on

anything- anything that came up,

anything that looked like a
scoop or a scandal, or looked

like it might bag them ratings,
they just ran with it.

REPORTER: We will fly stories.

We will take a shred of
fact and go with it, like a

great footballer with a ball.
We will spin down the field

with that and try and score a goal with it,
and

maybe we will, maybe we won't,
but we'll take a shred

of evidence and try and
try to turn it into a story.

("In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays)

MICHAEL: I will say
that I am particularly upset

by the handling of this mass matter

by the incredible, terrible mass media

At every opportunity,

the media has dissected and manipulated

these allegations to reach
their own conclusions.

I ask all of you to wait and hear the truth

before you label or condemn me.

Don't treat me like a criminal,
as I am innocent.

- When you buy a story,

there's always the shadow of doubt that

are they telling you the truth

or are they telling you
what you want to hear?

CHARLES: They started waving around

10,000

20,000

50,000

$100,000 to anybody
that was prepared to say,

"I have met Michael Jackson

and I've got something
bad to say about him".

- Yeah, a friend of mine
told National Enquirer that

he knew some family that knew the Jacksons

and he called me on the phone,
asked me to come to the hotel.

I said, "I'm here to help Michael,"
and they said,

"Oh, no, that ain't what we want with you-

We heard that your boys
spent nights at the house.

We want to know if Michael
tampered with them, or

just picked them up,
or touched them in any kind of way.

If he did we got $200,000 for you".

I said, "huh?"- He said,
"So what I'm gonna do-

I'm gonna draw a check up, a contract up.

show you we're fixing
to give you $200,000".

- So then you go to Germany,

you get another 20,000.

You go to Italy, another 20,000.

Before you know it, you're up a hundred

a hundred,
two hundred thousand dollars, and

that is enough for a family
to come forward and talk.

CHARLES: It happened repeatedly

where people of dubious
character were treated as

credible sources when
anybody with just an iota of

investigative savvy would
know that these are not

people you want to be
staking your reputation on.

They were people who changed their stories

depending on how much
money you offered them.

BROKER: The first time I heard
the story about, um, Jackson,

his hand was outside the kid's pants.

They were asking 100 grand.

As soon as their price
went up to 500 grand,

the hand went inside the pants,
so, come on.

REPORTER: But basically,
LaToya you're drawing your own conclusion

that Michael abused young men, young boys

- No,
I'm not drawing my own conclusion that

he abused young boys. That's totally-

That's totally wrong. I am not
drawing my own conclusion.

CHARLES: LaToya Jackson at the time

was married to a man called Jack Gordon

who was involved with Genovese Mafia.

He was a very disturbed character.

He was very violent and abusive.

He pimped LaToya out like a prostitute.

He forced her to do semi pornographic
magazine shoots- that kind of thing.

and if she disagreed with him or
refused to do anything that he told her to,

then he would either beat her

or he threaten to have
members of her family killed.

This went on for many,
many, many years.

He literally said I'm gonna kill you,
your brother,

- Everybody?
- Yes.

No, not everybody, just myself,
Michael and Janet.

CHARLES: This is not some excuse which

has been dreamed up subsequently,

this was known and reported at the time.

- He grabbed a bedspread,

he put it over her head,
started to strangle her with it.

At the same time, he grabbed her arm

and started to twist it so badly that
she felt like it was gonna come out.

CHARLES: And so all of a sudden, LaToya,

who'd been previously
speaking out in favor of Michael

suddenly u-turned
started selling interviews

claiming that her
brother in fact was guilty.

In early 1994,
LaToya appeared on an Australian TV show

and the host of the
show realized that there

was something wrong
with the situation.

He realized that all of the
answers LaToya was giving

were being fed to her
by somebody else who he

identified on the show as her husband,
Jack Gordon.

Well, Miss Jackson carried on with

that nonsense for about another 25 minutes,

all the time being prompted
by someone in the studio,

but off-camera,
presumably her husband manager

Jack Gordon.

- People like you will let this go on

and it's very very wrong.
- Who's talking to you in the background?

- Who's talking to you in the background?

- So I... I... I refuse to sit
here and listen to you - Who's...

and listen to you talk
this way. I think it's wrong

of you. [Host] Who's talking
to you in the background?

- So I have nothing else
to save you whatsoever.

CHARLES: And when he
questioned her about it on the air,

she just looked like a
deer in the headlights

and suddenly stood up
and stormed off the show

and wouldn't answer any more questions.

LATOYA: I can't hear you
but I definitely want you to hear

what I'm saying,
because you do have a serious

problem, sir. Whatever it is, I don't know,

but you do need to go
see a psychiatrist. Goodbye.

CHARLES: Her husband decided that

there was a lot of money to be made from

switching sides and saying
that Michael was guilty

and indeed, there was.

HOST: I'm sorry, are you feeling OK?

Are you alright? Are you alright?

Do you need a handkerchief
or something like that?

- After the allegation hit, they-

prior to that, they were on opposite ends

because June never did
agree with the allegation

But after the allegation hit,

they were meeting in my attorney

David Schwartz,
June Chandler, Evan Chandler,

and my attorney.

They were all meeting behind closed doors

in my attorney's office.

- I decided to drop the case ‘cause

I, at that time, as an attorney

did not like to be involved in
cases that I didn't believe in.

GERALDINE: And I heard Evan blurt out,
he said,

'It's my ass that's in danger
of going to prison right here!'

Inside the law office,

the only thing they were
asking for was money.

"Where's his money? How much?"

They were sending discovery in

and the discovery was
only trying to find his money.

That was crazy too. I'm like,

"Y'all just looking for money?

You're not looking for justice?

You're only looking for money?"

(soft piano music fades out)

JOSEPHINE: I mean, my mind EXPLODED

when I- I found out who he was and I-

I definitely told some
people who were close to me

I didn't confront him though,
because at that point in time, you know-

I knew that I believed
Michael was innocent,

but the fact that matter
is I didn't know 100%

and if there was even
like- one shred of doubt,

I didn't want to risk re-traumatizing
somebody who was potentially a victim.

And remember, at that point in time,
Jordan Chandler was the only accuser

and the media certainly
wasn't focused on it.

They were more focused on you know,
Michael Jackson's new album release

and um, you know,
it wasn't all flattering but you know,

it seemed like this- this was,
you know, water under the bridge

and something that didn't
need to be addressed.

He was a nice guy, I mean,
I'm gonna be honest.

He was he was very nice,
always very polite.

He would always carry
a guitar around with him.

He made his own music.

He would describe it as
"Pop/R&B like Michael Jackson".

I remember that because he
said it many times, very clearly.

He would wear fedoras. Um..

Yeah, that was- that was Jordan.

(sad somber music)

REPORTER: What were your
determinations when you examined him?

- He seemed to
essentially be a healthy guy.

The lupus is an autoimmune disease
and he only had skin involvement,

which had destroyed part
of the skin of his nose and

his nasal surgeries and all were really
reconstructive to try and look normal.

- Lupus is an autoimmune disease,
as you've said,

where the immune system,
one of our larger systems

that's designed to protect
us against germs and viruses,

actually attacks our own
body's cells and tissues.

Many patients with lupus have vitiligo,
but he had a form of skin lupus

called discoid lupus which affects
about 40% of the patients with lupus,

and you do get depigmentation.

CHARLES: Michael Jackson suffered
from a skin disease called vitiligo.

He was accused throughout his
career for decades by the media

of deliberately bleaching
his skin from brown to white

because they said that he hated his race.

- Is your skin lighter because
you don't like being black?

CHARLES: He insisted throughout his life
that he in fact suffered from vitiligo.

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

It's something that I cannot help.

CHARLES: and then when he passed away,

his autopsy report confirmed that
he did indeed suffer from vitiligo.

Vitiligo is a disease which
attacks the pigment in the skin

and what it does is it turns
your skin a very pale white color-

almost translucent,
and it makes it very sensitive to the sun.

So it's a very debilitating condition.

- One thing you say to lupus patients:

Don't let the sun hit your skin.

- That's right, ultraviolet light.
- So that umbrella, which he'd

carry out in the sun
may have been just that?

That's exactly correct.

CHARLES: So what it
does is it doesn't you know,

turn you from brown to white all in one go,
of course.

It happens in tiny increments

and it happens at different
speeds all over your body

so it can leave you looking almost like a

paint splatter or blood splatter.

It's very random.

DOCTOR: It's very interesting.
It affects the neck, the face,

the- the upper part of the wrists,
and the groin.

CHARLES: So the allegation by Evan Chandler

was that his son could
accurately describe discoloration

on Michael Jackson's genitals
which had been caused by vitiligo.

They seek and obtain a
warrant which allows them to

force Michael Jackson to submit
to a naked photoshoot by the police.

- I have been forced to submit

to a dehumanizing and
humiliating examination

by the Santa Barbara County
Sheriff's Department and the

Los Angeles Police
Department earlier this week.

They served a search
warrant on me which

allowed them to view
and photograph my body,

including my penis, my buttocks,
my lower torso, thighs,

and any other error that they wanted.

They were supposedly
looking for any discoloration:

spotting, blotches,
or other evidence of a skin color disorder,

called 'vitiligo',
which I have previously spoken about.

The warrant also directed me
to cooperate in any examination

of my body by their physician to
determine the condition of my skin

including whether I have
vitiligo or any other skin disorder.

The warrant further
stated that I had no right

to refuse the examination
or photographs,

and if I failed to cooperate with them,
they would introduce that refusal

at any trial as an indication of my guilt.

It was the most
humiliating ordeal of my life-

(deep breath)

One that no person
should ever have to suffer,

and even after experiencing the indignity-

of this search,

the parties involved
were still not satisfied,

and wanted to take even more pictures.

It was a nightmare,

a horrifying nightmare, but if this is what

I have to endure to prove my innocence,

my complete innocence,

so be it.

CHARLES: There's a book by
Evan Chandler's brother, Ray,

where he quotes Evan as having a
discussion with his lawyer, Larry Feldman

And they're talking
about the vitiligo situation.

The DA's office has told the
Chandler's that Michael has

a skin condition called vitiligo
and that the skin condition

can constantly change
the way that your body looks

because it's constantly
attacking the pigment, and so,

the District Attorney has
told the Chandler's that this is

great for them because if
Jordan Chandler's description

matches, then it matches!

But if it doesn't match,
then they can just say,

"Oh, well, that's because of the vitiligo".

So Larry Feldman says,
"Either way, we win!"

- So after they searched
Michael Jackson's body,

No arrest warrant was issued. Charles,

what were the initial reports
about this body search?

CHARLES: In early 1994,
law enforcement sources told

2 different media outlets:
Reuters and USA Today

that there was no match.

DANNY: Jordan Chandler's
drawing of Michael Jackson's genitalia

have since been leaked,
and when you really look at it

with words such as "my
theory" and "be selective",

it's questionable whether these
are truly Jordan's own descriptions

or instructions from someone else.

It's also important to note
that Evan Chandler has

admittingly given Michael
Jackson painkillers through

injections to his buttocks.
So at the very least,

Evan saw Jackson's gluteus
and that he had discoloration

on his lower body region.

CHARLES: The Smoking Gun obtains a document

which is called, they say,
"The Linden Affidavit".

It's written by a Detective
Linden who works for the

authorities that are investigating
the Jordan Chandler case.

And she has taken from
Jordan Chandler a description

of Michael Jackson's genitals, and

Jordan Chandler tells Linden that
Michael Jackson is circumcised.

When they conduct the body search,

it turns out Michael Jackson
is in fact not circumcised,

meaning his description has not matched.

CHARLES: What had
happened was that Barry Rothman

was being sued by Michael
Jackson for extortion,

and so he quit representing the Chandler's.

The Chandler's then
proceeded to hire Gloria Allred,

who held a press
conference claiming that the

Chandler's were ready for a criminal case.

- to make a charge against a celebrity...

DANNY: Gloria Allred is
shortly fired and Barry Rothman,

who's now working in the background,
suggests

Larry Feldman as a replacement,
an attorney who is

willing to push for a civil case.

Charles, what is the difference
between a civil case and a criminal case?

CHARLES: A civil case is where you
sue somebody, and that's for money.

Whereas a criminal case is
brought by the state, the government,

and that's a case where if you're
convicted, then you go to prison.

So they're two very separate processes.

What happens is the
criminal case stalls because

they can't find any evidence to suggest
that Michael's done anything wrong.

So they raid his house: they
don't find anything incriminating.

They raid his family home: they
don't find anything incriminating.

They raid his doctor's offices:
they don't find anything incriminating.

Of course,
you've got a boy at the center of the case

who at first said he wasn't
molested then changed his

story and said that he was
molested and only changed

his mind after being given sodium amytal.

So then they go off
looking for other victims,

and they can't find any.

- In fact,
if anybody wants to go back to 1993

when I was interviewed by the
Santa Barbara Police Department,

I sat there and I gave them the names.

They're on record. They
have all of this information.

But they were scanning Michael Jackson.

All they cared about was trying to
find something on Michael Jackson.

Who you said, by the way,
did not abuse you.

who Michael was innocent!

and that was what the interview
was about with the police in 1993.

I told them,
"he is not that guy!" and they said,

"Well, maybe you just
don't understand your friend."

And I said, "No,
I know the difference between pedophiles

and somebody who's not a
pedophile because I've been molested!

Here's the names! Go investigate!

And these detectives hammer
away at Corey Feldman:

"What happened with you and Michael
Jackson?" and over and over and over again,

Corey Feldman says, "Nothing happened,
I have racked my brain!

I've thought about,
'well did something happen

and I didn't realize it?'
No! Nothing happened.”

and they don't want to hear it! It seems
like that is not what they want to hear.

They hammer away at him over
and over again for more than an hour.

What's really amazing is at
one point he goes “You know,

I know what it’s like to be
molested. I WAS molested."

He names this person that
he accuses of molesting him,

and even says what his occupation is-

These detectives show very
little interest in pursuing that angle

and bring it right back to Michael Jackson,

"Well, did you talk to
Michael Jackson about that?"

CHARLES: So the criminal
case is basically going nowhere

but meanwhile, the civil case is moving

through the court
system at the usual speed.

So the judge, in October of 1993,
orders depositions.

A deposition is where you're
forced to state your case,

to give your evidence under oath.

It can be done in court or
it can be done under oath

somewhere else and
audiotaped or videotaped.

Now, he orders that Michael Jackson
is to be deposed by January '94.

The problem with
this is that if you have a

civil case which comes
before a criminal case,

and you're forced to
give away your defense,

then what that does is
gives the Prosecutor's

a front-row seat
for your defense,

They can then go
away and tailor their

criminal case to circumvent
your defense case.

So for example, if you say I
have an alibi in the civil case,

Then the prosecutors can
go and tailor their criminal case

where they change
all the dates and they

could just change the
case to get around it.

If you have a witness,
they go and discredit the witness

or they put the charges on a
day when the witness wasn't there

so they just take your
defense out chunk by chunk,

and by the time you come into a Criminal
Court, where your life is on the line,

your freedom,
rather than your bank balance,

you have no defense.

You've wasted your defense
trying to save some money,

and now you're going to prison.

That is the problem with a civil
case proceeding a criminal case.

Now from October 1993 to January 94,

Michael's defense goes back to court 4
different times and argues to the judge,

"We need the civil case
delayed so it doesn't precede the

criminal case because
this is unconstitutional.

If you force our client
to give away his defense,

then you're denying him his
constitutional right to a fair trial".

- Michael Jackson lost 2 very important
motions that he should have won.

One was a preference.

Preference has to do with either:
he was too young to remember

and there's a memory issue,
or he's too old.

CHARLES: What Larry
Feldman keeps arguing is that

because the complainant is a child,

his memory is not fully developed,

and he would be at
risk of losing his memory

if his testimony was
not heard quickly.

- Jordie Chandler was 14 at the
time. He wasn't too young or too old.

CHARLES: The Jackson lawyers are
going to court again and again and again

to try to get this deposition put
back- to get the civil case put back

so the criminal case can precede it.

Meanwhile, the Chandler's are
fighting hard to stop that from happening.

- Evan Chandler was asking the
court to push the civil case before-

while the criminal case
was going because normally,

the criminal case has to take
precedence over the civil case.

He shouldn't have one on that
one because constitutionally,

that went against Michael's constitutional
right. He won on that one, too.

CHARLES: Michael's deposition is
due on a particular date in January '94.

What happens is initially he's saved
by the Los Angeles earthquake of '94,

which happens the day before
he's supposed to be deposed.

That buys them an extra week,
but within that week,

they're again not able to
postpone the civil case deposition.

- When the judge is not ruling in
your favor, that tells an attorney:

maybe we need to settle this because
he's not ruling in our favor right now.

CHARLES: And so on the eve,

literally the night before
he would have been

forced to give away his defense under oath,

The civil settlement is reached.

The civil case is settled.

- He was negotiating.

Johnnie Cochran came on board, he
was negotiating with the insurance company.

At first, the insurance company said,
no, they weren't gonna pay it,

and he went back and forth
back and forth and he nego-

Johnnie Cochran negotiated.
He was a great negotiator,

because he was a P.I. Attorney.
He started out a P.I. Attorney.

and he convinced the insurance
company to pay the settlement.

When Michael settled the case,
the judge- um,

They made him drop his extortion claim,

so the real story hasn't been told.

The real story is that Michael
Jackson was the victim of an elaborate

extortion scheme that
launched the false allegation.

("Moonlight Sonata" plays)

reporter: Superstar, Michael Jackson,

and the teenage boy who filed a
civil molestation suit against him

have reached a multi-million
dollar out-of-court settlement.

Attorneys on both sides appeared
today at a joint press conference

to announce a mutual
resolution of the lawsuit,

but lawyers are not discussing
the actual amount of the settlement.

CHARLES: Now, the civil
settlement includes a specific clause

which says that it doesn't
preclude anybody involved

from testifying in a criminal case,
and then to reiterate that,

at the press conference
announcing the settlement,

Larry Feldman specifically
denies that this will have any impact

on the criminal case. REPORTER: Has Michael
Jackson bought your client's silence?

- I am not going to have
anything to do with talking

about the terms of the settlement and

Nobody's bought anyone's silence.

A civil case is only about money if they-

you know, and I tell people this too:

we're in a state where they
could have went after criminal-

him criminally and came back
after the money: all they wanted.

A lot of people think
because he settled the

civil case,
that that voided the criminal.

That's not true. It did
not void the criminal.

The reason they never
came after him criminally in '93

was because they couldn't
find any corroborating evidence

to agree with Jordie Chandler's story.

As a matter of fact,
they found out that the description

he gave of Michael's body was not accurate.

If that was accurate,
that was corroborating.

CHARLES: As of the summer of 1994,

the prosecution is running a
grand jury long after the settlement

and calls witnesses to the grand
jury and questions them about

whether Michael
Jackson could have had

plastic surgery to his
penis to avoid a match.

Now, why would they be doing that?

Why would they be calling
witnesses and asking those questions

if in fact the photographs had matched?

See, people need to know
they never indicted Michael in '93

'cause they couldn't come up
with enough evidence to indict him.

And so, the way they spinning it,
they're spinning it:

"Well,
oh he said also that that voided the-"

No, it did not.

If that prosecutor, Tom Sneddon, could find

could have found anything
to corroborate that boy's story,

he would have still gone-
gone after him criminally, too.

("Moonlight Sonata" playing)

DANNY: Victor Gutierrez is a
freelance reporter, born in Chile.

According to him,
he first went to a NABLA meeting in 1986.

What is NAMBLA? NAMBLA stands for
North American Men Boys Love Association,

So it's basically a pro-pedophile group.

Tell us about you
infiltrating this group.

Actually,
the infiltration was fairly easy, um,

They had a website. I
paid $35. I joined the group.

They sent me a letter, um, praising me

for my courageous step
in joining the organization.

I began to get e-mails from them. I
was subscribed to their magazine.

They started to send me their magazine.

But they wouldn't allow me to attend
any of their secret underground meetings

until I'd been a member for 3 years and

had been sponsored by
another "active duty" member.

Every conversation that I had was about
where to go to have sex with little boys,

how they could attract little boys,

how they could groom little boys.

That was their agenda.

DANNY: So at this meeting, he
overhears conversations talking about how

it would be great if Michael
Jackson was a pedophile

because if Michael Jackson is a pedophile,

that makes it easier for societies
to accept pedophilia as a whole.

So after this NAMBLA conference,
after this 1986 conference,

it becomes Victor Gutierrez's mission to
prove that Michael Jackson is a pedophile.

He starts befriending Michael
Jackson's maids, former employees,

and he even approaches Joy Robson,
Wade Robson's mother.

Joy Robson subsequently
told him to get lost and

Joy Robson reported him to Michael Jackson.

This is in 1992, before allegations
of Michael Jackson even rose.

So during the '93 allegations,

Victor Gutierrez served as a
source for many journalists,

including but are not limited to
Diane Dimond and Maureen Orth.

He also coaches Michael
Jackson's former employees,

such as his maids,
Blanca Francia and Adrian McManus,

notable ones,
to sell their stories to tabloids.

In 1996,
Victor Gutierrez wrote a book titled

"Michael Jackson Was My Lover",
a book that glorified pedophilia

through the relationship between
Michael Jackson and Jordan Chandler.

(sinister music)

The Chandler family has since dismissed

Victor Gutierrez's book as
pure fiction. The Chandler's-

Raymond Chandler,
released a book in 2004 titled,

"All That Glitters".

PUBLISHER: Within days of
Jordan Chandler and his family

settling his 1993 lawsuit
against Michael Jackson,

I received a call from Jordan's uncle.

He wanted to do a book in
which he would describe in detail

the allegation of molestation
against Michael Jackson,

and he said that Jordan's
father had given him

all the information he
needed for the book,

and believed it was outside the
bounds of the confidentiality agreement,

because he would be the author.

DANNY: After careful examination between

'Michael Jackson Was my Lover'
and 'All That Glitters': these two books-

we have found many instances of consistent
storytelling between the two books,

especially from Evan's point of view.

At times, the stories are
even word-for-word the same.

Truthfully speaking, the only
differences between the two books are the

supposed sexual acts between
Michael Jackson and Jordan Chandler.

Now when you look at some of
these parallel stories even deeper,

Gutierrez's book, which preceded
the Chandler's book by 7 years,

even sources some stories directly to Evan.

So how would it be possible for Gutierrez
to tell these confirmable stories first?

'Michael Jackson Was my Lover'
also featured many documents

of the Chandler family that
could only have come from Evan.

(eerie music)

This proves that Victor Gutierrez,

a man who has an agenda for
pushing Michael Jackson as a pedophile,

a man who had coached people
to lie against Michael Jackson,

was in fact connected to Evan Chandler,

the father of the first accuser.

(intense violin music)

DIMOND: Ever since the Michael
Jackson child molestation scandal broke,

we've gotten a constant stream
of calls and letters from people

making dubious claims about the singer.

Frankly, we ignore most of them,

but when I heard the facts of this story,

I just had to go to Canada
and check it out myself.

DANNY: The journalist, Diane Dimond,
got a tip from her source

that a child had been
molested by Michael Jackson.

This child lived in Toronto,
so she flew to

Toronto with authorities
to interview the boy.

I'd like to make a confession
about something that

happened between me and Michael Jackson.

DANNY: And this child proceeded
to tell wild stories with vivid details.

- He started just touching
like our stomach and things,

like he'd rub our stomach and
then he-he'd get lower and then,

that's when I started saying like,
"What are you doing?"

He said, "It's okay, don't worry.
Bodies are meant to be touched."

He showed me this place like a saddle shop,

where he said he-- he said he
gets stuff for his animals there.

I don't know what he got but-

- They're gonna' think you're making it up.
- Yeah I know, I know.

But I don't care about his money,
he can keep it.

His eyes are big and they're- they're dark,
like cavernous

-like the sockets go right in, you know?

DIMOND: We showed the
boy several photographs,

some of them were of Neverland employees,

and he was able to identify
each and every one of them.

Yeah, that's him.. that's him.

I found him fairly believable too.

DANNY: During police interviews,
the child broke down

and confirmed that he had been coached.

At the end, it turned out he
was coached by Rodney Allen.

- About Neverland? About Hayvenhurst?

About Disneyland? About
Michael Jackson's body-

Where did he get all that information?
- He got it from me.

- This kid is an A-1 Number One liar.
- Professional.

DANNY: Rodney Allen is
currently serving a life sentence

in a Canadian prison for pedophilia.

Paula, a Michael Jackson investigator,
has confirmed

through letters to Rodney Allen that

Rodney Allen was in fact
connected to Victor Gutierrez.

In 1999, there was a blog
post floating around the internet

that was said to be
written by Rodney Allen,

but no one took it seriously at the
time because there was no evidence

as to who authored the post.

Paula sent this blog post to Rodney Allen

and Rodney Allen has since confirmed
that he in fact did write this confession,

and in the confession,
this is what he talked

about in regards to the
Jordan Chandler case.

(eerie music)

This obviously doesn't
prove anything concrete, but

it's still interesting that Rodney Allen,

a man who was connected
to Victor Gutierrez,

a man who has a history of coaching
kids to lie against Michael Jackson

had that to say.

REPORTER: The King
of Pop chocks up a big win!

A jury has awarded Michael
Jackson a whopping $2.7 million

for a defamation lawsuit he filed
against freelance writer, Victor Gutierrez.

Gutierrez claimed on a
tabloid TV show that he'd seen a

video of Jackson having sex with a boy.

ATTORNEY: This guy made it up out
of thin air maliciously to hurt Michael,

and he told anybody and- anybody
and everybody who would listen.

When it came time
to prove it in this court,

he couldn't prove it.

(harrowing music)

Years later, in the early 2000s,

Victor Gutierrez again started
spreading rumors regarding sexual abuse.

This time around the
involvement of politicians in Chile.

A boy claimed he participated
in these sexual activities

and was able to describe
stories with vivid details.

It was later proven in court that
the boy had never met this politician.

While questioned, the boy could not
even remember the politician's name

and had to be prompted by
Victor Gutierrez off camera.

It was later discovered that
Gutierrez had paid this child

around 10 to 20 thousand pesos.

There were no other witnesses, nor proof,

just the words of a boy who
were connected to Victor Gutierrez,

the same man who was
connected to Evan Chandler.

(haunting piano music)

And we also weren't- and
I've been very transparent.

We weren't best friends.
We weren't very close.

I kept, you know, him at arm's length

because I knew who he was, and I
didn't really know how to deal with that.

And he was very close with, um-

I remember one other person in the program

who also was sort of like a pop R&B guy.

I believe he did production,
and he also was a big Michael Jackson fan.

So I mean, of- when I think about
the people in the program that he-

I saw him with, the people
that he did surround himself with

were people who were Michael Jackson fans,
you know?

I was told that at a party, um, Jordan

you know, played all of Michael's music,

danced like him, did all of his moves, um,

and that his apartment was almost sort of

a shrine to Michael,

that there was a lot of
different like fan memorabilia.

(haunting music)

It doesn't surprise me that
people are scared to come out.

because um, you know,
I have some flexibility I work for myself.

If I were in a corporate job,
I might be scared too

because we don't really know the-

we don't really know
who the powers that be are

behind 'Leaving Neverland', and, you know,

to speak out at this point,

might be cause a conflict
of interest for somebody

if they're working with a big corporation,
you know?

It could have really harmed their career,
so I'm

not surprised that people
would be afraid to come out.

(somber music)

CHARLES: So after the settlement,

Michael is married to
Lisa Marie Presley and

goes to work on an album called 'HIStory'.

REPORTER: At a warehouse in London,

staff listened to the
long-awaited new songs today

as they wrapped them
ready to go on sale tomorrow.

The album called
'HIStory' contains 15 old hits

and 15 new songs.

CHARLES: Much of the
content of the 'HIStory' album

you could argue, of course,
all art is subject to interpretation

but it seems to be quite clearly
influenced by what has happened to him

during the Jordan Chandler legal situation.

[Michael Jackson - Money]

[Michael Jackson - Tabloid Junkie]

CHARLES: And also,
once married to Lisa Marie Presley

and about to release the album,

he appears on PrimeTime with Diane Sawyer

along with Lisa Marie
Presley and does an interview,

and during that interview,

although he does not discuss any
specifics of the Jordan Chandler case,

He does say that he's innocent

and that there's no evidence
to connect him to any crime.

MICHAEL: The police photographs,
that they took of me?

There was nothing that
matched me to those charges.

There was nothing
that concurred.

That's why I'm sitting
here talking to you today.

- There was nothing.
- There was not one iota of information

that was found that could connect me
to these charges - So when we heard..

-Nothing!

CHARLES: Now, the combination of the album

and the Diane Sawyer interview
sends Evan Chandler into a rage,

and he claims that Michael Jackson
has breached the non-disclosure part

of the settlement agreement,
and so he files a lawsuit

and the remedy that he's
seeking is that he wants

$60 million in damages and he
also wants the court's permission

to also breach the non-disclosure agreement

and to release his own
album called 'EVANStory'.

So he basically went to court
and tried to get a court order

allowing him to release a rebuttal
album on top of seeking $60 million.

That case rumbled on
and on for about 6 years

and eventually was tossed out of court,

and he didn't get
anything he was asking for.

(somber music)

JOSEPHINE: You know
in- in just discussions, ah,

You know, we were college students,
you know, we

would have our- our
discussions about our parents and

venting and that sort of thing.

He said that he felt
very used by his parents

and that he wasn't close to them.

He never mentioned siblings either

so I don't know what was going on there,
but um,

He did say multiple
times that he was not close

to his family and that he
felt that he was used by them.

(soft somber music)

REPORTER: I'm sure most of you are aware

of the recent television
special that claimed

to give an honest, candid,
and revealing look into the

private life of one of the
world's most successful

and controversial celebrities,
Michael Jackson.

The revelations were explosive.

The ratings were enormous.

but what TV journalist
Martin Bashir presented

was a twisted and edited
construction of scandal

and innuendo, not a true representation

of the interviews that actually took place.

JOSEPHINE: When 'Living with
Michael Jackson' was released,

it reignited the discussion
about whether or not

Michael Jackson was a child molester.

The film featured a close-up of
Michael holding hands with Gavin Arvizo

who was a cancer victim, who then went
on to be the accuser in the 2005 trial.

And because um, of that shot and, you know,

the ratings behind 'Living
with Michael Jackson',

it was a huge topic of
conversation in every area of my life

particularly in my program meetings.

Immediately after the Martin
Bashir documentary aired,

we had a program meeting and
there was a discussion about, you know,

whether or not Michael Jackson was a child
molester. People were calling him "freak".

These were people who did not have
any fondness for Michael Jackson and

I chimed in with my
belief that I didn't believe

that Michael Jackson was a child molester

and that the documentary was, um, you know,

misleading and exploited him.

During that conversation,

Jordan Chandler chimed
in and said that he too

believed that Michael
Jackson wasn't capable

of the things he was being accused of.

And he said that voluntarily,

and he said it without my prompting,

and he wasn't asked.

(somber music)

He wasn't in the direct conversation no,

I mean I was arguing with a group of maybe

3 other people, um,
and he- he was seated close to us

but he wasn't in on this discussion

and you know throughout the semester,

there were different occasions like that

where he would again sort of

reaffirm things that I said in
defense of Michael Jackson

and I remember that very first time, um,

I remember catching his eye.

It was shocking that he would speak up!

And it really affirmed my belief
that Michael was innocent and

you know given things that
Jordan had said separately

having nothing to do with Michael Jackson

about his home life, you know,

It affirmed my belief that

he was a victim of his parents' greed

and that he was forced
to say certain things

because I really have a hard time believing

that if he had been
molested by Michael Jackson,

he would be going out
of his way to say that

he didn't think he was
capable of these things.

and I didn't address it
with him. I mean I was

One, I was very young and Two,
I didn't really know

how important it would
have been to address it then.

These conversations all
happened before Gavin Arvizo

made any allegations
against Michael Jackson.

(melancholic somber music)

Certainly, when I made the documentary,

there was a small part
of that which contained a

controversy concerning his
relationship with other young people.

But the truth is that he was
never convicted of any crime.

I never saw any wrongdoing myself.

and whilst his lifestyle may
have been a bit unorthodox,

I don't believe it was criminal.

Wait! Wait, you know they- Bashir- Hey!

You know how Bashir zoomed in on- on

on him holding hands?
Do that the same thing!

- It's cuz you know how a- - Because
that's what a mother does it with her son.

-Like you know how a father does?
-or a father does with his son, you know?

And they tried to make it
out to seem- be something

"wrong" and "dirty"?

FREEMAN: Her son with ill with cancer

and they were losing their house

and they were losing their car

because of the medical expenses.

She said, "You know what?

We didn't make enough
money from the first story.

Will you run another story?"

REPORTER: The mother's
phone call promoted the

reporter to carry out more
research on the family.

She was stunned and shaken to
learn that the family was insured,

and their medical expenses
had been covered all along.

-It gives me goosebumps. It does-

It does! That a mother
would use her son- to-

to use her son's
illness- for their own gain.

(somber music)

CASCIO: Gavin came to Michael and said,

"Michael could we sleep
in your room tonight?"

and Michael-

Michael looked at me and says,
"I don't know, you know,

I think you better ask your mother."

"Oh, we already asked our mother!

She says, 'sure no problem'!"

Like, no, this is- something's odd,
this is not right.

and then as I was about to go tell Gavin

that he cannot sleep in Michael's room,

Michael says, "Okay,
I have a solution for this:

You have to sleep in the room with me."

The two children slept on the bed

and Michael and I slept on the floor.

(melancholic piano music)

Filed formal charges

of felony criminal complaint
against Mr. Jackson.

The, uh,
felony complaint involves 9 counts, uh,

7 counts of 288A in violation
of California Penal Code,

commonly known as child molestation.

REPORTER: Thursday,
jurors listened as the teen

contradicted his brother
and sisters testimony

and couldn't recall key details

of the molestation allegations.

REPORTER: The defense pointed
out that in an early police interview,

the young accuser said
his grandmother had

told him about a certain
type of sexual act,

even though he had testified
that Jackson had told him about it.

This young man,

in a moment of high
emotion with this former Dean,

looks the Dean in the eye and says,

"No, Michael Jackson didn't molest me".

(melancholic somber music)

I was on the witness
list for the trial in 2005

because I spent the
entire day with Gavin Arvizo

at Neverland on February 19, 2003.

This was the very same day
that Gavin and his mother,

Janet,
accused Michael of inappropriate behavior.

The day that they accused
Michael of wrongdoing

was a day that Gavin
didn't even see Michael.

Instead? He was with us.

-In 2005 during the trial,

you were on the witness list.

-Yeah! We were on the
witness list because when

we stayed at Neverland March 9th and 10th,

Gavin Arvizo and his
brother and sister were with us

and the reason why it
was so important- the dates

is because Michael was
supposedly abusing him

until March 12th,
and we were there March 9th and 10th

- Right, so when you were there.
- and that was not happening.

I don't know where prosecutors go from here

I don't know whether they can prevail

and get the convictions that
they want against Michael Jackson.

Their main witness, the accuser,
the alleged victim in the case,

the one witness that the jury has
to believe for prosecutors to win

just wasn't that believable,
and now, prosecutors are stuck.

The most dramatic part of their case,

the highest point of their
case has already passed and

they really haven't sold the jury and

it's not going to get any
better for them from here.

-The '93 case,
if they'd been able to try the '93 case,

I think Michael Jackson would be
in a lot more trouble than he is here.

-We know that he molested other children.

-Oh yeah, He only paid them $25
million out of the goodness of his heart!

A pivotal day in the Michael Jackson trial:

the judge in this case is
set to make a ruling today

if prosecutors can bring
up previous child molestation

allegations against Michael Jackson.

One court observer calls these allegations
the prosecution's "nuclear bomb".

It is official. The ruling that
could make or break the case

against Michael Jackson
has been handed down.

Jurors will hear about prior
allegations of abuse by Michael Jackson.

The trial here will have mini-trial

after mini-trial as to other offenses.

It'll be significantly longer
but it's significantly different

than what we had last week

or in the beginning of
this trial up until last Friday.

This is now a trial about pattern evidence,

about propensity,

and once a pedophile, always a pedophile.

(somber music)

Alright, Ron?

I told you this was going to be admitted

and you kept telling
me it's not going to be.

-Well Dan, I was still waiting for um

some accuser to want
to testify in this case

and still, we're not getting any.

I think the prosecution-

[Dan] You're getting one of them!

[Ron] Well let me respond to that-

that kid was interviewed by Lauren Weiss,

who was a District Attorney in Los Angeles,

now a Superior Court Judge,

and she didn't think a
crime had been committed,

and neither did the Santa Barbara Sherrifs

when they interviewed him, and, and

and nobody filed any
charges at that time and

I think that it's going to be very suspect-

15 years after the fact coming into court.

He seemed like a sweet kid at first

but then after listening
to some of his statements,

he contradicted himself.

The prosecutor stated before he
testified that this would be the first time

that he had told the "story".

His credibility was like- it was horrible.

...who testified

who said that Michael Jackson had been

playing with him and had
gone too far and touched his

testicles, and he needed 5
years of therapy after it, and

during the first therapy session,
the DA was present,

and he also admitted that
he wanted money from him,

and his mother wanted money from Jackson,
and

his mother went to a tabloid
and sold a story as well

So you put all of that together,

and I submit that it helped us.

(somber music)

I, at that point, was

transferring out of the
music business program

and into the school of individualized study

So I no longer had classes with Jordan,

and I I believe I wrote him an email

I'm not 100% sure that I sent it.

But if I did send it,
I didn't get a response.

I was approached initially very
shortly after the Neverland raid

by people who worked for the Jackson family

who knew of me because
of message boards and

I was asked if I would give a statement,
and I did,

and I subsequently ended
up on the witness list, yes.

I mean there were certain members

of the Jackson entourage, I should say,

who wanted me to do a
little bit of a media tour, which

I didn't feel comfortable doing, you know?

During that time,
I was approached by Stacy Brown,

who is known by Jackson
fans as somebody who

used to be very supportive
of Michael Jackson

and was very good
friends with Rebbie Jackson

who then flipped and became an

anti-Michael Jackson force in the tabloids,

but during our conversations
when he would call me,

he was a very effusive in
his praise of Michael and

he would urge me to sort of, I would say,

plump up my Jordan Chandler story,

which I never feel comfortable doing.

I only would say,
you know exactly what I knew for a fact

But he'd even encouraged
me to say that I was Jordan's

girlfriend or that Jordan had a
crush on me or something like that,

and that was absolutely not true.

In retrospect,
knowing how he turned on Michael, I

I feel like he did it as like a
pre-emptive way to discredit me,

you know,
because if I were to lie about that,

it would discredit my entire story.

But I of course was
never willing to do that,

and I take this very seriously.

I firmly believe in due
process and you know,

it certainly wouldn't
have won me any favors

industrywide to testify in
his trial and that's something

that perhaps I was a
little naive about as a kid,

but now as somebody
who's worked in the industry,

I understand how things work.

I don't think I understood
the enormity at that time.

All I knew was that this was somebody whose

life and livelihood was on the line

and I had information that
could potentially help him.

So I felt it was my obligation in my duty.

His name wasn't widely known and
from my discussions in the program,

I don't think that there
was really anybody else

other than a very few people
who knew who he was, um,

that they don't even know is relevant.

No, this doesn't benefit my career at all.

This doesn't give me access
to anything. I'm very much

somebody who likes to be in the background

That's why I do PR and publicity.

I want my clients to be in the spotlight,
but I, myself,

you know, I kind of- would prefer to hide

but I'm speaking out
because you asked me to

and because all of this
nonsense is being rehashed and

relitigated in the media,
and it's ridiculous, you know?

I understand that people
would be skeptical of my story

because I am a fan and I
don't hide that I'm a fan but

the fact of the matter is

you know if I had even the slightest doubt

that Michael Jackson was innocent,

I wouldn't be speaking
out. I heard directly

from Jordan Chandler that he didn't believe

that Michael Jackson
was capable of the things

he was being accused of.

And that's very powerful.

You know, every allegation since is built

upon the original 1993 allegation

and I believe that if that one is false,

which I do believe it is false,

all the rest crumble.

(eerie music)