StoryCast '21: EP 19/21 Michael Jackson - The Trial of the century

StoryCast '21: EP 19/21 Michael Jackson - The Trial of the century

Author: Sky News December 13, 2021 Duration: 19:45
A veteran of movie cameos and music videos, Eddie Moss was one of the most successful Michael Jackson impersonators in the world in 2005, but then he took a job like no other.
At the time, Michael Jackson was one of the world’s most iconic celebrities. But news headlines about his personal life and not his music had come to tarnish his reputation.
Now, Jackson was due to go on trial in California on multiple charges of child abuse against a minor.
The eyes of the world were watching. However, when the judge presiding over the case prevented cameras in the courthouse, it posed a major problem. How were news outlets going to communicate court proceedings to an international audience?
Sky News, along with E! entertainment, decided to attempt something no one had tried before — deliver daily reconstructions of key evidence, using a cast of Hollywood actors, hired to play the main roles.
None was more important, or consequential, than that of Jackson himself. But as the trial began to unfold, Eddie Moss quickly realised that his future and wellbeing were on the line too.

In 2021, Sky News is marking some of the century’s biggest news events through the personal stories of lives defined by unforgettable moments from the last 21-years.
Michael Jackson: The trial of the century is episode 19 of the 21-part series StoryCast ’21

CREDITS -

Michael Jackson: Trial Of The Century was written and produced by Rob Mulhern and Jayne Secker.
Original idea, Jonathan Samuels
Special thanks to our contributors, Eddie Moss, Jayne Secker and Richard Johnson
Archive, Robert Fellowes
TV treatment, Victoria Hudson-Grant
Digital, Tom Gillespie
Head of Radio, Sky News, Dave Terris
Design and graphics, Brian Gillingham
Social media, Samuel Gould
Press and Marketing, Alexandra Horton
Email: storycast@sky.uk
For more on this story log on to www.skynews/storycast21
#StoryCast21

From Sky News, Unreliable Witness | Storycast is an investigative series that digs into complex, real-world stories where the truth is often obscured. The current season examines the unsettling case of Ellie Williams, a young woman whose detailed allegations of sexual assault and grooming in her hometown led to a major police investigation and public outrage-before she was ultimately jailed for lying. But this podcast goes beyond the headlines of a false accusation. Reporters Jason Farrell and Liz Lane navigate the difficult terrain of this story, asking what powerful motivations could drive someone to construct such an elaborate fiction, and whether, buried beneath the proven deceit, there might be other, more nuanced realities left unexplored. It’s a careful, thoughtful look at how stories are shaped, believed, and sometimes weaponized, with profound consequences for everyone involved. Recognized with a Gold award for Investigative Journalism at the New York Festivals Radio Awards, this podcast delivers meticulous reporting that challenges easy conclusions, making it a compelling listen for anyone interested in the intersections of society, justice, and human behavior.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Unreliable Witness | Storycast
Podcast Episodes
StoryCast '21: EP4/21 Migrant Rescue [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:01
On January 15, 2016, Brussels based Sky News Correspondent Mark Stone received a desperate text message from Syrian refugee, Bassel Shekhany. Shekhany had recently sought asylum in Germany and explained that his family a…
StoryCast '21: EP3/21 Marathon Man [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:12
In Vienna, on October 12, 2019, Kenyan distance runner and decorated Olympian, Eliud Kipchoge, set out to become the first person to run a marathon in under two hours — a challenge deemed impossible by many experts in th…
StoryCast '21: EP2/21 The hunt for Raoul Moat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:13
StoryCast '21: On 3rd July 2010, Sue Sim, Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, received a call in the middle of the night, to say there’d been a double shooting in a quiet suburb of Newcastle. Specialist police units,…
StoryCast '21: EP1/21 Miracle Boy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:34
StoryCast '21: On 26th December 2004, one of the deadliest disasters in modern history played out when a Tsunami led to almost 230,000 deaths in south east Asia. Amid the devastation, a Sky News camera crew discover an 8…
Trailer: Storycast '21 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38
Using the timeframe of the last 21-years, Sky News’ multi-award-winning podcast returns to some of this century's biggest news stories, using the focus of extraordinary personal stories defined by these events. New episo…
Polonium & the Piano Player: PART 4 - The Reckoning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:56
With relations between London and Moscow deteriorating, Derek Conlon escapes to a new life, but destiny and the nuclear poison appear to have decided his fate. Narrated by Diana Magnay. Written and produced by Robert Mul…
Polonium & the Piano Player: PART 3 - Victims and suspects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:33
As one of the biggest police investigations in British history gets underway, Derek Conlon is astonished to learn that he too has been poisoned. But having crossed into the world of espionage, that’s only the beginning o…
Polonium & the Piano Player: PART 2 - The Poisoning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:17
A former KGB agent takes us deep into the world of the Russian spies who have just poisoned Alexander Litvinenko and piano player Derek Conlon using a miniature nuclear weapon.(Episode 3 released 27th July).Narrated by D…
Polonium & the Piano Player: PART 1 - A Nuclear Connection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:15
Ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is lured by Russian agents to a meeting in a 5-star London hotel. What happens next will change his life, the relationship between the UK and Russia, and suck the hotel's piano player Dere…
Introducing...Polonium & the Piano Player [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:05
Two Russians agents release a miniature nuclear weapon in a 5-star London hotel. But former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is not the only victim? From Sky News StoryCast.