On Thursday Fox News released excerpts from the interview, which was taped two weeks ago.  Jackson was granted permission to give the interview despite a "gag order" in place during his trial for child molestation charges. Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville reportedly gave the go ahead the interview as long as Jackson did not discuss the trial directly. 

Despite the gag order, Jackson did discuss his reasons behind the "Neverland Ranch" and why he invited children to visit. "I created Neverland as a home for myself and my children," Jackson told Rivera. "It gave me a chance to do what I couldn't do when I was little," Jackson said. "We couldn't go to movie theaters. We couldn't go to Disneyland. We couldn't do all those fun things. We were on tour. We were working hard.

"And we did enjoy it," Jackson added. "But this allowed me to have a place behind the gates where the entire world I love is there ... 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."

Jackson feels he has won "God's smile of approval" for sharing the innocent fun with inner-city children.  "If I can open my gates and see that bliss, an explosion of screaming laughter from the children as they run on the rides, I say, 'Thank you God.' "

While he couldn't discuss the trial directly, Jackson dismissed press account of him as "fiction". Jackson said that watching media coverage of his life is like "looking at a fictitious movie. Because it's fiction. It's like watching science fiction. It's not true." 

He believes that his celebrity made him a target, but also believes that in the end he will be vindicated.  "The bigger the star, the bigger the target. I'm not trying to say I'm the super-duper star, I'm not saying that," Jackson said.. "I'm saying the fact that people come at celebrities, we're targets. But truth always prevails. I believe in that."

One person that has targeted Jackson is rapper Eminem. In the video for "Just Lose It", Eminem as Jackson is shown in a bedroom with a king sized bed with a group of pajama clad young boys jumping around the bed. Emimen also mocked Jackson's plastic surgery by having his character's nose fall off and the rapper got his final digs in when he had his character's hair burst info flames, poking fun at Jackson's accident on the set of a Pepsi commercial. 

Fox News reports that in the interview Jackson said he had always admired "Mr. Eminem," but thought the rapper should be ashamed. 

"I've been an artist most of my life and I've never attacked a fellow artist," Jackson said. "Great artists don't do that. You don't have to do that." 
This past week Geraldo Rivera has been making the rounds of television talk shows promoting the broadcast, which will air Saturday at 10 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel. 

Having studied the evidence in the trial, Rivera believes that Jackson will ultimately be acquitted of the charges and blasted District Attorney Tom Sneddon as "ruthless" in his pursuit of Jackson.  Rivera doesn't believe that Sneddon has a solid case against the pop star and that the media is too quick to believe the worst about Jackson. 

"If it wasn't Michael Jackson, reporters throughout this business would say: `Wait, this doesn't sound right. This is illogical,'" Rivera told the "Today" show. 

"I am dedicated to giving him a fair trial. � to make sure that the playing field is level and that people listen to the allegations specifically," Rivera said. 

Will Jackson get a fair trial?  That's up partially to the jury, which is currently being selected from a pool of 250 people. The jury selection phase of the trial resumes on Tuesday. 

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