Jackson says documentary unfair to him

Pop star Michael Jackson lashed out Thursday at a “tawdry” documentary he helped make for British television, and said he would never abuse children.

In the film -- a rare look at the American singer’s private life that was shot over eight months -- Jackson admitted sharing a bed with children at his Neverland ranch. The program, “Living With Michael Jackson,” was shown in Britain on Monday and was due to be televised in the United States on ABC on Thursday night.

“Today I feel more betrayed than perhaps ever before, that someone who had got to know my children, my staff and me, whom I let into my heart and told the truth, could then sacrifice the trust I placed in him and produce this terrible and unfair program,” Jackson, 44, said in a statement released in London.

“Everyone who knows me will know the truth, which is that my children come first in my life and that I would never harm any child.”

Granada Television, which produced the film, said it stood by its reporting.