Michael Jackson 2001: You Rock My World
 Michael Jackson's personal life has been under the spotlight for decades. His marriages and children, his physical appearance, his humanitarian efforts, and accusations of child molestation have all witnessed a variety of media coverage all over the world.
Marriages and children
Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, in 1994. Presley maintained during their marriage that they shared a married couple's life and were sexually active. They divorced less than two years later, although still remain friends. Jackson's second wife Debbie Rowe spoke about the couple's post-marriage friendship amidst stories about Michael having an affair with his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, saying that: They have a relationship, and what people don't understand is his relationship with her is separate from his relationship with me. They're friends, they're very good friends... [and] I am glad that they have a relationship together. I am glad to see them together; they have a lot in common.
On November 14, 1996, during the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married his dermatologist's nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, with whom he fathered a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as Prince), and a daughter, Paris Katherine Jackson. Jackson and Rowe divorced in 1999. Jackson later said that Rowe wanted him to have the children as a gift. The paternity of Michael Jackson's children has been heavily debated by the public. Both Jackson and Rowe have always maintained that his first two children were conceived naturally.
In November 2002, Jackson traveled to Berlin to accept an award for his humanitarian efforts. He was surrounded by fans outside his room at the Hotel Adlon who were chanting in approval of the singer. According to the pop star, they also called out to see his baby. In response, Jackson brought his son onto the balcony, holding him in his right arm with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face in order to protect his identity from the media. Jackson briefly extended the baby over the railing of the balcony. This raised concern as some perceived his actions as child endangerment, although Jackson has vehemently denied these tabloid rumours, saying that he was holding the baby tightly. Jackson said that the media was wrong in their comments about him being irresponsible with his children, I love my children, he explained. I was holding my son tight. Why would I throw a baby off the balcony? That's the dumbest, stupidest story I ever heard.
The controversial documentary Living with Michael Jackson aired in February 2003 in the UK (on the 3rd) and in the US (on the 6th). The documentary included interviews with Jackson which included information on his private life. British journalist Martin Bashir and his film crew filmed Jackson for 18 months, also capturing his controversial behavior in Berlin. One particular part of the documentary, which stirred controversy and raised a significant level of concern, showed Jackson holding hands with a then 13-year-old cancer victim Gavin Arviso, and admitting to sharing his bedroom with him (but not in the same bed) as well as sharing his bed (non-sexually) with other children.
Jackson felt betrayed by Bashir and complained that the film gives a distorted picture. In response to the media scrutiny, two specials were aired: Michael Jackson: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See and Michael Jackson's Private Home Movies. Michael Jackson: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See which aired later in February showed uncut footage of the Living with Michael Jackson documentary. The Michael Jackson's Private Home Movies aired in April was a 2-hour special with footage of Michael Jackson's home videos and included commentary by Jackson.
Humanitarian efforts
Jackson began his charity work in 1981 with his brothers following the tour where they raised $100,000 for the Atlanta Children’s Foundation. In 1984, following his burning accident with Pepsi the drinks manufacture gave Jackson a $1.5 million out of court settlement which he donated to the Michael Jackson Burn Centre set up in his Honour . In July 1984 he donated his $5million share from the Victor tour to charity . In 1985 Jackson co-wrote with Lionel Richie the hit song We Are the World, and sung a featured solo on the charity single. The record helped to raise money and awareness for the famine in East Africa and was one of the first instances where Jackson was seen as a humanitarian. All profits from his 1988 hit single Man in the Mirror went to charity.
From 1985–1990 Jackson had donated $500,000 to the United Negro College. In 1992, Jackson founded the Heal the World Foundation (named after his humanitarian single Heal the World). The charity organization brought underprivileged children to Jackson's Neverland Ranch, located outside Santa Ynez, California, to go on theme park rides which Jackson had built on the property after he purchased it in 1988. All profits from the Dangerous World Tour went to his foundation raising many millions of dollars in relief. Jacksons 1995 international #1 hit Earth Song showed a shift in his concerns to environmental issues and ends with a disclaimer asking for donations for his Heal the World Foundation. In 1998 Jackson was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
In late 2002, Jackson's Heal the World Foundation had net assets of just US$3,542 and reported $2,585 in expenses, mostly for management fees. The foundation was suspended in California since April 2002 for supposedly failing to file annual statements required of tax-exempt organizations, according to John Barrett, spokesman for the state Franchise Tax Board. The Heal the World Foundation spread millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war and disease, thanks to the efforts of Michael Jackson, but the forced closure of the Foundation leaves many of these children without aid. At the World Music Awards in 2006 Beyonce announced that Jackson had given $300 million dollars to charity and Jackson has been actively involved with 39 charity organisations around the world.
Physical appearance
widespread media coverage, with some tabloids claiming that he was bleaching his skin. The structure of his face has changed as well, and a number of surgeons claim that Jackson had undergone multiple nasal surgeries as well as a forehead lift, thinned lips and cheekbone surgery.
However, on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1993, Jackson said that the change in his skin color was due to the disease vitiligo. In the interview, Jackson became quite emotional, saying that: I'm a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity... I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of my skin, it's something that I cannot help, OK? But when people make up stories that I don't want to be what I am it hurts me... It's a problem for me that I can't control. Jackson also responded to tabloid rumors about the amount of plastic surgery he had had done, saying that he's had Very, very little. I mean you can count on my two fingers, and furthermore said that I've never had my cheekbones done, never had my eyes done, never had my lips done and all this stuff, they just go too far. Further, Jackson wrote in his 1988 autobiography Moon Walk that he only had two rhinoplastic surgeries and the surgical creation of a cleft in his chin, while attributing the noticeable change in the structure of his face to puberty and diet.
Child molestation charges
Jackson was reported to be allowing children to sleepover at his Neverland ranch. This practice came under much media and public scrutiny, in 1993, when allegations of child molestation were brought against Jackson by a child who had stayed with him on several occasions. That year, Jordan Chandler, the son of former Beverly Hills dentist Evan Chandler, represented by civil lawyer Larry Feldman, accused Jackson of child sexual abuse. On December 22, Jackson responded to the allegations via satellite from his Neverland compound and claimed to be totally innocent of any wrongdoing. To avoid court, on January 25, 1994, Jackson settled out of court with the accuser for an undisclosed sum, reported to be US$20 million. The family dropped the charges.
On December 18, 2003, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in order to commit that felony, all regarding the same boy, (Gavin Arvizo), under 14. The felony complaint stated that Jackson had committed seven lewd acts and two acts of administration of an intoxicating agent to enable the former accusations. Jackson denied these allegations, saying that the sleepovers were in no way sexual in nature. Jackson's friend, Elizabeth Taylor, defended him on Larry King Live, saying that she'd been there when they were in the bed, watching television. There was nothing abnormal about it. There was no touchy-feely going on. We laughed like children, and we watched a lot of Walt Disney. There was nothing odd about it.
The People v. Jackson trial began in Santa Maria, California, on January 31, 2005, and lasted until the end of May 2005, with Jackson being acquitted on all counts in June. It was one of the largest and most documented trials in world history. About 2,200 media credentials to over 30 news organizations from around the world were issued to cover the trial, more than what was given for the trials of O. J. Simpson and Scott Peterson combined. Jackson's popularity outside the United States ensured a distinctly international crowd of reporters. On top of the media, Santa Maria was also flooded with Jackson fans, 1,200 of whom heard and celebrated the ten not guilty verdicts right outside the courthouse.
The District Attorney of Santa Barbara County in California, Tom Sneddon, has led two efforts against Jackson involving child molestation. The first incident, in 1993, resulted in no charges and the second, at the end of 2003, culminated in a trial two years later in which Jackson was acquitted on all counts. These repeated prosecutions have led to suggestions that Sneddon was motivated by a mission or vendetta against Jackson. Although Sneddon has a good track record, evidence to support Jacksons claim is quite strong, he joked about Jacksons greatest hits album being released on the same day as his arrest, called him Wacko Jacko and also shouted we got him, we finally got him to the world media when he had at the time minimal evidence.
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