Jackson praised for relationship with children

BRITISH journalist Martin Bashir heaped praise on Michael Jackson, claiming his relationship with his children was so “spectacular” it almost made him weep, it emerged yesterday.

Jurors at the singer’s child molestation trial were shown the final out-takes from Bashir’s bombshell documentary that triggered the entire investigation.

Jackson’s defence claims Bashir edited the footage so certain things were taken out of context.

Film taken by the singer’s personal videographer showed large segments which did not appear in the documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, first broadcast on ITV1 in February 2003.

On the tapes, Jackson says he is close to children because they have never betrayed or deceived him. Adults, he said, had let him down.

“I’m not a nut,” he said. “I’m very smart. You can’t come this far and be a nut.”

The footage allowed jurors at Santa Maria court, California, to listen to Jackson without him having to take the stand.

It portrayed a vulnerable, more compassionate man which his lawyers hope will soften his image.

He said his ex-wife Debbie Rowe had given him their two children as a “gift”. The third, he said, was by an unknown surrogate mother and all he asked was that she was intelligent.

Bashir praised Jackson as a parent, saying: “Your relationship to your children is spectacular. It almost makes me weep.”

Jackson replied: “I’m crazy about them. I look in their eyes and I say I love you every day.” The singer also discussed his overwhelming loneliness and his fear of his father.

The out-takes were shown after Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin gave evidence, adamantly denying he was ever molested by Jackson, despite admitting he often shared his bed.

The son of a gardener at Neverland, Carlos Velasco, later testified that he had never seen Jackson molest alleged victim Jason Francia, who received a financial settlement from the singer.

Jackson, 46, denies molesting his then-13-year-old accuser, plying him with alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive. The trial continues.