Now, this is more like it, celebrity witnesses. Despite reports he was reluctant to go to court, actor Macaulay Culkin yesterday took the witness stand in the ongoing Michael Jackson trial to say that the singer never molested him, despite the fact that a former Neverland employee previously said he'd seen Jacko with his hands down the former child star's pants.
Culkin confirmed that he stayed at Jacko's Neverland ranch on numerous occasions in the early nineties, then aged 9 - 14. He confirmed that he had slept in Jackson's bed, but denied the singer ever behaved inappropriately. When asked by Jacko's lawyer if he had been molested while at Neverland, Culkin replied ìNeverî. When asked about the testimony of a former Neverland chef who said he saw Jackson groping the actor, Culkin described the allegation as ìabsolutely ridiculousî.
Culkin continued by revealing that he had never been specifically approached by the prosecution in the case about those allegations, and that he had first heard them on TV. Culkin: "Somebody told me you should probably check out CNN because they're 'saying something about you'. I just couldn't believe it. It was amazing to me that nobody even approached me and asked if these allegations were trueî.
Prosecution lawyer Ron Zonen tried to suggest Jackson may have molested Culkin while he was asleep. The actor admitted that he had never been molested by Jackson ìas far as he knewî, but responded to Zonen's suggestions by saying "I think I'd realise if something like that would happenî.
When asked about his close relationship with Jackson as a young teenager, Culkin told the court: "We're part of a unique group of people. He'd been through that before, so he understood what it was like to be put in that position that I was in, to be thrust into it."
Following Culkin's testimony the court watched footage filmed by one of Jackson's team at the same time Martin Bashir's documentary was being shot. Defence lawyers claim the film shows that Bashir's programmed was severely edited to the detriment of their client.
But enough of that, we want more celebs. Rumour has it Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and basketball star Kobe Bryant are all due to appear.