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Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson,  “Larry King Live” (June 25, 2009) (archived)

KING: Joining us by phone now is Reverend Jesse Jackson. Reverend Jackson and yours truly, and Michael Jackson were all together at a dinner in 2007 where I was proud to be honored by Jesse Jackson's group. And so was Michael. We were all at the same table. Jesse, what are your thoughts right now?

REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: Well, I'm traumatized. We are out of our joy and he's out of his pain. I have been listening to Michael since he was maybe 13 years old. We were doing our first expo. And we had the lineup. Quincy Jones was there. Nancy Wilson, Sammy Davis; it was really a very tight show.

And so someone said these kids want to perform. They're over at the Regal across the street. But Junius Griffin, who worked with Dr. King, said, you've got to hear them. I said, I want to hear them, but we are busy. He said, well, come downstairs and meet them.

They were in the station wagon, you know, with the U-Haul attached to the Jackson Five, with Joe. We said, well, we can't say no. They performed "ABC," you know, at that particular expo. And of course, it took off from there.

...having been with him across these years and his family to watch him grow up, I think so much about the Victory Tour that kicked off in Kansas City, with Don King, the time that Michael was performing, of course, at the great theaters around the word. I was on my way to London, really, to be with him July the 7th, before the -- he delayed it one day.

So I would say that we all (INAUDIBLE) tonight, because Berry Gordy, Suzanne De Passe, and Quincy Jones were great factors in his stellar career, because he had all of the raw stuff, but Berry Gordy brought a special touch to this.

KING: Yes.

JESSE JACKSON: I remember Suzanne De Passe taking him and the kids out at Fred Segal's store getting blue jeans. And, of course, there's the Michael Jackson and there's the Quincy Jones in that whole "Thriller" drama (ph). So he had that...

KING: You're not kidding. He sure did. Thanks, Jesse. We'll be calling on you again.