In September 1997, Michael Jackson sat down in Paris for an interview that became far more personal than a normal promotional appearance.
Princess Diana had died only days earlier.
And Michael understood something about her life that very few people could: what it felt like to have cameras waiting everywhere you went.
Barbara Walters interviewed Michael at the George V Hotel in Paris on September 7, 1997. ABC broadcast the conversation on 20/20 on September 12. ABC’s own publicity described the interview as a discussion of paparazzi, tabloid scrutiny and the enormous pressure of living under constant observation.
The timing made the conversation especially emotional.
Diana had died in Paris on August 31, 1997 after the car carrying her crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel while photographers were pursuing the vehicle.
Michael had been scheduled to perform in Ostend, Belgium, that same day.
The concert was postponed until September 3 following Diana’s death. When Michael finally performed, he dedicated the show to her and used “Smile” and “Gone Too Soon” as part of the tribute.
When Walters asked Michael about the behavior of the paparazzi, he argued that fame should not erase someone’s right to basic privacy.
His point was simple: “The star needs some space.”
Michael said celebrities still had hearts, emotions and moments when they simply wanted to be left alone.
Then the interview turned directly toward Michael himself.
Walters asked about the tabloid nickname that had followed him for years.
Michael did not laugh it off.
He responded:
“I’m not Jacko. I’m Jackson.”
He then explained that the nickname hurt because he had feelings like everyone else and did not want those insults eventually passed on to his young son.
Michael Jackson’s 1997 Barbara Walters Interview
The interview also revealed why Diana’s death had struck Michael so strongly.
He remembered meeting her at one of his London concerts and described her as kind and sweet. He also told the amusing story of temporarily removing “Dirty Diana” from his Wembley set out of respect for her, only for Diana herself to ask why he was not performing it.
But the most powerful part of the interview had little to do with music.
Michael was asking viewers to separate Michael Jackson the human being from the bizarre character created around him in headlines.
He had been famous since childhood. By 1997, almost everything about his appearance, home, relationships and private behavior had become tabloid material.
Princess Diana’s death gave the conversation a tragic urgency.
Only days after the world watched what relentless celebrity attention could become, Michael Jackson looked into a television camera and made one request: stop treating famous people as though they no longer have feelings.