Reading the press coming from America and England and Europe,
they describe you as the new Michael, the female Michael Jackson.
Have you read that?
No, I haven't read that.
I've heard some other comparisons, but that's nice.
That's flattering. Not bad, isn't it?
So Madonna wasn't invited to sing on the recording of We Are the World
and that was sort of, a bit of a slap
in the face because everybody was in Los Angeles for the American Music Awards.
We all went to dinner together.
And I know she felt bad because I know Quincy and I know Michael.
So I'm going over to the recording just to hang out.
And I said to Madonna, I said, okay, we're headed over to A and M.
And I could feel her feeling bad about that.
So now it comes time to closing number Live Aid is We Are the World.
And Madonna says, okay, I wasn't good enough to sing on the record.
Well, I'm not singing the finale.
And so she comes out, she does her thing with the Thompson Twins with us.
She does her set, We Are the World.
Bang, she's gone.
And she goes to my girlfriend's apartment with Sean Penn.
There are parties all over Los Angeles
tonight, but when you talk Oscar night and parties, there is only one word.
Spago's. After the Academy Awards show,
more big names make the trek across town of the Spago's extravaganza.
Did you guys enjoy the evening?
Fabulous.
You attended this with Michael Jackson of course.
Is this something you guys sat down and plotted out beforehand?
So we're just going to knock?
No, I didn't have a date to the Academy Awards.
And Michael was like, who are you going to go with?
And I looked him and I said, I don't know.
You want to go?
And he said, yeah, that'd be great.
Did he pick you up at your house?
It was one of those deals.
No, he didn't pick me up at my house because I was already there.
I had to do a run through of the show right before the show.
So I was there already.
So he came and hung out backstage and then
went out and watched the show and my performance.
And then I came and sat down.
So now afterwards,
after the show and everything, did you and Michael go home together?
Well, no, we went to Spago's. There was a big party.
And we stayed there for hours and hours and hours.
And then, yes, he took me home.
And now what do you want to know after that?
Yeah,
I'm not going to tell you
but you and Michael Jackson now, you see, I would be at a loss to talk
to Michael Jackson as you're driving in the limbo and all that traffic.
What do you talk about with Michael Jackson?
What do we talk about?
Well, first I beg him not to wear
sunglasses, and of course, he obliges because I'm stronger than he is.
Right. And then we exchange powder puffs.
So you both look wonderful.
We both powder our noses, and we compare
bank accounts.
Dynamite guy.
Yeah, he's great.
Naturally, everybody was looking at the twosomes as they walked up.
I know you guys got the most recognition.
That's basically two of the superstars of our time.
Yeah.
Well we are working on a song.
I'm a perfectionist.
He's a perfectionist.
I'm glad to be working with him just to have the experience.
He's a great musical talent,
but we're going to wait and finish it and then go, okay, do we want to do this?
Does he want to put it in his album?
Is that the next statement I want to make?
And there was a lot of talk of course at one time.
If you work with Michael Jackson, I know you were quite keen on that,
and people were looking forward to, it would have been really something.
Well, maybe. So you weren't happy.
Was it the chemistry that caused it to fall apart then?
Well, it's not that I was unhappy.
I mean, it was an experiment. He called me.
He wanted to write a song with me.
He approached me, and I was like, curious.
It's hard for me to write music with people because I have to really know
them and trust them and feel that I can really make myself vulnerable.
Because when you write,
you have to sort of bear a little bit of your soul and you have to not be afraid
to make mistakes and to sing in front of someone.
In a way, it's a very intimate experience,
so I wasn't sure it was going to work, even though I think he's talented.
So we got together and he played me a bit of music.
It was very unfinished track.
And he said that he wanted to call the song In the Closet.
And I said, hold on a second.
Before we go on there.
What exactly was he referring to there?
Wait, that's what I'm getting to.
I said, you want to call this song In The Closet?
And he said, yes.
And I said, well, do you know what that implies?
And he said, yeah.
And he sort of giggled a little bit.
And I said, Well, I like to deal with these kind
of ironic, innuendo kind of things, so if you want to go that way.
I was kind of, like, shocked that he wanted to call something
like that because it's very provocative the title.
So he said, yes. So I started writing words and getting
ideas and stuff, and I presented them to him, and he didn't like them.
And I think all he wanted was a provocative title.
And ultimately he didn't want the content
of the song to sort of live up to the title.
It's quite interesting because it's almost like you traditionally you've got the kind
of masculine that relationship, and he is the passive.
Yes, definitely.
Let's not go much further with us.
Well, you're welcome, too. There was talk
I believe that you were going to restyle him.
You didn't like the way he looked.
What did you have in mind for him?
I really wanted him to cut his hair.
I think sometimes it's good to cut your hair and start all over again.
That was my main thing.
I wanted him to get a really short haircut
and I wanted him to get rid of those loafers in the white socks.
Just thought try something new.
There's been some talk with you
with Michael Jackson about as we've talked about you changing your image.
Are you going to change Michael Jackson's image?
There has been speculation about that.
I know, I guess we got together and I can't help it.
You can see how I am with the dancers.
I sort of have to get my hands in there
and go oh you should do this, you should wear that, you should cut your hair.
You should do.
And I gave him a lot of books to read
and directors reels because I think he's very talented but I
felt that he needed to be exposed to more things and he had been exposing himself
to so I think we read books though quite frankly
I have tons of books on photography so that sticks out in my mind.
Jackson was all smiles in the car but on these tapes he reveals
that the material girl's sexy ways felt more than a little dangerous.
You know, at the time I was with Madonna
she was into these books.
All over, a whole collection.
like a library of books of women who were tied to walls...
She said, "I love spanky books."
Why would I want to see that, right?
I think she likes shock value.
Madonna laid the law down to me
before we went out, "I am not going to Disneyland,
OK? That's out." I said,
"I didn't ask you to go to Disneyland"
She said, "We are going to the restaurant
and afterwards we are going to the strip bar".
I said, "I am not going to a strip bar,
where they cross dress." Guys who are girls and girls--
I am not going there.
I think afterwards she wrote some
mean things about me in the press
and I said she's a nasty witch.
I tried to have an influence on him.
I don't know if he's going to heed any of my advice.
After all, he's done pretty well for himself without me.
We went to the table eating and little kids came up,
Oh My God, Michael Jackson and Madonna!
Can we have your autograph?
And she goes. "Kids, get out of here, leave us alone!"
I said don't you ever talk to children like that.
She said Shut up. I said you shut up.
*inaudible* yeah that's what I said. *inaudible*
Then we went out again to get the Academy Awards.
She's not a nice person
Jackson does paint Madonna as envious.
When he talks about jealousy in Hollywood.
They admire you and know you are wonderful and great but they're jealous because
they wish they were in your place, wish they were in your shoes.
And M is one of them.
Madonna, she's not a nice-
she hasn't been kind.
Absolutely, she's a woman and I think that's what bothers her.
Women don't scream for other women and men
are too cool to scream for women and I get that.
I get the fainting and the adulation and the notoriety that she doesn't.
She can't get that. Looks like
Michael Jackson is breaking out the crotch grabs early.
Who are you trying to Fool, Michael?
You stole that move from me.
That's a lie Madonna.
And you know it.
Yeah, you want to see cross grabbing?
This is one of the most bizarre displays I have ever seen in our ring.
It appears to be some kind of grouch grabbing Mexican standoff.
The tension is unbearable.
One of these fighters is going to have to give in.
Happy birthday.
In extreme steps to hide her kids
unlike that other pop icon, Michael Jackson.
Who can forget that bizarre scene of Jackson covering his children's faces
with masks in the now infamous Martin Bashir documentary.
Madonna and Jackson are what you'd call
showbiz pals, sharing an only in Hollywood date to the Academy Awards back in 1991.
Still friends?
Oh, I haven't talked to him in ages.
Did you see the documentary? I didn't.
I heard about it.
Everybody was talking about it at one point and describing things.
To me, it just sounds horrifying.
I wouldn't want to watch it. Horrifying in what way?
It just sounds so exploitive.
So I don't know. I don't like it.
I don't like people humiliating other people like that.
It doesn't seem right and fair.
You said this publicly humiliating someone
for your own gain, which is, I think what you feel Martin Bashir may
have done, will only come back to haunt you.
I can assure you all these people will be sorry.
God's going to have his revenge.
Michael Jackson
I have a little bit more to say than that.
He seemed otherworldly, but he was also a human being.
Like most performers, he was shy and plagued with insecurities.
I can't say we were great friends,
but in 1991 I decided I wanted to try and get to know him better.
I asked him out to dinner.
I said, My treat. I'll drive.
Just you and me.
He agreed and showed up to my house without any bodyguards.
We drove to the restaurant in my car.
It was dark out, but he was still wearing sunglasses.
I said, Michael, I feel like I'm talking to a limousine.
Do you think you could take off those glasses so I can see your eyes?
He paused for a moment, then he tossed the glasses out the window,
looked at me with a wink and a smile, and said, can you see me now?
Is that better?
In that moment, I could see both his vulnerability and his charm.
The rest of the dinner, I was hell bent on getting him to eat
french fries, drink wine, have dessert, and say bad words.
Things he never seemed to allow himself to do.
Later, we went back to my house to watch a movie, and we sat on the couch like two
kids, and somewhere in the middle of the film, his hand snuck over and held mine.
It felt like he was looking for a friend,
more than a romance, and I was happy to oblige him.
There is no question that Michael Jackson
was one of the greatest talents the world has ever known.
How important was it for you to be here to honor Michael?
Extremely important, because I really didn't have my chance
to pay my last respects to him or speak of him in the way that I wanted to.
So it was a privilege and an honor for me to say what I had to say.
The Queen of Pop has paid Tribute to the King of Pop.
Madonna has used the opportunity of her
latest concert to pay respects to Michael Jackson.
A picture of the star as a boy appeared
on giant screens as Madonna was performing holiday.
The singer then danced along with the Jacko impersonator who thrilled
the 17,000 crowd at the O2 in London with some of the star's trademark moves.
What made it all the more poignant was that it was in the very venue where just
a week from now, Jackson was due to embark on a grueling series of 50 concerts.
Alright people, let's give it up
To one of the greatest artists the world has ever known.
Michael Jackson, long live the king.
But leave it to Madge to reveal something no one saw coming.
Did you kiss?
Of course. No. Of course.
You and Michael Jackson.
I mean, baby, I've been around.
Yes, you heard that right?
Madonna revealed she hooked up with the King of pop.
Full french kissing?
Yea, tongue in the mouth kissing
I did not know that.
So hang on.
So who makes the first move?
You or Michael Jackson, who leans in?
Well I did, if you want to know the truth because he's a little bit shy.
Yea. However, he was a willing accomplice.
I did get him to sort of loosen up with a glass of Chardonnay.
Yeah, and it did wonders.
It worked wonders.
Have you ever said that before?
No
I mean, I may have said it to a friend. Yeah.
Since the release of the documentary Leaving Neverland.
Now Madonna is also weighing in. Yes.
So Madonna is on the cover of British Vogue and she says she isn't
going to take the claims the alleged victims make at face value.
She tells the magazine, I don't have a lynch mob mentality.
So in my mind, people are innocent until proven guilty.
I've had a thousand accusations hurled at me that are not true.
So my attitude when People tell me things about people is can you prove it?
Yeah. Now when the writer asked Madonna
what would she interpret as proof Madonna said this?
I don't know.
I haven't seen the film, but I guess it would be people recounting actual events.
But then, of course, people sometimes lie.
So I always say, what's the agenda?
What do people want out of this?
Are there people asking for money?
Is there some kind of extortion thing happening?
I would take all of those things into consideration.
You can't hate on somebody when their
mandate is to allow due process, to find the truth and to not weigh
in on something and to not want to convict somebody.
And I think that what Madonna said was solid and a lot of people feel that way.
Alexis says, yeah,
I honestly agree with Madonna and Mike says, I believe this is an honest answer.
Yeah, you have to believe in due process. You do.
It's a weird situation.