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Michael Jackson · S6 E7
Oprah
The 1993 interview — what he admitted and what he held back
February 10, 1993, Neverland Ranch. Ninety million Americans tune in to watch Michael Jackson give his first major interview in fourteen years, and the person asking the questions is Oprah Winfrey.
Scream, Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson (1995). The most expensive music video ever made at $7 million. Michael and Janet channel their rage at media persecution into a futuristic space station, smashing screens and dancing in zero gravity. This is what the Oprah interview's frustration sounded like when it finally became a song.
Scream, Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson (1995)
Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with Janet, "Scream" was Michael's most direct attack on the media. The production is abrasive by design: distorted guitars, industrial percussion, and the siblings' voices cutting through like weapons. The $7 million video was directed by Mark Romanek and set on a spaceship where Michael and Janet rage against screens filled with their own coverage. It debuted at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest debut for any single at that time.
Sources
HIStory album credits, Epic Records, 1995
Billboard Hot 100 chart history, 1995
Guinness World Records, most expensive music video, 1995
The Interview
Oprah arrived at Neverland with a crew and a list of questions Michael had never answered publicly. He confirmed for the first time that he had vitiligo, the skin condition that had fueled years of speculation about bleaching. He admitted to two nose jobs and a cleft put in his chin. And he spoke about his father Joe's physical abuse during childhood, his voice breaking as he described being beaten during rehearsals.
Sources
Oprah Winfrey interview with Michael Jackson, ABC, February 10, 1993
Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, J. Randy Taraborrelli, 2009
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did Michael choose Oprah?
What He Held Back
The interview felt raw and unguarded, but Michael was still performing. He controlled the narrative carefully, revealing just enough to generate sympathy while steering away from questions that cut too close. The tour of Neverland was designed to present him as childlike and innocent. What the interview could not address was what was coming six months later.
Sources
Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, Randall Sullivan, 2012
The Oprah Interview by the Numbers
Keep the Faith, Michael Jackson (1991)
A six-minute gospel anthem from the Dangerous album, built around a choir, organ, and Michael's most preacher-like vocal. The song is about holding on when everything around you is falling apart. In the context of the Oprah interview, it sounds like the mantra Michael was telling himself before the cameras went live. One of the longest and most overlooked tracks on the album.
Keep the Faith, Michael Jackson (1991)
The lyrics read like a sermon: direct, repetitive, building in intensity with each verse. The Andraé Crouch choir swells behind Michael's vocal while the organ grounds the entire production in church. This is Michael the believer, singing about perseverance with the same conviction he brought to every performance.
How many Americans watched Michael's 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey?
The Oprah interview gives Michael control of his own story for the first time in years. Six months later, in August 1993, an allegation surfaces that will take that control away permanently.
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