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American Morning
Michael Jackson Fighting Back
Aired November 24, 2003 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Beleaguered by accusations about child molestation, Michael Jackson this morning is fighting back. He's found a new way to reach out to his fans.
MAN: Miguel Marquez is following that live from the Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County -- Miguel, good morning.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
This is the opening salvo of their counterattack, according to Michael Jackson's spokesperson. One of the problems they have, they say, is that there are so many people claiming to speak on Mr. Jackson's behalf. That is just not the case. In a statement on that Web site today, Mr. Jackson does say with few exceptions most of them, those they say that are speaking for him, "are simply filling a desperate void in our culture that equates visibility with insight."
That is one problem Mr. Jackson's team says that they have. The other problem, they say, is that there is information coming from the likes of District Attorney Tom Sneddon here in Santa Barbara County. They say he has a personal dislike of Mr. Jackson.
District Attorney Sneddon said last week that that is just simply not the case.
And Mr. Jackson's supporters, his family, Liz Taylor and the like, they are also releasing statements.
It's not likely that you will see those sort of statements on this Web site. It's likely you'll see Mr. Jackson, Stuart Backerman and Mark Geragos, his lawyer. Stuart Backerman is his spokesperson. Those statements will be on this Web site, and from Mr. Jackson, obviously. They want their line, their message out there, hoping to some degree sway public opinion back toward Mr. Jackson -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, thank you.
Miguel Marquez in California.
With us now to talk about the allegations against Jackson is former spiritual adviser Rabbi Shmuley Boteach here on AMERICAN MORNING in New York City.
Nice to see you.
Good morning to you.
RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH, JACKSON'S FORMER SPIRITUAL ADVISER: Good morning, Bill.
Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: Miguel just read part of that statement. I want to complete the first sentence prior to that.
It says, and reading now, "You are right to be skeptical of some of the individuals who are being identified in the mass media as my friends, spokesperson and attorneys." He continues, and we just heard it, "With few exceptions, most are simply filling a desperate void in our culture that equates visibility with sight."
Part of this would be directed at people like you, coming on national TV and talking about him.
When did you take an interest in Michael Jackson?
BOTEACH: First of all, not at all. On the contrary. I -- not only am I not a spokesman for Michael Jackson, I'm one of the people who once believed in him who's become slightly disillusioned. Now, what we basically have here is that Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall and all the king's horses and men are trying to put him back together again, and I think they're doing a very bad job.
First we have Mark Geragos, a very competent lawyer, and I hope he does a great job, but in his statement, his original statement, he was saying Michael Jackson has authorized me to say Michael says he's innocent. Well, he should be taking direct responsibility for Michael's innocence, instead of just sort of distancing himself. Because if he knows something that we don't and therefore he is putting distance between him and Michael, then he should not even put Michael through this trial and put the boy through the trial. He should try to find a way that will give Michael healing.
As far as the other people who are coming forward, they are such a motley group. Michael has almost no credible person in his entire camp. It undermines him. Elizabeth Taylor's endorsement, she's a celebrity deeply in need of healing herself. We have Jermaine Jackson spewing all kinds of rhetoric and anger when really he should be coming forward on his brother's behalf and saying Michael gets it. He now completely regrets that he shared a bed with children. He understands that is immoral and unacceptable. He will never do it again. But he has not performed a criminal act.
Instead, they're defending everything about him that further undermines his credibility.
This is sad because this is the kind of chaos that always undermined Michael's life. Bloodsucking sycophants, people around him who won't challenge him, who won't tell him, Michael, you just don't get it.
This stuff isn't going to win back the public.
HEMMER: You've challenged him, though, right? Is it true in the past that... BOTEACH: What led to the break up of our relationship is that...
HEMMER: It did? Why? What did you tell him?
BOTEACH: I told him that celebrity is profoundly corrosive and super celebrity is profoundly destructive. And you therefore need the essential ingredients of a normal life. Number one, you need to be healed and reconciled with your family, because Michael had great distance with his family. It's nice to see they are now rallying around him.
Number two, you need involvement in a spiritual community. Michael was once very involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses and then that tie was cut off.
Number three, you cannot allow the deification of yourself because man becoming a god means he can make his own rules. Get rid of these crazy fans who sleep outside your ranch in their sleeping bags. Go out and tell them you're not a god, be a normal person. He should really even sell Neverland to be reinvolved with normal people.
HEMMER: What was his reaction, though, when you gave this advice?
BOTEACH: At first it was very good and we had a very strong and imitate friendship left...
HEMMER: Very good means he took it and he accepted it and he said OK?
BOTEACH: Not only did he accept it, but he lived by it. I mean we together tried to prioritize the message that children are valuable and their parents should make time for them. I said to him, you have to be surrounded by serious experts and statesmen. We went to Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. I even took him to meet Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres, people of that caliber, Professor Stanley Greenspan, one of America's foremost childrearing experts.
The idea was to put him in the context of people who were serious.
Now, we have people, magicians literally coming forward and saying I'm Michael's confidant. I mean god almighty, this is not helping him. This is seriously wounding him.
Now, Mark Geragos better get control of the situation, not by putting out statements, but by saying to Michael, look, here's your choice. I either take full control of the situation and I run everything or I'm gone, because I know what can happen in Michael's camp.
HEMMER: Rabbi, you've obviously invested some time and some interest this.
Why the interest in Michael Jackson? How did this relationship begin with you?
BOTEACH: That's a great question and it's a very important question. I have a deep-seated affection for Michael for one very important reason. Every -- I'm the father of seven kids. Every message from celebrities to our children these days is it is -- it sucks to be a kid. You should grow up quickly. Have sex early. Dress with a thong at 12. You should be smoking at 14. Rebel against your parents. The MTV culture is one of rebellion.
And along comes Michael Jackson and says no, no, no, no, no, I like having water balloon fights and I actually think that cartoons are fine and you don't have to play Grand Theft Auto and pick up cyber prostitutes.
That was -- to have the biggest star in the world tell our kids it was cool to be a kid was so valuable. And what is so sad about this is that Michael has now undermined that message because now people will say that any adult who takes an interest in children rather than other celebrities must be sick.
It was the same thing that, say, pedophile priests did. We once admired priests for waiting to mentor children. Now we're suspicious of those who want to.
HEMMER: Let me just interject here for a second.
We are not identifying the 12-year-old boy, but we do have new information about what he's alleging, essentially. You've met this young man. In fact, you met him at Neverland, is that right? You spent a couple of days with him. How did he strike you?
BOTEACH: His family was at Neverland at the same time that my family was there. It was their first visit to Neverland, as I recall. And we spent a few days with them there, yes.
Did I -- did you ask me -- did I...
HEMMER: I asked you how he...
BOTEACH: Oh.
HEMMER: How did he, what was your impression?
BOTEACH: Well, the boy at the time was bald. He was recovering from chemotherapy. I was very touched by the fact that Michael would sit there and try to encourage him not to be ashamed and he wore a baseball cap. But his family was there. His siblings were there. His parents were there. So it seemed a very normal visit.
I mean who would have thought -- this is three years ago -- that this would lead to something that would consume all the media oxygen over the world when, to be honest, there's other things out there that are important.
But I didn't see anything that would have caused me to guess. But that's not the problem. Even if Michael is vindicated in this trial, he's got to put the pieces of his life together again and these kind of militancy -- I wish he wouldn't flash the victory sign. Get out there and say I get it, I will never (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a child.
HEMMER: Is it victory or is it peace? There's been different definitions.
Shmuley Boteach, thanks.
We're out of time.
BOTEACH: Thank you for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 24, 2003 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Beleaguered by accusations about child molestation, Michael Jackson this morning is fighting back. He's found a new way to reach out to his fans.
MAN: Miguel Marquez is following that live from the Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County -- Miguel, good morning.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
This is the opening salvo of their counterattack, according to Michael Jackson's spokesperson. One of the problems they have, they say, is that there are so many people claiming to speak on Mr. Jackson's behalf. That is just not the case. In a statement on that Web site today, Mr. Jackson does say with few exceptions most of them, those they say that are speaking for him, "are simply filling a desperate void in our culture that equates visibility with insight."
That is one problem Mr. Jackson's team says that they have. The other problem, they say, is that there is information coming from the likes of District Attorney Tom Sneddon here in Santa Barbara County. They say he has a personal dislike of Mr. Jackson.
District Attorney Sneddon said last week that that is just simply not the case.
And Mr. Jackson's supporters, his family, Liz Taylor and the like, they are also releasing statements.
It's not likely that you will see those sort of statements on this Web site. It's likely you'll see Mr. Jackson, Stuart Backerman and Mark Geragos, his lawyer. Stuart Backerman is his spokesperson. Those statements will be on this Web site, and from Mr. Jackson, obviously. They want their line, their message out there, hoping to some degree sway public opinion back toward Mr. Jackson -- Bill.
HEMMER: Miguel, thank you.
Miguel Marquez in California.
With us now to talk about the allegations against Jackson is former spiritual adviser Rabbi Shmuley Boteach here on AMERICAN MORNING in New York City.
Nice to see you.
Good morning to you.
RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH, JACKSON'S FORMER SPIRITUAL ADVISER: Good morning, Bill.
Thanks for having me.
HEMMER: Miguel just read part of that statement. I want to complete the first sentence prior to that.
It says, and reading now, "You are right to be skeptical of some of the individuals who are being identified in the mass media as my friends, spokesperson and attorneys." He continues, and we just heard it, "With few exceptions, most are simply filling a desperate void in our culture that equates visibility with sight."
Part of this would be directed at people like you, coming on national TV and talking about him.
When did you take an interest in Michael Jackson?
BOTEACH: First of all, not at all. On the contrary. I -- not only am I not a spokesman for Michael Jackson, I'm one of the people who once believed in him who's become slightly disillusioned. Now, what we basically have here is that Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall and all the king's horses and men are trying to put him back together again, and I think they're doing a very bad job.
First we have Mark Geragos, a very competent lawyer, and I hope he does a great job, but in his statement, his original statement, he was saying Michael Jackson has authorized me to say Michael says he's innocent. Well, he should be taking direct responsibility for Michael's innocence, instead of just sort of distancing himself. Because if he knows something that we don't and therefore he is putting distance between him and Michael, then he should not even put Michael through this trial and put the boy through the trial. He should try to find a way that will give Michael healing.
As far as the other people who are coming forward, they are such a motley group. Michael has almost no credible person in his entire camp. It undermines him. Elizabeth Taylor's endorsement, she's a celebrity deeply in need of healing herself. We have Jermaine Jackson spewing all kinds of rhetoric and anger when really he should be coming forward on his brother's behalf and saying Michael gets it. He now completely regrets that he shared a bed with children. He understands that is immoral and unacceptable. He will never do it again. But he has not performed a criminal act.
Instead, they're defending everything about him that further undermines his credibility.
This is sad because this is the kind of chaos that always undermined Michael's life. Bloodsucking sycophants, people around him who won't challenge him, who won't tell him, Michael, you just don't get it.
This stuff isn't going to win back the public.
HEMMER: You've challenged him, though, right? Is it true in the past that... BOTEACH: What led to the break up of our relationship is that...
HEMMER: It did? Why? What did you tell him?
BOTEACH: I told him that celebrity is profoundly corrosive and super celebrity is profoundly destructive. And you therefore need the essential ingredients of a normal life. Number one, you need to be healed and reconciled with your family, because Michael had great distance with his family. It's nice to see they are now rallying around him.
Number two, you need involvement in a spiritual community. Michael was once very involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses and then that tie was cut off.
Number three, you cannot allow the deification of yourself because man becoming a god means he can make his own rules. Get rid of these crazy fans who sleep outside your ranch in their sleeping bags. Go out and tell them you're not a god, be a normal person. He should really even sell Neverland to be reinvolved with normal people.
HEMMER: What was his reaction, though, when you gave this advice?
BOTEACH: At first it was very good and we had a very strong and imitate friendship left...
HEMMER: Very good means he took it and he accepted it and he said OK?
BOTEACH: Not only did he accept it, but he lived by it. I mean we together tried to prioritize the message that children are valuable and their parents should make time for them. I said to him, you have to be surrounded by serious experts and statesmen. We went to Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. I even took him to meet Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres, people of that caliber, Professor Stanley Greenspan, one of America's foremost childrearing experts.
The idea was to put him in the context of people who were serious.
Now, we have people, magicians literally coming forward and saying I'm Michael's confidant. I mean god almighty, this is not helping him. This is seriously wounding him.
Now, Mark Geragos better get control of the situation, not by putting out statements, but by saying to Michael, look, here's your choice. I either take full control of the situation and I run everything or I'm gone, because I know what can happen in Michael's camp.
HEMMER: Rabbi, you've obviously invested some time and some interest this.
Why the interest in Michael Jackson? How did this relationship begin with you?
BOTEACH: That's a great question and it's a very important question. I have a deep-seated affection for Michael for one very important reason. Every -- I'm the father of seven kids. Every message from celebrities to our children these days is it is -- it sucks to be a kid. You should grow up quickly. Have sex early. Dress with a thong at 12. You should be smoking at 14. Rebel against your parents. The MTV culture is one of rebellion.
And along comes Michael Jackson and says no, no, no, no, no, I like having water balloon fights and I actually think that cartoons are fine and you don't have to play Grand Theft Auto and pick up cyber prostitutes.
That was -- to have the biggest star in the world tell our kids it was cool to be a kid was so valuable. And what is so sad about this is that Michael has now undermined that message because now people will say that any adult who takes an interest in children rather than other celebrities must be sick.
It was the same thing that, say, pedophile priests did. We once admired priests for waiting to mentor children. Now we're suspicious of those who want to.
HEMMER: Let me just interject here for a second.
We are not identifying the 12-year-old boy, but we do have new information about what he's alleging, essentially. You've met this young man. In fact, you met him at Neverland, is that right? You spent a couple of days with him. How did he strike you?
BOTEACH: His family was at Neverland at the same time that my family was there. It was their first visit to Neverland, as I recall. And we spent a few days with them there, yes.
Did I -- did you ask me -- did I...
HEMMER: I asked you how he...
BOTEACH: Oh.
HEMMER: How did he, what was your impression?
BOTEACH: Well, the boy at the time was bald. He was recovering from chemotherapy. I was very touched by the fact that Michael would sit there and try to encourage him not to be ashamed and he wore a baseball cap. But his family was there. His siblings were there. His parents were there. So it seemed a very normal visit.
I mean who would have thought -- this is three years ago -- that this would lead to something that would consume all the media oxygen over the world when, to be honest, there's other things out there that are important.
But I didn't see anything that would have caused me to guess. But that's not the problem. Even if Michael is vindicated in this trial, he's got to put the pieces of his life together again and these kind of militancy -- I wish he wouldn't flash the victory sign. Get out there and say I get it, I will never (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a child.
HEMMER: Is it victory or is it peace? There's been different definitions.
Shmuley Boteach, thanks.
We're out of time.
BOTEACH: Thank you for having me.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
