INCREDIBLE unseen footage of Michael Jackson has been unearthed, offering an intimate window into the King of Pop’s world just months before his life fell apart.
In one clip, the superstar tours his childhood home in Gary, Indiana, pointing to where he and his brothers used to sleep in bunk beds and joking: “Take all the dirty pictures out!”
The extensive footage was captured between 2000 and 2003 by Jackson’s close friend and producer Marc Schaffel, who was filming a three-part reality series with the star.
It sees Jackson reminisce about his career, prank his inner circle by dousing himself in expensive perfume, and receive a starstruck phone call from a young Beyoncé.
Schaffel told The Sun on Sunday: “The material was originally shot to be a reality show I was making about Michael. It is the last material from Michael in the later part of his life.
“My long personal friendship with Michael had made filming this series possible. He fully trusted me. I own and have shot and paid for the footage and production.
“The first episode is entitled ‘Going back to Indiana’. This show is a 24 hour window into the life of the world’s most famous person on a pilgrimage back to his hometown, for the first time since his childhood.”
Schaffel’s fly-on-the-wall series was ultimately shelved when Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was raided in November 2003, leading to his arrest on child molestation charges.
Following the raid, the TV network Schaffel was working with lost interest in the series, leaving Schaffel with a mountain of unused footage.
Though Jackson was acquitted two years later in 2005 – after which he fled the US for Bahrain – the documentary remained unreleased.
Now Schaffel wants his film to see a wider audience, capitalising on Jackson’s posthumous renaissance following the massive success of the biopic Michael, which grossed over $1 billion (£740m) and spawned a sequel currently in production.
Schaffel said: “This footage is a perfect real-life account of his life.”
“I’ve made a rough sample cut from the footage but I’m open to collaborating on how to put the material together.”
The footage captures a rare, sentimental moment as Jackson tours the modest house where the Jackson 5 phenomenon was born, pointing out the small rooms where the bunk beds were kept and the living room where he and his brothers rehearsed every day.
He tells the camera crew: “In the living room that’s where we rehearsed every day. Just move the furniture.”
The home shows extraordinary clutter on view – which producer Marc Schaffel explains was because an older relative was living there at the time and had been given little notice before the camera crew arrived.
In another clip, filmed in the back of a luxury limousine, Jackson displays his trademark eccentric humor.
Testing out different fragrances with his team, Jackson – whose nickname for cologne was “smells” – asks for his favorite fragrance.
After his cousin, who was acting as his assistant on the trip, hands over the bottle to instigate the prank, Jackson repeatedly spritzes his own crotch.
Jackson jokes with his crew: “It’s burning…Take me to the hospital. Imagine how it feels down there?”
Schaffel said of the strange scene: “Michael being the consummate prankster with the people closest to him would love to overdo the cologne and perfume he liked.
“In this case he liked this very expensive perfume at the time and when getting ready to go out in public would put it on.
“His cousin brought out the perfumes and started overspraying as a prank, but unfortunately, all of us in the limo with him, it was so strong we couldn’t breathe.”
Separately, Jackson reminisces about his past while flicking through a photo album.
He recalled: “Every country we went to we would dress in their attire. I wanted to do it in India the most and I couldn’t.
“I would get all the little Indian children dressed in their attire. I wanted to wear one of those young, Richie hats… the turban.”
“We didn’t get to do anything,” he grumbled.
In another video from 2001, recorded during production for the charity single What More Can I Give, a 19-year-old Beyoncé Knowles is seen breathlessly speaking to Jackson over the phone from the recording studio.
The star-studded 9/11 benefit anthem brought together icons including Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Usher, and Justin Timberlake – but its release was ultimately scrapped amid growing disputes between Jackson and his record label, Sony Music.
Shaking with excitement, a young Beyoncé whispers: “I’m going to pass out.”
She tells Jackson: “I’m very honoured. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity.”
The future megastar confesses that when she first heard her first line of the track she “literally screamed” – and Jackson warmly wraps up the call by telling her he loves her.
Having settled out-of-court following child abuse allegations in 1993 and 1994, Jackson spent the early 2000s attempting a major artistic comeback.
However, behind the scenes, the legal and public net was rapidly tightening around the superstar once again.
By late 2002 and early 2003, Jackson allowed journalist Martin Bashir behind closed doors for the infamous documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which aired in February 2003.
