Jackson denies charges in ’60 Minutes’ interview

In his first interview since his Nov. 20 arrest on suspicion of child molestation, Michael Jackson says it is still acceptable to share his bed with children. The 45-year-old entertainer also denies the charges against him during an interview on Sunday’s installment of CBS’ newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”

Correspondent Ed Bradley interviewed Jackson for about 30 minutes on Christmas in a Los Angeles hotel room. Bradley has long sought to interview Jackson. Last February, the entertainer had been in negotiations with “60 Minutes,” but when Bradley and his camera crew arrived at Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch, they weren’t able to persuade Jackson’s handlers to go through with the interview.

Jackson tells Bradley it is acceptable to sleep with children: “Of course. Why not? If you’re going to be a pedophile, if you’re going to be Jack the Ripper, if you’re going to be a murderer, it’s not a good idea. That I am not.”

He also tells Bradley that “before I would hurt a child, I would slit my wrists” and that his privacy was so violated after the police search of Neverland that he wouldn’t live there again. “It’s a house now. It’s not a home anymore. I’ll only visit.”

CBS also announced Friday that the network had rescheduled an hourlong Jackson music special that it had pulled from the November schedule shortly after the molestation charges surfaced. The special, “Michael Jackson’s Number Ones,” originally set to air the day before Thanksgiving, is now scheduled for Friday.

Besides clips of Jackson’s performances, the special includes interviews with Dick Clark, Beyonce Knowles and Mary J. Blige. The special had been scheduled to coincide with the release of a greatest-hits CD that has had disappointing sales, failing to make the Top 10 and currently in 65th place on sales charts.

On Dec. 18, Jackson was formally charged with seven felony counts of child molestation and two counts claiming he administered an “intoxicating agent” -- alleged to be wine -- to a young cancer patient earlier this year at his Neverland Ranch in hopes of seducing the boy. If Jackson is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to eight years on each count, although lawyers have stated the maximum prison term for such crimes is 20 years.

Jackson’s last TV interview was in February with British journalist Martin Bashir. In that interview, Jackson is seen holding his accuser’s hand and stating that they had slept in his bedroom but in separate beds.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.