| Director | Julie Shaw, Martin Bashir |
|---|
Living with Michael Jackson begins at Neverland Ranch, where Jackson and Martin Bashir tour the estate's grounds and face off in a go-kart race. Jackson explains that he writes his songs by composing lyrics and not the music, because the music "will write itself". While watching archival footage of the Jackson 5, Jackson recalls painful memories of abusive treatment at the hands of his father Joe, and explains that this is why he never laid a hand on his children.
At the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Jackson speaks about his love life, his changing physical appearance and his children. Bashir meets Jackson's children, Prince and Paris, who wear masks to conceal their appearance. Jackson then goes to Berlin, where the "baby dangling" incident occurs. Jackson visits the Berlin Zoo and a charity auction and receives a humanitarian award at the Bambi Awards.
Back at Neverland Ranch, Gavin Arvizo is interviewed and states that it was Jackson's support that helped him beat his bout with cancer. Jackson admits that sometimes, when Gavin stayed with him, the singer let him sleep in his bed while he slept on the floor. When asked what he gets out of his involvement with children, Jackson replies that he gains joy, because "my greatest inspiration comes from kids".
During January 2003, Bashir meets with Jackson in Miami for the final interview and brings up the subject of his face. A visibly upset Jackson says that he has only had two operations on his nose in order to facilitate his singing. Bashir concludes that Jackson wanted to change his appearance as a result of his troubled youth. He repeatedly questions Jackson about why he allows children into his room. Jackson defends himself stating that such activity is natural when the children are of close friends or family, and that "many children", including Macaulay and Kieran Culkin, have slept in the same bed as him. Jackson strongly denies any sexual motivation for this.