Legendary singer Michael Jackson is the subject of Leaving Neverland, a new documentary that details allegations of child molestation made against him. Jackson himself rarely spoke about these or other similar allegations in a public setting, but in a newly unearthed video filmed in 1996, which was obtained by DailyMailTV, he addresses them directly, and looks nervous while doing so. The video is believed to be the only time Jackson talked about the allegations on camera.
The ten-minute clip was edited down from three hours of VHS tapes, which were filmed at The Four Seasons Hotel in New York on March 1, 1996, as part of a lawsuit filed by five Neverland employees against Jackson for wrongful dismissal. The video begins with Jackson laughing, and he continues to let out a giggle while being questioned about allegations of improper conduct with Macaulay Culkin, Jordan Chandler, and Brett Barnes. Jackson’s lawyer refused to allow Jackson to answer questions about Chandler and Barnes, and throughout the video, Jackson appears to be uncomfortable.
Towards the end of the clip, he quotes Jesus while talking about his interest in spending time with children, saying, “Jesus said to love the children and be like children; be youthful; be innocent, be pure and honorable. He was talking to his apostles and they were fighting over who was the greatest among themselves and he said, ”Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest among me.’ He always surrounded himself with children, and that’s how I was raised, to be like that and imitate that.”
In January, Culkin insisted that his relationship with Jackson was innocent, saying, “Here’s the thing at the end of the day: We were friends. It’s one of my friendships that people question only because of the fact that he was the most famous person in the world.”
Watch the video below.
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