Jackson Declares Innocence, Says He’s Victim Of Conspiracy

By JOHN ROGERSAssociated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) – Saying his child molestation trial has brought him to the lowest emotional point of his life, Michael Jackson urged his fans to pray for him, adding he has faith in God he will be vindicated. “I gain strength from the fact that I know I am innocent. None of these stories are true,” Jackson told the Rev. Jesse Jackson during an hourlong interview broadcast live over the Internet on Sunday morning. The entertainer said he believes he is the victim of a conspiracy, although he declined to elaborate, citing the court-imposed gag order that prevents him from discussing the ongoing trial in detail. “I just want to say to fans in every corner of the Earth, every nationality, every race, every language, I love you from the bottom of my heart,” Jackson said toward the end of the interview. “I would love your prayers and your goodwill, and please be patient and be with me and believe in me because I am completely, completely innocent. But please know a lot of conspiracy is going on as we speak.” Jackson also said he remains in “intense pain” after falling in the shower earlier this month, although he said at another point his health is “perfect.” The entertainer arrived late to court on March 10, wearing pajama bottoms, a T-shirt and walking stiffly. His representatives said at the time he had been treated at a hospital for a serious back injury. “I was coming out of the shower and I fell and all my body weight, I’m pretty fragile, all my body weight fell against my rib cage,” Jackson said. “And I bruised my lung very badly.” He said the injury has caused him to cough up blood and was so painful that it brought him to tears in court one day when he was seen wiping his eyes with a tissue. He added that he remains under a doctor’s care. Earlier in the interview, when the reverend noted how thin he is, Jackson replied that he has never been a big eater, something he said has always concerned his mother and others, including actress Elizabeth Taylor, a friend. “Elizabeth Taylor used to feed me, to hand-feed me, at times,” he said. “Please, I don’t want anybody to think I’m starving, I’m not.” he quickly added. “My health is perfect, actually.” The entertainer also denied recent rumors that he is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. “That’s not true at all. It’s just one of their many schemes to embarrass me,” he said. He did indicate there is some sort of battle under way over the music catalog he owns that contains the rights to songs by the Beatles, Little Richard and others, but he declined to elaborate. “There’s a big fight going on, right now as we speak, about that,” he said. “I can’t comment on it, but there’s a lot of conspiracy out there.” Jackson said his trial has brought him to “the lowest point emotionally” that he’s ever experienced, adding he has turned to his religious faith to get through it. “I believe in Jehovah God very much,” said Jackson, a Jehovah’s Witness. The first 40 minutes of the interview were given over to an upbeat Jackson reminiscing warmly about his career, his family and such childhood musical heroes as James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Sammy Davis Jr. and the Beatles. He spoke of having hotel pillow fights with his brothers in the musical group the Jackson Five and of always being surrounded by music. But he also said he would become sad at times when he had to go into a recording studio or perform a concert rather than play at the park. “It’s true, I didn’t have a childhood,” Jackson said, adding his decision as an adult to turn his Neverland Ranch into a combination amusement park-zoo was part of an effort to recreate that lost childhood.