Jackson Interview to Air Tonight

Michael Jackson, in a wide-ranging television interview, said he believes he “won God’s smile of approval” for bringing youngsters to his Neverland ranch.

The superstar, who is under a gag order during his child molestation trial in Santa Barbara County, didn’t directly proclaim his innocence in the interview scheduled to air today on Fox News Channel’s “At Large w/Geraldo Rivera” program.

But he described many of the news reports about him as “fiction” and said his celebrity made him a target.

“The bigger the star, the bigger the target.... But truth always prevails,” Jackson said in the interview. Fox News on Thursday released excerpts of the interview taped two weeks ago. It was Jackson’s first interview since his April indictment. Jackson said he designed Neverland as a home and a place to do the things he never could as a child star.

“This allowed me to have a place behind the gates where the entire world I love is there,” Jackson said. “Other men have their Ferraris and their airplanes or helicopter or wherever they find their bliss. My bliss is in giving and sharing and having simple, innocent fun.”