Episode 29 - Lisa Marie Presley Speaks Out About the Death of Michael Jackson

Lisa Marie Presley


Recap
Oprah is on location in the English countryside where Lisa Marie Presley is working on her new album and spending time with her husband and their twin girls. Lisa Marie has two grown children in addition to her toddler daughters. Oprah asks how it is to be changing diapers again 15 years later, and Lisa Marie says that being older and more grounded allows her to not miss as many moments as she did when she was younger. They discuss the oddity of culture in Los Angeles, such as celebrity children being featured in a weekly magazine asking, "Who Wore it Best?"

Michael Jackson
Lisa Marie is very private, but is choosing to speak now with Oprah in order to get personal things out of the way so that when her album is released next year the asking about Michael Jackson will be off limits, been there done that. In a clip we are reminded of Lisa Marie and Michael's whirlwind marriage; they had not spoken in nearly five years when he was found dead nearly 18 months ago. Lisa Marie says she tended to be barky and defensive in previous interviews, and now she wants to speak better and more clearly.

Lisa Marie says she now understands that Michael's manipulation of the media with regards to their relationship was a survival tactic, not proof that he didn't love her. Oprah asks where Lisa Marie was when she first heard about Michael's death, and she says it was the weirdest day, just crying all day for no reason, when a friend came to tell her Michael had died. Her initial reaction was shock; not even tears, just shock.

Their Marriage
The day after his death, Lisa Marie posted a blog in which she described feeling "gutted" because "the person [she] failed to help" was en route to the morgue in LA. Oprah asks if Lisa Marie ever suspected a drug problem, and she says that only right before she filed for divorce did she feel that he might have a problem. In 1995, Jackson collapsed and when she was by his side in the hospital there were indications that there was drug use.

Oprah asks if it was an intimate marriage where everything was spoken about, or if things were avoided. Lisa Marie says that it was in every sense a normal marriage, in which they talked about everything that came up. She has said to Oprah before that it was a normal marriage in terms of sexual intimacy, which is something most people have questioned. Oprah asks if Michael's insomnia existed then, in 1994, and Lisa Marie says that yes, even then, he was like a little gnome who didn't sleep.

Similarities Between Elvis and Michael Jackson
Lisa says that now that he's gone, having died of a prescription drug overdose, the anger and frustration with Michael went away. She says that Michael pushed her out; Oprah asks why the marriage ended, and Lisa Marie tells her that he had to choose between the drugs and the vampires, the sycophants who sucked the life out of him, and he didn't choose her. Lisa Marie experienced the exact same thing with her father, Elvis, and with both men she felt disposable. Lisa Marie was 9 years old when her father collapsed and died in his bathroom in their Memphis home. Fourteen prescription drugs were found in his system. Interestingly, the home where Michael died in LA is literally across the street from Elvis' LA home, one in which she spent much time growing up.

He Knew
Lisa Marie's blog entry was entitled He Knew. She says that when they were married and living at Neverland Ranch, Michael would question her at length about her father's death. He would tell her repeatedly that he felt that he would die just like her father did.

Loving Michael Jackson
Lisa Marie says that Michael was an incredibly dynamic person. She says that there has never been another high in her life comparable to the intoxication she felt when Michael would open up and let her in. Oprah relates, saying that her interview with him in 1992 made her feel like he was shining his light on her, that she left that interview just wishing she could be Michael's friend. Lisa Marie tells her that Michael was like a drug for her, and that she only ever felt that way around one other person--her father. Lisa Marie says they were very much in love, and that when Michael proposed she thought they would be together forever, that when you're that young you can believe that.

Baby Pressure and Divorce
Michael put a lot of pressure on Lisa Marie to have a baby. She felt that she wanted to make sure that they were very united, so there would never be a custody battle. Shortly after their divorce, it was announced that Debbie Rowe was pregnant. Lisa Marie said she knew it was in part a retaliatory act; before the divorce he would tell her that if she wouldn't have a baby then Debbie Rowe was waiting in the wings, willing to do so. The wouldn't succumb to the pressure, and they would fight. Rowe's quick pregnancy was another reason Lisa Marie felt so disposable.

Lisa Marie says she carried a lot of guilt; after marrying at 20 years old, she was only 25 when she divorced her first husband. Twenty days later she and Michael were married. The guilt came from leaving her husband and family for Michael. She also made mistakes in the marriage, going on vacation with her ex-husband to Hawaii (presumably with their children though she doesn't clarify that) and Michael would retaliate by disappearing for weeks at a time. She sees, in retrospect, that Michael did try and did fight for their marriage more with her than with any other female he was ever in relationship with. Only after his death was she able to see that he really did love her.

Their Last Conversation
Oprah asks if it took Michael dying for Lisa Marie to realize he loved her, and she says yes. They spent four years after the divorce getting back together, thinking about really getting back together, etc. The final foot being put down was when the vampires and doctors were coming in and it was too much like her dad, and she was scared. Their last conversation was in 2005; Michael was terrified to learn that Lisa Marie was indifferent to him. He told her that she was right, that people were using him just like she had said they would. He told her he was afraid that people were trying to kill him, to get their hands on his catalog (of his music) and his estate. He told her names that she doesn't want to share, but she says the conversation scared her.

Michael's Abuse Allegations
Oprah says she has asked this before, but she's asking again if Lisa Marie ever saw anything that seemed even remotely inappropriate between Michael and children. Lisa Marie says that during the infamous Martin Bashir interview, in which Michael made statements about things such as thinking it was ok to sleep in a bed with children, she could tell that Michael was "high as a kite". She feels that, for one, the interview was clearly edited in a very, very manipulative way. Secondly, her personal feeling is that Michael felt so angry about the allegations that he would just say things to be defiant, to anger people, to say the worst possible thing he could say just to shock people. Lisa Marie wraps up the topic by saying that she never saw anything, does not believe Michael ever did anything, but that only Michael and the children in the room will ever know what really did or did not happen.

Michael's Death
Oprah asks Lisa Marie what it felt like to be standing over Michael's casket. Lisa Marie says it took six months to recover from standing there with him. She says she didn't want to leave him. Oprah inquires whether, in those moments, if Lisa Marie was able to make peace. Presley replies no, because she felt guilty for not having done more for him, and Oprah wonders if Lisa Marie thinks she could have saved him. Lisa Marie says no, but she still wished she could. Oprah wants to know, then, if Lisa Marie thinks anyone else, such as his family, could have saved him, and Lisa Marie responds that she thinks they tried, but Michael had a way of cutting out anyone who challenged him so people's hands were tied.

Lisa Marie's Current Husband
Oprah asks how her current husband, Michael Lockwood, is dealing with so much being stirred up about Michael Jackson. Lisa Marie says that he'll be so glad when this interview is done, that he wants her to exercise it out of her system. Lisa Marie says she will not talk about Michael again, that if anyone in the future wants to know anything about Michael Jackson they can refer to the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah thanks Lisa Marie for opening up and we close out the show.

Gospel Filter Review
I was expecting a lot to come from this episode, but perhaps my desire for a break has been sweetly given to me by God. To be clear, I don't plan to skimp on anything or quit! I have just been wondering if Oprah will do any week long hiatuses because these posts take a solid 2 hours every single day, often 3 hours. It's like a part-time job! I love doing this, but it can be exhausting to do this and, hopefully, do it well. There's a lot of prayer that goes into each review, not to mention the emotional exhaustion when the show topics are painful and heavy.

So, in looking at this episode, I feel led to first direct you to other posts I have written about marriage and its purpose. While I completely understand why Lisa Marie had to leave Michael--he chose the drugs over her--it's not a Biblical grounds for divorce (only adultery is, and even then, the Lord's heart is repentance and reconciliation). That said, neither Michael nor Lisa Marie appear to have relationship with Jesus, so the decision to divorce and remarry is a secondary issue to their need to meet Jesus and receive the free gift of salvation.

Secondly, it's very, very sad to me that Michael was so desperate for children that he was willing to hurt his wife by impregnating another woman with his baby--in vitro or not--if his wife wouldn't bend to his will. Yes, wives are to submit to their husbands per Ephesians 5, but also husbands are to love their wives and be understanding. Lisa Marie's reservations were actually very solid--she and Michael did not have the foundation for a stable marriage, and she could foresee eventual divorce and a custody battle, so she wanted to work together with Michael to ensure a better marriage relationship before bringing children into the picture. This was before she even knew of the drug problem, before the worst of the sycophants began, and her caution was very wise. I ache for her, both in how he treated her in that way and that he chose the bloodsuckers over her.

Lastly, I didn't make it clear above, but Lisa Marie spoke of the "god like" status that Michael had. Due to his childhood, shooting to meteoric fame so quickly and never being anything but a superstar, he didn't know how to exist as a normal person. He lived in an "ivory tower" (again, Lisa Marie's words) and didn't know any better than to surround himself with people who treated him like a god and only told him what he wanted to hear. That reveals such sickness in the human heart, both Michael's, that of those immediately surrounding him, and the way in which the legions of fans worshiped him.

I remember where I was when he died--I was a nanny, checking the news on the computer during my lunch break. The parents who employed me were also in the room and suddenly I just blurted out in absolute shock, "Michael Jackson just died." At that point, major outlets weren't saying he was dead, but TMZ had the inside scoop and most were just waiting for the official announcement. I was sad,--I write frequently about greatness, and Michael Jackson was amazingly talented. I'm sad that he was like a drug to Lisa Marie, and that people worshiped him. I'm sad for how this fed his own selfish desires to be worshiped (we all have those desires; we don't all have the gifts and talents to try and make it a reality), I'm sad for how his parents were led astray from parenting well by their own distractions toward greed and fame (I know they loved their son, but they failed him), and I'm sad that when he died, millions of people grieved like those "who do not have hope." The empty promise that he's "in a better place", as so many say, was not enough to stop people from grieving in this way.

Yes, Michael Jackson was incredibly talented. I am saddened that here is no evidence that he had relationship with Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sin, and that his eternity may not be with Jesus right now. More importantly than trying to figure that out, though, is to remind people that our hope is not in mankind or any one person's, or even a group or nation's or all of mankind's, greatness. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. In Him we have forgiveness of sin and redemption! What a glorious hope we have in the riches of His grace! I pray that Lisa Marie would know these truths, that Jesus would be her redeemer, and that anyone whose hope is an anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ would receive His free gift of salvation and live knowing Him more deeply and intimately every single day.




Up Tomorrow
When Your Own Mother is a Notorious Killer