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A look back at Michael Jackson's 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey
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Harpo Studios/Oprah visits Michael at Neverland Ranch
On February 10, 1993, Oprah Winfrey achieved a major media triumph when she sat down for an exclusive, 90-minute interview with Michael Jackson. Now, sixteen years later, the world mourns the death of this electrifying entertainer and sensitive soul.
There hasn’t been an official statement from Oprah or her people about the death of the great Michael Jackson. She is currently on a fourteen day, Mediterranean cruise with her entire staff. So until word comes from Oprah’s camp, let’s take a look back at her historic visit to Michael Jackson’s home in 1993.
Not only was it Michael’s first interview in fourteen years, he agreed to an unprecedented live, unedited interview from his Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, California. It was watched by over 100 million viewers around the world and by 90 million Americans, becoming the fourth most-viewed non-sport program in US history.
MJ fans at the time became accustomed to Michael confining his remarks to only a few words, but Oprah’s conversational style and ability to create a safe space for her guests allowed Michael to open up and discuss some difficult topics. He denied sleeping in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and buying the bones of Joseph (John) Merrick, the Elephant Man as reported in the tabloids.
Michael: It's crazy. Why would I want to sleep in a chamber? (laughs)
Oprah: The rumor was that you were sleeping in the chamber because you didn't want to grow old.
Michael: That's stupid. It's completely made up. I'm embarrassed. I'm willing to forgive the press, or forgive anybody, I was taught to love and forgive, which I do have in my heart, but please don't believe these crazy, horrifying things.
Oprah: Did you buy the Elephant man's bones? Were you trying to get them for...
Michael: No. That's another stupid story. I love the story of the Elephant man, he reminds me of me a lot, and I could relate to it, it made me cry because I saw myself in the story, but no I never asked for the...where am I going to put some bones?...
Michael: ....and why would I want some bones?
Oprah: I don't know. So where did that story come from?
Michael: Someone makes it up, and everybody believes it. If you hear a lie often enough, you start to believe it.
Michael also candidly discussed the color of his skin changing over the years. He admitted to having a skin condition called vitiligo where your skin loses melanin, the pigment that determines the color of your skin, hair and eyes.
Michael: It's in my family, my father said it's on his side. I can't control it, I don't understand. I mean it makes me very sad. I don't want to go into my medical history because that is private, but that's the situation here.
Oprah: So OK, I just want to get this straight, you are not taking anything to change the color of your skin?
Michael: Oh God no, we tried to control it and using make-up evens it out because it makes blotches on my skin. I have to even out my skin.
Michael grimaced when speaking of his painful childhood and the abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often cried from loneliness.
At the end of the interview, Oprah asked Michael, “what do you want the world to know about you most?”
Michael: Like to be remembered for?
Oprah: Not to be remembered for - what about now? Forget remembered!
Michael: Oh known for now! As to be an artist, a great artist. I, I love what I do and I would love people to love what I do and to be loved. I just simply want to be loved wherever I go. All over the world, because I love people of all races from my heart with true affection.
Well dear, Michael, from the outpouring all over the world the past few days, rest assured the world loves your work and truly loves you…rest in peace.
You can find the entire transcript of Oprah’s Michael Jackson interview here and for an array of Michael Jackson’s videos, check out this great fan site.
Click here to see Oprah's ground-breaking interview with Michael Jackson.
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More coverage on the death of Michael Jackson:
http://www.examiner.com/category-michael_jackson.html
http://www.examiner.com/slideshows.html?SlideshowID=13939
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