Martin Bashir to make 2nd Jacko documentary
LONDON - British journalist Martin Bashir, famous for his
documentary 'Living with Michael Jackson', is making a second
documentary about the troubled singer who faces a major court battle
on charges of child abuse.
Bashir, who now works for ABC's '20/20' in the US, is believed to
have been secretly interviewing key witnesses due to appear at the
singer's trial, where the singer faces 10 charges that he molested a
13-year-old boy at his Neverland ranch two years ago.
One of these witnesses is 33-year-old Hollywood actor Corey Feldman,
star of 'Stand by Me', who was a friend of Jackson's when he was a
youngster.
In the 2003 expose, Jackson admitted letting boys, including accuser
Gavin Arvizo, share his bed. Even crisis PR support drafted in to
help the singer following the broadcast could not prevent tabloid
attacks on the star.
It was also Bashir's ITV documentary, seen by 27m people and named
programme of the year at the Royal Television Society journalism
awards, which led to the investigation into the star.
Jackson alleged that Bashir edited the documentary to portray the him
in a bad light and sought a High Court injunction to stop Granada
showing any of the unseen footage.
Jackson also launched a complaint with the broadcasting authorities
and accused Bashir of betraying his trust, calling the
programme "terrible and unfair".
According to the Daily Mirror, a source close to Bashir said: "Martin
has been interviewing people. It seems he doesn't want to testify at
court and has been having trouble sleeping."
'Living with Michael Jackson' is to be shown to the jury, but it is
believed Bashir is trying to avoid testifying at court and has filed
a motion that stated his work "speaks for itself".
He also pointed out that under California's shield law, journalists
can not be forced to testify about what they saw while reporting a
story.
However, since this is a criminal case, the judge may be able to
overrule that law by issuing a writ ordering Bashir to attend court.
If Bashir refuses to appear, he could be charged with contempt of
court.
Jackson, on trial in Santa Maria, denies all 10 charges including
groping Arvizo, then 13.
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