'If it wasn’t for children... I would kill myself': Michael Jackson's 1999 interview with Piers Morgan aired on GMB

Katy Clifton5 March 2019

Michael Jackson told Piers Morgan that he was fed up of people trying to raise the issue of children against him in an interview in 1999 that was aired today.

The interview, unearthed and played today on Good Morning Britain, hears the late entertainer discussing child abuse rumours levelled against him.

The interview from two decades ago hears Jackson talk with Piers Morgan over the phone during a visit to London, during which he said if it wasn’t for children he would “kill himself, I wouldn’t care to live”.

The taped interview, heard on GMB this morning, has aired one day before damning documentary Leaving Neverland hits screens across the UK.

Addressing his relationship with children, Jackson says: “If it wasn’t for children I would throw in the towel, I would kill myself, I wouldn’t care to live.

A never-before-heard interview with Michael Jackson is airing on GMB
AP

“They give me my inspiration, they inspire me. Everything I do, every song I write, the dance, everything that I do. They try to use it against me and it’s just been so unfair and I’m very upset about it.”

Asked about rumours that he harmed children, he told Morgan: “I would slit my wrists before I would.”

The singer also discussed his relationship with the press, saying he was treated unfairly by British media while visiting London.

He told Morgan: “I would love to live in London and I love it so much it’s just the press is so hard on me here and I try to do so good.

“I go to the hospitals, I give presents to the children, as soon as I leave the next day they go ‘Wacko Jacko left the hospital and he ignored all the children’.

Michael Jackson spoke to Piers Morgan about rumours he harmed children
AFP/Getty Images

“And it hurts my heart because I purposely flew Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse all the way from Euro Disney, I brought them with me to surprise the children. I brought bags of presents and I spent time with the kids and they made fun of me.”

GMB also says the interview touches on Princess Diana in further clips which will be aired on Tuesday.

It comes as Leaving Neverland, which includes explosive accusations including claims Jackson gave a boy jewellery for sexual acts, prepares to hit screens across the UK on Wednesday and Thursday.

Airing on Channel 4, the film details allegations from Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who say Jackson molested them as boys.

The Jackson estate has condemned the four-hour film as "an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in" on the superstar, who died in 2009.

Jackson also denied all allegations that he abused underage boys during his lifetime.

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