Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Day 50 brought actor Macaulay Culkin to the stand. He testified that he was only a boy when he met Michael Jackson, but he said they were kindred spirits, having both been cast into the show business spotlight at a tender age.
The former child star of “Home Alone” described his relationship Wednesday at Mr. Jackson’s trial, adamantly denying Mr. Jackson had ever touched him inappropriately and dismissing molestation charges against Mr. Jackson as “ridiculous.” Culkin told jurors that staying over at Mr. Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was “good old fun.”
“Did Mr. Jackson ever molest you?” defense attorney Thomas Mr. Mesereau asked.
“Never,” Culkin replied.
“Did Mr. Jackson ever inappropriately touch you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did he ever touch you in a sexual way?”
“No.”
“What do you think of these allegations?”
“I think they’re absolutely ridiculous.”
Culkin is the third defense witness to testify that he was NOT a victim of inappropriate sexual overtures by Mr. Jackson during childhood visits to Mr. Jackson’s home.
The actor’s testimony was followed by a key decision in which the judge allowed the defense to play a videotape in which Mr. Jackson spoke of his love for children. The jury heard Mr. Jackson say, “They need to be held and loved and told somebody cares.”
“Anyone who was a child performer,” he said, “we keep an eye out for each other.”
Culkin became part of the case when prosecutors were allowed to present testimony to suggest Mr. Jackson has a pattern of abusing boys. The testimony included an ex-chef who said he saw Mr. Jackson with a hand up Culkin’s shorts as Mr. Jackson held the boy up to a video game.
Culkin appeared relaxed and answered questions directly during less than 90 minutes of testimony. Godfather to two of Mr. Jackson’s children, Culkin has appeared in such Mr. Jackson productions as his “Black or White” music video.
Culkin testified that he was 9 or 10 years old when he met Mr. Jackson and that he slept in Mr. Jackson’s bed several times between the ages of 10 and 14, sometimes with other boys as well. He said the sleepovers weren’t planned and that he and others would just fall asleep when they were tired.
The pair’s real bond was in shared experiences as child stars, said Culkin, who was just a boy when his wide-eyed role in “Home Alone” made him a household name.
“One day I’m just a normal kid who was an actor, and the next day people are hiding under bushes trying to take your picture,” said Culkin, now 24. “You can’t find other people who have been in these circumstances.”
Culkin said he knew he and Mr. Jackson were “part of a unique group” and it was “a very comforting thing.” When he spoke about how “profiteers” were out to get him, he said, Mr. Jackson understood because “he had lived through it.”
Culkin said he and Mr. Jackson often talked about missing out on their childhoods.
“It wasn’t like therapy,” he said, “but we talked about how these kind of things happen.”
The young actor said he only learned of the allegations made about him when someone told him he should watch CNN. Â Culkin told jurors that prosecutors never contacted him about the accusations of former Neverland employees.
“It was one of those things. I couldn’t believe it, first of all, that people were saying these things,” Culkin said. “At the same time, it was amazing to me that nobody asked me. They didn’t even double-check it. They didn’t even ask.”
At one point Culkin described Mr. Jackson as “very childlike.”
“He liked doing the things we did. He liked playing the arcade games although he wasn’t as good as we were,” he said, drawing laughs.
Culkin rejected suggestions that he might have been molested in his sleep, saying: “I find that unlikely. I think I’d realize that something like that was happening to me.”
He also dismissed a prosecution display of sex magazines seized from Mr. Jackson’s home, saying he used to keep Playboys under his own bed as a boy. Culkin was the third young man to testify that he slept with Mr. Jackson at Neverland as a boy but was not molested.
He testified his parents trusted Mr. Jackson, were aware that he and Mr. Jackson sometimes shared a bed and that Culkin’s father would even come into Mr. Jackson’s bedroom to wake up his son.
“They never really saw it as an issue,” Culkin said. “I knew they knew I was in the room.”
Culkin said that during his visits to Neverland, he was almost always accompanied by “some kind of combination” of his parents, brothers and sisters who also were friends with Mr. Jackson. He said that Mr. Jackson had an “open door” policy, never locked his bedroom door, and that when he slept with Mr. Jackson, Culkin said, he wore jeans, socks and a T-shirt.Â
“That was part of the fun of the place. There were no rigid rules about where or when you could fall asleep,” he said, adding later that he always slept in his clothes and was never naked or in pajamas.
“I’ve never seen him do anything improper with anybody,” Culkin told jurors.
In other developments, a lawyer who has represented Michael Jackson’s accuser and his mother told talk show host Larry King and another man that he considered the mother “a flake” and didn’t believe the boy, according to a report of a witness interview filed by Mr. Jackson’s investigator.
In the memo, investigator Scott Ross said he interviewed publisher Michael Viner on April 26 about a meeting with Feldman and King about six months before the trial began. The memo was offered in support of a defense request that Viner testify in the trial.
Mr. Jackson himself finally had the chance to defend himself in court - not from the witness stand but in videotaped outtakes of interviews he gave. Mr. Jackson described his troubled childhood, denied being “weird,” and explained that he loves children for their innocence and would never harm them.
“I’m not a nut,” Mr. Jackson said in one interview. “I’m very smart. You can’t come this far and be a nut.”
The videotape, presented by the defense after the Culkin testimony, was made by Mr. Jackson’s videographer as journalist Martin Bashir was making the “Living With Michael Jackson” documentary. It included large segments that did not appear in the documentary. Jurors were expected to see more of the footage Thursday.
“I haven’t been betrayed or deceived by children,” he said. “Adults have let me down.”
The videotape provided a showcase for Mr. Jackson to explain his decision to build his Neverland ranch fantasy park and his feeling at times that he was safer with children than adults.
The following are 10 things Mr. Jackson loves, according to the videotaped interview shown in the courtroom:
— “I love innocence.” The 46-year-old father of three spoke of his profound and pure love for children. He said he would slash his wrists before hurting a child.
— “I love performing.” The celebrated entertainer said the only time he feels truly at ease in public is when he’s on stage.
— “I love all people.” Mr. Jackson said it makes it even more hurtful when people spread lies about him.
— “I love blue skies.” Mr. Jackson failed to explain this comment.
— “I love trains.” A miniature train circles his Neverland ranch and a full-sized steam train covers a shorter distance. The whistle of the locomotive is heard during the interview.
— “I love art.” His estate is filled with valuable art pieces and memorabilia.
— “I love to read.” He said his favorite authors include William Wordsworth, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. Jurors had heard earlier that he has a huge collection of books at Neverland.
— “I love wisdom.” He said he derives much of that from reading books, and often ponders it while perched on his favorite tree at his fantasy-themed estate.
— “I love Italians.” He pointed out though that he does not feel the same way about Italian paparazzi.
— “I love silver-backed gorillas.” He mentioned those while talking of a visit to the Berlin zoo a few years ago. “I could watch them all day.”
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