The Michael Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See

After Martin Bashir's scandalous documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" hit the air, Jackson's camp retaliated, saying the specious Bashir distorted the truth and used clips out of context. As Bashir's cameras rolled, Jackson had his own cameras simultaneously capturing the interviews, so the tapes were handed over to Fox for this special, which was intended to show how Bashir exaggerated both the truth and his intentions for the interview. According to disclaimers, Michael had no control over how Fox chose to use his personal tapes.

Although Bashir's footage isn't included, host Maury Povich frequently quotes from "Living with Michael Jackson"-- and to say that Bashir was contradictory between the actual on-set interviews and his own special is an overwhelming understatement. Additional clips that Bashir excluded fill out the story (such as a brief moment after Michael describes the beatings from his father where he explains he might not otherwise have had his adoration for children), and it give answers to omitted questions (such as the whereabouts of former constant companion Bubbles the chimp). Additionally, a few family members, ex-wife Debbie Rowe, Jackson's longtime makeup artist (Karen Faye) and personal videographer (Hamid Moslehi) give their input on Michael and denounce Bashir for ludicrous sensationalism in his documentary.

Recently some of the footage from this special has been exploited -- particularly clips of Debbie Rowe's interview, which were aired endlessly soon after Michael's death. Re-watching the show now, it's pretty clear that Jackson wasn't clean and sober at the time of his interviews (he frequently stumbles to get the words out) and some of his answers are questionable (answers about plastic surgery and the paternity of his children are particularly suspect), but it certainly more accurately represents the original interviews than Bashir's special did.