CHICAGO - Pop star Michael Jackson on Sunday again declared he is innocent of child molestation charges and suggested he’s the victim of a conspiracy involving the valuable music copyrights he owns.
For strength in the face of the criminal charges, he looks to the stories of oppressed black men, including South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, Jackson said.
Please be patient and be with me and believe in me, because I am completely, completely innocent,'' Jackson said to his fans in an often-sympathetic live radio interview conducted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But please know a lot of conspiracy is going on as we speak.’’
The Rev. Jackson, who conducted the 7 a.m. CST telephone interview at the North Michigan Avenue studio of WGRB-AM 1390, in a subsequent interview noted Michael Jackson has repeatedly declared his innocence.
I have no contrary information,'' said the civil rights leader who has known Jackson for 36 years. So far, the proof seems to be lacking.’’
Mandela's story has given me a lot of strength, what he has gone through,'' the pop star said in the interview. Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, was released from prison by his white apartheid oppressors in 1990 after spending 27 years behind bars for his political beliefs. Jackson is on trial in Santa Barbara County, Calif., for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient. The 46-year-old pop star also is accused of plying the boy with wine and holding his family captive to force it to speak out against a British documentary, Living With Michael Jackson.’’
Jackson was filmed holding hands with his accuser in the documentary, which also includes Jackson’s statement that he shared his bed with children for non-sexual reasons.
The interview came a day before Judge Rodney Melville is set to conduct a hearing on whether to admit past sexual-abuse claims against Jackson to show a pattern of alleged abuse. According to Dateline NBC,'' Jackson in 1990 paid $2 million to a young boy who accused him of molestation. Melville will consider how much evidence related to that boys' claims can be admitted at trial. During the radio interview, Jackson did not discuss specific details of the allegations against him, noting a gag order issued by the court. But Jackson suggested he's the innocent victim of a conspiracy against a successful African-American. I know in my heart, and in my experiences in life, I am totally innocent,’’ he said. It's very painful, but this has kind of been a pattern among black luminaries in this country.'' He said he finds strength in the tales of Mandela, Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion some believe was persecuted for marrying white women; boxing great Muhammad Ali, a conscientious objector convicted of draft evasion during the Vietnam War; and the Rev. Jackson. Michael Jackson suggested his troubles are in part the result of his now 50 percent stake in a highly profitable catalog of music copyrights, including many for songs by the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Little Richard. It’s a huge catalog, it’s very valuable and it’s worth a huge amount of money, and there is a big fight going on right now as we speak about that,’’ he said. There's a lot of conspiracy going on as we speak.'' When the Rev. Jackson asked him to elaborate, Jackson said he could not because of the gag order. Jackson also denied rumors he is broke. That’s not true at all,’’ he said. That's just one of their many schemes to embarrass me and to just drag me through mud.'' Jackson also suggested his success has made him a target. It’s like a feeding frenzy, just because of my celebrity,’’ he said. The bigger the celebrity, the bigger the target.'' Jackson, who has been dubbed both the King of Pop and Wacko Jacko, also revealed that movie star and close friend Elizabeth Taylor has hand-fed him because he's never been a big eater. My mother always had a hard time with me, all my life, forcing me to eat,’’ he said. Elizabeth Taylor used to feed me - hand-feed me at times - because I do have a problem with eating. But I do my very best. I am eating, yes I am. I don't want anyone to think I'm starving. I'm not. My health is perfect, actually.'' But he later said a physical ailment explains why he has sometimes arrived late, propped up by supporters, to his trial and cried in court. I was coming out of the shower, and I fell on my body weight,’’
he said. I'm pretty fragile. All of my body weight fell against my rib cage ... and I bruised my lung very badly. ... I'm in immense pain. I'm in agonizing pain.'' He said a medical scan indicated swelling on my whole rib cage’’
for which he is taking medication.
The civil rights leader’s interview of the pop star took up nearly the entire hour of the syndicated weekly Sunday morning radio show called Keep Hope Alive with Reverend Jesse Jackson.'' The Rev. Jackson has known Michael Jackson and his family since the Jackson Five group performed at Operation Push's first Black Expo Chicago in 1969. The civil rights leader gave Sunday's show the name From Gary to Greatness,’’ a reference to the pop star’s humble roots in an economically depressed steel town.
Before the pop star came on the air, the Rev. Jackson referred to him as a genius'' and an icon for our ages’’ who has taken this phenomenal journey from ground zero to outer space.'' The Rev. Jackson recently revealed he has been providing frequent spiritual counseling via phone to the pop star during his trial. The Rev. Jackson, during the subsequent interview, said the prosecution has gone to extraordinary measures,’’ including a raid on Neverland and putting a former Michael Jackson bodyguard jailed on suspicion of robbery on the stand. The Rev. Jackson also noted that the jury, excluding an alternate panel, includes no blacks.
Asked whether he identified with the pop star, in that both men attained worldwide fame after growing up humbly, Jackson said, ``I understand him.’’
Critics have questioned why Michael Jackson needs to keep a zoo and amusement park at his Neverland Ranch in California.
During the Sunday interview, Jackson portrayed the amenities at his ranch and the visits there of young boys as a way to compensate for a childhood spent with private tutors, cutting albums and performing on stage while traveling all over the world.
I didn't have a childhood,'' Jackson said, recalling recording sessions at a Motown studio across the street from a park where he heard other children playing. I remember going to the studio every day and I would feel kind of sad, because I wanted to go to that park. But I knew I had a different job to do, so I would go in and make the records, all day until late at night,’’ he said. And you go to sleep, and then the next day, you have the same regimentation. So later on, you try to catch up, and that’s why you see a theme park or amusement rides or that kind of environment at my home,’’ he said. What I like to do is help other children who are less fortunate than I am. You know, kids who are terminally ill, kids with diseases, poor children from the inner city, you know the ghettoes, to let them see the mountains, or to go on the rides or to watch movies or to have some ice cream or something.’’
Michael Jackson, who spent most of the show discussing his rise in the music world, including the fact that he got the idea for his famed Moon Walk'' by observing an African-American boy on the street, said he would like to record a song to raise money for African victims of the recent Tsunami and build a resort in Africa. I believe in Jehovah God very much and I gain strength from the fact that I know I’m innocent,’’ said Jackson, a Jehovah’s Witness. I pray a lot, and that's how I deal with it. I'm a strong person. I'm a warrior, and I know what is inside of me. I'm a fighter. I just know in the end I’ll be vindicated.’’
