Michael Jackson Talks to Oprah Exclusive 1993 Interview

In a rare and candid 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson offers the world a glimpse into his Neverland Ranch and gentle personality. I remember waiting on the edge of my seat for what seemed forever before the 90 minute primetime special aired. When it was over, this twenty year old felt that she still didn’t get enough of her childhood crush and universal icon. In recently rewatching the footage, this now 35-year-old still needs more. Sadly, there won’t be more.

During the video interview, Michael candidly answers Oprah’s unscreened questions before millions of live viewers. Michael dispels countless rumors circulating about him, relays his desire to have children, and conveys his childhood loneliness, which seemed to stalk him to the grave. Oprah helps Michael open up about his complicated relationship with his father, the skin disease that was later named as Vitiligo, and his perpetual dissatisfaction with himself on his quest for perfection. Michael openly embraces being black, and says that he's proud of his heritage.

The highlights of the Oprah interview for fans will be seeing the opening pictorial montage of Michael’s life up to that point, which includes intimate home video of boyhood Michael and his brothers dancing around. Oprah wonders if Michael was as happy offstage as he appeared to be on stage. Michael says that he was always most comfortable on stage. While he could have fun with his brothers, he’d also cry a lot from loneliness.

Though Michael opens up to Oprah, he chooses his words very carefully, overly aware that the tabloid media twisted everything he said or did. For example, Michael stated that he’d gotten into a tank at a burn unit, which had been dedicated to him. Someone snapped a photo and spread the rumor that Michael slept in an oxygen tank. Michael implores people to read his book before they judged him.

Elizabeth Taylor, the person who coined the name “King of Pop,” briefly joins the interview. Among other accolades, Liz called him “generous to almost a fault—of himself.” Liz says they were friends because they had their childhood experiences in common; she’d become a star at age nine.

Later, Michael drives Oprah around the 2700 acre Neverland Park on a golf cart. They stop at Michael’s movie theater, where Michael explains that he built Neverland to live out his childhood and to help heal terminally ill children. Michael says he sought to imitate Jesus, who said, “To be like children, to love children, to be as pure as children and make yourself as innocent…” Michael says that he wouldn’t change his past because it made him so in tuned to the needs of children.

Michael outlines his efforts with various charities like the Make a Wish Foundation, and his own Heal the World. After he dances for Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson credits inner city kids for inspiring his dance moves. At Oprah’s request, Michael scats, and sings a verse of Who Is It, before the interview concludes with Oprah vowing to ride the park rides.