US: The mother and son at the centre of the Michael Jackson allegations were shown in video footage yesterday praising the 46-year-old singer and insisting there was nothing untoward in his relationship with the boy.
On the fifth day of the child molestation trial, the jury watched a video recording of the pair which the prosecution said was staged by the Jackson camp to neutralise negative publicity generated by a British TV documentary exposing his friendships with children.
In the video, broadcast on the Fox network in the US, the family, led by the mother, repeatedly praised Jackson as a father figure. They also criticised Martin Bashir's documentary, Living with Michael Jackson, for questioning the mutual affection shown by Jackson and the then 13-year-old, describing their relationship as a "natural thing".
"It disturbed me greatly when I saw the innuendos that there was something dirty about it," the mother said.
The video is at the centre of prosecution allegations that Jackson and others kidnapped the family and held them against their will until they had recorded an interview praising the singer.
Watching the uncut video in court, Jackson sat motionless. Behind him, in the public gallery, his sister LaToya, his brother Jermaine and his mother Catherine, also watched.
The now 18-year-old sister of the alleged victim watched from the witness stand as she began her second day of testimony. At one point in the video the sister breaks down as she describes the extent of her younger brother's suffering from cancer. She says on the video that Jackson is a "humble, caring and attentive" man.
At one point the mother says that it is impossible that anything could have occurred between Jackson and her son, as was being suggested following the Bashir documentary.
The trial continues.