When Michael Jackson’s Father HUMILIATED Him on Live TV

Well, they had a lot of problems at that time, you know, with the with a lot of crime and stuff. And that’s one of the reason that I was able to keep my kids at home. I know Michael always complained, but he never did have a childhood. He had a wonderful childhood.  Why I say that? Because his childhood he was out with his brothers and sisters.

They always  played with them. I just didn’t want him out there and playing with  the kids and stuff that always in the trouble. >> Michael Jackson became the King of  Pop, but behind the fame was a painful story with the man who raised him. Joe Jackson helped build Michael’s career, but many fans believe he also broke something inside him.

What made it worse was how Joe later spoke about Michael on live TV. Instead of showing regret, he defended  himself, denied the pain, and even compared Michael to Jermaine. For fans, it felt like Michael still could not get the praise he deserved from  his own father, and that is where this story becomes truly uncomfortable.

>> You saw magic in Michael. >> I saw magic in all of them with Michael leading, you know, leading the songs, yeah. But Jermaine’s a very good leader, too. Jermaine it’s kind of hard to tell which one’s the better singer, but I think Jermaine may be just a little bit better better singer than Michael is. >> Before Michael Jackson rose to fame, even his own father did not believe he should be the lead voice of the group.

Michael said his mother had to push Joe Jackson to actually listen to him sing because Joe had already decided Jermaine was the one with the voice. That detail matters because it shows something painful from the start. Michael had the talent, the sound,  and the star quality, but even inside his own home, he still had to prove himself.

Long  before the world praised him, he was fighting for recognition from the person whose approval he wanted most. >> My mother caught me making my bed one day and I was singing. And she said to my father that I could sing, and he didn’t want to hear of it. You know,  he said um that Jermaine’s the lead singer, not Michael. My mother said, “Joe, you really should hear him sing.

” He can sing. She goes, “No, Jermaine’s the lead singer of the group, and that’s it.” She forced him to listen to me. Once he listened to me, from that moment on, I was the lead singer of the group. >> But the pressure inside the Jackson home was not only about singing. Michael later revealed that rehearsals were filled with fear.

He said Joe would sit with a belt in his hand while the children practiced,  and if they made a mistake, punishment could come fast. To the outside world, the Jackson 5 looked like a happy, talented family living a dream. But behind the music, Michael described a childhood where perfection was demanded, fear was normal, and one wrong move could bring pain  instead of guidance.

>> Cuz he used me as the example. It was like, “Do it like Michael.” You know, and he practiced us with a belt in his hand. And if you missed a step, expect to be uh >> Just let me go back. You just said that you would practice the dance steps, and your father would be holding a belt  in his hand.

Is that what you just said? >> Yes. And he would tear you up if you missed. And so, we  Not only were we practicing, we were nervous rehearsing because he sat in the chair, >>  >> and he had this belt in his hand. And if you didn’t do it the right way, he would tear you up. >> Michael Jackson never spoke about Joe Jackson’s discipline  as if it were normal, strict parenting.

To Michael, rehearsals were not just about perfecting songs or dance  moves. They were filled with fear. Joe would push the brothers hard, and even when Michael became the example everyone had to follow, that pressure did not  feel like praise. It came with punishment, beatings, panic, and the constant fear of making  a mistake.

For Michael, those moments did not disappear after fame. They became painful memories that  followed him into adulthood and shaped how he looked back at his lost childhood. >> How often would he beat you? >> Um too much. >> Would he only use a belt? >> Why do you do this to me? No, more than a belt. >> What else would he use to hit you with? >> Ironing cords.

Whatever’s around. Throw you up against the wall hard as he could. Um See, it’s one thing to >> But you were only a child. >> I know. >> You were a baby.  >> I know. It’s one thing to discipline >> were producing successful records. >> I know. He would lose his temper. I just remember hearing my mother scream.

Joe, you’re going to kill him. You’re going to kill him. Stop it. You’re going to kill him, you know, and uh And I was so fast, you know, he couldn’t catch me half the time, but when he would catch me, oh my god. It was bad. >> Even years later, when Michael Jackson was already one of the most famous people  on Earth, talking about his father still made him uncomfortable.

In one interview, when he was asked if Joe was too strict,  Michael hesitated, laughed nervously, and joked that his father would kill him for answering. But behind that joke, the truth was clear. This was not a normal memory of a strict parent.  This was a grown man still reacting with fear when his father’s name came up.

>> Strong parents are I think very important, especially in our situation. If she hit me, I would hit her back. Which was terrible. And then when I would run around the house and hide. And all that stuff. But I would really get it more than anybody. >> Do you think your father was too strict? >> Yes. No, he’s going to kill me.

He’s going to get you still worried about that right? [laughter] >> Uh well he feels that he was stripped. >> I’m glad he said it. Now I’ll say it. Yes. >> While the world saw Michael smiling on stage  winning awards and breaking records, LaToya Jackson described a very different reality at home.

According to her, Michael was  not just dealing with old childhood memories. She said the fear stayed with him even during the height of his success.  That makes the story even heavier because fame did not erase what happened behind closed doors. Michael could perform in front of millions,  but according to LaToya, the pain from his father’s control still followed him.

> Well, what was it like at home? >> It was very very hard. My father was very strict.  Uh he beat us. >> When you say he beat you, did he spank you, whip you? I mean, what did he >> a belt you say in the book. Belt, whip, whatever. My brothers were grown and my father would take his fist and he would punch him and knock him down the steps constantly.

>> of him? >> No, of course not. To this day, they are still afraid of my father and they will tell you. They will come They come to me with it as well. We  have kids in college and we’re afraid of my father still today. But my mother allowed this to go on which makes it so bad. She didn’t stop it. >> She too was a victim, wasn’t she? >> My mother? By my father? According to my brother, yes.

According to Michael, he would tell me he would see my father beating my mother. I have never seen my father beat my mother. But I he beat all of us. >> So, did this persist all through your childhood and continue into your young adulthood? >> Adult. Everything. I mean, Michael was doing um I think it was Off the Wall, Thriller.

And he was still getting beat, but what you guys see is him up on the awards accepting these awards and smiling.  My father’s chasing him around the house and he’s running from him terrified. >> And what makes the story even more painful  is that LaToya said Michael was the one child who tried to push back.

But instead of the family openly facing what happened,  she said the response was denial. That is why Michael’s pain became buried behind the image of a perfect showbiz  family. On camera, they were talented, polished, and successful. but behind that image, there was tension, fear, and silence.

For Michael, the hardest part may not have been only what happened, it may have been a feeling like nobody wanted  to fully admit it. >> You said that Michael was the only one that actually tried to fight back and tried to hit your >> boy, yes. He was the only one. I don’t think he knew exactly what he was doing, but the more he would get beat, he threw it back at him, and Joseph would have to always get the last lick in, always.

>> What’s been the reaction of your family to this book? >> I have no idea. My parents, of course, they’re denying it, and of course, typical that they would deny it. Denial is the first sign of dysfunctional and as well. However, outsiders have accepted the book, and they understand. They understand about the abuse.

There wasn’t just physical abuse, it was also mental. >> When Joe Jackson’s parenting was brought up with Tito Jackson, his answer was not what many Michael fans expected. Instead of calling Joe’s behavior cruel, Tito defended him. He said their father was strict, but he had reasons, and even called him one of the greatest men.

This shows how divided the family story became.  Some saw Joe as the man who pushed them to greatness, others saw the pain behind that success,  and for Michael’s fans, that difference is important because the same discipline that built the Jackson  5 also left emotional scars on the child who became its biggest star.

>> People have an assessment of the way that you were raised. It’s in the news, like people talk  about, you know, Joe and how he raised you. Did you feel any level of resentment? Did you think that that was unnecessary or was it just what you needed? >> What I say about that is people can say what they want, you know, I know my life’s my lifestyle.

I respect people, people respect me, and my father was strict, but he had his reasons. You know, he had >> think you didn’t think that you didn’t think  that those reasons were unreasonable? >> Oh, no. >> Tito continued defending Joe, but even inside that defense, the cost of Michael’s childhood started to appear.

He tried to explain Joe’s strictness as something  that came from wanting the children to succeed, but when someone is forced to grow up under pressure every day, success does not remove the damage. It only hides it better. Michael became  a global star, but the question remained, what did he lose to become that star? That is where the story becomes complicated because the same father who helped create the group also helped create the fear Michael carried for years.

>> Our parents didn’t spare the rod, man. You know, you did something wrong, you were scared to go home, right? So, that’s just the way it was. >> And that’s I always I always thought like look, I I can’t  Yeah, that man, I I wasn’t in that household, but I can say this. Your name is written in the stars and you have to have uh to some degree, some level of appreciation for what got you there.

>> Absolutely. >> So, you you were appreciative of him. >> Oh, man, I I I have always said way back in the day that I think that my father did a fantastic job. I think he’s one of the greatest  men that’s and today a lot of men need to learn from him. >> But when the conversation  turned directly to Michael, the pain became much clearer.

Tito admitted that Michael never really got to live like a normal child. He explained that Michael’s love for children came from not wanting them to go through the kind of pain and  strict discipline he experienced. That one admission supports what Michael had been saying for years. Fame gave him money,  attention, and legendary status, but it also took away something basic.

He never had the simple childhood most people take for granted,  and that loss shaped the way he saw the world. >> He could never hit Michael. He’s swinging over here, Michael’s over there. >> [laughter] >> So, uh >> All all of this stuff and I we have to talk about it. All the stuff that’s going on with Michael, how does that make you feel? What do you what do you >> Well, it makes me feel really bad because Michael was probably one of the most different type of people growing up.

His life is basically who he is, you know? He was a kid all his life and he never got things to do that most kids do,  play outside and >> You thought that hurt his development? >> Well, it it makes him want to do things longer, I think. He still was enjoying Mickey Mouse and Disneyland  and movies and things like that.

So, that’s basically where he was as a person. >> That  also explains why Michael’s later world looked so childlike to people on the outside. For him, it was not just fantasy or strange behavior. It was a way of reaching for the childhood  he felt was taken from him. Neverland, toys, games, animals, amusement rides, and time around children were all connected to something deeper.

Michael  was trying to rebuild a part of life he never got to enjoy. Many people judged it from the outside, but to Michael, it was tied to a wound that began long before fame became global. >> Totally  wrong. I think the world has him wrong. He’s a very loving person. I think he’s kind of the persons that felt that when he was growing  up, he wouldn’t want a kid to get spanked the way he was or or whatever.

Or he he’s very giving. If a kid needs help in the hospital or school or needs to go to college, he’s there, man. >> Even while talking about Michael’s kindness toward children, Joe Jackson still found a way to bring the credit back to himself. He said Michael may have gotten that caring side from him, >>  >> but for many fans, that moment felt uncomfortable because Michael’s love for children was often connected to the childhood he said he lost.

It did not sound like something simple that Joe gave him. It sounded like something Michael built from  his own pain. He knew what it felt like to be scared, pressured, and robbed of innocence. So, he wanted children around him to feel joy instead.  >> I guess Michael got it from me. I don’t wish bad on nobody, you know.

But when somebody break  the rules and then it could be proven that they broke the rules, it has to be dealt with with the with the law of the land. >> In an interview after Michael died, Joe  Jackson was directly asked about the pain people said he caused his son, but instead of showing regret, Joe denied  it completely.

He said he had only done what any parent would do to raise a child. To some people,  that may have sounded like a father defending discipline, but to Michael’s fans, it sounded like Joe still did not understand the difference between raising a child  and frightening one. Michael had spoken openly about being hurt, but Joe still framed it as normal parenting.

>> What do you say about all these things that have been said over the years that you harmed Michael as a child? >> a bunch of bull That’s a bunch of bull >> Straighten me out. >> That’s not true. >> You never physically harmed him? >> Never. Never have. And and that I raised him just like you would raise your kids, you know? But harm Michael for what? I have no reason.

That’s my son. I loved him. >> Michael  Jackson’s father also told Larry King he made no mistakes when raising his son. He said he never beat Michael and pushed back against the stories  that had followed the family for years. But what shocked many fans was how firmly he denied it, even though Michael had already spoken publicly about being beaten.

This is what  made the father-son story so painful. Michael described fear and punishment, while Joe denied the harshest parts  completely. For fans watching, it felt like Michael’s pain was being erased even after his death. >> Joe, do you have any any at all guilt or bad feelings about the way Michael was raised? I know you’re denying the stories about violence.

But what as you look at it, were there any mistakes you made? >> I didn’t make no mistakes, Larry, because Michael Michael was raised properly. He didn’t run the streets like uh like most of those other kids that was in his neighborhood. Michael >> Why did he say >> Listen, listen. Listen now. You got to understand me.

Don’t cut me off here, Larry. >> And when Larry brought up that Michael himself had said it on television,  Joe still refused to accept it. He said he did not know when Michael said that and again denied ever beating him. That moment showed how wide the gap was between Michael’s memory and Joe’s version of the past.

Michael had cried, trembled, and spoken about the fear he felt as a child, but Joe’s response was still denial. For many  fans, this was not just a father defending himself. It was another example of Michael’s pain being pushed aside. >> When he didn’t he once say that you were physically, emotionally abusive  to him? >> I’ve never been abusive to him.

Never have. >> he say that? Did he ever say that to your knowledge? >> Well, I I don’t know whether he said that or not, but I hear the media keep hollering about it. I’ve never my son. >> Larry, can I say can I say something, Joe? Larry, do you >> Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, Rue. Let me handle this right here.

>> Uh let me handle this. Uh the media keep hollering about saying that I beat my son. That’s not true. You know where this beating started? Beating started in the slavery days. They used to beat the slaves and then they used to torture them. That’s where this beating started the uh the uh the slave masters.

That’s where that come from. >>  >> But hey, there’s a lot of people in America, Larry. A lot of people in America spank their kids, you know. They If they say they don’t, they’re lying. They lying. And Michael was never beaten by me. >> But the clearest sign of how complicated Michael and Joe’s relationship  became came when Joe showed up to see him in Vegas.

Instead of rushing to meet his father, Michael asked one cold question. Did Joseph have an appointment? That line said more than a long interview could. This was not just a busy superstar avoiding a visitor. It sounded like a son who had built emotional distance from the man who once controlled his life. Michael had become one of the most powerful entertainers in history, >>  >> but with his father, the old wound was still there.

>> Uh I recall the time that when we settled in it in Vegas and Joe  Jackson came to the house. And um he requested to see  his son. And I I went inside to tell Mr. Jackson, your father’s here and he father would like to see you. And his first words was, does Joseph have an appointment? He did not.

Certainly we did have an itinerary. You know, each week of who he’d be seeing, who would he be calling, who would call him, who’d be visiting, where we needed to go. So we knew everything  and everybody that was going to be visiting him. And that one particular day his father wasn’t on the itinerary, but I didn’t know the true dynamics of that relationship when he asked me, does Joseph have an appointment? And I told him he did not.

He said, tell Joseph he needs an appointment. He needs to make an appointment.  >> And when Joe was told he could not see Michael, his reaction made the tension even clearer. He did not calmly accept it. He yelled that without him none of them would have jobs. In that moment, Joe’s mindset seemed clear.

He still saw himself as the man who built the empire. And in one sense, he was part of that story. But the painful question is what that empire cost. Because the child who carried the group, carried the fame, and carried the expectations, also carried the fear. Joe remembered the success. Michael remembered the pain.

>> That was probably one of the hardest things I I had to do is go tell somebody’s father that you need an appointment to see your child. Um but I didn’t tell him that. I told him that I told him that’s Mr.  Jackson, your son is in the studio, it’s loud, they’re not answering. And >>  >> uh you I was I tried to give him my business card that he can give me a call tomorrow the next day and I’ll make sure you know, you get  into see him.

He didn’t take that well. At all. And uh he just yelled at me, wasn’t for me none of you would have these would have these jobs. I started this. I was not going to get into an argument with Joe Jackson. I just listened to what he had to say and I walked off. And that was hard that was hard for me to realize that’s where their relationship is.

That he needed an appointment. >> If you made  it this far, make sure to like the video, subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss the next one.