Michael Jackson Talks ... to Oprah

Michael Jackson Talks ... to Oprah
Genre	Television Interview
Presented by	Oprah Winfrey
Starring	Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson
Production
Executive producers	Oprah Winfrey, Debra Di Maio, Wendy Roth
Production location	Neverland Valley Ranch
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	February 10, 1993 (1993-02-10)

Michael Jackson Talks ... to Oprah is an American television interview special that was broadcast by ABC on February 10, 1993. The special featured an interview between musician Michael Jackson and Oprah Winfrey, filmed at his Neverland Ranch in California.

The interview

During the interview, Jackson denied multiple tabloid rumors surrounding his personal life, including that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man ("Where am I gonna put some bones?"), slept in a hyperbaric chamber, or bleached his skin—publicly revealing for the first time that he had vitiligo. He also denied reports that he had cast a Caucasian child would play his younger self in a Pepsi commercial, stating that it was "the most ridiculous, horrifying story I’ve ever heard", and asking "Why would I want a white child to play me? I’m a black American. [..] I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am."

Jackson accused his father Joe Jackson of mentally and physically abusing him, and stated that he often cried from loneliness.

Viewership

A.C. Nielsen reported that the interview was seen by an average of 62 million viewers, the twentieth-largest audience for a U.S. television program reported by Nielsen at the time.